Miss
Garston, we have met before, but I think we hardly know each other,'
looking at me with some degree of interest. Sara's cousin was no longer
indifferent to him.

I answered him as civilly as I could, but I could see his attention
wandered to his young _fiancee_, and he soon rode round to her side of
the carriage. It was evident, as Lesbia said, that the colonel was
honestly in love with Sara. She looked very young beside him, but there
must have been something very winning in her sweet looks and words to the
man who had known trouble and had laid a young wife and child to rest in
an Indian grave.

Before the evening was over I felt I liked Colonel Ferguson immensely,
and thought far more of Sara for being his choice; there was an air of
frankness and _bonhomie_ about him that won one's heart; he was sensible
and practical. In spite of his fondness for Sara, he would keep her in
order: one could see that. I heard him rebuke her very gently that first
evening for some extravagance she was planning. They were standing apart
from the others on the balcony, but I was near the open window, and I
heard him say distinctly, in a grave voice,--

'I am very sorry to disappoint you, but I must ask you to give up this
idea, my darling; it would not be right in our position: surely you must
see that.'

'No, Donald, I do not see it a bit,' she answered quickly.

'Then will you be satisfied with my seeing it, and give it up for my
sake, dear?'

I knew when they came back into the room that he had got his way. Sara
was smiling as happily as usual: her disappointment had not gone very
deep. Her future husband would have very little trouble with her. She was
neither self-willed nor selfish. She wanted to be happy herself and make
other people happy; she would be easily guided.

When we left the Park Colonel Ferguson rode off to his club, and we drove
home rather quickly. There were some visitors waiting for Sara in the
drawing-room, so I went up to my old room to take off my bonnet. Martha
would unpack my boxes, Aunt Philippa told me, as she gave me another kiss
in the hall.

I had not been there for five minutes when I heard flying footsteps down
the passage, and the next moment Jill's strong arms had taken me by the
shoulders and turned me round.

'Now, Jill, I don't mean to be strangled as usual'; but she left me no
breath for more.

'Oh, my dear, precious old bear, this is too good to be true! I nearly
cried with jo