"You are thinking of--THAT," she cried, "and I am thinking of it.
And we will go on, thinking of it at intervals for the rest
of our lives. But if you ever mention it to me I'll never
forgive you, Romney Penhallow!"
"I never will," Romney promised. There was more than a suspicion of
laughter in his voice this time, but Lucinda did not choose to resent it.
She did not speak again until they reached the Grange gate.
Then she faced him solemnly.
"It was a case of atavism," she said. "Old Grandfather Gordon
was to blame for it."
At the Grange almost everybody was in bed. What with the guests
straggling home at intervals and hurrying sleepily off to their rooms,
nobody had missed Lucinda, each set supposing she was with some
other set. Mrs. Frederick, Mrs. Nathaniel and Mrs. George alone
were up. The perennially chilly Mrs. Nathaniel had kindled a fire
of chips in the blue room grate to warm her feet before retiring,
and the three women were discussing the wedding in subdued tones
when the door opened and the stately form of Lucinda, stately even
in the dragged voile, appeared, with the damp Romney behind her.
"Lucinda Penhallow!" gasped they, one and all.
"I was left to walk home," said Lucinda coolly.
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