m
to The Beeches.

"I wonder if she's at home," he said to himself, "and if she is, I
wonder if she'll see me?"

There could be no doubt that Radford Leicester was untrue to the creed
which he had so often professed. "Nothing is worth while," he had
answered many times, when he was asked why he did not take life
seriously. But he was serious now. His eyes shone with the light of
expectancy and of determination. He did not notice the country through
which the cab was passing. He did not realise that, instead of busy
streets and tall buildings, there were lanes and quiet meadows. He did
not notice that the speculating builder had not been allowed to ruin a
pleasant neighbourhood, and that although he was not many miles distant
from the heart of London, the district was suggestive of a country
village. Yet so it was. John Castlemaine owned all the land around, and
he had kept the speculating builder at bay. It is true he had built many
workmen's cottages--cottages which reflected credit alike upon his heart
and upon his artistic tastes, but long rows of jerry-built ugliness
were nowhere visible, and the countryside retained the sweet rusticity
of a purely rural district.

The Beeches was a fine old mansion standing far back in its own grounds,
and surrounded by a number of large old trees, which gave the house its
name. Once inside the lodge gates, it was difficult to believe that
London, with its surging life, lay in the near distance. An atmosphere
of restfulness and repose reigned, only disturbed by the passing of the
trains, which ran a little more than a mile away from John Castlemaine's
house.

While Radford Leicester was passing along the quiet road he took no
notice of his surroundings, but once inside the lodge gates he seemed to
realise where he was. He had been to the house twice before, but he had
not noticed the grounds. Indeed, he had had no opportunity. Night had
fallen before he came, and as he had left at midnight, it was impossible
to see anything. Now, however, all was different. It was true the time
was late autumn, and many of the trees were denuded of leaves; but the
sun shone brilliantly, and the autumn flowers gleamed in the sunlight.
He noticed, too, the air of stately repose which characterised the
house; he was impressed by the extensive lawns, and the gnarled old
trees which dotted the park. Here was no tawdry, ornamented dwelling of
the _nouveau riche_; it was the solid, substantial dwelli