my head
that you and Mr. Herrick do not quite take to each other--woman's eyes
are rather sharp, you know." But Mr. Carlyon turned this off with a
laugh.

"Oh, we hit it off all right," he replied; "please don't go and take
fancies in your head. He has his innings now, but we got the best of
him this afternoon." Elizabeth's merry answering laugh reached
Malcolm's ears, and made him lose the drift of the vicar's argument.

But he lost it still more, and became increasingly absent-minded, when
a few minutes later he heard her rich, full tones in his favourite
song, "Loving, yet leaving." Mr. Charrington noticed it at last. "The
siren is too much for you, Mr. Herrick," he said pleasantly; "we will
resume our discussion another time," and to this Malcolm cheerfully
assented.

Did Elizabeth perceive the dark figure that glided in at the open
window and settled itself so comfortably in the easy-chair? If she were
conscious of the silent auditor, she made no sign.

Never had her voice been sweeter and truer; never had she sung with
such birdlike clearness, with such abandon and pleasure. Now and then a
whispered word from David made her exchange one song for another, or a
low-toned "bravo" from the same source greeted some special favourite.

Elizabeth was in the mood for singing. She was a creature of moods and
tenses, and would probably have gone on carolling blissfully for
another hour if the vicar had not interrupted them.

"It is getting late, Carlyon, and we may as well walk back together,"
he remarked in his leisurely manner, for being an old bachelor he was
rather precise in his ways. David jumped up at once.

"I will go with you, sir, of course," he replied quickly. Then in a
lower voice, "It is a lovely evening--will you do your lady's mile?" He
spoke so low that Malcolm could only guess at what he said; but
Elizabeth's answer was quite clear and audible.

"No, not to-night; I think I have exerted myself sufficiently. But I
daresay Mr. Herrick and Cedric will go."

And Malcolm, who felt himself dismissed and had no excuse to offer, was
soon plunged into an argument again that lasted all the way to
Rotherwood.

"Betty, did you notice that Mr. Herrick did not want to go?" asked
Dinah, who was always keenly alive to the likes and dislikes of her
neighbours. "It was naughty of you to put him in such a position. How
could he refuse to go when the vicar was waiting for him?"

"I thought a walk would do him go