dyship could bear it no longer.

Rising abruptly, and cutting short a sentence of Toni's as though she
heard nothing, Lady Martin called her daughter to her side.

"I think, Lucretia, if you have finished your tea"--both ladies had left
their cups untouched--"we must tear ourselves away. We promised to look
in at the Vicarage, and you know we are dining with the Batty-Browns
to-night!"

Having thus made it clear that she was in much social demand, Lady
Martin advanced upon her hostess and held out her hand aggressively.

"Good-bye, Mrs. Rose. So glad to have seen you. I am always at home on
Wednesdays in the summer."

Toni shook hands quietly, and Miss Martin followed suit with a limp
handshake; after which the two ladies took what was intended to be a
gushing farewell of the other guests, ignoring Fanny as though she were
not present.

Andrews was in waiting to show the ladies out; and when, a moment later,
they swept by the window, their high-heeled shoes crunching the gravel
sternly, Barry heaved a sigh of relief.

"I don't know how it is, but Lady Martin always gives me the creeps.
Mrs. Rose, is it too late to beg another cup of tea? I assure you I
really want it, to buck me up."

Toni, who was very pale, filled his cup with rather a trembling hand,
and Mrs. Anstey saw that the woman's insolence had unnerved her.

Appearing to notice nothing, she began to make conversation, discoursing
gently on various unimportant topics until Toni grew more like herself;
and when at length Mrs. Anstey rose to go she had completely won Toni's
grateful heart.

Toni took leave of her visitors regretfully, and readily promised to
return the visit as soon as possible; and then she and Fanny accompanied
them to the door to see them comfortably settled in the big grey car.

Barry was driving, Olive sitting beside him; and the girl turned and
waved a kindly hand as the car began to glide down the avenue in the
afternoon sunshine.

"My! Isn't she pretty!" Miss Gibbs' admiration was sincere. "And that
blue bonnet of hers was a dream--must have cost pounds!"

"I think Mrs. Anstey is beautiful," said Toni, rather dreamily, gazing
after the car. "I don't wonder Miss Lynn is so devoted to her. She is
just my ideal of a lady."

"Better than that other stuck-up cat," said Fanny rather viciously. "And
as for that maypole of a daughter, she's nothing but a gawk."

"Oh, don't let's go in there!" Toni laid a hand on her cousin's arm