He found Cicely just as she stooped over the lettuce bed. She rose with a
face like a peach blossom.
"I have a letter from Miriam," he said, "I will give it to you presently,
and you may read the whole of it, but I must first tell you that she,
with Mrs. Bannister and Dora, are coming home to-day. They will reach
Thorbury late this afternoon. Isn't that glorious?"
All the delicate hues of the peach blossom went out of Cicely's face.
That everlasting person had come up again, and now he called her Dora,
and it was glorious to have her back! She did not have to say anything,
for Ralph went rapidly on.
"But before they leave Barport," he said, "I want to send Miriam a
telegram. If Mike takes it immediately to Thorbury, she will get it
before her train leaves."
"A telegram!" exclaimed Cicely, but she did not look up at him.
"Yes," said he; "I want to telegraph to Miriam that you and I are
engaged to be married. I want her to know it before she gets here. Shall
I send it?"
She raised to him a face more brightly hued than any peach
blossom--rich with the color of the ripe fruit.
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