lthough I thought my father need not have described
Owen as a well-conducted young man, I was thankful that his visit had
passed off so well, and I said nothing.

After Owen had gone away we had a fellow to stay with us out of my
brother's regiment. He was home on sick-leave, but had quite recovered
from whatever had been the matter with him, and was as full of bounce
as a tennis-ball. Mrs. Faulkner loved him and wanted Nina to follow
her example, as far as I could make out, for she gave a dance and a
moonlight supper party on the river. Mr. Faulkner, who was always more
or less semi-detached, disappeared before the supper-party, which he
told me was a midsummer madness.

"There will be a mist and the food will be damp and horrid, and
everybody will be wanting foot-warmers and hot-water bottles before
they have done, you had better put on your thickest clothes and borrow
my fur overcoat," he said to me. And he was a true prophet, for Nina
caught a violent cold in her head, which checked and really put a stop
to a more violent flirtation.

Nina went to Paris a few days after Fred came to us, and we all agreed
that she would enjoy herself there, though I do not believe that any of
us really thought she would. As a matter-of-fact she was so home-sick
that my mother would have gone to fetch her back if it had not been for
Miss Read, who was blessed with much courage and common-sense. Mrs.
Faulkner tried her hardest to persuade my mother to bring Nina home
again, and she came to our house and wept so much that I thought she
was sure to win. But Miss Read met tears with arguments, until Mrs.
Faulkner stopped crying, and having lost her temper, forgot that Miss
Read had not only been Nina's governess, but was also one of my
mother's greatest friends. So Nina stayed in Paris, and I wrote to her
twice a week for a fortnight, but after that she began sending me
messages in other people's letters, and I was sorry for her no longer.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE ENERGY OF JACK WARD

After Nina went to Paris Fred spent most of his time in trying to be
cheerful, but for some days he looked as if he had lost something and
expected to find it round the next corner. I was very patient, though
I do not believe he understood how often I wanted to argue with him.
By the end of the vac, however, he had forgotten to be gloomy, and I
hoped that Oxford would cure him altogether, for he had a good chance
of getting his Rugger blue,