f the girl took his breath away. She, too, was
utterly taken by surprise, and forgot herself.

"Stephen!" she exclaimed, taking a quick step towards him.

"You! You here!" he answered.

It was quite enough! But what puzzled Letty was that Wilhelmina did not
seem in the least angry. There was a strange look on her face as she
looked from one to the other. Something had sprung into her eyes which
seemed to transform her. Her voice, too, had lost all its hardness.

"How do you do, Mr. Hurd?" she said. "I hope you have come to explain
how you dared let this child lose her train last night."

"I--really I--it was quite a mistake," he faltered, darting an angry
glance at Letty.

"You had supper with her," Wilhelmina said, "and you knew what time the
train went."

"She met some other friends," Stephen answered. "She left me."

Wilhelmina smiled. She had found out all that she wanted to know.

"Well," she said, "I won't inquire too closely into it this time, only I
hope that nothing of the sort will occur again. You had better have
lunch with Mrs. Brown in the housekeeper's room, Letty, and I'll send
you over to St. Pancras for the four o'clock train. I'll give you a
letter to your mother this time, but mind, no more foolishness of this
sort."

The girl tried to stammer out her thanks, but she was almost incoherent.
Wilhelmina dismissed her with a smile. Her manner was distinctly colder
when she turned to Hurd.

"Mr. Hurd," she said, "I hope you will understand me when I say that I
do not care to have my agent, or any one connected with the estate, play
the Don Juan amongst my tenants' daughters."

He flushed up to the eyes.

"It was idiotic of me," he admitted frankly. "I simply meant to give the
child a good time."

"She is quite pretty in her way," Wilhelmina said, "and her parents, I
believe, are most respectable people. You were perhaps thinking of
settling down?"

He looked at her in amazement.

"What, with Letty Foulton!" he exclaimed.

"Why not?" she asked.

He drew a breath through his teeth. He could scarcely trust himself to
speak for anger.

"You--are not serious?" he permitted himself to ask.

"Why not?" she demanded.

Hurd struggled to express himself with dignity.

"I should not consider such a marriage a suitable one, even if I were
thinking of marrying at all," he said.

She raised her eyebrows.

"No? Well, I suppose you know best," she said carelessly. "Is there
anything fresh