Daniel could not meet it; he flinched. “He’s quite well,” he said thickly, “he’s in New York now, I think. He was to sail on the _Britannic_. She ought to be in.” “Oh!” Virginia’s exclamation was involuntary, but it died in her throat. What could it mean? No letter and William in New York? Then suddenly she colored with happiness, her heart beating wildly. Of course! She understood it now; it accounted for the silence, too. She leaned forward, her clasped hands on her knees, her eyes--beautiful and soft and caressing--dwelling upon the unhappy Daniel. “I know--he means to surprise me!” she cried. “Dan, you shouldn’t have told.” Daniel experienced a feeling of dissolution. He withdrew his hand from the wagonette, and leaned heavily on his cane. To let her think this, and to-morrow----! “I--I don’t think that’s just the idea, Virginia,” he said gravely. She met his eyes, still radiant; then, slowly, reluctantly, the light faded from hers, and the color receded from her cheeks, even from her lips. She gasped. Then she glanced around at the stout, unmoved back of George Washington Lucas. To her aroused perception even his ears seemed to move, and she was heavily aware that the nigh horse was stamping an impatient foot, troubled by an insistent fly. She moved nearer to the end of the wagonette and bent over Daniel, her eyes fixed on his face again. “Did--did he speak of me, Dan?” she asked in a low voice. Daniel swallowed the lump in his throat. “I--I don’t know--I didn’t see the letter.” She drew back, blushing as quickly as she had paled. With an odd little groping gesture she put up her hand and pulled at the pink bow under her chin. Then she laughed, and the sound of her laughter hurt him like a blow. “I’m keeping you,” she said lightly. “Give my love to your mother. I’m sorry you won’t come with me. Drive on, Lucas.” Daniel stood back, bare-headed, following her with his eyes, his heart in a tumult. He felt as if he had struck her, and yet he had not told her the worst. As the old horses started, Virginia remembered him. She looked back and waved her hand. “Goodbye!” she called to him, and, after a moment: “Good luck!”