f a scene
which he never forgot. Handsome Mrs. Uniacke was clinching the
introduction with a smile, which ended in a swift expression of
surprise. Sir Baldwin had made an extraordinary pause, his hand half way
to his hat, his lantern jaws fallen suddenly apart. Mrs. Steel, though
slower at her part of the obvious recognition, was only a second slower,
and thereupon stood abashed and ashamed in the eyes of all who saw; but
only for another second at the most; then Sir Baldwin Gibson not only
raised his hat, but held out his hand in a fatherly way, and as she took
it Rachel's color changed from livid white to ruby red.

Yet even Rachel was mistress of herself so quickly that the one or two
eye-witnesses of this scene, such as Mrs. Uniacke and Charles Langholm,
who saw that it had a serious meaning, without dreaming what that
meaning was, were each in hopes that no one else had seen as much as
they. Sir Baldwin plunged at once into amiable and fluent conversation,
and before many moments Rachel's replies were infected with an
approximate assurance and ease; then Langholm turned to his juvenile
companion, and put a question in the form of a fib.

"So that is your father," said he. "I seem, do you know, to know his
face?"

Little Miss Gibson fell an easy prey.

"You probably do; he is the judge, you know!"

"The judge, is he?"

"Yes; and I wanted to ask you something just now in the tent. Did you
mean the Mrs. Minchin who was tried for murder, when you were talking
about your plot?"

Langholm experienced an unforeseen shock from head to heel; he could
only nod.

"He was the judge who tried her!" the schoolgirl said with pardonable
pride.

A lady joined them as they spoke.

"Do you really mean that that is Mr. Justice Gibson, who tried Mrs.
Minchin at the Old Bailey last November?"

"Yes--my father," said the proud young girl.

"What a very singular thing! How do you do, Mr. Langholm? I didn't see
it was you."

And Langholm found himself shaking hands with the aquiline lady to whom
he had talked so little at the Upthorpe dinner-party; she took her
revenge by giving him only the tips of her fingers now, and by looking
deliberately past him at Rachel and her judge.

CHAPTER XVI

A MATCH FOR MRS. VENABLES

That was absolutely all that happened at the Uniackes' garden-party.
There was no scene, no scandal, no incident whatsoever beyond an
apparently mutual recognition between Mrs. Steel and Mr. Just