kspur--did you ever see such a satisfying blue?"

"I have. The first time I came to your house to dinner you wore blue,
the softest, richest blue imaginable, and you sat where the shaded light
made a picture of you I shall never forget. I've never seen that
peculiar blue since without thinking of you. It's one of the shades of
that larkspur, isn't it?"

"I made fun of you, afterward, for telling Rosy you noticed the colours
we wore," confessed Roberta, with a mischievous glance.

"You did--you rascal! Look up at me a minute--please. The blue of your
eyes, with those black lashes, is another larkspur shade, in this light.
I've called it sea-blue. Rob--dearest--the nights I've dreamed about
those eyes of yours!"

He got no further chance to observe them just then, as he might have
expected, for Roberta immediately turned their light on the garden and
away from his worshipful regard. She engaged the old gardener in
conversation, and made his dull gaze brighten with her praise. Meanwhile
Richard went off to the house, and presently returning, drew his party
into a group and put a question, striving to maintain an appearance of
indifference.

"It occurred to me you might care to look into the house itself. It's
rather interesting inside, I believe. There seems to be a caretaker
there, and she says we may come in. She'll meet us at the front. Shall
we take a minute to do it?"

"I should like it very much," agreed Roberta promptly. "I've heard
mother speak of the fine old hall with its staircase--a different type
from ours, and very interesting."

"There certainly is a remarkable attraction to me in this place," said
Matthew Kendrick, walking beside Roberta with hands clasped behind his
back and head well up. "It has a homelike look, in spite of its deserted
state, which appeals to me. I wonder that the remnant of the family does
not care to retain it."

"I hear the remnant is all but gone," his grandson informed him, with
sober lips but dancing eyes. He was delighted with his grandfather for
his assistance in playing the part of the casual observer. He led the
way up the steps of the white-pillared portico, and wheeled to see the
others ascending. He watched Roberta as she preceded him over the
threshold of the opened door.

"Shall I see you coming in that door, you beautiful thing, years and
years from now?" he asked her in his heart, and smiled happily to
himself.

And now, indeed, old Matthew Kendrick played h