, for with all her ignorance of society she had seen too
much of plain human nature to suppose that he was often taken off
his guard as he had been by her: and was she going to expose him
to Yvonne's lacerating raillery? A thousand times no! "I
misunderstood something he said about Val," she continued with
scarcely a break, and falling back on one of those explanations
that deceive the sceptical by their economy of truth. "It was
stupid of me, and awkward for him, so I had to apologize."

"I see. Come, Jack." Yvonne rose to her feet, more like a snake
than ever in her flexibility and swiftness, and held Isabel to
her for a moment, her arm round her young friend's waist. "But
if you pin any more buttonholes into Captain Hyde's coat," the
last low murmur was only for Isabel's ear, "he will infallibly
kiss you: so now you are forewarned and can choose whether or no
you will continue to pay him these little attentions."

Isabel was not disturbed. She had early formed the habit of not
attending to Mrs. Bendish, and she unwound herself without even
changing colour.

"You always remind me of Nettie Hills at the Clowes's lodge," she
retorted. "Mrs. Hills says she's that flighty in the way she
carries on, no one would believe what a good sensible girl she is
under all her nonsense, and walks out with her own young man as
regular as clockwork."

CHAPTER VI

And that evening Val Stafford came to pay his respects to his old
comrade in arms. Lawrence had travelled so much that it never
took him long to settle down. Even at Wanhope he managed within
a few hours to make himself at home. A trap sent over to
Countisford brought back his manservant and an effeminate
quantity of luggage, and by teatime his room was strewn from end
to end with a litter of expensive trifles more proper to a pretty
woman than to a man. Mrs. Clowes, slipping in to cast a
housewifely glance to his comfort, held up her hands in mock
dismay. "You must give yourself plenty of time to dust all this
tomorrow morning, Caroline," she said to the house-maid. She
laughed at the gold brushes and gold manicure set, the polished
array of boots, the fine silk and linen laid out on his bed, the
perfume of sandalwood and Russian leather and eau de cologne.
"And I hope you will be able to make Captain Hyde's valet
comfortable. Did he say whether he liked his room?"

"I reelly don't know, ma'am," replied the truthful Caroline.
"You see he's a