t such heaps to tell you Mr. Higgins has given me twenty
pounds to go on with--for myself; I mean; of course he'll pay
everything else. How delighted I am to be here! Please pay the
cabman I've got no change.'

A few hours before this there had come a letter from Mrs. Higgins;
better written and spelt than would have seemed likely.

'Dear Mrs. Mumford,' it ran, 'L. is coming to-morrow morning, and I
hope you won't repent. There's just one thing I meant to have said
to you but forgot, so I'll say it now. If it should happen that any
gentleman of your acquaintance takes a fancy to L., and if it should
come to anything, I'm sure both Mr. H. and me would be _most
thankful_, and Mr. H. would behave handsome to her. And what's more,
I'm sure he would be only too glad to show _in a handsome way_ the
thanks he would owe to you and Mr. M.--Very truly yours, Susan H.
Higgins.'

CHAPTER II

'Runnymede' (so the Mumfords' house was named) stood on its own
little plot of ground in one of the tree-shadowed roads which
persuade the inhabitants of Sutton that they live in the country. It
was of red brick, and double-fronted, with a porch of wood and
stucco; bay windows on one side of the entrance, and flat on the
other, made a contrast pleasing to the suburban eye. The little
front garden had a close fence of unpainted lath, a characteristic
of the neighbourhood. At the back of the house lay a long, narrow
lawn, bordered with flower-beds, and shaded at the far end by a fine
horse-chestnut.

Emmeline talked much of the delightful proximity of the Downs; one
would have imagined her taking long walks over the breezy uplands to
Ban stead or Epsom, or yet further afield The fact was, she saw no
more of the country than if she had lived at Brixton. Her windows
looked only upon the surrounding houses and their garden foliage.
Occasionally she walked along the asphalte pavement of the Brighton
Road--a nursemaids' promenade--as far as the stone which marks
twelve miles from Westminster Bridge. Here, indeed, she breathed the
air of the hills, but villas on either hand obstructed the view, and
brought London much nearer than the measured distance. Like her
friends and neighbours, Emmeline enjoyed Sutton because it was a
most respectable little portion of the great town, set in a purer
atmosphere. The country would have depressed her.

In this respect Miss Derrick proved a congenial companion. Louise
made no pretence of rural incli