behind to give an
order to Li Koo. And she went to the edge of the verandah and shaded her
eyes and called, "Gurls! Gurls! I guess you can do all that talking
better after lunch."

He then saw that down at the bottom of the garden, in the most private
place as regards being overheard, partly concealed by some arum lilies
that grew immensely there like splendid weeds, stood the twins facing
each other.

"Better leave them alone," he said quickly. "They'll come when they're
ready. There's nothing like getting through with one's talking right
away, Mrs. Bilton. Besides," he went on still more quickly for she
plainly didn't agree with him and was preparing to sally out into the
sun and fetch them in, "you and I don't often get a chance of a quiet
chat together--"

And this, combined with the resolute way he was holding her chair ready
for her, brought Mrs. Bilton back under the awning again.

She was flattered. Mr. Twist had not yet spoken to her in quite that
tone. He had always been the gentleman, but never yet the eager
gentleman. Now he was unmistakably both.

She came back and sat down, and so with a sigh of thankfulness
immediately did he, for here was an unexpected respite,--while Mrs.
Bilton talked he could think. Fortunately she never noticed if one
wasn't listening. For the first time since he had known her he gave
himself up willingly to the great broad stream that at once started
flowing over him, on this occasion with something of the comfort of
warm water, and he was very glad indeed that anyhow that day she wasn't
gagged.

While he ate, he kept on furtively looking down the garden at the two
figures facing each other by the arum lilies. Whenever Mrs. Bilton
remembered them and wanted to call them in, as she did at the different
stages, of the meal,--at the salad, at the pudding--he stopped her. She
became more and more pleased by his evident determination to lunch alone
with her, for after all one remains female to the end, and her
conversation took on a gradual tinge of Mr. Bilton's views about second
marriages. They had been liberal views; for Mr. Bilton, she said, had
had no post-mortem pettiness about him, but they were lost on Mr. Twist,
whose thoughts were so painfully preoccupied by first marriage.

The conclusions he came to during that trying meal while Mrs. Bilton
talked, were that he would propose first to Anna-Rose, she being the
eldest and such a course being accordingly natural, and, if