nd she had been grateful to him. Grateful, too, that
she had been spared a disagreeable scene with his mother. Lady
Gertrude had met her without censure, even with a certain limited
cordiality, and accordingly Nan, whose conscience was over-sensitive
just now, had reproached herself the more severely for her treatment of
her future mother-in-law.

Perhaps she would have felt rather less self-reproachful if she had
known the long hours of persuasion and argument by which Roger had at
last prevailed upon his mother to refrain from pouring out the vials of
her wrath on Nan's devoted head. Only fear lest she might alienate the
girl so completely that Roger would lose the wife he wanted had induced
her to yield. She had consented at last, but with a mental reservation
that when Nan was actually Roger's wife she would tell her precisely
what she thought of her whenever occasion offered. Nothing would
persuade her to overlook such flagrant faults in any daughter-in-law of
hers!

Latterly, however, she had been considerably mollified by the Seymours'
tactful agreement to her cherished scheme that Nan's marriage should
take place from Mallow Court. Actually, Kitty had consented because
she considered that the longer Nan could lead an untrammelled life at
Mallow, prior to her marriage, the better, and thanks to her skilful
management the date was now fixed for the latter end of July.

Roger had chafed at the delay, but Kitty had been extremely firm on the
point, assuring him that she required as long as possible to recuperate
from her recent illness. In her own mind she felt that, since Nan must
inevitably go through with the marriage, every day's grace she could
procure for her would help to restore her poise and strengthen nerves
which had already been tried to the uttermost.

Between them, Barry and Kitty and the two Fentons--who had joined the
Mallow party for a short holiday--did their utmost to make the time
that must still elapse before the wedding a little space of restfulness
and peace, shielding Nan from every possible worry and annoyance. Even
the question of trousseau was swept aside by Kitty of the high hand.

"Leave it to me. I'll see to it all," she proclaimed. "Good gracious,
there's a post in the country, isn't there? Patterns can be sent and
everything got under way, and finally Madame Veronique shall come down
here for the fittings. So that's that!"

But in spite of Kitty's good offices, Nan w