At this moment, Lady Dimsdale, dressed for travelling, appeared on the terrace. ‘She is going, then. She means to keep her promise,’ said Sir Frederick to himself. He drew a little nearer the group. ‘And must you really and truly leave us this afternoon?’ said Mrs Bowood. ‘Really and truly.’ ‘I am very angry with you.’ ‘I have promised the children to be back in time to go blackberrying with them, so that you will not lose me for long.’ ‘I suppose we shall lose Mr Boyd as soon as you are gone. The house will be too dull for him.’ ‘I have no control over Mr Boyd’s actions,’ answered Lady Dimsdale quietly, as she turned away. ‘Then he has not proposed! O dear! O dear!’ murmured Mrs Bowood. Sir Frederick had seated himself on a rustic chair somewhat apart from the others. He was still uneasy in his mind. ‘He saved Horace’s honour—he saved his life; but he said himself that we are quits.’ ‘Why, this is nothing but rank midsummer madness,’ said the Captain to Lady Dimsdale. ‘But you women never know your minds for two days together. You won’t have been settled down at Bayswater more than a week, before you will want to be off somewhere else. Eh, now?’ ‘Do you know, I think that is quite likely. But I am not leaving you for long. I shall be back again to plague you by the time the leaves begin to turn.’ She looked at her watch. ‘And now my adieux to all of you must be brief. Time, tide, and the express train wait for no one.’ She saw Oscar coming towards her, and she crossed to meet him. ‘The crucial moment,’ said Sir Frederick to himself. ‘How bravely she carries herself!’ Oscar took her hand. For a moment or two they looked into each other’s eyes without speaking. Then Oscar said: ‘You are determined to go—and without affording me a word of explanation?’ ‘I cannot help myself.’ ‘Do you really mean this to be farewell between us?’ ‘Yes—farewell.’ There was a sob in her voice which she could not repress. ‘O my darling!’ ‘Not that word, Oscar—not that!’ ‘And do you really think, Laura, that I am going to allow myself to lose you in this way, without knowing the why or the wherefore? Not so—not so.’ ‘You must, Oscar—you must.’ ‘Give me some reason—give me some explanation of this unaccountable change.’ ‘I cannot. My lips are sealed.’ ‘Very well. I will now say good-bye for a little while; but I shall follow you to London within three days. You are my promised wife, and I shall hold you to your promise, in spite of everything and every one.’ ‘No, Oscar, no—it cannot be—it can never be!’ She glanced up into his eyes. There was a cold, clear, determined look in them, such as she had never seen there before. It was evident that he was terribly in earnest. At this moment Captain Bowood’s landau drove up. The footman descended, and contemplated Lady Dimsdale’s numerous packages with dismay. ‘You needn’t bother about the luggage, George,’ said his master. ‘A man from the station will fetch that.’