o
the house, now, I am ashamed of you."

Sibyl turned first red and then white.

"Is that Lord Grayleigh?" she whispered.

"Yes, my dear, but I shall not answer any of your other questions at
present. I am extremely displeased with you."

"I am sorry you are angry, mother; but may I--may I say one thing,
just one, afore I go?"

Mrs. Ogilvie was about to hustle the child off, when Lord Grayleigh
interfered. "Do let her speak," he said; "she looks a most charming
little maid. For my part I like children best in _deshabille_. What is
it, little woman?"

"It's that I don't want to shake hands with you--never, _never_!"
answered Sibyl, and she turned her back on the astonished nobleman,
and marched off in the direction of the house.

Mrs. Ogilvie turned to apologize.

"I am terribly ashamed of Sibyl, she is the most extraordinary child,"
she said. "What can have possessed her to put on that frock, and why
did she speak to you in that strange, rude way?" Here Mrs. Ogilvie
uttered a sigh. "I fear it is her father's doing," she continued, "he
makes her most eccentric. I do hope you will overlook her naughty
words. The moment I go into the house I shall speak to her, and also
to nurse for allowing her to wear that disgraceful frock."

"I don't think your nurse is to blame," said Lord Grayleigh. "I have a
keen eye for dress, and have a memory of that special frock. It
happens to possess a green stain in the back which I am not likely to
forget. I think my Freda wore it a good deal last summer, and I
remember the occasion when the green stain was indelibly fixed upon
it. You must know, Mrs. Ogilvie, that my three children are imps, and
it was the impiest of the imps' frocks your little girl happened to be
wearing. But what a handsome little creature she is! A splendid face.
How I have come to fall under her displeasure, however, is a mystery
to me."

"Oh, you can never account for Sibyl's whims," said Mrs. Ogilvie; "it
is all her father's fault. It is a great trial to me, I assure you."

"I should be very proud of that child if I were you," answered Lord
Grayleigh. "She has a particularly frank, fine face."

"Oh, she is handsome enough," answered Mrs. Ogilvie. "But what she
will grow up to, heaven only knows. She has the strangest ideas on all
sorts of subjects. She absolutely believes that her father and I are
perfect--could you credit it? At the same time she is a very naughty
child herself. I will go into the ho