"You're quite a stranger, Mr. Lumsden," she began; "surely you've been out of town. Wise man! If I could only leave these terrible fogs and bitter winds!"
"Delicious, so Nancy says. Dear child, this trip is doing her a world of good. She writes such bright, happy letters; and indeed--you are an old friend of hers, Mr. Lumsden, and there is no harm in telling you--I think, from what Lady Forsyth has told me, that our dear child has found her fate. I know nothing definite, but one can read between the lines."
"Quite so," said Lumsden, with praiseworthy gravity, "Miss Nancy is looking very blooming, I assure you, and we have had a delightful trip. I found that a short holiday was quite necessary for my health, and, oddly enough, I just hit off the _Orotava_ at Gibraltar. That overland service is very useful. So I thought I would come in and let you know how Nancy was."
There was a moment's tense silence, during which they looked at each other steadily, Lumsden with a touch of cold mirth twinkling in his handsome eyes.
"Well?" she said, with a half-mocking smile, while a great triumph swelled within her.
"Well, shall I tell you how Nancy found her fate--and I mine? But that is a stale story. I found mine long ago, but somehow I never quite realised it till----"
"Ah! Well, Ted--I suppose I may call you Ted?--of course you must speak to Colonel Bladon. For myself, Nancy must always please herself, and her choice is mine. Now I can see how delightful the voyage must have been to you both. You are very clever, Ted."
"Is all the credit mine, Mrs. Bladon? I fancy not. Perhaps I may see Colonel Bladon and ask you for a cup of tea."
To Colonel Bladon the whole thing seemed inexplicable.
"You sent the child away from the fellow," he said, sleepily, after Lumsden had left, "and now that they have fallen into each other's arms you are delighted. The inconsistencies of woman! Their name is legion."
"How dense you are, Roger! Don't you see that things might have hung fire if it hadn't been for that trip abroad?"
Colonel Bladon sat up and looked at his wife.
[Illustration: THE START--HOW THE AMERICAN ENGINE LOOKED AT 7 A.M.]
AN ENGINE MATCH BETWEEN ENGLAND AND AMERICA.
That anomalous principle, friendly rivalry, which exists between the various railway companies of the world, is responsible for many extraordinary performances.