CHAPTER XIII.
'ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL.'
When the turmoil and the hideous danger was over, it was very sweet
for these two lovers to sit alone and talk about the past. She had
received his letter, and marvelled what he meant when he spoke of
being detained in some place 'so near and yet so far.'
'Did you, my darling,' he asked her, as he held her hand, with its
crooked little finger--which small deformity I always take as a sign
of gentle blood--in his, 'care for me on that day that separated us
for all this bitter time?'
She put down her head, and looked at him very archly.
'Well, I don't care, my beloved, what you say in answer, but do you
think you love me now?'
For answer, she put her beautiful head upon his breast. I do not
know what they said, but when they stood up--she to answer the door
bell, for the servant was out--they were engaged; and she had his
ring upon her finger.
He was at Aster's own house, sitting with her during the anxious
hours of her father's illness. The shock of the abduction had
actually over-set his reason; and it was not till he saw his daughter
standing over his bed, and felt her hand in his, that consciousness
came back.
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