gain his voice was not loud any longer, but cuttingly cold and
severe.

"Will you kindly come here and unloose my chair; I refuse to be kept a
prisoner any longer."

The footsteps paused abruptly; the swish of a silken skirt came across
the grass, and a woman's clear, high-bred voice cried abruptly--

"A prisoner! Oh, what is the matter? Please tell me what I can do. I
would have stopped at once, but I did not think you could possibly be
talking to me."

Jack looked up in amaze, and beheld a tall girl clad in grey, a little
head beautifully poised on an unusually long neck, and a pale, oval
face, out of which looked a pair of deep, violet eyes. The stranger was
not beautiful, not even pretty, but in the way she spoke, in the way she
moved, in the way she stood looking at him, with the folds of her dress
held together in one slender hand, there was an air of distinction which
marked her out from the ordinary run of womankind.

Jack felt overcome with embarrassment as he remembered his imperious
summons, and so much at a loss to explain his predicament that for a few
moments he could not find words, but just lay back in his chair staring
at her with horrified eyes.

The stranger evidently perceived his embarrassment, for she came a step
forwards and said tactfully--

"I think you must be Mr Melland. May I introduce myself? My name is
Margot Blount I have been lunching at the vicarage, and took the
opportunity of calling upon Miss Farrell before the carriage comes back
for me at five o'clock. I shall be so glad if I can be of any service
to you _en route_."

"Thank you; you are very kind. I am awfully sorry that I should have
shouted at you in that threatening way," said Jack, smiling in his most
fascinating manner, and he could be remarkably fascinating upon
occasion. "The truth is I am a cripple at present with a sprained
ankle, and my--er--attendant has chosen to run away, and leave me tied
up to this tree. I was getting tired and impatient, hence the summons."

"Ah," exclaimed Lady Margot, smiling, "I can guess who the attendant
was! Miss Mollie Farrell, was it not? I have heard so much of her from
Mrs Thornton that I am quite longing to see her. Is she at home this
afternoon--and her sister?"

"I am not sure about Miss Farrell; she went out for a walk after lunch;
but in any case she is sure to return very soon. Miss Mollie is--
somewhere! It is impossible to be more explicit. Probably some