and the only glimpse she had of him was a very far
one, so far that she knew him only by the magnificence of his physique as
he descended the mountain-side as one borne upon wings.

She recalled the brief conversation that the brothers had held in her
hearing the night before, and marvelled at the memory of Scott's attitude
towards him.

"He isn't a bit afraid of him," she reflected. "In fact he behaves
exactly as if he were the bigger of the two."

This phenomenon puzzled her very considerably, for Scott was wholly
lacking in the pomposity that characterizes many little men. She wondered
what had been the subject of their discussion. It had been connected with
Isabel, she felt sure. She was glad to think that she had Scott to
protect her, for there was something of tyranny about the elder brother
from which she shrank instinctively, his magnetism notwithstanding, and
the thought of poor, tragic Isabel being coerced by it was intolerable.

The memory of the latter's resolution to make the acquaintance of the de
Vignes recurred to her as she and Billy returned for luncheon. Would she
carry it out? She wondered. The look that Scott had flung at the old
nurse dwelt in her mind. It would evidently be an extraordinary move if
she did.

They reached the hotel, Rose and another girl had just come up from the
rink together. A little knot of people were gathered on the verandah.
Dinah and Billy kept behind Rose and her companion; but in a moment Dinah
heard her name.

The group parted, and she saw Isabel Everard, very tall and stately in a
deep purple coat, standing with Lady Grace de Vigne.

Billy gave her a push. "Go on! They're calling you."

And Dinah found the strange sad eyes upon her, alight with a smile of
welcome. She went forward impetuously, and in a moment Isabel's cold
hands were clasped upon her warm ones.

"I have been waiting for you, dear child," the low voice said. "What have
you been doing?"

Dinah suddenly felt as if she were standing in the presence of a
princess. Isabel in public bore herself with a haughtiness fully equal to
that displayed by Sir Eustace, and she knew that Lady Grace was impressed
by it.

"I would have come back sooner if I had known," she said, closely holding
the long, slender fingers.

"My dear, you are woefully untidy now you have come," murmured Lady
Grace.

But Isabel gently freed one hand to put her arm about the girl. "To me
she is--just right," she said, and in h