o well; I was a girl at the time,
about fourteen--`d'ye see that row of gooseberry bushes?' he said. `Dig
'em all up, and plant 'em back again head downward.' `Very good, sir,'
said the man. At lunch time there they were--poor things! roots
sticking up in the air--you never saw such a sight--obliged to laugh,
you know, obliged to laugh, though daren't show it. `You're the man for
me,' said my father. `There's a shilling for you; go and get a drink.'
My mother was an abstainer, but he would never join. A pity, but men,
my dear, men, can't be coerced--!"

"Piers," said Mrs Rendall coldly, "return thanks."

In the face of such an interruption Miggles was perforce reduced to
silence, and the luncheon party broke up. Coffee was served in the
drawing-room, and Vanna mentally resolved to plead fatigue as an excuse
for spending the next two hours with the old ladies; but she was not
allowed to carry her plan into execution.

"I want to take you the round of our little estate, Miss Strangeways,"
Piers announced when the coffee-cups had been put aside. "Jean knows it
of old, but we always seize the opportunity of showing it to strangers.
I won't ask you to come with us, Miggles, for the paths are distinctly
rough, and you will be more comfortable sitting quietly on the verandah
with mother. What sort of heels are you wearing this afternoon, Jean?"

"Flat, ugly, English! I have too much sense of fitness to sport `Louis
quinze' in country roads; but why do English bootmakers set their faces
so sternly against insteps? I'm never comfortable out of a French
shoe," said Jean with a sigh.

She slid her hand through Vanna's arm with an affectionate pressure
which was intended to show her agreement in Piers's invitation, and the
three young people walked across the lawn, leaving the old ladies seated
in their low cane chairs.

"Sleep sweetly--and dream of bulbs!" quoth Jean, peering at them over
her shoulder. "Piers, I don't want to grow old. It doesn't seem
possible that a time can _ever_ come when I shall be content to wear
cashmere boots and sleep on a verandah while other people play in the
sun. Do you believe that I shall really grow old?"

Piers Rendall looked at her and his lips twitched, but his eyes did not
soften--the hard brilliancy, which was their chief characteristic,
became if anything a trifle more accentuated. It was a curious look for
a man to cast at a girl with whom he was in love. _Was_ he in l