before the wreck of the
_Nerbuddha_, and knew Miss Felicia's parents?'

"The man gave a start, and his hat, which he had pulled off, and with
the brim of which he was fumbling, slipped from his fingers and rolled
on the turf.

"'Oh, yes, I forgot!' put in Dick. 'I ought to have told you that Mr.
West here is the Rector of Lansulyan, and was at the time of the wreck."

"'Indeed, Sir!' John Emmet had recovered his hat, and confronted me with
a face for which I spared a glance before bending my eyes on the daisies
at my feet. 'I--I took service here some months after that event.'

"'Come, Padre'--these were the next words I heard--'if you wish to prod
up all the daisies on Felicia's property, arise early to-morrow and
begin. But if we're to dine at the Hall to-night it's time to be
getting back to the inn and changing our clothes.'

"I looked up, and my eyes fell on the retreating back of John Emmet,
already half-way towards the Italian garden."

"'Queer fellow, that--what's his name?--John Emmet,' said I late that
night on our return to the inn, as Dick and I mixed our whiskey and
prepared for a smoke before his sitting-room fire.

"'Tile loose, I fancy,' answered Dick, pausing with a lighted match in
his hand. 'I've an idea that he owes me a grudge for coming here and
carrying off Felicia.'

"'What gives you that notion?'

"'Well, you see he has always been a favourite of hers. She tells me
that the hours she managed to steal and spend in the garden, chatting
with John Emmet while he worked, were the happiest in her childhood.
He seems to have been a kind of out-of-door protector to her, and I'll
bet she twisted him round her small thumb.'

"'That's little enough to go upon,' was my comment. 'It struck me, on
the contrary, that the man eyed you with some affection, not to say
pride.'

"'Well, it's a small thing, but I can't help remembering how he took the
news of Felicia's--of our engagement. You see, it happened at a
fancy-dress dance.'

"'What happened?'

"'Don't be dense, Padre. Why, _it_--the engagement. The dance was
given by some people who live two miles from here--people called
Bargrave. Felicia and I drove over. She wore an old Court dress of her
grandmother's or great-grand-mother's: I'm no hand at costumes, and can
only tell you that she looked particularly jolly in it. I went in
uniform--mess uniform, that is. It's one of the minor advantages of the
service that on these occa