oped down to the
gentle lake, silenced criticism. For a time it was supremely satisfying
to do nothing. Pettingill wandered about as though he could not believe
it was real. He was lost in a kind of atmosphere of ecstasy. To the
others, who took it more calmly, it was still a sort of paradise. Those
who were happy found in it an intensification of happiness, and to
those who were sad it offered the tenderest opportunities for
melancholy. Mrs. Dan told Brewster that only a poet could have had this
inspiration. And Peggy added, "Anything after this would be an
anti-climax. Really, Monty, you would better take us home."

"I feel like the boy who was shut in a closet for punishment and found
it the place where they kept the jam," said "Subway." "It is almost as
good as owning Central Park."

The stables were well equipped and the days wore on in a wonderful
peace. It was on a radiant afternoon, when twelve of the crowd had
started out, after tea, for a long ride toward Lugano, that Monty
determined to call Peggy Gray to account. He was certain that she had
deliberately avoided him for days and weeks, and he could find no
reason for it. Hour after hour he had lain awake wondering where he had
failed her, but the conclusion of one moment was rejected the next. The
Monte Carlo episode seemed the most plausible cause, yet even before
that he had noticed that whenever he approached her she managed to be
talking with some one else. Two or three times he was sure she had seen
his intention before she took refuge with Mrs. Dan or Mary Valentine or
Pettingill. The thought of the last name gave Monty a sudden thrill.
What if it were he who had come between them? It troubled him, but
there were moments when the idea seemed impossible. As they mounted and
started off, the exhilaration of the ride made him hopeful. They were
to have dinner in the open air in the shadow of an abbey ruin some
miles away, and the servants had been sent ahead to prepare it. It went
well, and with Mrs. Dan's help the dinner was made gay. On the return
Monty who was off last spurred up his horse to join Peggy. She seemed
eager to be with the rest and he lost no time with a preamble.

"Do you know, Peggy," he began, "something seems to be wrong, and I am
wondering what it is."

"Why, what do you mean, Monty?" as he paused.

"Every time I come near you, child, you seem to have something else to
do. If I join the group you are in, it is the signal for you t