and--"

"Plenty of opportunities ahead in which to say them. To-night will not
be your only meeting. Take my arm, Peggy," said Rob sternly; and Peggy
gasped and took it, and marched away meek and blushing, conscious to the
very curls on her neck of the amazed disgust with which Hector watched
her retreat.

Outside, in the corridor, her eyes met Rob's, and she made a little
grimace of alarm.

"_Now_ you have done it! How furious he looked!"

"Serve him right," said Rob lightly. "And I'll do it again the very
next time he comes interfering between you and me! There are some
things, Mariquita, that a fellow can _not_ be expected to stand!"

Peggy gave a happy little trill of laughter. After all, there were some
good points about being grown-up. At that moment she had no hankering
whatever for the days of pigtails and pinafores!

CHAPTER NINE.

Rob went back to The Larches next day, faithful to a decision expressed
to Peggy at the reception.

"I have seen you now, Peg," he said, "and have gratified my curiosity,
so I shall go back to my work and the country, until such time as you
deign to shed the light of your presence upon us. It's no use staying
here, for you will be up to your ears in engagements all day long, and
I'm never fit to speak to in London, in any case. I hate and detest the
place, and feel in an abominable rage the whole time I am here."

"How strange--and I love it! I made father take me for a drive on the
top of a City omnibus the other day, and it was just thrilling. I love
the roar and rush and bustle, and the feeling that one is in the very
centre of the world, and that inside those big bare buildings, and among
those jostling crowds, the greatest men in the world are at work, making
literature--making kingdoms--making history! I look at the different
people as they pass, and wonder who they are, and what they are doing
and feeling and thinking. It's like a big, wonderful puzzle, which one
will never, never be able to solve, but which keeps one enthralled and
wondering all the same."

Rob's dark face softened tenderly as he looked at the little figure
sitting so erect by his side, with the flush of excitement on her
cheeks, and her young eyes aglow with enthusiasm.

"Or a story-book?" he said gently. "You used always to compare life to
a story-book, Peggy, and comfort yourself in tribulation by the
reflection that it would all work out right in the third volume. Well,
_