Page:Alice Stuyvesant - The Vanity Box.djvu/255

 the course she longed to see him take. "Of all things, I never thought you a coward, in old days."

"You, at least, are no coward," he said. "After what you tell me you saw and heard, you came back to Friars' Moat, and poured tea for us in the drawing-room."

"You forced me to come in," she protested. "I felt as if I should die. It seemed then as if the world had come to an end."

"Yes," Sir Ian repeated dreamily. "Yes. It seemed as if the world had come to an end. I wish it had."

"It would have been better for you!" Nora exclaimed. "Will you go to England, and at least do what you can for Ian, without endangering yourself?"

"Yes, I will go to England," he echoed, "and do what I can for Ian. As you say, there may be—something."

Before she could answer, Terry Ricardo's voice called her from the balcony above. "Is that you Nora, with Sir Ian?"

"Yes," replied the girl, startled.

"I'm thankful!" cried Terry. "I was anxious about you, Nora. You were so long away. Is all well?"

"No. All is not well," Nora returned, her voice breaking sharply.

"Oh! Aren't you coming to tell me?"

"Yes, I'm coming." The girl turned to Sir Ian,