lief.

"Timmy and I spirited her away," he went on, "to a cat's paradise where
she's going to be kept under observation."

"Won't Dr. O'Farrell be very angry?"

"I don't think he'll mind as much as he'll pretend to. The moment he was
told about her kittens he knew that the cat wasn't mad at all."

"The person who will be angry," exclaimed Betty, "is Mrs. Crofton! I
thought it horribly cruel of her to say what she did last night."

"It was rather vindictive," he said reflectively. "On the other hand, you
must remember that she'd had an awful shock. I don't wonder she felt
angry with Josephine, eh?" He looked a little quizzically, a little
deprecatingly, over at Betty.

"Still it seemed so--so unnecessary that she should _ask_ for the cat to
be killed." Betty was now bustling about the kitchen with a heightened
colour.

Radmore poured out a cup of tea. "Now then," he said, "do come and sit
down quietly, and take your tea, Betty." Rather to his surprise, she
meekly obeyed.

Presently she asked him, "But why have you got up so early?"

And then he told her the story of his and Timmy's night expedition,
ending up with: "I intend going round to Dr. O'Farrell's house about
eight o'clock. It wouldn't be fair to let the old fellow come down here
to indulge his sporting instincts, eh?"

To that Betty made no answer, and as the water was now boiling she went
across to the dresser and brought a clean cup and saucer. "Now then,
Godfrey, this cup is for you. Nanna can wait a little longer for hers."

He sat down opposite to her, and into both their minds there came the
thought that if they had married and gone out to Australia they would
have often sat thus together in the early morning.

And then, when Nanna's cup of tea was at last ready, together with some
nice thin bread and butter cut, he asked, "Can't I carry the tray up for
you?"

She shook her head, smiling.

"I suppose you'll be down again soon? Isn't there anything else I can
help you with?"

But this time Betty shook her head even more decidedly than before.

"Oh, no!" she exclaimed. "I've got to make Nanna comfortable for the day,
and it's a long business, for she's dreadfully particular. As a matter of
fact, Rosamund and Dolly will be down before I am. They'll start
everything going for breakfast. They've been very good lately, you know!
Perhaps you'd like to give _them_ a hand?"

He looked at her hard. There was just the flicker of a mischievous smi