nee for a bit, will you, Cousin Frank?"

Frank did mind very much. The ordinary healthy-minded, normal prefect
dislikes having anything to do with babies even more than he dislikes
being called a child by maiden ladies.

He looked appealingly at Mr. Geraghty. The baby, misunderstanding
Priscilla's intentions, yelled louder than before.

Mr. Geraghty, fortunately for Frank, was not a man of the heroic kind.
Abstract right was less to him than expediency and he missed the point
of the comparison between his position and King Solomon's. He thought
it better that his baby should suffer than that Miss Lentaigne's anger
should be roused. He declined Priscilla's offer.

Near the upper end of Rosnacree avenue there is a corner from which
a view of the lawn is obtained. Sir Lucius and another gentleman were
pacing to and fro on the grass when Priscilla and Frank reached the
corner and caught sight of them.

"Stop," said Frank, suddenly. "Turn back, Priscilla. Go round some other
way."

"Priscilla stopped. The eager excitement of Frank's tone surprised her.

"Why?" she asked. "It's only father and that Lord of his. We've got to
face them some time or other. We may as well get it over at once."

"That's the beast who shoved me over the steamer's gangway," said Frank,
"and sprained my ankle."

Sir Lucius and Lord Torrington turned at the end of the lawn and began
to walk towards Priscilla and Frank.

"Now I can see his face," said Priscilla, "I don't wonder at your rather
loathing him. I think you were jolly lucky to get off with a sprained
ankle. A man with a nose like that would break your arm or stab you in
the back."

Lord Torrington's nose was fleshy, pitted in places, and of a purple
colour.

"Curious taste the King must have," said Priscilla, "to make a man like
that a Marquis. You'd expect he'd choose out fairly good-looking people.
But, of course, you can't really tell about kings. I daresay they have
to do quite a lot of things they don't really like, on account of being
constitutional. Rather poor sport being constitutional, I should say;
for the King that is. It's pleasanter, of course, for the other people."

Frank knew that the present King was blameless in the matter of Lord
Torrington's marquisate. It was inherited from a great-grandfather,
who may have had an ordinary, possibly even a beautiful nose. But
he attempted no explanation. His anxiety made him disinclined for a
discussion of the advantages