am so little! Oh, please be kind to me!" Inspired by
that look, Geoffrey was capable of fighting dragons on her behalf!

And now he was consigned to drive home a tiresome American girl, who was
remarkably well able to take care of herself! Mentally he fumed;
outwardly, being a man of the world, he smiled, and murmured
"Delighted!" with an imitation of enthusiasm which won Cornelia's
admiration.

"One to you, Mr Greville! You played up real well," was the mental
comment, as she dropped a kiss on Elma's brow and listened to her
anxious messages.

"Tell mother not to be anxious. Tell her I'm not really ill--only silly
and nervous. Tell her I shall soon be well--"

"That's all right, my dear. I'll cool her fevered brow. ... Your
mother'll be a circumstance compared with Aunt Soph! I'll have to
promise never to look at a horse again while I'm in this country." She
turned towards Mrs Greville with easy self-possession.

"It's real good of you to send me back, and take such care of us both.
Good-afternoon. So pleased to have met you!"

Madame extended her thin, ringed hand, laughing softly the while. As
she had said, she loved to be amused, and this American girl was quite
too ridiculously audacious! Actually one might have supposed that she
believed herself to be speaking to an equal!

Cornelia and Geoffrey Greville passed along the hall, with its great oak
fireplace filled in with branches of spreading beech, its decorations of
tapestry, of armour, of stags' heads, of cases of stuffed birds. The
ceiling was beamed with oak, the floor was polished to a dangerous
brightness, and covered in the centre by an ancient Persian rug.
Cornelia had never seen such an interior except as it is imitated on the
stage. Her own tessellated, be-fountained entrance hall in New York was
as far removed from it on the one side, as on the other was the square
of oil-cloth, decorated with a hat-stand and two mahogany chairs, which
at The Nook was dignified by the same title. She admired, but admired
with reservations. "Kinder mouldy!" summoned up the ultimate verdict.

Geoffrey moved moodily towards the doorway. Though bitterly annoyed at
his mother's interference, he was too much of a gentleman to wreak his
vengeance on the innocent cause of his exile. As a mitigation of the
penance, it occurred to him that he might occupy the time of absence by
talking of Elma since he might not talk to her; but Providence was
merciful