e always asked the same question: "What was the
use of having the things at all, if nobody came to see them?" So the
entire neighbourhood was invited, and frequently it rained, inevitably
the wind blew from the east, and the guests made scant work of the
bulbs, and huddled in the house, partaking of lengthy teas. Cassandra
hated all garden parties, and spring parties most of all, but this
morning the prospect seemed less distasteful. She would no longer know
the feeling of loneliness in a crowd, she would have friends of her own,
whose presence would transform the scene. In imagination she summoned
them before her--Grizel, with her radiant smile, and merry, chattering
tongue; Peignton, his head bending forward from the slightly bowed back,
his eyes fixed upon her, with their questioning look, the look that said
so plainly: "I am waiting. Give me your orders, and I obey!" Some men
had that expression; it meant nothing, of course, but it had charm.
Decidedly it had charm. It would help her through the formalities of
entertaining, to feel in the distance that waiting glance.

Cassandra turned and saw her husband ascending the stone steps of the
terrace. He had entered the grounds by a side gate, and made his way
across the path. His cap was pushed back from his brow, his brown face
showed the flush of heat, his eyes looked astonishingly blue and clear.
There was a metallic quality about those eyes which, taken in
conjunction with the strong white teeth, gave a somewhat fierce
expression to the face, but to-day he was smiling, and an air of
complaisance and satisfaction pervaded the whole figure. Cassandra
smiled in response. It seemed fitting that to-day everyone should feel
happy. She stood waiting for his approach, and together they paced
slowly onward.

"Isn't it lovely? I've been out over an hour. A perfect spring day!"

"Mating time, eh?" said the Squire with a laugh. "`In the Spring a
young man's fancy...' Well! it seems it is true. I've just been
hearing news. You haven't heard? I thought perhaps they would ring you
up."

"No," said Cassandra blankly. "No." She stared uncomprehendingly in
her husband's face, and suddenly her heart gave a queer unexpected
little thud, and her pulses quickened their beat. "Who did you expect
would ring me up?"

"Oh, either of them. Or both. They're at the stage when they'll want
to do everything in pairs. And they know you'll be interested."

"Couldn't