ldren leave to fish."

"Oh--ah--yes--n-n-not at all," stammered Sir James, blushing faintly.

He was unused to women and found her presence confusing.

"Oh, but it was," said Mrs. Dangerfield. "And I'm seeing that they
don't take an unfair advantage of your kindness, for they told me that,
thanks to Mr. Glazebrook's netting his part of it, there are none too
many fish in the stream."

"It's very good of you. B-b-but I don't mind how many they catch,"
said Sir James.

He shuffled his feet and gazed rather wildly round him, for he wished
to remove himself swiftly from her disturbing presence. Yet he did not
wish to; he found her voice as charming as her eyes.

Mrs. Dangerfield laughed gently, and said: "You would, if I let them
catch as many as they'd like to."

"Are they as good fishermen as that?" said Sir James.

"Well, they've been fishing ever since they could handle a rod. They
are supposed to empty the free water by Little Deeping Village every
spring. So I limit them to three fish a day," said Mrs. Dangerfield;
and there was a ring of motherly pride in her voice which pleased him.

"It's very good of you," said Sir James. He hesitated, shuffled his
feet again, took a step to go; then looking rather earnestly at Mrs.
Dangerfield, he added in a rather uncertain voice: "I should like to
stay and see how they do it. I might pick up a wrinkle or two."

"Of course. Why, it's your stream," she said.

He stayed, but he paid far more attention to Mrs. Dangerfield than to
the fishing. Besides her charming eyes and delightful voice, her air
of fragility made a strong appeal to his vigorous robustness. His
first discomfort sternly vanquished, its place was taken by the keenest
desire to remain in her presence. He not only stayed with them till
the Twins had caught their three fish, but he walked nearly to Colet
House with them, and at last bade them good-by with an air of the
deepest reluctance. It can hardly be doubted that he had been smitten
by an emotional lightning-stroke, as the French put it, or, as we more
gently phrase it, that he had fallen in love at first sight.

As he walked back to the Grange he was regretting that he had not
received the social advances of his neighbors with greater warmth. If,
instead of staying firmly at home, he had been moving about among them,
he would have met Mrs. Dangerfield earlier and by now be in a fortunate
condition of meeting her often. It did not for a