gued
and discouraged.

"But we could not expect to find what we wanted the very first day,"
Peggy reminded herself cheerily. "Besides, Mellicent is coming! That
is quite enough happiness for one day. In two more hours she will be
here. I'll go downstairs at five o'clock, and wait for her in the
hall."

When five o'clock arrived, however, a brother officer came to call upon
Colonel Saville, and Peggy was delayed several minutes longer than she
intended, so that when she repaired downstairs it was a little past the
hour when Mellicent was due. It was quite likely that the train had
been behind time, or that difficulties in getting luggage put on a cab
might have delayed her arrival, and Peggy devoutly hoped that this had
been the case, so that she might still be in time to give a friendly
welcome. The hall was, as usual, crowded with visitors. An American
contingent chatted merrily together in one corner; a French marquise
stared around through a gold-rimmed lorgnette; and the usual array of
family parties lolled on ottomans and sofas, scrutinising the passers-
by, and exchanging whispered criticisms, which were neither so
complimentary nor so subdued as might have been desired. A stout lady
and two slim daughters, looking more like fashion-plates than Peggy
could have believed it possible for any human creatures to do, stood
discussing a knotty point together in the centre of the floor, their
voluminous skirts shutting out the view beyond.

Peggy made a _detour_ to the side, caught sight of a broad, blue serge
back, looking broader than ever from contrast with sylph-like forms, a
coil of yellow hair beneath a sailor hat, and the side of a crimson
cheek. Mellicent! Of course it was Mellicent! There she stood, the
poor dear thing, a statue of misery in the midst of the fashionable
crowd, a roll of shawls clutched in one hand, her dress thick with dust,
and her hair blown into disorder. The critics on the benches sniggered
and whispered to one another, and the French marquise examined her
through the lorgnette with unconcealed amaze; but at the sight of the
familiar figure Peggy's heart leapt within her, for she saw again the
ivy-covered vicarage, and the shabby, sunny schoolroom in which she had
spent such happy days. A hand clutched Mellicent's arm in ecstatic
grasp, and a tremulous voice spoke in her ear.

"Mellicent, _darling_! Is it really you?"

"Oh, my goodness, Peggy, have you come at last? Nobo