To her within the last few hours had come knowledge, a wonderful knowledge, knowledge that brought with it a strange fear and yet a great joy. She knew that she was to fulfil her woman’s destiny. At first she had been inclined to question that knowledge, to doubt it, then she had waived doubts aside. It was to be! and why should it not be? She asked herself, was she glad? Was she sorry? She could find no answer at first, just at first her one thought was "fear." But it passed quickly and in its place came pride—pride and joy.
Glad—yes, she was glad—her eyes were bright with the joy that had come to her, there was a smile on her lips, and yet about that smile there was a shade of melancholy and sadness and a little too of the wistfulness of hunger. For strangely, of the one knowledge, had been born another.
She had come to understand something which she had been faintly conscious of for a long while past, something that she had thought of perhaps yesterday when she had stood beside the pool, listening to Harold Scarsdale.
That other knowledge that she had gained made her understand now why that parting with Scarsdale had cost her so little anguish, so small a heartache. She had pitied him, yet not herself, and then she had not known why this should be, yet she knew it now.
And so, after ten years dreaming, she had awakened to find that the dream was but a dream after all.
Presently into the garden came two who walked side by side, the one tall and upright and strong, the other a hale and hearty man, yet lacking the spring of youth in his sure steps. She watched them and there came into her eyes a new light, a light born of wonderful tenderness, into her fair cheeks came a faint colour.
She saw the younger put his arm about the elder’s shoulder. How they loved one another, those two, father and son.
"I want to tell him, I want him to know and yet—yet I dare not tell him!" she thought. "Still, oh I want him to know! I wonder, will he be glad and proud, proud as I am? Or will he—be sorry?" Her head sank a little. "He would be proud and glad if he loved me——"
It seemed almost as if from her brain there fled a message to his, for he turned, he looked up at her and smiled.
And the sunshine was on his brown honest face and in his clear eyes. He could only see the smile she had for him, he could not read at this distance the message in her eyes, a new message, one that they had never sent to him before, a message of a newly found yet great and sure and strong love.