He gripped her to him, and kissed her; and he stood, with hand pressed hard against the tree, watching the slight, graceful form till it disappeared from his view.

It may be noted, by the student of human nature, that neither of them had spoken of the woman for whom Derrick had been ready to sacrifice his good name, his life itself. Perfect love means perfect faith, and they were so sure of each other's love and faith, that it may be said neither of them gave the other woman a thought; and if they had done so, Celia would not have been jealous of the past, and Derrick would have regarded the boyish pa.s.sion of which he had been so completely cured, as something nebulous and unimportant. At that moment, he was capable of thinking only of Celia; the past was like a dream, his heart was in the present and future; and his happiness was alloyed by one regret only--that he had concealed from Celia his real name and his connection with the Heytons. But, as he walked on air towards the village, he told himself that such concealment would not long be necessary, that he would tell her the next time they met.

CHAPTER XXII

As happy as Derrick, Celia hurried back to the Hall. So suddenly had come her happiness, so swiftly and unexpectedly had her life been suffused by joy, that she was dazzled and bewildered, as one is dazzled and bewildered by the bursting of the midday sunlight through a bank of clouds. It seemed almost impossible to realise that he was back in England, near at hand, that he loved her, that he had held her in his arms; but the warmth of his kisses still lingered on her lips and helped her unbelief.

As she entered the hall, Heyton sauntered out of the smoking-room; the eternal cigarette was between his thick lips, his hands were thrust in his pockets; the smile, which Celia so much disliked, greeted her appearance, and his eyes roved over her with, the expression which always raised Celia's resentment.

"Hallo!" he exclaimed, with an offensive familiarity. "Been for a walk?

By Jove! you look ripping, Miss Grant! Been enjoying yourself, to judge by the look of you! I wish you would let me come with you; I might have enjoyed myself too. I'm pretty well bored stiff; there's nothing to do here, and the old place is dull as ditch-water; gives me the horrors.

But I say, you'll be late for dinner. Hurry up and come and dine with us, won't you?"

"Thank you, Lord Heyton," said Celia, "but I dine alone in my own little room."

"What nonsense that is!" he said, impatiently. "Here, Miriam"--turning to his wife, as she came languidly down the stairs--"just tell Miss Grant that she's got to dine with us to-night; she'll keep us from going to sleep."

"Won't you?" asked Miriam, listlessly. "I wish you would; I'm sure Lord Sutcombe would like you to."

"Thank you very much," said Celia, as she pa.s.sed on; "but I would rather dine alone. I've a great deal to do to-night and must not waste time over dinner."

"Oh, look here----!" began Heyton; but at the moment the butler advanced with a telegram. Heyton took it and looked at it, and his manner changed instantly. He stared at the telegram; his face growing pale, his teeth closing hard on the cigarette.

"What is it, Percy?" asked Miriam, as Celia pa.s.sed into the library.

"Eh?" he said, with a start, as if waking up. "Oh, nothing! Yes, it is; it's dam bad news, I can tell you."

"Money again!" she said, with an impatient shrug of her shoulders.

"Yes, money; and a lot of it," he retorted. "Look here, Miriam, I'm in a hole, and a precious deep one this time. Hush! Here's the old man!" He broke off warningly, as the Marquess came into the hall.

He looked weary and careworn, and his shoulders drooped in the way that had become habitual with him of late; and he frowned slightly as he glanced at the cigarette between his son's lips; for he disliked its penetrating aroma as much as did Celia. Dinner was announced and they went in; they talked in the desultory fashion which was customary with them, and the Marquess, apparently lost in thought, did not notice Heyton's pallor and the furtive glance which every now and then he directed towards his father. As usual, Heyton did not refuse the butler's offer of wine, and, after awhile, a hectic flush rose to his cheek, and he began to talk with a strained and unnatural gaiety.

Miriam, who had been watching him, presently stretched out her hand towards his gla.s.s with a significant frown; but her husband glared at her and, reaching for the decanter, helped himself. Suddenly, apropos of nothing, Heyton, addressing the Marquess, said:

"Have you noticed that pendant Miriam's wearing?"

The Marquess raised his eyes and smiled at her.

"Very pretty, my dear!" he observed.

"A present from Percy," she said, fingering it. "I'm glad you like it."

"A wedding present," said Heyton, with a sneer. "Not much of a present; but it was the best I could afford. She's pretty enough to deserve a complete fit-out of diamonds, don't you think so?"

The Marquess looked up again, half curiously, as if he wondered whether there were any object in Heyton's remark; his lips moved as if he were about to speak; but he closed them again and his eyes went back to his plate. Miriam rose and went to the drawing-room, and almost immediately afterwards, the Marquess left the table, saying, as he pa.s.sed Heyton,

"That port is rather heavy, Percy; don't drink too much of it."

The weak and vicious face grew red and, with a sneer, Heyton retorted,

"Oh, if you begrudge me a gla.s.s of wine----" But he spoke under his breath, and the Marquess apparently did not hear him.

Heyton finished the decanter and then, with a rather unsteady step, betook himself to the smoking-room, fell into a chair and rang the bell for coffee and cognac. He drank off the brandy, and took the telegram from his pocket. It was still in his hand when Miriam came into the room, closing the door behind her. She stood regarding him in silence for a moment, with the look of the disappointed woman in her eyes. Not for the first time did she realise the folly of her conduct; she had thrown over Derrick Dene for t.i.tle and position; they were hers now, but to get them she had sold herself to a man whom she had learned to despise.

"Phew!" she breathed. "The room reeks of brandy." She went to a window and flung it open. "I should have thought you had had quite enough to drink at dinner----"

"You may keep your thoughts to yourself, my lady," he said, with a scowl. "What I drink is my own business. And, by George! you'd drink, if you had as much on your mind as I have."

"You'd better tell me about it," she said; "you'd better tell me what that telegram means. And--Percy, I want to know why you called your father's attention to my pendant. You had some meaning, some object."

"Oh, you noticed it, did you?" he said, with a sneer. "I would scarcely have given you credit for so much intelligence. Well, I had a meaning. I wanted to call the old man's attention to the fact that you, his daughter-in-law, had only a few trumpery trinkets to wear."

"Do you mean that you wanted him to buy me some, to give me a present?"

she inquired, with a puzzled frown.

"No, not buy you some," he replied slowly, his eyes evading hers.

"There's no need to buy any. I'm thinking of the family diamonds; there's any amount of them already; a tiara, necklaces, bracelets--and, I remember, a string of pearls as good as any in the country. What's the use of them, locked up in the strong room at the bank? Why doesn't he give them to you; they're yours; by right, as you might say."

She seated herself on a chair at a little distance from him and looked at him intently; her face had become flushed at his rough description of the Sutcombe jewels.

"What made you think of them to-night?" she asked.

"I've often thought of them," he answered, evasively.

"But you almost asked Lord Sutcombe to give them to me," she persisted.

"He must have known what you meant; I could see it by his face. But you were foolish, Percy, to think that you'd get them that way."

"What other way of getting them is there?" he asked, sullenly.

"I don't know," she said. "You should have waited."

"Waited!" he repeated, with an oath. "I tell you I want those diamonds; and I must have them, and at once."

"_You_ want them?" she said, as if mystified; then her face grew crimson for an instant, but paled again as she leant forward. "You mean--you can't mean, Percy, that you would _sell_ the diamonds? Oh, I see what that telegram means; you've been betting again! You promised me you wouldn't. But a promise isn't much to you. You've been betting again, and you've lost a great deal of money."

"You've guessed it right the very first time," he said, with an attempt at a laugh; but the sweat had gathered on his forehead and he wiped it away with a shaking hand. "It's Skylark. He was a dead certainty; I got the tip straight from the stable; they must have pulled him; they must have sold me. But I've got to pay up; I've _got_ to. Do you hear? If I can't find the money by Monday week, I shall be posted. I suppose you know what that means?"

"You'll be ruined," she said in a low voice.

"Cut by everybody; chucked out of every club, marked for life. Yes; sounds pretty black, doesn't it?"

"Is there no other way of getting the money?" she asked, wearily.

He shook his head. "If you knew anything at all, you'd know there isn't," he said, sullenly. "The old man has just paid some biggish debts for me. That was what the row was about the other night. He warned me that it was the last I'd have from him for some time, and he'll keep his word. Curse him!"