She smiled up at him tenderly, a little wistfully.
"They would say a good deal," she whispered, "if they could see you here now."
He drew abruptly away.
"I am a thoughtless brute," he declared. "It was for that that I decided to remain dead. I will go away at once."
Her fingers closed over his. She drew him a little nearer with glad recklessness.
"You shall not," she murmured. "It is worth a little risk, this."
Wrayson touched Louise on the arm and they turned away. He found her a seat in a quiet corner of the fruit garden, where a tall row of hollyhocks shielded them from observation. She was very white, and in a semi-hysterical state.
"I can't believe," she said, "that that is really Duncan—Duncan himself. It is too wonderful!"
"There is no doubt about it being your brother," he answered. "What I don't quite understand is why he has kept away so long."
"It is because of her," she answered. "If they had been on the same continent, I believe that nothing could have kept them apart!"
"And now?" he asked.
"I cannot tell," she answered, "I, nor any one else! God made them for one another, I am very sure!"
He took her hand and held it tightly in his.
"And you for me, dearest," he whispered. "Shall I tell you why I am sure of it?"
She leaned back with half-closed eyes. Endurance has its limits, and the mesmeric influence of the drowsy summer day was in her veins.
