She looked at him solemnly as if impressed by
his difficulty. He gazed at her gloomily. Then he said firmly:

"Look here: I'm not going to have his coming interfere with our walks;
and he's not coming with us to call on people."

Pollyooly knitted her brow and after a thoughtful pause said:

"I shouldn't think he'll want to."

"He won't, if he does," said the duke firmly. "And mind you keep him
up to the mark and see that he doesn't let out that you're not Marion."

"Oh, I will," said Pollyooly.

"Well, run away and get your lessons done. I hope to goodness he
doesn't let it out!"

That evening, while they were at tea, Lord Ronald Ricksborough arrived,
and came straight to the schoolroom. His attitude was admirable. He
greeted Pollyooly with the words, "Hullo, Marion!" in the perfectly
perfunctory manner of a cousin. She greeted him with a like
perfunctoriness and introduced him to Miss Belthorp. He greeted her
politely; then he looked at the Lump with a very good air of surprise
and said:

"Who's the kid?"

This display of ignorance was unwarranted by the fact that more than
once, in moments of chivalry, he had carried the Lump up the stairs of
Seventy-five, the King's Bench Walk, after the three of them had been
taking their pleasures in London.

"He's a little boy his grace has adopted," said Miss Belthorp, smiling
affectionately at the Lump.

"Adopted? Well, that's a rum go," said Ronald; and he sat down at the
table.

Over his tea he told them, or, to be exact, he told Pollyooly, for it
was to her that he addressed himself, of his doings at school and
during the time he had spent on the visit which had just come to an
end. After tea he and Pollyooly went out into the gardens together.
When they were out of hearing he said:

"This is tophole, having you here, old girl!"

Then as they passed out of sight in a shrubbery, he put his arm,
somewhat clumsily for one in most things uncommonly deft, round her
neck and kissed her. Pollyooly returned the kiss in a matter-of-fact,
almost careless fashion. She was not addicted to kissing, though she
kissed the Lump often enough and with fervour; but this kiss was part
of the business of being engaged to be married. Since Ronald heaved a
sigh of relief at having performed the required feat, it is to be
presumed that his feelings in the matter were very like her own. Then
they went on briskly through the gardens and into the wood, the best
compan