"So when Ralph comes back you'll be--kind to him, Penny? You'll give him the answer he wants?"
Penelope's face was hidden by a curtain of dark hair. After a moment an affirmative came softly from behind the curtain.
With a sudden impulse Nan threw her arms round her and kissed her.
"Oh, Penny! Penny! I do hope you'll be _very_ happy!" she exclaimed in a stifled voice. Then slipped from the room like a shadow--very noiselessly and swiftly--to lie on her bed hour after hour staring up into the blackness with wide, tearless eyes until sheer bodily exhaustion conquered the tortured spirit which could find neither rest nor comfort, and at last she slept.
Except for one of Trenby's frequent telephone calls, enquiring as to Nan's progress, Saturday passed uneventfully enough until the evening. Then, through the clear summer dusk Kitty discerned the Mallow car returning from the station whither it had been sent to meet Ralph's train.
Hurrying down the drive, she saw Ralph lean forward and speak to the chauffeur who slowed down to a standstill, while he himself sprang out and came eagerly to her side.
"You angelic woman!" he exclaimed fervently. "How did you manage it? Will she--will she really--"
"I think she will," answered Kitty, smiling. "So you needn't worry. But I'm not the _dea ex machina_ to whom you owe the 'happy ending.' Nan managed it--in some incomprehensible way of her own."
"Then blessed be Nan!" said Ralph piously, as he opened the door of the car for her to enter. Two minutes' further driving brought them to the house.
Following his hostess's instructions, Ralph remained outside, and as Kitty entered the great hall, alone, a white-clad figure suddenly made as though to escape by a further door.
"Come back, Penny," called Kitty, a hint of kindly mischief in her voice. "You'll just get half an hour to yourselves before the dressing-bell rings. Afterwards we shall expect to see you both, clothed and in your right minds, at dinner."
The still look of happiness that had dwelt all day in Penelope's eyes woke suddenly into radiance, just as you may watch the calm surface of the sea, when the tide is at its full, break into a hundred sparkling ripples at the vivifying touch of a wandering breeze.