I can only
wish you all success with any new venture you may make--and assure you
always of my deep respect."
And, calmly putting the ring in his pocket, he turned round and slowly
left the room--when, meeting Arabella upon the stairs, she was startled
to see him shaking with sardonic laughter.
"Good-night, and good-by, dear Miss Clinker," he said; "I am glad to
have had this opportunity of thanking you again and again for your sweet
goodness to me when I was ill; it was something which I shall never
forget."
"Oh, Mr. Derringham!" said Arabella, "you haven't parted from Mrs.
Cricklander, have you?" But she saw from his laughing eyes that he had,
and, before she was aware of it, good, honest soul, she had blurted out:
"Oh, I'm so glad!"
Then they shook hands heartily, to hide her dreadful confusion, and John
Derringham went on to his rooms at the Britannia, where he was staying,
with nothing but a mad, wild joy in his heart.
What did Cecilia Cricklander's insults matter? What did anything on
earth matter? He was free to go and seek his beloved one--and have every
sorrow healed as he held her to his heart.
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