He crossed over to her. "Excuse me," he said gently. "I am a friend of Mr. Esmond's. How is it you are alone? Did your companions desert you?"
"Colonel Desmond took my cousin, and told me to keep close behind them. when I got up, my limbs seemed unable to move. I feel as if I were paralysed."
He took her arm and put it through his. It was evident she had been rendered immobile by terror.
"I will take care of you," he said soothingly. "Downstairs you will be quite safe. But we will let this crowd get through first."
Tommy Esmond came bustling up, all anxiety. Truth to tell, he did not feel over brave, but his anxiety for himself was lost in the contemplation of her white face and stricken eyes.
Slowly, cheered by the presence of the two men, a little colour flowed back into her cheeks, and she smiled wanly.
"I am a fearful coward," she explained. "I go all to pieces in even the mildest thunderstorm."
And it was in this wise, amid the crash of falling bombs, and the roar and clamour of our own guns, that Guy Spencer made the acquaintance of Stella Keane.
|They found shelter in one of the big cellars of the Restaurant, and Miss Keane by degrees got back some of her courage. There were about twenty other persons in the same refuge, and she probably derived fortitude from their temporary companionship, and common danger. Tommy Esmond recovered himself very quickly, and hastened to observe the conventions.
"It is a queer time and place in which to make introductions," he remarked genially. "But even in times of peril, one should preserve the usages of good society. I don't suppose you know the name of your gallant rescuer. Let me make you known, in a formal fashion. Mr. Spencer--Miss Keane."
The beautiful Stella bowed her dark head, and the ghost of a smile flitted over her still pale face.
"I know Mr. Spencer very well by sight. When I have recovered my wits, I will thank him properly and prettily. Perhaps he will come and see us at my cousin's flat."
"I was bringing him on there to-night, as a matter of fact," explained Esmond. "But I presume all that is knocked on the head, even supposing we get out of this disgusting hole in reasonable time. Mrs. L'Estrange won't be in a mood to receive visitors, after this disquieting experience, I am sure."