With a sudden exclamation Lisbeth started from me and gathered up her skirts to run.
"Reginald," I said solemnly, "listen to me; you must sally out upon him with lance in rest, tell him you are a Knight-errant, wishful to uphold the glory of that faire ladye, your Auntie Lisbeth, and, whatever happens, you must manage to keep him away from here. Do you understand?"
"Yes; only I do wish I'd brought my trusty sword, you know," he sighed.
"Then fare thee well!" said he, and, with a melodramatic flourish of his lance, trotted off.
"Probably this," I answered, slipping it around her again.
"But you must get away at once," whispered Lisbeth; "if Mr. Selwyn should see you----"
"I intend that he shall. Oh, it will be quite simple; while he is talking to me you can get back to the----"
"Hush!" she whispered, laying her fingers on my lips; "listen!"
"Hallo, Mr. Selwyn!" came in the Imp's familiar tones.
"Why, good gracious!" exclaimed another voice, much too near to be pleasant, "what on earth are you doing here--and at this time of night?"
"Don't you know that all little boys--all nice little boys--should have been in bed hours ago?"
"But I'm not a nice little boy; I'm a Knight-errant; would you like to get a lance, Mr. Selwyn, an' break it with me to the glory of my Auntie Lisbeth?"
"The question is, what has become of her?" said Mr. Selwyn. We waited almost breathlessly for the answer.
"Oh! I 'specks she's somewhere looking at the moon; everybody looks at the moon, you know; Betty does, an' the lady with the man with a funny name 'bout being bald, an'----"
"I think you had better come up to the house," said Mr. Selwyn.
"Do you think you could get me an ice-cream if I did?" asked the Imp persuasively; "nice an' pink, you know, with----"
"An ice!" repeated Mr. Selwyn; "I wonder how many you have had already to-night?"
"Lisbeth," I said, "we must go; such happiness as this could not last; how should it? I think it is given us to dream over in less happy days. For me it will be a memory to treasure always, and yet there might be one thing more--a little thing, Lisbeth--can you guess?" She did not speak, but I saw the dimple come and go at the corner of her mouth, so I stooped and kissed her. For a moment, all too brief, we stood thus, with the glory of the moonlight about us; then I was hurrying across the lawn after Selwyn and the Imp.