s a half-day's work,
as you know, and I felt confident that he and especially you would be
glad to have me accept any means for escaping so dreary a waiting."

The grunt he uttered was eloquent of anything but satisfaction.

"I'll go tell the girls," he said. But he didn't go till he had seen Mr.
Trohm enter his buggy and drive slowly off.

That all this did not add to my liking for William goes without saying.

_BOOK II_

THE FLOWER PARLOR

XV

LUCETTA FULFILS MY EXPECTATION OF HER

It was not till Mr. Trohm had driven away that I noticed, in the shadow
of the trees on the opposite side of the road, a horse tied up, whose
empty saddle bespoke a visitor within. At any other gate and on any
other road this would not have struck me as worthy of notice, much less
of comment. But here, and after all that I had heard during the morning,
the circumstance was so unexpected I could not help showing my
astonishment.

"A visitor?" I asked.

"Some one to see Lucetta."

William had no sooner said this than I saw he was in a state of high
excitement. He had probably been in this condition when we drove up, but
my attention being directed elsewhere I had not noticed it. Now,
however, it was perfectly plain to me, and it did not seem quite the
excitement of displeasure, though hardly that of joy.

"She doesn't expect you yet," he pursued, as I turned sharply toward the
house, "and if you interrupt her--D--n it, if I thought you would
interrupt her----"

I thought it time to teach him a lesson in manners.

"Mr. Knollys," I interposed somewhat severely, "I am a lady. Why should
I interrupt your sister or give her or you a moment of pain?"

"I don't know," he muttered. "You are so very quick I was afraid you
might think it necessary to join her in the parlor. She is perfectly
able to take care of herself, Miss Butterworth, and if she don't do
it--" The rest was lost in indistinct guttural sounds.

I made no effort to answer this tirade. I took my usual course in quite
my usual way to the front steps and proceeded to mount them without so
much as looking behind me to see whether or not this uncouth
representative of the Knollys name had kept at my heels or not.

Entering the door, which was open, I came without any effort on my part
upon Lucetta and her visitor, who proved to be a young gentleman. They
were standing together in the middle of the hall and were so absorbed in
what they were saying that th