IH*fllT\ 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY Of 1 
 CALIFORNIA J 
 
r 
 
THE NIECE OF ESTHER LYNNE 
 
The Niece of 
 
 Esther Lynne 
 
 By 
 
 EVELYN EVERETT-GREEN 
 
 Author of 
 
 "Where there's a Will," "Olivia's Experiment," 
 " Dare Lorimer's Heritage," etc. 
 
 London 
 
 HUTCHINSON & CO. 
 
 Paternoster Row . . 1903 
 
m'e. 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I CONVERGING THREADS - - I 
 
 II DIANA CONQUEST - - - - - - 12 
 
 in THE RECTOR'S DAUGHTER - 23 
 
 iv THE SQUIRE'S SON - -34 
 
 V INTRODUCTIONS - '45 
 
 vi NUN'S BOWER - 56 
 
 VII THREE GIRLS AND THEIR OPINIONS - - 67 
 
 VIII HOMEWARD BOUND - -78 
 
 ix THE WANDERER'S RETURN - 89 
 
 X OLD FRIENDS AND NEW - - IOO 
 
 xi STELLA'S KINSMAN - - - in 
 
 XII KINDRED SPIRITS - - 122 
 
 XIII DEVELOPMENTS - -134 
 
 XIV THE JOCUND MONTH OF JUNE -145 
 XV THE PHANTOM NUN - V X 57 
 
 XVI ON CONQUEST BENT - - 1 68 
 
 XVII RUDOLF THE DIPLOMAT - - l8o 
 
 XVIII THE FLOOD-TIDE OF TRIUMPH - - IQ2 
 
 XIX RENUNCIATION - - 204 
 
 vii 
 
 i 460 
 
viii Contents 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 XX THE WANING OF SUMMER - - 2l6 
 
 XXI SHOOTING AND MISCHIEF - 228 
 
 XXII DREAR NOVEMBER - - 240 
 
 XXIII AN UNSEEN HAND - - 252 
 
 XXIV COMING CHRISTMAS - 264 
 
 xxv THE CHILDREN'S F&TE - - 276 
 
 XXYI "so AS BY FIRE" - - 287 
 
 XXVII AN ACT OF HUMILIATION - - 2 99 
 
 XXVIII QUESTION AND ANSWER - - 3IO 
 
 XXIX THE SECRET WAY '321 
 
 XXX LOVE THE CONQUEROR - '332 
 
THE NIECE OF ESTHER LYNNE: 
 <S>R> Stsle anb tbe IRew 
 
 , 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 CONVERGING THREADS 
 
 " WHAT next ? " asked Esther Lynne softly of herself, as she 
 stood in the mild February sunshine, looking out with dreamy 
 eyes over the fair prospect before her. " I wonder what next." 
 
 The frost had gone, the crisp blanket of snow had vanished, 
 the keen chill of the north wind no longer numbed ungloved 
 hands. The voice of the birds gave joyful welcome to the 
 first breath of spring-tide ; snowdrops and aconites made lines 
 of gold and silver along the garden borders. The leaves of 
 the daffodils were pushing eagerly upwards. All Nature 
 seemed to know that the long, dark winter was over and gone, 
 and that however uncertain and tardy her footsteps, sweet 
 Spring was coming towards them the music of her advancing 
 tread was already in the air. And Esther Lynne, standing in 
 the warm, sheltered garden of Convent House, looked out 
 into the sunshine around her, and up into the blue of the 
 clear, cloud-flecked sky, and asked herself what next ? 
 
 It was a question which was natural to her at such a time. 
 Her life's task had ended towards the close of the last year. 
 The father, whose long, long decline she had watched over 
 
 A 
 
2 tTbe Iftfece of lEstbet %pnne 
 
 with tireless tenderness through a period of more years than 
 she could well count, lay at rest beneath the churchyard sod. 
 Now she ruled alone the small domain which for a quarter of 
 a century she had ruled in his name. All was hers the 
 quaint old-world house, the ancient garden, with its deep velvet 
 turf, its ancient sun-dial, its hoary walls and curious chain of 
 fish-ponds. There was no rough uprooting of her life; no 
 need for her to seek new ties in a new home. Outwardly all 
 was as it had ever been, and Esther Lynne's world was 
 rejoicing for her in the new-found liberty which would at last 
 be hers. She felt herself that they were saying how thankful 
 she must be for the release which had come to the failing 
 invalid and to herself. Thankful in measure she was. 
 
 The burden of long sickness and slowly-increasing infirmity 
 is hard to bear, and the aged father's increasing dependence 
 upon her, and his inability to distinguish night from day, or to 
 gauge the length of time he kept her at his side, had made life 
 for her during the last year of his life a burden which had told 
 perceptibly upon her. Two years ago her soft abundant hair 
 had been scarcely more than tinged with grey, now it was alto- 
 gether silver; and of late she had begun to wear over it a little 
 filmy lace covering, which perhaps seemed to add to her years 
 as much as the bleaching of her locks; Yet the face had 
 retained much of its soft youthful tinting, though the long 
 strain showed itself at last in the tiny wrinkles round the eyes, 
 and in sundry lines which told of watching and weariness. 
 Her heavy burden had from the first been borne in patience 
 and in unfailing tenderness. And yet, now that the strain 
 had been removed, now that Esther Lynne was free to 
 take up her life and make of it what she would, she was chiefly 
 conscious of the immense blank that had come to her. She 
 had lived almost entirely for one object, and now that object 
 was taken away. What was there to put in its place ? 
 
 A clear, young voice suddenly hailed her from some unseen 
 spot. Next moment a girl, brandishing a hockey-stick, dashed 
 
Com?er0fn0 
 
 into view. She wore strong boots and gaiters, and skirts only 
 to her ankles, and she leapt nimbly over a little low wall and 
 landed in the midst of a flower border, where, luckily, nothing 
 had as yet pushed its way above ground. 
 
 " Oh, gracious ! " cried the youthful hoyden, as she found 
 her heavy boots well caked with soil, " I'd forgotten this 
 blessed border ; thought it was a path or something. Don't 
 scold me, there's a dear ! I'll not do it again till next time ! 
 I'm off to hockey on the common, and I found I'd two gaiter 
 buttons off. I knew you'd sew 'em on for me if I asked. I 
 hadn't time to go round by the road proper-like. I just 
 crossed by the stepping-stones, and made a bee-line through 
 the garden. You don't mind, do you ? " 
 
 " It's not much good minding what you do, Sally," answered 
 Esther, smiling indulgently ; for the Squire's younger daughter 
 was a privileged person through all Cleethorpe. She was not 
 pretty ; she was not clever ; and she spent the bulk of her 
 time in playing games, in which she certainly excelled. Many 
 people shook their heads at her exploits, Esther Lynne 
 amongst them ; but for all that, Sally was possessed of a 
 warm heart and the open, candid nature which goes far to 
 win affection. And as she sat before the fire, watching Esther's 
 deft fingers occupied upon her gaiter (it did not seem to occur 
 to her to offer to do the work herself), she suddenly blurted 
 out words which Esther well knew were the expression of the 
 feelings of the neighbourhood, though only Sally would have 
 dared to voice them to her. 
 
 " Doesn't it seem awfully queer to you to be able to do 
 what you like now ? I do think it's been a shame well, you 
 know what I mean, Miss Lynne a dreadful thing for you 
 the way you've never been able to please yourself all these 
 years. I should have a good bust now if I were you ! " 
 
 " My dear Sally ! " 
 
 " Oh, I know it's not the way you'd put it ; but that's how 
 I feel about it. I'd like to hear you were going round the 
 
TTbc mfece of JEstber 
 
 world (I'll come with you like a shot if you'll say the word !), 
 or were going to take a flat in London and have a good old 
 orgy of gaiety, or do something really larky and amusing." 
 
 " My dear ! At such a time as this ? " 
 
 " Oh, I know you're in deep mourning now ; and so are we 
 all, in a way. Poor dear old Queen ! Of course, things have 
 got to be a bit dull for a few months. But that won't last. 
 Spring will soon be here ; and we shall be able to be jolly 
 again ! Now, Miss Lynne, do think about it ! Do have a 
 good time, just for once in a way ! There are ten thousand 
 things one might do ! I'll help you with some ideas ! " 
 
 " Thank you, dear ; but I am afraid perhaps your ideas 
 might be a little too modern for me. You see, I have stood 
 still all these years, whilst the world has been going forward. 
 I think I shall be happiest in my own little corner. And, 
 indeed, I shall be glad to have more time to help poor little 
 Stella over her parish affairs. She has her hands much too 
 full." 
 
 " I should think so, indeed ! Stella is in a drive and a fuss 
 from morning till night. But she won't be helped, Miss Lynne. 
 You'll see. She's just bent on worrying herself to fiddle- 
 strings. It's a disease with her. She's made that way. She 
 must have her finger in every pie. You'll see, nobody can 
 help he 1 ' 
 
 " Well, dear, we will see what we can do. Stella's hands 
 are much too full, and there are things which would be better 
 done by an older person which she has been forced to attempt 
 herself. I hope I may be able to give her more help now. 
 We shall see. I sometimes wonder that you do not try to be 
 a little more useful, Sally dear. You have so much strength 
 and energy, and it seems rather a pity does it not? to spend 
 it all playing games." 
 
 " Now, don't you lecture me, Miss Lynne ! " cried Sally, 
 springing to her feet, with a laugh, and possessing herself of the 
 now completed gaiter. " I mean to have my fun whilst I'm 
 
young. I'll tone down and be as good as you like when I 
 get old ! I've got a vow in heaven (isn't that the right place 
 for 'em?) to give up hockey at thirty and my bicycle at forty ; 
 and then I'll have a sweet little cap like yours, and I hope my 
 hair will be white, and I'll copy every single thing you do, and 
 be a real old-world person." 
 
 " Oh, Sally, Sally, what a rattlepate you are ! No, my dear, 
 do not make vows or think you can block your life out into 
 periods like that. Be your own young, happy self as long as 
 God gives you health and spirits ; but remember, even whilst 
 you are young, that life is a sort of sacred trust, of which we 
 shall have to give account. Enjoy your youth and your play 
 with all your heart ; but do not let life be all games, all play. 
 We all have duties growing up around our path. Do not let 
 those duties be neglected. And now, off with you to your 
 game ! You did not come here to be lectured, I am sure. 
 But you were twenty-one at Christmas, remember, Sally ! 
 You are not an ' infant ' any longer." 
 
 " Gracious, no ! And having just escaped the bondage of 
 long clothes, I'm bound to have my bust ! " cried the incor- 
 rigible Sally, as she dashed away in all the exuberant vitality 
 of her irresponsible girlhood. 
 
 Esther Lynne looked after her with a smile and a sigh, 
 asking softly of herself, " Was I ever young like that ? " 
 
 In a great, cool bungalow, far away in the dusty plains of 
 India, three men were gathered together in pleasant idleness, 
 and were talking of past, present, and future. 
 
 The eldest of the three was a fine-looking man, who was 
 approaching his sixtieth year. His face was deeply bronzed 
 with exposure to the climate, and his hair had turned white, 
 though the brows over the rather deep-set eyes, and the long 
 moustache upon his otherwise clean-shaven face were still 
 densely black, and gave a distinctive appearance to the 
 countenance, somewhat disguising its age. The features 
 
6 TOe Hfcce of J6stber Xpnne 
 
 were good, and if cast in rather a stern mould, the sternness 
 was greatly counterbalanced by the kindliness of the eyes, 
 and by the genial courtesy of manner and bearing. Sir 
 Humphrey Vanborough had long been one of the best- 
 known men in Bengal; a Judge of Appeal, a K.S.I., a man 
 whose career had been distinguished from first to last. His 
 name had been one to conjure with through many years and 
 throughout a wide area ; and now when the time had come 
 for him to retire and return home or go whithersoever he 
 listed there was a strong feeling of regret in many quarters, 
 and it was openly said that his place would be hard to fill. 
 
 The youngest of the trio was a young fellow, a kinsman 
 of his, bearing his name. Archibald Vanborough had only 
 recently arrived at man's estate ; and after having closed his 
 college career, had eagerly accepted his kinsman's invitation 
 to come out to him, and do some shooting, see the country, 
 and take a trip to Kashmir, before accompanying Sir 
 Humphrey home to England. The lad had spent the cold 
 weather in Sir Humphrey's roomy and pleasant bungalow, had 
 shot tigers, and seen a drive of elephants, and done many of 
 those things dear to the heart of England's youth. Now they 
 were talking of going farther afield, and were, in fact, only 
 waiting till Colonel York should be fit to move, before taking 
 their leisurely journey towards the pleasant hill country, from 
 whence they could gradually visit all such places of interest as 
 Sir Humphrey had planned to show his younger companion. 
 
 The third man of the company lay extended upon a couch, 
 pale with the pallor of long illness, thin to attenuation, his 
 face bearing the impress of grievous suffering, which, though 
 now for the most part a thing of the past, had set a mark upon 
 him which would never be altogether effaced. 
 
 Colonel York he had just received brevet rank, though he 
 would never be fit for active service again had distinguished 
 himself by conspicuous gallantry during the border warfare, 
 which has been so constant along the Indian frontiers, 
 
7 
 
 Grievously wounded, and carried off for dead, he had, 
 nevertheless, made a painful and tedious recovery; and this 
 recovery was mainly due to the fact that Sir Humphrey 
 Vanborough, happening to be in the neighbourhood of the 
 regimental quarters, and hearing of the desperate condition of 
 the young Major (as he was then), had interested himself 
 warmly in the case, and had with great difficulty had him 
 conveyed by slow stages to his own house, where he yet 
 remained. He was now planning to get him taken up to the 
 hills for a spell, leaving him in a salubrious locality whilst he 
 and young Vanborough did some shooting and travelling, 
 returning for him in due course, to carry him off to England 
 with them when they should be ready for home. 
 
 It was of these things they were talking during the heat 
 of the afternoon, as the punkah slowly swung to and fro, 
 and the silence of the noontide hours fell upon the world 
 without. 
 
 "You've got a sort of place of your own somewhere in 
 England, haven't you, Sir Humphrey ? " asked York. 
 
 " Yes ; just a little corner of a place, wedged in between 
 two other properties; standing in a small triangular gore 
 about four or five acres in all, I suppose. Not worth having, 
 you say, Archie ? Well, I don't know. My father bought the 
 little place, and lived out the last years of his life there. I 
 have always had a feeling that I shall go back there when my 
 time comes. It's one of the scraps of the old world left us ; 
 at least, if time, and steam, and electricity have left it alone. 
 I have not been there for over fifteen years ; but I think about 
 it often enough. A tiny fragment of monastic architecture a 
 little survival of bygone days. A queer house for a bachelor 
 like me to inhabit. It goes by the name of the Nun's 
 Bower ! " 
 
 Archie broke into a boyish laugh; but the soldier's face 
 kindled with interest. He looked at Sir Humphrey as one 
 who desired to know more, and the elder man spoke on as 
 
8 OTe iRiece of JEstber 
 
 though it pleased him to recall those things which belonged to 
 his youth to his past. 
 
 "I suppose in olden days there must have been a regular 
 monastic settlement there. The Squire's house goes by the 
 name of Bishop's Hall, and tradition says it stands on the 
 site of an old monastery that was pulled down by Henry's 
 Cromwell, and built up again as an ecclesiastical residence 
 later on. One of my boundaries is his park wall, the other 
 the fence surrounding Convent House. That is another 
 survival of some old-time nunnery, I imagine. And I fancy 
 that Nun's Bower must have been an offset, though I have 
 never known exactly the history of the place. It is plain, 
 however, that once the two must have been one community, 
 for a curious and very ancient avenue of yew trees runs right 
 away from the garden of Convent House to the dividing fence 
 between us ; and we put a gate there to enable us to have easy 
 access. My father and Mr. Lynne were great cronies. Poor 
 man, he was something of an invalid and valetudinarian ever 
 since I can remember ; but he outlived my father by a great 
 number of years. I saw his death in the paper only a few 
 weeks ago. I wonder if I shall find the old house empty when 
 I get back, or whether new neighbours will have come ? " 
 
 "Had he no children? Or was the property not his to 
 bequeath ? " 
 
 " He had two daughters, but no son. I think the property 
 was his own. The younger daughter married rather against 
 his wishes, if I remember rightly. The other remained with 
 him, and was there when last I visited the place. She may, 
 of course, have married, or have died since. I have gradually 
 dropped all intercourse with my old world. It will be rather 
 strange going back. Rather melancholy, perhaps. And yet 
 the old place seems to call me." 
 
 A little while later, when Sir Humphrey was alone in his 
 private room, he suddenly unlocked a drawer, where a few 
 entirely private and personal belongings were carefully 
 
<Iom>er0tn0 ZTbreafcs 9 
 
 bestowed. He laid his hand upon a small packet, which 
 contained a few yellow and faded letters, a few brown and 
 withered flowers and a photograph. 
 
 It was this last that he took in his hands, and held towards 
 the light of the reading-lamp. It was faded too, and had been 
 taken when photography was wont to caricature as much as 
 to catch a likeness. It represented a slight, youthful-looking 
 woman, in the long, close-fitting robe which had followed as 
 a reaction after the terrible crinoline of the sixties. It was a 
 full-length carte-de-visite, after the fashion of the day, and the 
 face was only rendered by a small pale circle, more faded than 
 any other portion ; and yet Sir Humphrey gazed long and 
 earnestly at that pictured face, striving to recall it feature by 
 feature, and only laying it aside after long study, and with 
 something of a sigh. 
 
 At the foot of the card was written in his own firm, 
 characteristic hand, the two words, " Esther Lynne." 
 
 A tall, handsome girl, clad in a well-cut riding habit, was 
 standing very upright in the centre of a London drawing-room. 
 The house was in a fashionable part of town, and the two 
 other occupants were well-dressed girls, with the unmistakable 
 air of those who move in fashionable social circles. These 
 two bore a strong likeness to each other ; but none at all to 
 the equestrian who had evidently just entered the room after 
 her ride. 
 
 The faces of all three were flushed. Plainly " words " were 
 passing between them. The tall girl drew herself up to her 
 full height proudly. Her dark eyes flashed. 
 
 " I have not the least idea what you mean ! " she cried. 
 
 " Oh, yes, you have, Diana ; you know perfectly what I 
 mean. You are always doing it it has been going on ever 
 since you came here last summer. There was Frank Greystone 
 you know as well as I do how it was with him and me. 
 
io ube IRiece of Bstbet 
 
 But you swooped down on him, and now he is in South 
 Africa ; and if he is killed there, it will be your doing." 
 
 11 1 am glad he went to South Africa ! It was the best thing 
 he could do. It will make a man of him ; then he may be 
 worth something. He was only a pretty boy before. Is that 
 my worst or only sin ? for I shall not repent in dust and 
 ashes for that ! " 
 
 " The only one ! that was only the beginning. It has been 
 the same with everyone since. There was Tom Hunter; 
 there was Edmund Halliday ; there were several in between, 
 and last of all there is Charley Seaton. Look there ! " and 
 the girl pushed an open letter towards Diana, at which she 
 did not condescend to look. " He has gone off, like all the 
 rest. It is a shame the way you go on. You make them all 
 think well, think that you care. They leave everybody 
 else for you. And then you serve them like this. It is 
 abominable ! It is detestable of you ! I wish you had never 
 come here at all." 
 
 The girl spoke hotly, for her sister sat dissolved in tears, 
 and her own feelings were outraged and hurt. Diana stood 
 up before them very straight, looking toweringly tall in her 
 indignation. 
 
 "Very good," she said slowly. "You shall not have me 
 much longer. I did not know you set such store by that pack 
 of boys you always have hanging round the house. Where 
 I come from we don't regard every boy we talk to and play 
 with in the light of a lover. I hate that sort of fooling. Boys 
 are very well to chaff with and play games with ; but ' 
 
 " No, Diana, it's no good your trying to put it off like that. 
 You may not have tried to attract them in that way ; but you 
 know how it is with you you must be first. You must have 
 everybody at your feet. You must be leader wherever you 
 are. If you don't know that about yourself yet, you had 
 better learn it. For it may get you into trouble one of 
 these days. I don't know what you feel, and J don't ask ; 
 
but I know what you make others feel, and then you laugh at 
 them. It is your play, but it is not play to them ; and some- 
 times it is not play to others either," and she cast a meaning 
 look at her sister, who still cried quietly on. 
 
 " Grizzling for a boy ! " was the almost contemptuous 
 thought in Diana's heart, as she gathered up her habit and 
 marched out of the room, with her head held rather high. If 
 any of her companion's words had gone home, she was not 
 going to show it. She went up quickly to her own room, and 
 dashed her gloves and whip down upon the table. 
 
 " Well, this hand is about played out ! " she said. " I 
 began to guess it before ; now I know. I must move on ; 
 that's very plain. And where shall I go next ? Back to 
 Canada ? Well, that's not just what I want. I've come over 
 here, and I want to stop, for the present at least. But I can't 
 stay where I'm not wanted. Besides, I've had about enough 
 of this show." She paused, and threw back her handsome 
 head. Then she moved to the window, and stood looking 
 down into the street. Masses of spring flowers were being 
 hawked about in carts from house to house. People were 
 buying almost eagerly. 
 
 Diana knew not that these were no products of English 
 gardens yet, but came from warmer climes. She suddenly 
 conjured up a picture of an old-world garden, bright with 
 flowers, dreaming beneath a hot sun; a cloistered walk, a 
 sunk lawn, a hoary sun-dial in its midst. 
 
 " Mother used to talk about it," she suddenly exclaimed. 
 "It was her home. That is where I will go. My Aunt 
 Esther lives there still. She will take me in. I always said 
 I would look up old Esther one of these days. It may be 
 dull ; but it will be peaceful. Yes, decidedly, I will go there 
 on a visit of inspection, if for nothing else." 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 DIANA CONQUEST 
 
 SHE came something like a whirlwind upon that still, quiet 
 house. Esther Lynne was in her garden ; for the sun was 
 shining, and the flowers in sheltered borders were beginning to 
 respond to the warm, caressing touch. She heard a rapid 
 footfall, and turned to see a tall black figure advancing, with 
 outstretched hands. She did not recognise the intruder ; but 
 at a time when all the world was garbed in black, it was not 
 always easy at a moment's notice to distinguish one friend 
 from another, or friend from stranger. Certainly this bright- 
 haired girl wore the aspect of a friend, and Esther, after 
 watching her advance for a moment, began to walk towards 
 hen But soon she became convinced that she had never seen 
 her guest before; and yet and yet what did her easy, 
 graceful carriage, her tall, slender figure, the brightness of her 
 hair recall ? A flush dyed the face of the elder woman. She 
 seemed to realise who it was whom she was about to greet. A 
 flood of memories rushed over her, bringing tears to her eyes. 
 Her hands went out eagerly to the advancing radiant vision, a 
 little sob broke from trembling lips. 
 
 " My dear ! My dear ! " was all she could find to say. 
 
 The smile which flashed over the tall girl's face was like a 
 ray of summer sunshine. 
 
 "Do you know me?" she asked, springing forward and 
 grasping the eager, trembling hands ; " I thought I should 
 have to introduce myself. I am Diana Conquest ; and you 
 
 are my Aunt Esther." 
 
 12 
 
2>fana Conquest 13 
 
 As she spoke, Diana bent her head ; she had to bend it 
 rather low, for her height was a very stately one, and Esther 
 Lynne was of that medium stature which belonged to her 
 generation. They kissed each other, and Diana's hands were 
 laid upon Esther's shoulders. The girl's wide-open grey eyes 
 looked full into her liquid brown ones, and the fresh young 
 voice exclaimed impulsively : 
 
 "Oh, I am glad I have come, though in the train I had 
 half a mind to turn back ! " 
 
 "My dear, why?" 
 
 " Oh, because I have behaved so badly to you, Esther 
 you'll let me call you Esther, won't you ? " 
 
 " My dear I am your aunt." 
 
 " I know you are. That's just it. You are my aunt, and 
 I'm going to like you tremendously. I feel it all over me. 
 And if I call you Aunt Esther, I shall not feel as though you 
 were my aunt at all. To me it would sound just as though 
 you were a fat old negress in the kitchen. You know, over 
 yonder, where I lived as a child, it was always the darkies 
 who were uncles and aunts." 
 
 Esther Lynne looked for the moment just a little taken 
 aback. She had been brought up in the old-fashioned school. 
 She was an old-world woman, and real modernity was but a 
 name to her, although Sally Hastings sought from time to 
 time to open her eyes to what was passing in the great world 
 without. But, after all, Sally was herself only a regular country 
 girl a bit of a hoyden picking up odds and ends of slang 
 from her brother, and assimilating new ideas from time to 
 time when paying visits or entertaining guests, but without 
 much greater opportunities than Esther's own of really keeping 
 pace with the changing order of the day. Dimly, from the 
 first moment of self-introduction, Esther Lynne felt that this 
 girl had lived and moved in a world altogether different from 
 her own. She came charged, as it were, with a new and vivid 
 vitality. She was beautiful to look at ; but that was not all. 
 
i4 Ube IRtece of Betber 
 
 Her very beauty and grace had in its essence something 
 slightly daring, something piquantly defiant and uncon- 
 ventional. Esther could not analyse all in a moment wherein 
 this marked individuality lay; but it smote upon her 
 consciousness as something insistive and dominant. It 
 would be a factor which would have to be reckoned with 
 by those whose lives touched hers. 
 
 Diana suddenly laughed out such a silvery, gladsome 
 peal ! Again she bent her head and kissed her aunt on 
 either cheek. 
 
 "You are a darling. And I shall call you Esther; and 
 you will find you like it soon. Don't you know the modern 
 child is beginning to call its parents by their Christian 
 names? We must move with the times, you know. We 
 can't be stranded in a back-water all our days ; though this is 
 the sweetest of back-waters imaginable. It brings back 
 mother's stories so ! " 
 
 " Your mother told you of it sometimes? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ! I fancy I shall know my way about some ! 
 Convent House, you call it. I think it was the name put me 
 off from a visit last year. I couldn't help picturing a sort of 
 nunnery business ; and then I wasn't quite sure if I should 
 have been welcome, I wasn't sure of it to-day ; but I just 
 came. I thought I might be able to square an aunt. I 
 wasn't so sure about a grandfather." 
 
 "You never wrote to tell us you were in England. I think 
 your grandfather would have liked to see you, had he known, 
 and been able to understand." 
 
 " But he never forgave my mother her marriage, did he ? " 
 asked Diana quickly. " She never used to write to him only 
 to you." 
 
 " I scarcely know what he felt about it after the first. I 
 always think that had your parents come here after you were 
 born there would have been a reconciliation. But your 
 father succeeded unexpectedly to wealth, and went off to 
 
2>fana Conquest 15 
 
 America. He never wrote at all, and your mother was 
 irregular in her correspondence ; and somehow the breach was 
 never healed. It was a great sorrow to me. It left me so 
 much alone. Arabella had been very dear. It was like 
 losing the sunshine out of the house when she went. It has 
 never come back since. Perhaps you will bring it with you, 
 dear. Have you come to stay ? " 
 
 " Will you ask me to stay ? " asked Diana, her eyes arch. 
 
 " My dear, surely you know that there is always a home for 
 you here, if ever you wish to avail yourself of it." 
 
 A softer expression than Esther had yet seen there passed 
 over the girl's bright face. 
 
 " You are good to say that ! Do you know, it is years and 
 years since I had a home. When mother died, father broke up 
 the dear old home in Virginia ; and we migrated to Canada, 
 and went all over the shop, seeing the new world and the old, 
 never resting long anywhere, I liked it tremendously at first 
 I'm not sure that I shall ever settle down again ; but when 
 he died two years ago, I did begin then to hanker after some- 
 thing of a home, But I couldn't start and run the show 
 myself, and I went visiting about from place to place. People 
 were kind and hospitable, and I wanted to forget my trouble 
 and have a good time. Well, I think, on the whole, I managed 
 to get that. But I feel like taking breath for a spell now. 
 Esther, will you let me be a nun in Convent House whilst I 
 have a look around and make up my mind to the next move ? 
 I'll be as good as is in me. I'm not made like you, I know ; 
 but I'll be as little of a cuss as I can." 
 
 " My love" 
 
 " Ah, well, I'll tone down my vocabulary as far as possible. 
 Say, is it a bargain ? Will you have me for a bit, if I promise 
 to be on my very best behaviour? I'll really try not to 
 disgrace you more than I can help-" 
 
 "We need not make any bargain about it, dear child. You 
 are welcome to a home at Convent House so long as ever you 
 
1 6 zrbe IFttece of JEstber 
 
 wish it. I hope you brought your boxes with you, if you meant 
 to stay." 
 
 "Well, no ; my cheek didn't run to that. I only brought a 
 dressing-bag, hoping to get quarters for one night, whilst we 
 thrashed out the subject, I can go back and settle up to- 
 morrow, and be back here in a few days, if you'll really have 
 me. What a place to come to ! I'd no idea an old house 
 could be so lovely ! And this immemorial turf that's the 
 right word for it, isn't it ? how do you get it ? We never see 
 that kind over the pond. And this cloistered walk ! Yes, 
 mother used to try and make me understand what it looked 
 like, but I never did. We don't have old ecclesiastical 
 fragments in Ole Virginie, you know." 
 
 Diana was standing by the hoary sun-dial in the centre of 
 the ancient sunk lawn, whose velvet smoothness was such a 
 source of wonder and admiration to her. This lawn was 
 bounded on two sides by a very ancient fragment of a 
 cloistered walk ; one side facing south being, in fact, a con- 
 tinuation of the south front of the house on that side, the other 
 facing east ; so that in the winter you could sit in the sun, and 
 in summer find deep refreshing shade after the morning hours 
 had passed. Antiquarians always surmised that this cloister 
 was the only portion left of the old convent itself, and that the 
 present house had been built up out of the fragments of the 
 shattered buildings, probably a century later than its demoli- 
 tion. The eastern wall ran down almost to the little stream 
 which bounded the garden to the south, and a small rustic 
 bridge, with a gate at the end, gave access to the footpath 
 to the road on the other side; a thick belt of alder and 
 willow shut out all view of the road and the passers-by ; but 
 glimpses of the traffic would have been small drawback had 
 this not been the case, for Cleethorpe was a very quiet little 
 village a true Sleepy Hollow, as visitors loved to call it, 
 declaring this to be one of its chiefest charms. 
 
 Diana, with her arm across Esther's shoulder, traced the 
 
Dfana Conquest 17 
 
 course of the stream, as it wound through the quaint, old-world 
 garden, a little off-shoot forming the chain of fish-ponds leading 
 one from the other, that made such a feature of the place. 
 Her delight in it all, freshly and vividly expressed, was listened 
 to with a sense of deep pleasure by the one to whom every 
 nook and corner was so dear, so full of tender associations. 
 As they skirted the fish-ponds, they came suddenly upon a 
 wide yew walk a regular avenue, straight as though it had 
 been drawn with a ruler upon a sheet of paper. The ground 
 beneath the yew-trees was brown ; but the carpet of the 
 avenue was of soft velvet turf. Diana stood gazing up the 
 vista with admiration in her eyes. 
 
 " What a fascinating walk ! Where does it lead to ? Is 
 that a gate I see at the end ? What is on the other side ? " 
 
 "Another house, dear, and another garden. But the owner 
 is away ; has been away for very long now. His father and 
 mine were old friends ; but Mr. Vanborough died many years 
 ago. His son owns it after him ; but he has not visited the 
 place since his father's death. He is Sir Humphrey now ; 
 perhaps you have heard of him. He is a very distinguished 
 man. I hardly suppose he will ever live in such a little corner 
 of the world as this. But his house is a perfect museum 
 of curiosities. He sends great cases home sometimes, and I 
 unpack them and set the things out. He likes me to do that. 
 But I do not much fancy he will ever live here again. The 
 house is small " 
 
 " And he has a big family, I dare say ; but perhaps they 
 will be grown up themselves, and out in the world soon." 
 
 " Oh, no, my dear, Sir Humphrey Vanborough has never 
 married," answered Esther Lynne ; and suddenly a little flush 
 of pink dyed her cheek. 
 
 But Diana did not see; she was looking up the avenue still. 
 She seemed interested and aroused. 
 
 "You shall show me the house one day, if you have the 
 entree of it. I love curios, though I never was a collector 
 
 B 
 
1 8 ube iFUece of Estber ignite 
 
 myself. I found it hard enough to get trunk room enough 
 for all my chiffons and things. But I hope Sir Humphrey will 
 pay a visit to his house whilst I am here. I like men who have 
 seen life and done things. One gets so sick of the boys who 
 are just going to be paragons and generally end in being 
 fiascos ! " 
 
 " My dear, a man's career cannot be made in a day. It 
 has to be built up year by year with toil and care and much 
 patience. You are scarcely old enough yet to have watched 
 even one career develop. For ten years after Humphrey first 
 went away we heard almost nothing of him. He was laying 
 the foundations well, you see. But it is not foundations that 
 show at the outset what the structure is to be." 
 
 They turned to walk towards the house again. Diana spoke 
 in her rather sudden way, which was saved from abruptness 
 by a singularly charming fashion she had of smiling as she 
 spoke, just as the rapidity and unexpectedness of some of her 
 movements were redeemed from the same drawback by her 
 exceeding and indescribable grace. 
 
 " I am twenty-five," she said ; " how old are you ? " 
 
 " I was fifty last birthday, my dear. Just twice your age." 
 
 " We will be two old maids together ! " suddenly spoke the 
 girl. "You shall teach me to be good, Esther, and I will 
 teach you to be happy. Do you know that you have a very 
 sad face, though you are quite lovely still ? " 
 
 "I was never lovely, dear. That was the word which 
 expressed best your mother's great beauty. I will show you 
 the portrait of her, painted just the year before she married. 
 You are very like her in some ways. You have her hair and 
 her eyes, and something of her movements and air, But you 
 are much, much taller." 
 
 " Five ten and a half," answered Diana. " Yes, I am rather 
 a hulker, I know. I should have preferred to stop at five 
 nine ; but I take after father's family. All the Conquests are 
 tall." 
 
Biana Conquest 19 
 
 "It suits you, my dear. You know how to carry your 
 height. Now, come in, Diana, and have some tea, and I will 
 have a room got ready for you. And you shall tell me all 
 about yourself that you care to do, as we sit cosily together 
 over the fire. The air is getting chilly, and soon it will be 
 growing dusk." 
 
 It seemed dusk already in the house ; for the mullioned 
 windows with their leaded casements did not admit the light 
 very freely, and panelled walls and timbered ceilings have a 
 certain picturesque .gloom of their own. But the piled-up 
 fires of logs made glorious glow everywhere, and Diana 
 exclaimed again and again as she passed through one room 
 after another, till they reached the cosy boudoir at the end, 
 which was Esther's special sanctum, and where tea was 
 standing waiting for them on its ancient carved table, the 
 old silver and china being a study in themselves, and drawing 
 enthusiastic comments from the girl, who was plainly in the 
 humour to fall in love with everything. 
 
 Her aunt had fallen in love with her by this time. That 
 likeness to her dead sister, so dearly loved and tenderly 
 mourned, would almost have been sufficient without Diana's 
 own inherent talent for fascinating those who came beneath 
 her spell. The liking, it seemed, was mutual ; for before the 
 girl had been taken to her room, to make such simple toilet 
 as was possible under the circumstances, she had flung her 
 arms round Esther's neck, exclaiming : 
 
 " You are just delightful, and I am going to fall head over 
 ears in love with you ! What have the men been thinking of 
 all this time? The way those blundering creatures choose 
 their wives ! Oh, my ! there is really nothing else left to 
 say ! " 
 
 After dinner they came back to the cosy boudoir, and 
 Diana subsided in a graceful heap on the rug at the feet of 
 her aunt. 
 
 " Esther," she said suddenly, " I'm going to make a 
 
20 ube Hiece ot Eetber Xsnne 
 
 confession to you before we take any irrevocable step. I'm 
 not going to come to you under false pretences. I'm going to 
 own up straight off; and you needn't have me after that, if 
 you don't want. I shall not be in the least offended if you 
 kick me out neck and crop." 
 
 " Dear child ! " began Esther ; but she was becoming used 
 already to Diana's vagaries, and smiled as she spoke : 
 
 " Well, let us out with it at once. I am just hopelessly and 
 irreclaimably selfish selfish all through, you know ; and 
 though I know it perfectly, I never seem exactly to care about 
 being different. I have been horribly spoiled all my life by 
 other people, and now I am spoiling myself all I know. 
 Whatever I like 1 have, whatever I want to do I do ; and if 
 ever I get the least bored I go away to be amused somewhere 
 else. If people don't like me, I loathe them, and I make 
 tracks forthwith. Mostly they do like me I take care they 
 shall. But if anything happens between us well, it's all up 
 a gum-tree then ! I'm not going to stand any criticism, and 
 that's the end of the whole show. So now you know what 
 you are letting yourself in for. I'm like the proverbial pretty 
 little girl with the pretty little curl on her forehead : when I 
 am good I am very, very good, and when I am naughty, I am 
 horrid. I won't be naughty here if I can help it ; but I'm 
 too old and too wise to promise anything. So don't have me 
 if you funk it ! " 
 
 For answer Esther put her hand upon the girl's bright hair, 
 and caressed it tenderly. It was such pretty hair, growing low 
 on the forehead like Esther's own, but instead of being parted 
 and lying in waves on each side of the face after the old style, 
 it was turned back and held by combs, so as to make a 
 rippling frame for the charming face. Some of the tresses 
 were piled up coronet fashion, and some were coiled low as 
 far as the nape of the neck. It was an elaborate but most 
 becoming style of dressing, and the girl's well-cut, rustling 
 skirts, and the elegant corsage, simple though it was in 
 
2>fana Conquest H 
 
 appearance, yet seemed to have writ large upon them the 
 words, "Paris model." 
 
 " Esther, I know that my father was rather like that. He 
 told me so himself. He hated disagreeable things ; just as I 
 hate them. He used to tell me that I could only be young 
 once, and that it was for the young to get all the brightness 
 and happiness out of life that they could. That was his 
 creed ; I think it is mine too. And yet, sometimes, when I 
 am reading a good book not a goody one, you know ; can't 
 stand that sort or listening to a sermon that is worth 
 listening to there are not many such, you bet ! or sometimes 
 just looking at pictures or hearing music, especially cathedral 
 music, there comes over me a sort of disgust of everything, a 
 hating of it all and of myself. Just for five minutes or so, at 
 such times, I regret that there are not real convents to go into, 
 to be away from it all, and to live a life of devotion ; isn't that 
 the right word ? But then in about an hour I've forgotten all 
 about it, and all my good resolutions ; and things go on just 
 as before. Say, do you think if I ever came to live at Convent 
 House that would be a cure ? " 
 
 Esther did not make reply ; her thoughts had gone off 
 upon an excursion of their own. They were back in the days 
 of her own youth, and that of the sister whom she so tenderly 
 loved, so ardently admired, so strove to shield from everything 
 that was hard, or distasteful, or dull. Arabella Lynne had 
 lived her life at Convent House ; yet she had with charm, and 
 grace and winning sweetness, escaped every unwelcome task 
 which might naturally have fallen upon her. She had skimmed 
 the pleasure off life, and had left Esther to perform all the hard 
 and distasteful tasks. And in the end, when it began to be 
 evident that the father's health was failing, when it was pretty 
 well known that the obscure malady under which he laboured 
 would very slowly and gradually sap his strength, reducing him 
 to the helpless invalid he had been for so many years prior to 
 his death, it was Arabella who had declared that life would 
 
tbe mfece ot Estber i#nne 
 
 become insupportable under such circumstances; it was she who, 
 in actual defiance of the commands of this querulous father, 
 who himself, by judicious and filial humouring, might easily 
 have been persuaded to revoke his decision, cut the Gordian 
 knot by a runaway marriage, and had never visited her home 
 since, but had left the entire burden of the sick and failing 
 invalid to be borne by the elder sister alone. Perhaps she 
 had never seen it all quite so clearly (for love like hers is 
 tenderly blind) till Arabella's daughter, sitting at her feet, 
 confessed to her in frank and open terms the same failing in 
 her own character. 
 
 Diana raised her eyes suddenly, to find Esther's full of 
 tears. She sprang up and threw her arms about her 
 impulsively. 
 
 " I did not mean to hurt you. I quite understand. You 
 do not want me ; of course you do not ! " 
 
 " My dear, I want you more than ever. You are dearer to 
 me at this moment than you can understand. Perhaps one day, 
 when we know each other better, I will tell you why. Come, 
 my child, and make a home with me here, as long as ever you 
 wish ; but remember this, Diana, my darling, it is not the 
 place that makes the character. Our besetting sins follow us 
 wherever we go. But again, the blessed converse of this is, 
 that wherever we are, the same help can enter and follow us. 
 Nothing can keep it from us. And there is a strength in 
 which we can fight and conquer ; only we must use the right 
 weapon for it." 
 
 Diana spoke not a word ; but her lips quivered. She threw 
 her arms about Esther's neck, and then suddenly swept from 
 the room, and was seen no more that night. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE RECTOR'S DAUGHTER 
 
 " I SAY, Stella, have you heard the news ? " 
 
 Sally Hastings burst into the Rectory with this question on her 
 lips, just as Stella and the little ones were preparing to go out for 
 their morning walk. Stella was as soberly attired as was her 
 wont; with a touch of Quaker-like neatness, not devoid here and 
 there of an artistic touch of bright, harmonious colouring ; but 
 there was a little anxious fold between the eyes, and an 
 expression of harassed worry upon her face, and when Sally's 
 eager question was heard she only said : 
 
 " Oh, yes, I know. Isn't it dreadful ? And when once 
 that sort of thing begins in the spring, one never knows where 
 it will end." 
 
 Sally's eyes had opened wide ; now she burst into a loud 
 laugh. 
 
 " What on earth are you talking about, you worried worm ? " 
 
 This was not, perhaps, a very engaging sobriquet ; but it 
 was meant by the outspoken Sally as a term of endearment. 
 Stella was used to it, and it provoked no comment. She only 
 answered in the same rather harassed way : 
 
 " Oh, don't you know ? There was a case of scarlet fever 
 down in one of the river-side cottages yesterday. The boy has 
 been taken away to the infirmary ; but one never knows whether 
 it may spread. And I daren't go myself to see that things are 
 being done right about disinfecting and all that, because of 
 Edna and the children," and the fold deepened between the 
 girl's pretty, soft hazel eyes. 
 
 2 3 
 
24 ZTfoe IRfece of Estber Xgnne 
 
 " My dear Stella, what a fuss all about nothing ! When do we 
 ever go through a spring without an isolated case of infection 
 here or there ? And do you really think that the doctor and 
 the parish nurse between them are not equal to the task of 
 seeing to things, without the Lord High Everything at their 
 heels ? " 
 
 This was another of Sally's names for Stella, and she was 
 used to Sally's chaff. 
 
 She smiled a very little as she answered : 
 
 " You see Nurse Binks is not popular everywhere. She is 
 capable and kind in her way, but a little overbearing ; and she 
 does not always take pains to explain the reasons to the people 
 for the things she orders them to do, and the doctor " 
 
 " And a good thing, too ! What do those sort of people want 
 with reasons ? Let J em do as they're told in the good old- 
 fashioned way ! " cried sturdy Sally. " I'm sick of all the argufy- 
 ing that goes on nowadays ! Why, even the kids have to have 
 everything explained to them before they condescend to obey 
 their parents. Bless me ! if ever I marry and have a family, 
 I'll stand no such humbug. I'll keep a little switch handy, 
 like my grandmother ; and I'll argue matters with that little 
 cheeky beggars ! " 
 
 Stella laughed outright at this, and when the harassed look 
 passed from her face, it showed itself as a very pretty one. 
 She was built on rather a small scale ; but held herself so 
 upright that she gave the impression of being somewhat taller 
 than her actual inches. She possessed regular and well-cut 
 features, and soft, cloudy dark hair, and her well-arched eye- 
 brows were of jetty blackness, like the long lashes which 
 fringed the hazel eyes. Her colouring was delicate and soft, 
 as that upon the petals of a wild rose. On the rare occasions 
 when the girl let herself go, as it were, and joined in girlish 
 merriment and pastimes, she showed herself capable of 
 considerable capacity for enjoyment, and was not lacking in 
 personal attraction. Sally often had occasion to deal her 
 
ttbe Sector's 2>au0btet 25 
 
 back-handed compliments on this very ground. She and 
 Stella were by way of being friends and cronies, though they 
 were poles apart in opinion, in tastes, and in the ordering of 
 their lives. 
 
 The two girls were standing in the square parlour-like hall 
 of the old Rectory, a babble of children's voices came through 
 an open door adjacent, and now another voice was heard 
 calling out : 
 
 " Is that Sally ? Come in, Sally, and tell your news ! " 
 
 Sally entered the pretty morning room to find Stella's young 
 step-mother lying, as usual, on her couch, surrounded by her 
 three "babies," as she called them, dear little curly-headed 
 toddling creatures, the youngest a pair of twins being four, 
 and the boy Teddy nearly six years old. Since the birth of 
 the twins, Mrs. Sinclair had been more or less an invalid. She 
 was about eight years older than Stella, and had been her 
 dearest friend a long while. Marriage with Stella's widower- 
 father had not loosened the tie. And the harmony of the 
 house was perfect ; Stella taking all the active duties upon her 
 shoulders, and leaving to the invalid only such small and easy 
 matters as she was well able to manage. 
 
 " Didn't I hear that you brought news with you, Sally ? " 
 asked Mrs. Sinclair eagerly. "You must tell it to me, if 
 Stella is too busy to listen. News is not to be despised in our 
 quiet Cleethorpe. We get none too much." 
 
 " Perhaps we shan't be so quiet in future ! " cried Sally. 
 " Miss Lynne's niece is coming to live with her at least to 
 stay with her on a good long visit. I just saw her yesterday. 
 Such a stunner ! She looks about six foot j but she says she 
 isn't so much and her face and her figure, and the way she 
 turns herself out ! Oh, you've got to see that for yourself ! And 
 she's been all over the world pretty well, and has lived lots in 
 America, and she's going to make things hum here, you bet ! 
 That's what she said herself, only I can't make it sound as she 
 does. She isn't a bit loud or mannish like what mother says 
 
26 ttbe Iftfece of Estber Xgnne 
 
 I am but she's a way with her I can't explain, for she says 
 things that would make your hair curl if other people said 
 them ; but it sounds just all right with her, makes you want 
 to sit and look at her all the time." 
 
 This was news indeed ! Stella paused in her occupation 
 of putting on little Cissy's gloves, and gazed at Sally with 
 questioning eyes. Mrs. Sinclair put the inquiry that the girl 
 had scarcely liked to do before the children. Stella was 
 rinding out that the little pitchers were beginning to develop 
 long ears. 
 
 "What does Miss Lynne think about it all? I scarcely 
 knew she had a niece. I always understood that there had 
 been some sort of split in the family." 
 
 " Well, I don't profess to know all about that. One knows 
 the sister did make a runaway match, and left Miss Lynne 
 with the old father, and never came near them again. But I 
 suppose the girl couldn't help that. Anyhow, she's come to 
 see her aunt, and Miss Lynne is just delighted. You can see 
 it in her dear old face and hear it in her voice. She's awfully 
 proud of her handsome niece already. Poor dear! After 
 the life she has led I do think she deserves some happiness 
 and sunshine now. This Diana is going to cheer her up a 
 lot, I'm sure ; but whether it'll be all beer and skittles, that 
 arrangement, remains to be proved." 
 
 "What do you mean, Sally?" asked Mrs. Sinclair, smiling. 
 
 Sally wrinkled up her stubby nose, rabbit fashion, and 
 looked preternaturally wise. There was a shrewd gleam in 
 her greeny-grey eyes, which gave to her face a comical 
 expression. 
 
 " Well, it's like this : I can fancy that a niece, six feet high, 
 and as pretty as they're made, and with a will of her own that 
 you seem to see sticking out all over her, might be rather a 
 large order to take into your house full-fledged like that. 
 Poor Miss Lynne has never had a chance of her own way yet. 
 She just lived for that tiresome old father. Oh, well, you 
 
tbe 1Rector'6 
 
 know I don't mean any harm of the poor old chap he's dead 
 and gone now. But he did lead her a life, and she never 
 thought of anything but him. And now, just when we all 
 want her to have her little fling, and play her own hand, down 
 comes this sort of she-conquering hero her name is Conquest, 
 if you please, which seems a bit too significant and I'm half 
 afraid it may be just the same old game over again with 
 different players; Miss Lynne always taking second fiddle, 
 when it's time she should boss the show herself." 
 
 When the children were all gloved and ready, they started 
 forth upon their walk, the twins holding Stella's hands, Teddy 
 prancing on in front, or sometimes condescending to walk 
 beside Sally and engage her in conversation. She always 
 fascinated the children, whom she called the kids ; she never 
 tried to talk down to their level, but constantly bewildered 
 and charmed them by her peculiar vocabulary and her 
 fascinating command of grimaces. 
 
 Stella spoke suddenly, following out her own train of 
 thought. 
 
 " Miss Lynne's has been such a beautiful life an ideal 
 life, to my thinking. There has been no thought of self in it 
 from first to last. She has just lived for others. That is what 
 I call real life the highest of all. That is what I should 
 like mine to be no thought in it for self, but always for those 
 about us. The life of self-sacrifice ; the life of Christ." 
 
 Sally had wrinkled up her nose a little, and was looking 
 sideways at Stella, with a quaint expression on her blunt 
 features. At the last word, however, her expression changed, 
 and the words she might have spoken she held back. She felt 
 to a certain extent as though Stella had taken the wind out of 
 her sails assumed an unfair advantage of her. If you take 
 too high a tone, you rob your opponent of the chance to pass 
 a jest. 
 
 "Well, everyone to his taste," she replied, after a short 
 pause ; " I know you regard me as a lost soul, or something 
 
28 ttbe IFltece of iBstbcr 
 
 akin to it. But I wasn't made for poking my nose into 
 cottages, or teaching kids in school, or fooling round at 
 bazaars, or at garbage I beg pardon, I mean jumble sales. 
 I don't feel called upon to sacrifice myself to that extent. I'm 
 good at games, and I'm no good at anything else ', and I think 
 one is best doing the things one can best do, and leaving the 
 rest alone. I think the parish can get on very comfortably 
 without me j and I wasn't born a rector's daughter thank 
 goodness ! " 
 
 By this time the party had arrived at the fork in the road at 
 Clee Mill, and the children were clamouring to be taken to 
 see "Auntie Miss Lynne," as they insisted on calling her. 
 But Stella had many errands to do in the village, and the 
 children had been early taught to walk up and down a 
 cottage garden whilst Sister Stella went inside. It was dull 
 work for them ; but Stella strove to impress upon them 
 that they must not think of themselves, that they must 
 learn unselfishness in little things ; and being docile children, 
 they had obeyed her submissively so far, though Teddy began 
 to show symptoms of revolt which sometimes gave anxiety to 
 his watchful guardian. But to-day Sally came to the rescue by 
 offering to take "the kids" to Convent House herself, and to 
 leave them in Miss Lynne's charge, to be called for later. 
 Teddy pranced for joy on hearing this offer, and the twins 
 made a rush to gain possession of Sally's hands. Stella 
 wavered a moment, and then gave way to the combined 
 pressure put upon her. 
 
 " Very well, if you will be careful of them, Sally. I want to 
 speak to Miss Lynne about two or three little things. I will 
 come for the children later. The niece will not be there 
 to-day?" 
 
 " No ; she went off yesterday to get her belongings together. 
 She will be back pretty soon, but I don't know exactly when." 
 
 It was a good hour later before Stella found herself free 
 to seek her charges in Convent House. She found them 
 
ZTbe Sector's 2>au0bter 29 
 
 playing happily with Miss Lynne's Irish terrier in the sunny, 
 cloistered garden, whilst Esther herself paced up and down the 
 covered walk watching them, and acting as referee in all 
 difficulties that might arise. Sally had gone off after hearing 
 all there was to hear about the coming of Diana Conquest. 
 After all, Miss Lynne had not very much to say to anyone 
 about it yet. Her niece wanted to pay her a visit, and was 
 coming. How long that visit would last was an open question. 
 
 Stella was interested ; but with her parish affairs came a 
 long way first, and she had much to discuss with Miss Lynne, 
 whose sympathetic nature and unfailing liberality made her 
 a person of importance in Stella's little world. When the 
 budget of news had been thoroughly discussed, Esther remarked 
 gently : 
 
 " I wanted to see you, Stella, about a good many things. I 
 hope now to be able to relieve you of several cares and duties 
 that you have gradually taken upon yourself. You have too 
 much to do, my dear child. It is quite weighing you down. 
 But now that I have set my house in order, as it were, and 
 got back my strength again, I shall be glad to come to your 
 aid. And perhaps we shall find another helper in Diana. 
 She has led a curious roving life hitherto ; but she will be all 
 the better for some fixed duties when she comes here to settle 
 down for a while." 
 
 Stella smiled, but she spoke a little hastily : 
 
 "Oh, that is so kind of you; but, indeed, I am not over- 
 worked. I arrange my time carefully, so as to get everything 
 in. You see, they naturally look to the Rectory ; and father 
 tells me all that is wanted all that is going on. You do help 
 us immensely ; we are always coming to you ; but " 
 
 "But I am not to do more than dispense kitchen physic 
 and coal tickets and warm clothing ? Is that it, Stella ? " 
 asked Esther, with a smile. " And what of my old Mothers' 
 Meeting, which I was obliged to give up these past two years ? 
 I know Lady Caroline did not get on with it, and it fell to 
 
30 Ube Btece of Estber isnne 
 
 your lot after all. May I not have my mothers back, my 
 dear?" 
 
 Stella flushed a little as she realised somewhat the 
 construction which might be put upon her words. 
 
 " Oh, Miss Lynne, you did not think I meant that ! I was 
 not thinking of the mothers. Of course, they will be delighted 
 to have you back. But please don't send me away altogether- 
 Let me help you. Indeed, I often feel it wants more than 
 one to take it. It has grown a good bit bigger. And I am 
 so interested in the mothers, and I know them all, and " 
 
 " My dear Stella, it is not for me to say what you shall or 
 shall not do ; and personally I should be glad enough of your 
 help. But I shall have a niece now for a while to help me (if 
 she be willing), and you are really doing too much. You have 
 the choir to train and the organ to practise, you have your 
 Sunday-school class, and your Bible-class for boys. You are 
 treasurer to almost all the little parish charities and clubs, and 
 though each individually may not take much time, yet in the 
 aggregate it must involve a considerable amount of care and 
 thought. You have a great deal of visiting to do, and you 
 go to the schools constantly. Then at home you have a 
 certain amount of housekeeping " 
 
 "Oh, but that is very little, indeed. Edna manages 
 beautifully. I just do the overlooking in the kitchen " 
 
 "Yes, dear! and the children's walks, and some of their 
 little lessons. They will soon be needing more time and 
 care as they grow older ; and if you still decide against a more 
 responsible nurse for them, your time will be increasingly 
 engrossed at home." 
 
 "Oh, but Edna means to teach them, and have them more 
 with her as they grow older," spoke Stella eagerly. " I know 
 you do not agree with us, but we both feel a great wish really 
 to bring them up ourselves, and not give them over into the 
 hands of a regular nurse, who will manage them her own way, 
 and perhaps win them away from us, or, at least, keep me 
 
ZTbe lector's Dauobter 31 
 
 more or less out of the nursery. We are most particular 
 about the village girl who comes to nurse-maid them. Annie 
 is most good and trustworthy, and she looks up to me, and 
 will fall into any arrangement I like to make. Indeed, I 
 think we are right. The charge of little children is a very 
 precious responsibility," and Stella's face grew soft as she 
 gazed at the little ones engrossed in their happy play. 
 
 Miss Lynne smiled a little, and a half-sigh escaped her. It 
 seemed such a little time since Stella herself had been a 
 toddler in a white frock, playing around the old sun-dial ; 
 and here she was, with a face over-grave and anxious for her 
 three-and-twenty years, talking of her responsibilities in the 
 matter of these children. 
 
 "But your drawing, Stella," said Esther, after a brief pause, 
 " I want to see you take that up again. Your brother took so 
 much care and pains over the studio he contrived for you, and 
 you have such a talent that you should try and exercise it. If 
 you would only consent to transfer some of these innumerable 
 small duties to other willing hands, you would be able to do 
 something again with your pencil and brush. Do you never 
 think of the good lessons your father gave you in London ? 
 Is it not a pity to let everything go like this ? " 
 
 An eager light had flashed, at the first mention of drawing, 
 into Stella's eyes, but little by little it died away. 
 
 " I don't think I shall ever be able to take up my drawing 
 again," she said slowly; "I have almost made up my mind to 
 that." 
 
 Esther was silent. She had known Stella from her baby- 
 hood; she had watched her development; she knew her 
 strong points and her weak ones. She was beginning to be 
 aware of that strain of firmness or obstinacy she scarcely 
 knew by which name to call it, which combined itself with 
 much outward gentleness and appearance of moderation and 
 reasonableness. She had found before this that it was one 
 thing to advise Stella Sinclair, and to believe that her advice 
 
32 Ube Wece of Estber isnne 
 
 would be followed, and quite another to note any real difference 
 made in accordance with her words of counsel. 
 
 "She's as good as you like; but awful pig-headed!" Sally 
 had blurted out one day. These words recurred to Esther at 
 this moment, and a little smile curved her lips. 
 
 Suddenly Stella spoke with rather more than her customary 
 emphasis spoke almost vehemently. 
 
 " It is because I love my drawing above everything that I 
 feel I must not touch it. I am afraid to begin. I should 
 grow absorbed. I should not know when or how to stop. 
 When I think of pictures oh ! I see such things ! My fingers 
 tingle to get to work. But I must not ; I am quite sure of it. 
 It would be selfish. It would be a self-indulgence. Last 
 Lent I made my resolve. I gave up all thoughts of a career. 
 My duties lie about me here. The rest I must sacrifice. Is 
 not self-sacrifice the true road of the Cross, the path we all 
 must tread if we are to follow in in His footsteps ? " 
 
 Still Esther remained silent. She was not quick of speech. 
 She was not even very quick of thought. She was often 
 conscious of some flaw, of some fallacy in words that she 
 heard, in arguments that she read ; but could not at once 
 lay her finger upon the weak spot. Stella's enthusiasm for 
 self-sacrifice was known to her. She admired whilst she 
 deplored some of the phases it seemed likely to take with the 
 advance of years. In an age of so much pleasure-seeking and 
 robust unblushing selfishness in the rising generation, this was 
 certainly a contrast in many ways agreeable ; but she felt a 
 fear lest Stella should carry her theories too far; should 
 become unconsciously a busy-body and a village autocrat, her 
 range of vision limited, and her tastes and talents crippled ; 
 yet she felt it a great difficulty to speak words to so young a 
 creature which should seem to counsel her to act in any way 
 against her conscience. The girl needed a wider outlook, 
 and that is what is often so difficult to obtain. 
 
 Stella was quick to detect anything like disapproval in those 
 
ZTbe lRectot'0 Daugbter 33 
 
 whose good opinion she valued. She looked up into Esther's 
 face, and spoke with some vehemence. 
 
 " I should have thought you would understand so well. 
 Your own life has been such an example ! You gave up 
 everything ! " 
 
 "My dear, my own duty was plain. I did not take it. 
 I did not choose it. It was laid upon me. The dependence 
 of parent upon child is only second in its sacredness to that of 
 child upon parent. And we can none of us see the end from 
 the beginning. Had I known and understood what a long, 
 long decay it would have been, I think I should have taken 
 steps to share the burden in some measure. But it came so 
 slowly, so gradually. It was only bit by bit everything else 
 had to be given up ; and then it seemed probable that it 
 would be for such a short time. I think it is not meant by 
 God I think it is not quite good for anyone that all should 
 be swallowed up in one overwhelming care. Do not take my 
 life as your pattern, Stella ; for you will make a mistake if you 
 do. God gives us all things richly to enjoy. Do not forget 
 that. And now you must take these mites home to their 
 dinner. You have them well in hand, my dear. They would 
 only let me put their gingerbread into a bag to be taken home 
 for tea. ' Sister Stella does not like us to eat between meals,' 
 they said." 
 
 Stella and her charges passed through the garden and 
 across the little bridge to the footpath leading out upon the 
 road. As they reached the highway, Stella gave a start, and 
 a young man leaning against a tree close by stepped forward, 
 lifting his hat with a smile, as he said : 
 
 " Sally told me I should see you if I waited here. Have 
 you got a welcome for me yet, Stella ? " 
 
 She had turned from red to pale, and from pale to red ; 
 and as she held out her hand, she uttered only one word : 
 
 " Rudolf ! " 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE SQUIRE'S SON 
 
 STELLA was looking thoroughly startled. 
 
 The young man who had accosted her took off his 
 hat, smiling. The children capered about him, making 
 demonstrations of welcome, which he received good- 
 humouredly, and then bade them " trot along " whilst he 
 talked to Stella. 
 
 Rudolf Hastings bore no resemblance to his sister Sally. 
 He was a remarkably handsome man of eight-and-twenty, with 
 that rather peculiar air of finish in his dress and person which 
 marks the Londoner; not the frequenter of the City, but 
 the man whose occupations are carried on in the locality of 
 Whitehall, Downing Street, and Westminster. His eyes were 
 watchful and observant, his face wore an expression of quiet 
 determination, his whole aspect gave the impression of 
 resourcefulness and power. He was tall, and his frame was 
 well-knit and well-proportioned, though in build it was rather 
 slight. Stella regarded him with admiration, not entirely 
 unmixed with awe. She had known Rudolf all her life. A 
 rather peculiarly close tie bound them together ; yet, for all 
 that, she never saw him without a certain tremor and 
 apprehension, which held in its scope elements both of 
 joy and of pain. 
 
 " I did not know you were coming home, Rudolf," she 
 said. " I saw Sally this morning, but she said nothing 
 about it." 
 
 " Sally did not know. I arrived after she had gone out. 
 
 34 
 
ZTbe Squire's son 35 
 
 By-and-by, when I had told my news at home, I followed her, 
 and she told me where you were to be found. I have 
 something rather particular to discuss with you, Stella." 
 
 Her colour came and went ; she looked very sweet in her 
 conflict of feeling. Rudolf glanced at her, and his dark eyes 
 lighted. He just put out his hand as though he would like to 
 take hers and place it on his arm ; but, after all, the quiet 
 road was a public thoroughfare, and he was a man to whom 
 demonstration was objectionable, so his hand dropped again. 
 
 "My news is this, Stella," he said. "Last week my 
 eccentric old bachelor godfather died. Yesterday came the 
 funeral, and the reading of the will. He had no near 
 relations ; none of his own name. He had always spoken 
 of making me his heir, but I never allowed myself to reckon 
 upon dead men's shoes especially those of such an eccentric. 
 But he has not changed his purpose. All that he had is to be 
 mine. It is not great wealth, but it is, at least, modest affluence. 
 The lawyer could not tell me exactly what the property was, 
 but he said I might safely reckon that it would work out at 
 not less than an income of a thousand a year, plus the quaint 
 little old-fashioned house in Chelsea with its furniture and 
 plenishings complete. With what my secretaryship brings me 
 in, and what I make by my pen, we could start housekeeping 
 any day now, Stella." 
 
 She started, and seemed to shrink a little away. Her face 
 was all one deep rosy flush. Rudolf paused and looked at her 
 steadily. 
 
 " Are you ready to come to me ? " he asked. 
 
 "Oh, Rudolf! you have startled me so! What do you 
 mean by ready? What is it that you want?" 
 
 " I want to put an end to this unsatisfactory state of affairs 
 between us, Stella," he answered quietly ; " I want it to be one 
 thing or the other. Five years ago, when you were eighteen 
 and I was twenty-three, I asked you if you would be my wife 
 one day, and you said that you would only you were too 
 
36 TOe IRtece of Bstber Xgntte 
 
 young, and could not be spared from home just then. I was 
 going to London to commence my life there. I very soon 
 found out that you had been right. We were both too young. 
 To have married then would have been folly. But I have 
 always looked forward to it as the crown of my career when 
 the way should open. I have always regarded you as my 
 affianced wife, though you have never permitted me to 
 announce our engagement openly. Why not, Stella?" 
 
 " Lady Caroline would be against it," faltered Stella ; " I 
 know she expects you to make a great match some day." 
 
 Rudolf was silent a moment; then he answered, with a 
 smile : 
 
 " My mother will never hold out long against my wishes, if 
 she sees that my happiness is involved." 
 
 " But it will be a bitter disappointment to her." 
 
 Again Rudolf paused for a moment before answering. 
 
 "You see, my mother has had disappointments with the 
 girls. Geraldine has been so delicate since that attack of 
 scarlet fever that there has been no chance of taking her for a 
 season in town, and getting her married brilliantly, as till then 
 had been reckoned upon. And poor Sally" a half-laugh 
 broke from the young man's lips " well, for my part, I always 
 find Sally immensely refreshing ; but one can understand that 
 she is not the sort of daughter my mother would care to 
 produce and present in her own social circle in town. So, 
 under the circumstances, it is natural that she should centre 
 her ambitions in me ; but, as I say, I will undertake to master 
 her opposition. I am much more afraid of yours, Stella." 
 
 He looked her full in the face, and she quivered a little 
 before him. She wrung her hands together nervously. There 
 was appeal and distress in the face he was seeking to read. 
 
 "Yes, Stella," he repeated, "it is your opposition I fear 
 most. When I spoke to you first, your answer was : * When 
 I can be spared.' It has been the same phrase constantly 
 repeated ever since. When you spoke it first I was not afraid. 
 
Squire's Son 37 
 
 Your father had lately married again. Your brother was going 
 out to the colonies in a year or two. You would soon be free 
 of compelling ties. After I began to know more of life, I saw 
 that an early marriage was often a mistake. I have not been 
 impatient. Had it not been for this sudden stroke of good 
 fortune, I should have waited yet longer. But this alters 
 much " 
 
 " Oh, Rudolf why should it alter that ? Why can you not 
 wait longer still ? How can I get away ? " 
 
 " What holds you ? " he asked quietly. 
 
 " Oh, so many, many things ! There is my father he 
 depends on me in a hundred little ways. There is Edna 
 always ill, and often suffering. Nobody understands what to 
 do for her like me. And the children and the parish oh, 
 Rudolf ! how could I leave them all ? " 
 
 " In fact, Stella, everything and everybody is to be considered 
 except me ? " 
 
 11 You are cruel, Rudolf ! " cried the girl, walking rapidly 
 onwards ; " you know I did not mean that ! " 
 
 "What did you mean then, Stella?" he asked patiently. 
 " That is what I should like you to explain." 
 
 " Then I will ! " she cried, bursting out almost fiercely. 
 " Can you not understand that we who are young we who 
 have all our life before us ought to wait, ought to sacrifice 
 our own pleasure, our own happiness for a while, at least 
 at the call of duty ? What are we put here in our places for, 
 but to serve ? Duties grow up round us ; we know that we 
 are filling a sphere usefully. Are we to cast everything aside, 
 just to be happy in our own way ? You know I care for you, 
 Rudolf ! You know how you can tempt me by your words ! 
 But just because I want so much to be with you always to 
 do what you ask of me I am afraid to do it ! It is pleasing 
 oneself ; not doing that which is given us to do. Can't you 
 understand ? I know I cannot put things cleverly ; but I 
 know what I feel. We are not to please ourselves. We are 
 
3$ Ube fUece of ]stber 
 
 to take the thorny road not the broad and pleasant one. 
 We must serve our apprenticeship, at least. We must deny 
 ourselves. Rudolf, don't you understand? Don't you feel 
 yourself that that is the highest ? " 
 
 " I think that were you to marry me, Stella, you would find 
 a 5 many and as important duties grow up around you as 
 training a village choir, or teaching in schools, or managing 
 small parochial clubs, and so forth. My idea is that wherever 
 we are, we find plenty to do j and that useful work is wanted 
 all the world over." 
 
 " But your wife would have to lead a gay life too a society 
 life. Dinners, receptions, balls ; oh, I know how your world 
 lives. I should like it so much, Rudolf. I feel how I should 
 delight in it. Nobody knows how I love beautiful things 
 lights, flowers, soft clothing, sumptuous living. I am afraid to 
 think how I should revel in it all. But to leave my duties 
 here for that ! Father, Edna, the children, the parish ! 
 Oh ! you don't know all that I have to do and think of every 
 day" 
 
 She stopped, because Rudolfs face looked stern. She had 
 known him all her life he had been her childhood's hero and 
 the idol of her girlhood ; but she was a little afraid of him all 
 the same, and when that look clouded his face she always 
 trembled before it. 
 
 "Then, Stella, am I to understand that until the children 
 are grown up, or until Mrs. Sinclair has recovered her health, 
 and your father has retired from his living, you will not 
 consent to be my wife, or to admit to the world that we are 
 engaged?" 
 
 Stella was silent, battling with her feelings. She had a hurt 
 sense (often experienced in Rudolfs presence), that the duties 
 which to her were so all-important and compelling were lightly 
 esteemed by him ; that he took an unfair view of her position ; 
 that he failed to comprehend how each separate tie, in itself 
 unimportant and even trivial, yet represented a small sphere 
 
Ube Squire's Son 39 
 
 of usefulness, and that these ties multiplied together formed in 
 the aggregate a bond of service which it would require great 
 resolution to sever at a blow. She knew that anything could 
 be made to sound ridiculous by a caustic tongue directed in a 
 mocking spirit ; but to the girl there had always been some- 
 thing almost sacred in her earnest and conscientious discharge 
 of her daily round of duties. She prayed for guidance even 
 in trifles ; how much more in the greater issues of life. She 
 was seeking to pray now to see her way clearly ; but she was 
 afraid to let herself go to permit the compelling power of her 
 love to gain the mastery. Duty must be the rule of life and 
 the sacrifice of self at its shrine. 
 
 Rudolf was speaking again now, in that very level and even 
 voice of his which seemed to sting her spirit as with the lash 
 of some invisible whip. 
 
 " I shall not try to override you, Stella. You have reached 
 woman's estate. You should be able to judge for yourself. 
 But I will for once present the matter as it appears to me. 
 After that, you must settle for yourself what answer you make, 
 and I will accept it as final. For something must be settled 
 between us at last, one way or the other. Take your father 
 first. He has a wife, who, though something of an invalid, 
 is still capable of making his home-life comfortable, and being 
 his companion in his hours of leisure. There are three little 
 children, who, in my opinion, would be better looked after by 
 a really capable nursery governess than by a very fully-occupied 
 half-sister. There are hundreds and thousands of gently-born 
 girls who would be thankful for the place, and might give 
 Mrs. Sinclair what care she needs also. When you marry, 
 your father could supply your place in this fashion without 
 adding to his expenses. As to the parish, there are other 
 persons to help in it. It would do Geraldine good to have a 
 few outside interests ; and she could keep club accounts as 
 well as anybody. As for Sally, if she were once pressed into 
 the service, she might go and see outlying people, sick or 
 
40 Ube IFUece of JEstber 
 
 sound, and would cheer them up famously by her blunt 
 speeches and malapropos remarks. There is Miss Lynne over 
 yonder, whose hands are less full, no doubt, than they were. 
 She would be a tower of strength. You would be missed, of 
 course you would not wish it otherwise. But you would 
 find, Stella, as we all of us find in turn, though the 
 discovery is not always very welcome that no one in the 
 world is indispensable, and Nature so abhors a vacuum 
 that no sooner does one occur than it is promptly filled up 
 somehow ! " 
 
 He tried to smile as he concluded, but the smile was not 
 altogether successful. Perhaps, had Rudolf at this point put 
 his arms about Stella, told her that he loved her, and that he 
 wanted her (which in truth he did badly), and had appealed 
 to her love for him, he might even then have won the day. 
 But, truth to tell, he was a little sore, and also a little doubtful 
 of her. It seemed to him that had she loved him truly, she 
 would not thus continue to hold back. Her scruples 
 irritated him; her morbid craving after self-mortification (as 
 he phrased it) was inexplicable to his more robust and 
 masculine mind. A doubt of her affection for him had 
 troubled him before this. Now, he told himself, he would 
 bring matters to an issue. Either they should become 
 engaged, with the prospect of speedy marriage, or 
 
 He did not like to face the alternative even to himself. It 
 was Stella who, swallowing down a great, choking sob, spoke 
 the fateful words. 
 
 " I understand, Rudolf. I am not necessary to you or to 
 anyone. Perhaps I am foolish to think I am wanted any- 
 where. But, at least, I have duties to fulfil at home, and I do 
 not see how I can give them all up at a moment's notice. 
 You will soon find the vacuum in your heart if there be one 
 fill up. We have never been engaged, and this had better 
 be the end. I don't think I could make you happy. We see 
 life with such different eyes. You will be a big man soon. 
 
Squire's Son 4* 
 
 You ought to marry such a woman as your mother would 
 choose for you rich, beautiful, distinguished. I should hate 
 to be a bone of contention between you. Things have 
 changed, and we had better say good-bye. It isn't as though 
 it would make any talk or stir. It was just between ourselves 
 and now it is over." 
 
 She turned round upon him and faced him as she spoke. 
 The tears had dried in her eyes with the heat of her excite- 
 ment. He had never seen her look so attractive in her life 
 before, for he had seldom seen her moved to anger. For one 
 moment it came over him that there was more in Stella than 
 he had fancied, with all his previous love. For one moment 
 he longed to hold her in his arms, and compel her to speak 
 differently by the force of his own masterful will, the strength 
 and tenacity of which he well knew. But he paused he was 
 proud too and he hated to seem to ask more than was 
 offered. The psychological moment passed, and the leaping 
 flame died down to cold ashes. 
 
 " Is that your decision, Stella ? " 
 
 " Yes, Rudolf. I think you know it is a wise one." 
 
 "At least I bow to your superior wisdom," he answered, 
 with a touch of either bitterness or mockery in his tone, she 
 could not tell which. 
 
 She turned from him and hurried homewards by the river- 
 side road, and he wheeled about and walked rapidly away in 
 an opposite direction, not heeding whither his steps were 
 bent, till he found himself once more by the rustic bridge 
 which would take him to the gardens of Convent House. He 
 had but to vault the gate, as he had done at will from boyhood, 
 and he would be within those quiet precincts which had 
 always held so great a charm for him. 
 
 He felt a sudden desire to see Miss Lynne whose pet he 
 had been in his babyhood, and who always had a soft spot 
 in her heart for him, although he had so long arrived at man's 
 estate. 
 
42 tbe IFUece of Estber Ignite 
 
 He did not, however, march through the garden in 
 Sally's unceremonious fashion, but circled through the outer 
 shrubberies, and made formal entrance by way of the front 
 door, being ushered into Esther's presence just as she was 
 about to sit down to her solitary lunch. 
 
 So they sat and lunched together, and he told her of the 
 good thing which had come to him, and of his prospects in 
 general, and his private ambitions, of which, to most persons, 
 he was reticent of speaking. 
 
 "You know my chief is in the Cabinet now. He is good 
 enough to set some store by my services, and he employs me 
 in all his most confidential correspondence. It gives one a 
 grip of the under-world of politics, if you understand me, 
 which is illuminating, to say the least of it. He has spoken 
 to me more than once of standing for some constituency. 
 Until yesterday I did not see how this could be done without 
 putting my father to greater expense than I cared to do. But 
 this changes everything. I suppose I could afford it, though 
 I am not quite certain yet. Anyhow, I don't mind telling 
 you, Miss Lynne, that it is my ambition to write M.P. after 
 my name, though I have never let myself dream too much of 
 it hitherto." 
 
 Rudolf had, by this time, talked himself into a happier frame 
 of mind. Esther's ready sympathy and quick responsiveness 
 were soothing ; and also from the fact that for years she had 
 read the Times and other newspapers almost from end to end 
 to her father, she had acquired a wider range of interest, and 
 more definite information and appreciation of the questions of 
 the day and the political outlook than was at all common 
 with women not actually in the swim of public life. Her 
 opinions were worth listening to, when she advanced them ; 
 for they were the outcome of patient observation and much 
 quiet thought. Rudolf had been struck by this before ; he 
 was struck by it anew to-day. In his manner towards Esther 
 there was a pretty touch of chivalrous deference. As a little 
 
ttbe Squire's Son 43 
 
 boy, he had liked to play at being "her knight -errant." Some- 
 thing of the old feeling lingered yet. Both felt it, and it 
 touched a chord in each heart. 
 
 " If only she were five-and-twenty years younger ! " Rudolf 
 thought. 
 
 In the boudoir, over their coffee (there was no such coffee 
 anywhere as was served in Convent House, he declared), 
 Esther spoke of the change she was looking for in her life. 
 
 " Sally just mentioned that you expected a niece. I hope 
 it is going to be a niece whose presence will be a source of 
 pleasure to you. All modern girls would not fit into the life 
 of Convent House;" and they looked at each other and 
 smiled. 
 
 "I do not think she will fit in one little bit," answered 
 Esther, with a laugh ; and when she laughed her face looked 
 almost young again. " Yet, all the same, I want her. I am 
 glad she is coming, though she is very modern, Rudolf, and 
 even Sally sits open-mouthed at some of her sayings and 
 doings ! " 
 
 " Ay, Sally is more the hoyden common to all generations 
 than the product of our modern civilisation," answered Rudolf. 
 " I'm not sure that at heart Sally is not a bit of a Puritan, in 
 spite of her enthusiasm for games of every sort and kind. 
 The games are the fashion of the day grafted upon the old 
 stock. Do you know what I mean ? " 
 
 " I think so. I always feel that Sally has the makings of a 
 fine woman in her. I hope I may say the same of my Diana. 
 Did Sally tell you what a beautiful creature she is ? " 
 
 " What is her name? " asked Rudolf suddenly. 
 
 " Diana Conquest. Why, Rudolf, do you know her ? Of 
 course it is possible. She has been some time in London. 
 But London is such a big place. It had not occurred to me 
 to ask before." 
 
 " A big place and a very small one too. Sometimes I feel 
 it remarkably small. Yes, I have met Miss Conquest. She 
 
44 ttbe IFUece of Estber 
 
 appeared in our world rather like a meteor, last November. I 
 suppose I have been some half-dozen times in her society. 
 Once I danced with her " 
 
 " She never told me. I mean, she never seemed to have 
 any association with the name of Hastings." 
 
 " She would never remember. I was only one of a 
 multitude. For she made a bit of a splash when she appeared. 
 They say she has a big fortune. She is extremely handsome, 
 and has plenty to say for herself. I was never much more 
 entertained than I was the half-hour we talked and danced 
 together. Fancy finding that dazzling young creature at 
 Convent House ! " 
 
 " You must help to entertain her, Rudolf. I am sometimes 
 half afraid of her finding the life here intolerably dull." 
 
 " Well, you see, since the end of January nothing has been 
 going on anywhere. Besides, I do not think Miss Conquest 
 will let herself be dull in any company. Miss Lynne, you 
 will be quite gay in this part of the world before long. Have 
 you heard that Sir Humphrey Vanborough is coming home ? " 
 
 "No; is he?" 
 
 " Well, likely to come home, I should say. His time is up, 
 and he has retired worse luck for the district, as all say. 
 He is going to show Archie Vanborough some sport up in 
 the hills. He went out last autumn to join him. You 
 know Archie a cousin or something of the old boy's a 
 fellow born with a silver spoon in his mouth ; but a fine 
 young fellow for all that. Well, they're out there together 
 now ; but will probably be home in the course of a few 
 months ; and I expect he'll come back to his own house here, 
 for a spell, at least, before he makes any further arrangements." 
 
 Esther's eyes were bright ; a soft and tender smile curved 
 her lips. Rudolf looked keenly at her for a moment, and 
 then said to himself: 
 
 " Lucky fellow, Sir Humphrey Vanborough ! " 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 INTRODUCTIONS 
 
 " ESTHER, I am not going to let you wear that cap any longer ! 
 You are much too pretty to make a frump of yourself! Come 
 here and sit down, whilst I work my sovereign will upon you ! 
 Oh, you needn't look so askance at me. I know what I am 
 about. You shall keep your style; it suits you; but it just 
 wants a touch here and there to transform you, and make you 
 younger." 
 
 " Diana, my dear, I am fifty." 
 
 "And you are old-fashioned enough to think fifty old, I 
 dare say. Don't you know women call themselves girls, or 
 like to be called so, till they are any age you like to mention 
 nowadays ? I tell you, Esther, I went not long ago to see a 
 girls' hockey match out Hendon way. I had a good look at 
 the ' girls/ I vow that one or two of them would never see 
 forty-five again ! Grey hair and gouty feet ! Oh ! I'm not 
 mocking at the infirmities of age ; but I do say that I don't 
 admire to see them playing the fool that way, when the sere 
 and yellow leaf is falling upon them ! I felt frightfully inclined 
 to set up a board with the inscription, ' Hockey for ancient 
 hens.' Some pastimes women can keep up gracefully with 
 advancing years, but in my opinion hockey isn't one of these. 
 I think it's a frightful game for girls at any time straddle- 
 bugs I call them, when I see them at it ! I really couldn't 
 make such a figure of myself as they do. Perhaps that's 
 my vanity. That's how I feel, anyhow." 
 
 Diana had arrived at Convent House upon the previous 
 
 45 
 
46 Ube fliecc of Estber Xsnne 
 
 evening, bag and baggage ; and very much bag and baggage had 
 there been ! She herself had laughed at the bulk and number 
 of her possessions as they were brought from the luggage-cart. 
 
 " You'll find me rather a large order, I fear, Esther ! " she 
 had exclaimed. "Now, say out if your heart fails you at 
 the prospect ! I'll cart myself away somewhere else if it 
 does." 
 
 But here was Diana, very much at home already in that 
 quaint, large bed-chamber, low-ceiled and of irregular shape, 
 (with charming cupboards and hanging closets set in deep 
 recesses, which had accommodated even her voluminous 
 wardrobe), giving glimpses through the open door of that 
 adjoining room beyond, equally large and quaint, cosy and 
 home-like, with its glowing fire, its warm, soft hangings, its 
 wealth of flowers culled and arranged by loving hands, and 
 those nicknacks that she herself had added to its plenishings, 
 which made it already seem her very own. 
 
 Now, with deft and skilful fingers, she was trying her art 
 upon Esther's waving silvery locks. She had the air of one 
 exceedingly at home in her surroundings. Already there was 
 a touch of playful imperiousness in her manner towards her 
 aunt, as though this young madam had been used rather 
 to command than to obey. 
 
 " I'm going to have the world admire you as I do myself, 
 Esther. You're perfectly sweet, and I mean everybody to 
 know it. Oh, you needn't protest or blush girls don't blush 
 nowadays ; but you are so refreshingly old-world ! you have 
 the sweetest brown eyes, just like a dachsy dog, you know ! 
 I wish mine were brown. Grey is so commonplace. I like 
 mine best when I get into a rage, and they turn yellow like a 
 tiger's ! I wonder why I can't make them do it at other times. 
 I like people's eyes to match their hair ; it gives a kind of finish 
 to their appearance. It's tiresome ; one's eyes are so baffling. 
 One can get hair and complexion, and even a nose to order 
 pretty much no >v ; but one has to stick to the eyes that Nature 
 
Jntrofcucttons 47 
 
 has given one, however badly the dear old lady may have 
 blundered over them ! " 
 
 " Di, Di, you are a sad rattlepate ! " 
 
 "No, indeed; only modern, with the latest up-to-date ideas. 
 Now, Esther, come and look at yourself. I've had you in my 
 mind's eye all these last days, and have overhauled all the 
 best hair-dressers' shops for the right combs for you. White 
 hair is just the loveliest in the world, when it is all silvery and 
 glossy and wavy, like yours. It's the grizzly, dull stage that 
 one funks. Now see ; what do you think of yourself, eh ? I 
 want to make you a little more vain ; you're just a trifle too 
 like a mediaeval nun all spirit and no flesh." 
 
 Esther looked, and could not forbear a little smile. The 
 change was so subtle and skilful that she could scarcely define 
 it, and yet it seemed to have brought back some of her 
 vanished youth. The soft waves of hair were just a little 
 raised and re-arranged, so as to produce a softening and more 
 negligee effect. The little lace cap had been superseded by 
 some arrangement of tortoiseshell, and the abundant coils 
 formed a coronet which gave her added height and dignity. 
 
 "There! you are a real Queen Esther, and any Ahasuerus 
 would be pleased and proud to hold out his golden sceptre to 
 you ! I hope you appreciate my self-denial in all this ! for 
 nobody with any real sense of true beauty will look at me 
 whilst you are by. I shall be the discarded Vashti, and you 
 the honoured Queen Esther ! Well, I must confess my 
 sympathies always were with Vashti. An Eastern woman 
 gifted with spunk ought to have been better appreciated ! " 
 
 She linked her arm within Esther's, and led her away from 
 the mirror, not permitting her to touch or alter anything. 
 They had come in from an early walk round the little estate 
 which owned Esther's sway, and Diana's interest had been 
 only equalled by her ignorance with regard to English country 
 life. As they descended to the hall, they saw the butler 
 crossing it to the front door, and pausing a moment on the 
 
48 zrbe iRtece of Esther 
 
 landing to let the visitors enter, Diana saw that these were a 
 tall and rather stately-looking lady, with a young man in 
 attendance, who looked as though he might be her son, for 
 there was some similarity in their gait and carriage, if not in 
 their features. 
 
 " Who are they ? " whispered she to her aunt. 
 
 "Lady Caroline Hastings and her son. I thought she 
 might perhaps call. I have known her ever since her marriage, 
 thirty years ago. She knew your mother, Diana.'* 
 
 They followed their guests into the drawing-room, where 
 the new-comer was duly presented. She towered over Lady 
 Caroline in a fashion to which that tall and upright dame was 
 scarcely accustomed ; but the vivid beauty of the face riveted 
 her eyes, and she held the girl's hand rather long, gazing 
 earnestly at her, and turning to Esther, exclaimed : 
 
 " It is Arabella over again and yet with a difference ! " 
 
 " It must be with a difference," answered Diana, speaking 
 for herself, " for my father always told me I was a Conquest 
 to my finger-tips. But I suppose I am like my mother, too ; 
 only she was such a fragile flower at least, when I remember 
 her and there is not anything fragile about me ! " 
 
 " I want to introduce Mr. Rudolf Hastings, my dear. But 
 he tells me he has been introduced before, though he does not 
 suppose you will remember him." 
 
 The girl faced round upon him at once, searching his face 
 with her eyes. They were almost exactly of a height, he 
 having the advantage of perhaps half an inch. 
 
 " I ought to remember you," she said reflectively ; " I used 
 to try and keep an inventory of the men I met. There 
 were those I wanted to take on my knee when I talked to 
 them, or put them in my pocket out of the way when they 
 bored me. There were those whose heads were just below my 
 eyes the'tops of their heads I mean so that I was impelled to 
 study the partings of their hair and guess what sort of bear's 
 grease they used. Then there were those one could talk to 
 
Jntrofcuctfons 49 
 
 comfortably like you, for instance ; and the tall men one 
 could look up at. These formed a very small class. I declare 
 I believe there are more six-foot girls than men to be met with 
 hereabouts. I sort of seem to know your face; but truly 
 I never could figure to keep all the names in my head ! " 
 
 " That would be too much to expect of anyone least of all 
 anyone so crowded out with partners as you were at Lady 
 Molyneux's dance. The wonder was that I got any chance at 
 all." 
 
 " Oh, I declare, I believe I've got you now ! Say, aren't 
 you one of the clever sort ? Aren't you a bit of a rising light 
 write slashing articles or something and are going to get 
 into Parliament one of these days, and set the Thames, or the 
 House, or something on fire ! " 
 
 " Well, I've a notion that both the Thames and the Houses 
 of Parliament will survive the brilliance of my career," returned 
 Rudolf gravely, " and I'm a long way from being a member of 
 the legislature yet. But politics is my trade, if that's what you 
 mean, Miss Conquest. I've got my foot on the ladder, and I 
 mean to mount." 
 
 " That's right you stick to that ! " she answered. " I call 
 the politics of this country pretty rotten all talk and talk, 
 and nothing done ! I suppose men are made that way, and 
 can't help it. But never mind what it is you've got hold of, 
 you go ahead, and come out top. That's the secret of success 
 if it's only to be a stuffy old Cabinet Minister at the end. I'd 
 never be content with anything but the top rung of the ladder 
 if I were a man. Though politics would be about the last 
 show I'd try to run. I should have been out in Africa a year 
 ago if I'd been a man. I just tingled all over to go. I tell 
 you, Ladysmith wouldn't have been starving all that time if I'd 
 been a general over yonder ! " and her eyes flashed, the yellow 
 light leaping into them, till for a moment hair and eyes 
 matched in tint, though she did not know it or think 
 of it. 
 
 D 
 
50 TTbe iFifece of Estber 
 
 " You have confidence in yourself, Miss Conquest," Rudolf 
 said. 
 
 "Of course I have. It's not much good having confidence 
 in anybody else in these degenerate days. I'm fair sick of 
 muddles and vacillation and talky-talky in Parliament and 
 out. The country is staunch ; the men are fine fellows ; 
 but at headquarters pouf ! The War Office wants hanging ; 
 Parliament is just a lot of old women fuddling along about 
 education and goodness knows what pampering the people 
 when they want making into men, and wondering where our 
 next generals are to come from. Bobs and Kitchener can't 
 last for ever, and with this grandmothering and coddling and 
 feather-bed sort of legislation, I wonder what England is going 
 to come to. I feel I'd like to make a clean sweep, and run the 
 whole show myself ! I'd make them sit up some ! " 
 
 " I remember you made a good many people sit up at Lady 
 Molyneux's when last we met," spoke Rudolf, smiling beneath 
 his moustache ; " home truths were quite at a discount that 
 night at supper. A good many persons went away with a flea 
 in their ear as the saying isto whom such a thing must be 
 a rare experience." 
 
 " Yes ; I think I remember. My monkey was up about 
 something that night. It's an active little animal, my monkey, 
 and does not lie low very long at any time. I've come here 
 to give it a bit of a rest. It won't do to wear it out too 
 young." 
 
 " No ; that would be a pity ; and I can believe that a little 
 rest will be healthful for it." 
 
 Rudolf was as grave as a judge, but there was lurking 
 humour in his glance. Diana saw it, and laughed. 
 
 "Well, I admit I have rather a beast of a temper," she 
 remarked, with engaging candour. " I fancy it's a form of 
 temper when I feel like slashing right and left all round me 
 no matter whom I hit. People in this blessed country seem 
 to me so timid, so cautious, so afraid of responsibility, so 
 
Sntrofcuctfons s 1 
 
 namby-pamby, if you know what I mean ! I can't just find 
 the right words ; but I feel it all through me to my bones ! 
 There's sparkle and froth ; but there's no backbone. If you 
 shake them, they just seem to come to pieces in your hands. 
 That makes me want to worry 'em all the worse." 
 
 Rudolf looked reflectively at her, as she stood flushed and 
 radiant in the pride of her overflowing vitality. He partly 
 understood, and he partly sympathised. His calling in life 
 was one that had opened his eyes to the corroding action of 
 pink-tapeism in legislation, and the strangling of great issues 
 in the superabundance of petty detail, the clogging of the 
 wheels of government by the very desire to take each side 
 issue into consideration, and please everybody, instead of 
 pressing forward to the goal with the courage of single-minded- 
 ness and patriotism. What he felt in great matters was, he 
 knew, copied and reflected in almost every condition of life. 
 A condition of affairs existed which was flabby and flaccid. 
 This girl had felt it, and it had roused her scorn. Her scorn 
 she was disposed to dispense without much mercy upon 
 mankind in general. He felt that she was trying to take his 
 measure in order to treat him to what she decided was his 
 due. It was a sensation not devoid of novelty and piquancy, 
 and the young man was prepared to enjoy it. 
 
 But before any further passage-of-arms could take place, 
 two figures were suddenly seen approaching the long 
 window, beside which Rudolf and Diana were standing. 
 They looked quickly at them, and the girl exclaimed at 
 once : 
 
 " There is Sally ! " 
 
 " Yes, Sally unmistakably ! " he replied, noting the short 
 skirt, the muddy boots, and the inevitable hockey-stick; 
 " Sally come for a cup of tea to a drawing-room where she 
 will not be scolded for her appearance in such a garb. Miss 
 Lynne has spoiled us all from our babyhood upward. Is she 
 going to try her hand upon you, Miss Conquest ? " 
 
52 ttbe Iftfece of lEstber X^nne 
 
 Diana smiled without answering; her eyes were upon the 
 advancing pair. She asked a counter-question. 
 
 "Who is the other one?" 
 
 "Miss Sinclair Stella Sinclair, the Rector's daughter. 
 Perhaps you have heard of her. She is a very important 
 factor in Cleethorpe." 
 
 " She is very pretty," said Diana, and opened the window 
 for them, stepping out into the little quaint porch-like shelter 
 which abutted upon this angle of the house. 
 
 " Come along, Sally ; come and have some tea ! " she cried 
 out, in her clear, imperious tones ; " I am going to call you 
 Sally from the start, and you may call me anything you choose. 
 When people like me, they call me Di ; when they pretend 
 they like me, and are really cross, they say Diana ; when they 
 are downright furious, and make no pretence of friendship, 
 then they say Di-an-a Conquest. So that's how the land lies 
 in this quarter ; you can pay your money and take your 
 choice ! " 
 
 " I shall choose Di ! " cried Sally, whirling her stick 
 affectionately round Diana's head, which with her was a mark 
 of endearment. " I'm going to like you just awfully, I know. 
 You're so tremendously pretty for one thing, and so huge ! I 
 wish I was as tall ! I could do such heaps of things ! I 
 wonder if you're as strong as I am, though ! Let me see if I 
 can put you down. You've got the height ; but I rather think 
 I've got the muscle ! " 
 
 Diana laughed, and held up her hands for the trial, which 
 ended, after a pretty good tussle, in a victory for Sally. 
 
 " It's not fair," said the vanquished, " you're just made of 
 steel, and I've been getting soft in London ; but one of these 
 days I'll best you yet ! " 
 
 " I believe you will ! " cried Sally. "Oh, yes, you shall get 
 into training here. It isn't half a bad place for that. We've 
 got a hockey club and a golf club, and good links, too. And 
 then tennis we've an asphalt court, and can play all the 
 
Sntro&uctlons 53 
 
 winter, and I'm really rather cottoning to croquet at last ! It 
 took me some time to make up my mind to it ; but really it's 
 not half a bad game when you've got over the first feeling of 
 scorn. Do you play ping-pong ? I haven't seen it yet ; but 
 people say it's going to catch on like fun ! I'm rather a dab 
 at billiards, and we've a good table too. When Rudolfs at 
 home we have fine battles. He can beat me still, generally ; 
 but he doesn't have to give me points now ; and sometimes, 
 once in a blue moon, I beat. If you play, and we have 
 matches together, perhaps I'll go one better than him before 
 long. Wouldn't that be a lark? I wonder if Rudolf would 
 care about being beaten. I think he's rather one of the sort 
 who think men should have things all their own way." 
 
 She gave a comical look at her brother, who was standing 
 beside Stella, exchanging commonplaces with her. Stella's 
 face was flushed, and her hazel eyes looked curiously bright, 
 almost as though they were sparkling through tears. If Sally 
 had been observant, she might have guessed that something 
 was the matter ; but as it was, she remained happily oblivious, 
 and called to Stella to come and be introduced to Diana, 
 whom she ought to be dying to know if she wasn't. 
 
 " Stella is the good girl of the place, and I'm the naughty 
 one," cried Sally. "She does all the work, and I do all the 
 play. She scolds me for being idle and frivolous, and I abuse 
 her for being a paragon. We're always quarrelling over some- 
 thing ; but we manage to make it up again, and scramble 
 along somehow. Tea ? Oh, rather ! I'm as thirsty as a fish, 
 and as hungry as a hunter. Oh, I say, I didn't know mother 
 was here ! I won't come too far into view. Just let me have 
 my portion somewhere out here, where I can keep my dirty 
 boots from the maternal vision, Rudolf won't betray me; 
 he's a jewel of a boy ! " 
 
 By this time, Diana had become acutely aware of some- 
 thing strained in the situation ; nor did she, with her quick 
 intuitions, take long to discover the cause. Stella was 
 
54 Ube fliece of lEstber Zgnne 
 
 palpitating all over, and only smiled rather vaguely, and gave 
 random answers to the observations addressed to her. Rudolf 
 had grown grave, and just a little stiff in his manner. He was 
 engaged in bringing tea over to the girls gathered about the 
 window, and having done this, he retired to the rug, and, cup 
 in hand, joined in the conversation between the elder ladies, 
 talking with a brilliance which attracted Diana's attention, and 
 kept her mind divided between the two groups, though she 
 retained her seat near to the window. 
 
 "Are they secret lovers? Or what is it?" she asked 
 herself. " I must find that out by hook or by crook. It is 
 entertaining to be pitchforked into quite a new world and a 
 little one where one has time to get interested in the people, 
 and watch what goes on. Till one has a hand of one's own 
 to play, it's quite amusing to see how others are playing the 
 game. I'm not quite sure that she is good enough for him ; 
 but then she's all in a twitter just now. I'll take her measure 
 better another day." 
 
 Sally was taken home by Lady Caroline in the carriage, and 
 rather to Diana's surprise, her son accompanied them also. 
 This confirmed her suspicion that if he and Stella were lovers, 
 it was either secretly, or else there was something " up " 
 between them. Stella had several small parish matters to 
 discuss with Esther, and Diana freely offered them advice, 
 which convulsed her aunt, and broke up Stella's little nervous 
 fear of this tall and beautiful stranger, so that when Diana 
 offered to walk down to the river with her on her departure, 
 she assented quite gratefully. 
 
 " You shall set me to work one of these days in your 
 parish," she said. " I'll tell you one thing I can do I can 
 get along with boys, and I can keep little kids amused by the 
 hour together. Those are my special gifts and graces. I can 
 sing, too you shall hear me in church one of these days. 
 I'll shout down all your boys together if they sing out of tune. 
 I'll drown the whole show so now, you know ! I can't stand 
 
SntroMictions ss 
 
 drawling out of tune. I'll keep them up to the mark, you 
 
 bet ! " 
 
 By the time the bridge was reached, and Diana said good- 
 bye/Stella was half fascinated, half alarmed, by Esther Lynne s 
 niece As for Diana, as she turned away and skirted the ban 
 of the stream for a stroll before returning to the house, s! 
 
 said to herself : 
 
 " Rather a ' papa, prunes, prism ' little miss ; but not a bad 
 sort really, I daresay. Wonder if I shall have to take her in 
 hand as well as Esther and Sally ? " 
 
 Diana's feet were fleet. Soon she had entered the long, 
 straight yew avenue that had taken her fancy from the I 
 It was almost dark here, beneath the dense gloom of 
 ancient trees. She stood looking up it, with a smile upon h 
 
 I wonder how soon Sir Humphrey Vanborough will come 
 back," she said to herself. " Somehow, I feel rather interested 
 in that man. I rather want to see him." 
 
 Suddenly she gave a great start. Somewhere near to the 
 farther end of the dusky walk a ghostlike apparition seeme. 
 to detach itself, and flit with perfect silence across to t 
 other side. It appeared to be a dim figure, with white abc 
 the head, the rest all indistinct and grey. 
 
 "A coifed and veiled nun!" cried Diana to herself, h 
 frightened, half laughing, as she suddenly turned and spe, 
 towards the house. " Esther did not warn me that the yew 
 walk was haunted. But what would a house like thus 
 without its ghost?" 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 NUN'S BOWER 
 
 DIANA had been a fortnight in her new home, and she felt as 
 though she had been there six months. Already her presence at 
 Convent House was felt in a number of little significant ways. 
 The dinner hour was changed by nearly an hour; and had 
 Esther not stood firm, Diana would have coaxed her to 
 breakfast later also. But, as it was, she only succeeded in 
 delaying the conclusion of that meal by her late appearance at 
 it. She was always promising to amend her ways, and to turn 
 over a new leaf, and come down to prayers ; but so far there 
 had been small indication of improvement in this respect. 
 
 " Your feather beds are so delicious, and your soft air is so 
 soporific, that really I can't make up my mind to get up ! " she 
 would declare, "and after all, what does it matter? The day 
 is long enough for all we have to put into it. When I've got 
 a motive, I can rise with the lark. You shall see one of these 
 days." 
 
 And Esther forbore to ask whether pleasing her, or 
 conforming to the rules of the house, or joining in that 
 simple act of dedication morning by morning, were not 
 motive sufficient. Esther had already realised that she had 
 to deal with a complex nature, with an imperious will, with 
 an ambitious temperament, in which the organ of rule was 
 very strongly developed. Diana might be led through her 
 affections; she would never be driven or coerced. She was 
 engaged at present in taking by storm the small world of 
 Cleethorpe, and was extracting sufficient amusement therefrom 
 
 56 
 
Hun's Bower 57 
 
 to keep her in gay spirits, and make of her a most amusing 
 companion, though one who could be somewhat overpowering 
 at times. 
 
 Already she had established the pleasantest possible 
 relations between herself and Squire Hastings' family. Sally 
 was by way of adoring her, in her brusque and rather uncouth 
 fashion. Lady Caroline had welcomed her with warmth to 
 come to and fro at will to Bishop's Hall; and so long as 
 Rudolf was at home, Diana had been engaged in a billiard 
 tournament there, hastily organised by the indefatigable 
 Sally, in which she had carried off the prize, after some 
 most exciting matches, and had since been playing constantly 
 with the son of the house and his sisters, and making herself 
 quite at home in their society. Geraldine, the delicate elder 
 sister, took almost the same liking for Diana that Sally had 
 done. She brought a new element into the place ; she was so 
 gay, so handsome, so daring. Squire Hastings was a man of 
 whom many people stood in some awe, but Diana knew not 
 the meaning of the word. She teased him, flattered him, 
 coaxed him, from the first moment of their introduction. She 
 made him show her over his model farm ; she insisted on 
 having every horse trotted out for her inspection; she went 
 into raptures over the dairy cows, and the tottering, butting 
 calves; she declared the little pigs were "perfectly sweet," 
 and that she would like to have half a dozen to run about with 
 her. She even made friends with the sullen old mastiff, who, 
 as a rule, would accept caresses from no one but his master. 
 She listened to all the Squire's hunting stories with keenest 
 delight, and swore him over to let her ride to hounds with 
 him so soon as the season should come again. 
 
 " I can ride. I've always ridden, since I was a baby child 
 in 'Ole Virginie.' But I've never hunted in the English 
 fashion. You shall teach me the trick ! I won't disgrace you 
 I promise you that, I am huntress by name and huntress 
 by nature ! " 
 
58 ZTbe iFitece of Bstbet 
 
 " That is a very attractive girl," spoke Squire Hastings to 
 his wife about this time; "now, if I were a young man like 
 Rudolf" 
 
 The Squire was voicing what had already occurred to Lady 
 Caroline herself. Diana had a considerable fortune, she 
 knew; also, she was Esther Lynne's nearest blood relative, 
 and Convent House marched, as the saying is, with the estate 
 of Bishop's Hall. Also Rudolf was a rising man, and could 
 afford now to think of marrying. 
 
 Lady Caroline had sometimes felt a little uneasy lest Stella 
 Sinclair's prettiness should catch Rudolf's fancy. They had 
 been intimate always ; he had played champion to her from 
 childhood; but the mother had not troubled herself much 
 about this hitherto, believing that London life would soon 
 bring Rudolf into easy relations with brilliant and beautiful 
 women, who would quickly efface any impression made upon 
 him by the Rector's daughter at Cleethorpe. But though 
 several years had passed, Rudolf made no sign as yet of 
 having seriously contemplated matrimony. His work stood 
 first in his interests, it seemed, and he was disposed to regard 
 women rather as pawns in the game of politics than as 
 possible wives for men such as himself. He seemed to have 
 plenty of friends amongst the daughters of the men of his 
 world ; but not a hint had he dropped as yet about any 
 thought of taking to himself a wife. Hitherto, prudential 
 scruples might have restrained him ; but now that moderate 
 affluence was his, he could please himself in the matter. And 
 if his heart were not entangled somewhere in London, could 
 he do better than think of Diana Conquest ? So the girl was 
 made a very welcome guest at Bishop's Hall, and the Squire 
 took more notice of her than he had been known to do of any 
 girl friend of his daughters all these years. 
 
 It was of the Squire that Diana asked a question she had 
 been desirous to put to Esther herself, and yet which she had 
 never actually dared to voice. With all her gentleness, there 
 
Hun's JSower 59 
 
 was a quiet dignity and a delicate reserve and reticence about 
 Esther of which at moments Diana became keenly conscious, 
 and which occasionally quenched her eager exuberance and 
 checked the expression of her curiosity. 
 
 " Humphrey Vanborough ! Bless my soul, yes ! No doubt 
 about it, he wanted Esther wanted her badly, poor lad ! We 
 were both lads together in those days. I'm not sure that I 
 wasn't a bit sweet on Esther myself; though I always knew I'd 
 not the ghost of a chance against him. But you see, the 
 mother was dead, and the father began to fail ; curious case 
 his ; sort of disease that baffled doctors completely ; seemed 
 to affect every organ, and yet he went on living, living, living, 
 till one could scarcely believe it when he died ! Oh, yes, what 
 was I saying? Well, of course, it was pretty plain that one 
 daughter would have to stop with him. Thirty years ago, my 
 dear, young women didn't go howling about the world for a 
 vocation ; but they stopped at home and did their duty there 
 though sometimes it came hard upon them as it did upon 
 Esther Lynne. 
 
 "We thought it was she and Humphrey who would make the 
 match of it; but suddenly your father appeared, and, hey 
 presto ! before any of us could look round, he and pretty 
 Arabella had made a match of it almost a runaway affair that 
 was. But Esther stood by them loyally ; would never have a 
 word spoken against it. She was not exactly engaged herself 
 it was the sort of thing that one understood rather than heard 
 discussed. He was away when that happened. Perhaps she 
 wrote to him. I don't know. Anyhow, he kept away for a 
 long while. His visits were very few afterwards. His father 
 would go out to him sometimes, and spend the winter in 
 India ; and now and again Humphrey came home, but was 
 very little here. I fancy it went deep with him ; but he's not 
 a man to wear his heart upon his sleeve. I suppose when he 
 did come he saw how it was with Esther how impossible it 
 would be for her to act differently. And his career took 
 
60 ube fltece of JEstber 
 
 him of necessity to the ends of the earth as it seemed 
 then." 
 
 " And so Esther was sacrificed ! " flashed out Diana. 
 "Well, I never did see why one person's life should be 
 sacrificed to another. I'd very soon see that mine wasn't, I 
 know ! In fact, it's two lives to one. It's not fair. I always 
 say that it's the good people of the world who make the most 
 fearful muddles ! Well, I've no morbid craving after self- 
 immolation, thank goodness ! I mean to live and enjoy life, 
 and do something with it. You shall see ! " 
 
 But for all that, Diana showed a little extra spice of affection 
 towards Esther on her return home, and not infrequently 
 brought the subject of conversation round to Sir Humphrey 
 Vanborough, asking questions about him, and familiarising 
 herself with the story of his distinguished career, the details of 
 which Esther seemed to have by heart, though always speaking 
 with great calmness and no self-consciousness upon the 
 subject. 
 
 A wet afternoon gave the girl the chance she had been 
 waiting for. 
 
 " One can't stay indoors all day ! " she cried ; " and one 
 can't go very far. But do take me to Nun's Bower ; you 
 promised you would once ! We shall be quite sheltered 
 through the yew walk, and I want to see Sir Humphrey's 
 house and its treasures. He may be coming home soon now ; 
 there's no knowing. Let's go and have a prowl round. Do 
 there's a darling ! " 
 
 Esther was easily persuaded. They were soon traversing 
 the wide yew walk, where the equinoctial gales swayed the 
 great trees overhead, and made a wild sort of music. Diana 
 looked keenly about her for any passing glimpse of a coifed 
 nun ; but saw no indication of any ghostlike figure. She had, 
 indeed, almost forgotten the apparition she had seen real or 
 fancied and she had not spoken of it to anyone so far. She 
 had a healthy mind, and was not easily alarmed either by 
 
lflun'5 JSowet 61 
 
 concrete or supposititious terrors. And at this moment she 
 was engrossed in the interest of inspecting the outside of Sir 
 Humphrey Vanborough's house, which, as they passed through 
 the gate at the end of which Esther had a key became 
 clearly visible to her, though it was a good deal smothered 
 by the density of the shrubbery, which had considerably 
 encroached of late years. 
 
 And yet, how beautiful that shrubbery was ! Just one mass 
 of glossy rhododendrons and outdoor azaleas, some of which 
 were in bloom the rhododendrons, that is whilst all showed 
 promise of the wealth of blossom which soon would be, and 
 already the air was scented by the breath of violets, which 
 made a thick under-carpet along the many cunningly-cut 
 walks and paths. 
 
 " Mr. Vanborough had very little glass ; but he delighted in 
 such things as grow hardily. His roses and lilies, his violets 
 and flowering shrubs, were always the great feature of his 
 garden. But it looks rather wild now. Burchell is getting 
 old, and he does not keep things quite as they should be kept. 
 But it will hearten him up if he hears that the master really is 
 likely to come home. He and his wife live in the house, in 
 an offshoot, that is, connected with the main block by a 
 passage. The old fragment of the ecclesiastical building is 
 quite small, and very ancient. Mr. Vanborough's grandfather, 
 when he bought the property, built more commodious quarters 
 for the servants, keeping the old house intact for his own use. 
 But we must go round to the back door to get in. I do not 
 think they will hear us if we try the front entrance." 
 
 It was a very strange old house. Diana gazed wonderingly 
 at it. Small though it was, it was built round a small court- 
 yard, in the centre of which an ancient fountain stood, with 
 the signs of the zodiac deeply cut along the rim. None of the 
 windows of the rooms looked into this small square enclosure, 
 but only the windows, small and narrow, and heavily mullioned, 
 of the upper and lower corridors, which ran completely round 
 
62 zrbe iftfece of lEstber OLgnne 
 
 like a covered cloister way. The rooms all faced outwards, 
 looking south and west and east. The northern side of the 
 small quadrangle was almost entirely swallowed up in the 
 entrance-hall and fine staircase, which was evidently more 
 modern than the ancient structure itself, though it probably 
 dated back over two hundred years. There were other small, 
 twisted staircases at the angles of the building, leading from 
 the lower to the upper corridor. 
 
 " I call it a fascinating place ! " cried Diana, as she ran up 
 the stairs, and careered right round the upper gallery till she 
 reached the head of the staircase again, where Esther and Mrs. 
 Burchell still stood talking. Esther's face was a little flushed. 
 She was reading a letter that the housekeeper had given her. 
 As the girl advanced upon them with many exclamations of 
 delight, she folded the letter and gave it back. 
 
 " Then you will be expecting him back early in May ? 
 That is sooner than you thought last time I saw you." 
 
 "Yes, ma'am. He spoke of going hunting, or something, 
 with young Mr. Vanborough, and I expected from that that 
 they would be a goodish while away. But I think he's 
 changed his plans a bit. Perhaps the sick gentleman he 
 speaks of, who is coming back with him, has to come home 
 before it gets too hot. Well, I'll be right glad to welcome Sir 
 Humphrey home that I will. I was afraid he'd maybe 
 taken to wandering ways, and would never come here no 
 more." 
 
 Diana was keenly interested. Sir Humphrey coming back 
 in about six weeks from this ; two months at the outside ! 
 And not coming alone, either, as it seemed ; for they spoke of 
 young Mr. Vanborough and this Colonel York as accom- 
 panying him. Diana remembered the name of the soldier. 
 He had done something rather specially gallant, and had been 
 dangerously wounded. But nobody thought of anything just 
 now except what was going on in South Africa, which seemed, 
 perhaps, a little unfair, she decided. It would be, at any rate, 
 
IRun's Bower 63 
 
 a variety to have some masculine element imported into the 
 place. Since Rudolf Hastings had gone back, this element 
 had been decidedly lacking, and Diana rather missed it. She 
 had been used to men all her life, from being her father's 
 constant companion. 
 
 "Hen society is very improving, I don't doubt," she had 
 once remarked to the admiring Sally; "but it's just a trifle 
 monotonous, especially when all the hens are such virtuous 
 fowls ! Schools, choir, clothing club clothing club, choir, 
 schools ! I know it all by heart now. I'm going to have a go 
 at that choir one of these days ! I'll teach those little beggars 
 to sing through their mouths, and not through their noses ! 
 I am being slowly, but surely, engulfed in the vortex of the 
 righteous parish ! I feel it coming upon me. I am like 
 Andromeda, chained to the rock. The monster is calmly and 
 inevitably approaching ! We badly want a Perseus here to 
 come and set us free ! " 
 
 But she did not say this to Esther, and now, when she 
 exclaimed, " Perseus to the rescue as I live ! " her aunt 
 regarded her with looks of questioning amusement. 
 
 " Never mind what I mean. Show me the house first ; we 
 can talk afterwards. This gallery is a perfect museum of 
 Oriental treasures in the matter of heavenly vases and the most 
 demoniacal-looking weapons, and a few monstrosities in the 
 way of idols. Now take me to see the rooms. I'm sure Sir 
 Humphrey must be a man of ideas ; one can see it in the 
 things he has sent home." 
 
 The rooms were curious and very quaint, interlocking, and 
 with odd angles and bows and projections. There were doors 
 of communication one from the other, as well as the doors 
 opening upon the gallery that ran all round the house. During 
 his long sojourn in India, Sir Humphrey had amassed a vast 
 collection of curios and beautiful fabrics and Oriental treasures 
 of every sort. Brass, ivory, silver, feather work, embroidery, 
 pottery all had its place there, cunningly disposed to the 
 
64 Ube IFUece of Estber 
 
 greatest advantage, and arranged with the care and taste, which 
 showed that some loving hands had been at work there. 
 
 " It seems a shame to leave such exquisite things about in a 
 house that is not inhabited," said Diana, as she roamed from 
 room to room enchanted. 
 
 "Yes, miss, so it do," answered Mrs. Burchell, "but what 
 are we to do ? The costliest stuffs are put away in chests and 
 cupboards, and the jewels and the gold ornaments are at the 
 bank. But the house is just crammed full, as you see it, of 
 these heathenish odds and ends, and where to put them away 
 I shouldn't know. So they just stop where they are, and I look 
 after them as best I can. We don't have a lot of dust here, 
 standing right away from the road, and the sun don't get in to 
 hurt them, as I keep the blinds down. But I'll be glad to see 
 the master back, that I will, and then things will be properly 
 done inside and out, as they should." 
 
 Mrs. Burchell was delighted to have anyone to talk to, for 
 her life was a lonely one, and her husband was rather deaf, 
 and spent most of his time pottering about out of doors. She 
 invited the ladies to take a cup of tea in her pleasant kitchen, 
 where the glow of the fire was reflected in the shining brasses 
 and the spotless tin and delf ware on the shelves. Nor was 
 her tea to be despised, nor the cakes of her own baking 
 produced from her stores. But Diana, who was not specially 
 interested in local gossip, such as their hostess delighted in, 
 slipped presently away, saying that she wanted another prowl 
 round the house; and after finding herself quickly in the 
 main hall, from which a passage opened to these modern 
 kitchen regions, she began a more detailed survey of the 
 beautiful contents of the rooms upon the lower floor, which 
 contained the bulk of the more costly and curious articles 
 collected. Dining-room, library and study, all had their share 
 of treasures, though they boasted solid and antiquated furniture 
 as well, carved, and upholstered for the most part in stamped 
 leather. But the two large rooms, one facing south and the 
 
Run's Bower 65 
 
 other east, which had plainly been the drawing-rooms of the 
 house, were almost like Eastern rooms themselves, with divans, 
 rich embroideries, ornaments of every description jumbled up 
 together in the quaintest fashion, yet presenting a remarkably 
 harmonious whole. 
 
 Diana examined them curiously, and presently paused, 
 somewhat puzzled to account for the absence of dust in the 
 neighbourhood of a certain Hindoo idol, and also, when she 
 looked further, she saw distinct traces of finger-marks upon 
 the thin layer of dust which lay over surrounding objects. 
 
 "Have I been fingering things? Esther certainly didn't, 
 and good Mrs. BurchelFs thick, stumpy fingers never left 
 traces so fine," mused Diana, with her head on one side. 
 " Well, it's no particular business of mine. I needn't try and 
 play Sherlock Holmes for the elucidation of mares' nests. 
 I'll run upstairs and prowl through the bedrooms again. It's 
 a delightful house, just bogey enough to be fascinating, 
 without being too big, and lonely, and weird. I like it 
 immensely. Nun's Bower well, I'd not so much mind being 
 a nun to live in a place like this. How dark it is getting, 
 though ! There must be a heavy rain-cloud coming up ; but 
 it all seems in character with the place." 
 
 The girl ran lightly up the staircase, and commenced her 
 ramble through the upper bed-chambers, which partook in 
 measure of the quaintness, the antiquity and the Oriental 
 character pervading the whole house. 
 
 "It's rather bizarre^ this fusing of the ancient East with 
 the mediaeval West," she remarked, as she passed in turn 
 through the different rooms, and finally came out upon the 
 upper gallery, and gazed down into the courtyard upon which 
 its pointed windows looked. 
 
 A very heavy rain-cloud was passing, a torrent was pouring 
 down, and it was so black that she could scarcely see 
 more than across the quadrangle. She stood at one of the 
 angles of the inner square, and looked at the rain plashing 
 
66 Ube fFUece of 5tbet 
 
 down in vertical lines, making quite a pool in the dry basin of 
 the old fountain. 
 
 Then suddenly she started, and her heart gave a throb. 
 What was that grey, dim, shadowy figure she saw flitting along 
 the lower corridor ? It was not Esther Esther wore black ; 
 it was not Mrs. Burchell's portly form. She craned forward 
 to catch sight of it as it flitted past the narrow lancet-like 
 opening. Yes, she was certain it was the same figure she had 
 seen before in the avenue. There was white about the head, 
 the rest was whitish-grey ; the movements were ghostly and 
 phantom-like. She felt her head swim for a moment, and an 
 unwonted sense of fear clutched at her heart. 
 
 " The nun ! the nun ! " she exclaimed, half aloud, and 
 taking her courage in both hands, she darted to the head of 
 the staircase, towards which the phantom figure seemed to be 
 flitting, half expecting to meet the nun advancing to meet her. 
 
 But there was nothing. The house lay dim and deathly 
 silent, and the white-coifed figure with the gliding step had 
 totally disappeared. Diana made the circuit of the lower 
 corridor, her heart thumping against her ribs, and then with a 
 sudden and most unwonted access of nervous dread, she made 
 a dash for Mrs. Burchell's cosy and pleasant kitchen. 
 
 As she was walking home in the watery sunshine which had 
 followed the rain-storm, she asked lightly of Esther : 
 
 " Is Nun's Bower haunted ? It's a ghostly sort of old 
 place." 
 
 " I never heard of anything being seen there. Of course, 
 people are fond of saying that there must be ghosts at both 
 our houses. But they have never troubled us, and I do not 
 think they ever will." 
 
 " She does not know anything," said Diana to herself, with 
 a side-look at her aunt's tranquil face. " Well, I'll keep my 
 own counsel; but I'll find out what that creature is, or I'll 
 know the reason why ! " 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THREE GIRLS AND THEIR OPINIONS 
 
 STELLA SINCLAIR was conscious of feeling depressed and 
 worried. A certain kind of worry was not unfamiliar to her ; 
 but, then, she could trace it to its source and understand it. 
 Something was going a little wrong in the parish. A big lad 
 was giving trouble, or there was illness which might perhaps 
 spread, or the children had been naughty, or there had been a 
 fracas in the school. All these little troubles, which Stella 
 took seriously to heart, she understood and could deal with 
 after her own fashion. She knew by experience that things 
 would smooth themselves out in time. They kept her busy 
 and they kept her anxious, but she was familiar with the 
 situation, and regarded these small affairs as all in the way 
 of business. 
 
 But now some new element had suddenly thrust itself into her 
 life, and she did not thoroughly understand it, or know what new 
 developments she might have to face. She was conscious of 
 a sense that her little world was going wrong somehow, and >vt 
 she could not explain, even to herself, why or how. For once 
 in a way she sat idle in her big " parish room," as she called it ; 
 that big, bare place which once had been the tithe barn, and 
 which her brother Gervase, now out in West America, had 
 converted for her into a studio, proud of her talents, and 
 certain that she would make a name for herself by brush and 
 pencil. 
 
 The artist blood ran in Stella's veins. Grandfather and 
 mother had possessed talents of no mean order. Her 
 
 67 
 
68 ttbe IFUece of fietbet Xsnne 
 
 grandfather's name was known in artistic circles, and 
 was talked of yet. At school her work had excited astonish- 
 ment and praise. On leaving school she had studied 
 art regularly for two years, and had made progress which was 
 considered most creditable and promising. Then suddenly 
 Edna's health had failed. Stella hurried home to be with her, 
 intending then, and for some while afterwards, to divide her 
 time between home duties and her painting. At that time 
 there was an artist lodging at Clee Mill, who overlooked her 
 studies and gave her much help and instruction. But he went 
 abroad. 
 
 Edna became a confirmed invalid so far as powers of active 
 locomotion went. Stella became more and more occupied at 
 home and in the parish. Gradually all else was pushed into 
 the background, and the previous year, at the commencement 
 of Lent, when she was pondering upon some decisive form of 
 self-sacrifice and renunciation, she went over to her studio, 
 turned with their faces to the wall all her paintings and studies, 
 which had hitherto been life friends and companions to her, 
 locked away her paints and brushes, and resolved to devote 
 herself, all her energies, her time, and her talents, to the 
 service of others, giving up once and for all that thing which 
 she knew in her heart she best loved, but which, if taken up 
 with any purpose, must of necessity involve the expenditure of 
 time that might be more profitably employed elsewhere. 
 
 The year just gone by, when she had not so much as made 
 a single sketch, and had only drawn pencil animals to amuse 
 the children on wet afternoons, had not been an unhappy one. 
 She had been very busy. She had a friend a clergyman's 
 daughter in the nearest large town who was a person of great 
 energy, and who was an excellent organiser. Stella had copied 
 her, and had sought to organise various guilds and associations 
 in Cleethorpe in imitation of sometimes in connection with 
 those of the town. It had kept her busy and happy, and had 
 been a source of interest and satisfaction to her, filling up all 
 
tTbrec (Birte an& tbeit ptntons 69 
 
 her spare time and bringing her into touch in some way or 
 another with almost every person in the parish a consumma- 
 tion which she thought most desirable and advantageous. 
 
 But just lately things seemed going a little agog. The lads 
 and lassies, who a year ago had joined eagerly in the proposed 
 schemes, appeared growing tired of them now. The Bible- 
 reading Club, when the cards for distribution for another year 
 were to be given out, had dwindled to the most meagre propor- 
 tions. There were defections in other quarters, too, and when 
 Stella visited the mothers to ask the reason and solicit their 
 aid, she was met by fresh discouragement. 
 
 " It isn't a bit of use us speaking nowadays, miss ; the boys 
 and girls will go their own way. They're not taught obedience 
 in the schools, but play-acting and all sorts o' nonsense as 
 they'd be a deal better without. I tell them lessons is all 
 play, so far as I can see. My man says when he was a lad 
 he had work to do at home of an evening, and if he was idle 
 or impertinent he had the stick took to him. But nobody ever 
 has the stick now, so far as I can see. And never a bit of home- 
 work ; and when their father says a word to the lads they turns 
 on him and tells him as he doesn't pay their schooling now, 
 so he's no cause to put in his word. They did get the stick 
 that time my sakes ! and I was glad to see 'em have it. 
 But it's the way the world's wagging, miss ; and it ain't a bit 
 of use our talking. So long as a thing's new, and amuses 
 them a bit, they'll take to it. But when they've tried it a 
 spell, and they don't get nothin' by it, as they say, why, they 
 chucks it all up. Girls and boys, they're all alike. One used 
 to be able to manage one's girls but there, I declare, they're 
 getting as imperdent and sarcy as the lads ! " 
 
 Stella could have cried. She was trying hard to believe 
 that Cleethorpe was resisting the oncoming tide of the new 
 ideas and new abuses which she heard of from other sources. 
 It still wore an old-world look ; it was somewhat remote from 
 railroad or any large centre ; but it seemed that the spirit of 
 
70 ZTbe IRiece of Bstber Xpnne 
 
 the age could not be kept at bay ; and her golden dreams of a 
 model parish had suffered a distinct shock. 
 
 But there had been other upsets, too, which she was almost 
 ashamed to allow herself to call by that name. Up till a few 
 weeks back she had thought that the choir-boys, at least, were 
 her own particular property. It was she who chose them, who 
 trained them, who gave an infinity of time and trouble to the 
 care of their voices, their conduct, their behaviour. She loved 
 every one of them, studied them, believed she understood 
 them, and that they gave her back a measure of her own love, 
 and would be loyal and staunch to her ; but what was it that 
 had in effect happened ? 
 
 Diana had suddenly swooped down upon them in this very 
 room as they were practising the music for Sunday. Without 
 a " by your leave " or " with your leave," she had put herself 
 at their head, had laughed at them for a score of little tricks 
 of drawling or slovening, had convulsed them till the tears 
 rolled down their faces by imitating their nasal sounds, but 
 turning these into the notes of animals or birds ; and had then 
 set herself might and main, with a verve and a dashing spirit 
 that carried all before it, to teach them how to sing, had made 
 them open their mouths, stretch their vocal chords, had 
 sketched for them on the blackboard how the vocal arrange- 
 ments worked, and had aroused in them an interest and 
 enthusiasm such as Stella had never in her life attempted or 
 achieved. Then when they were tired with the new exercises 
 she forced upon them, she took from the wall an ancient 
 guitar that hung there, tuned up such strings as remained to 
 it, and held them entranced by a selection of coon and nigger 
 songs, which she pattered off in the most charming fashion, 
 simply convulsing her listeners, and holding them spell-bound 
 and open-mouthed. 
 
 Three times had Diana now invaded their practices, and 
 already a change for the better had been observed in the 
 quality of the singing. Stella was striving hard not to feej 
 
TOree Girls ant> tbeir pinions 7* 
 
 aggrieved and hurt, but she was conscious all the while of the 
 little smarting wound which she would never show to the world. 
 
 It was something the same at the Mothers' Meeting too. 
 Esther Lynne was back in her old place at its head, and Stella 
 suddenly began to understand the power which experience of 
 life brings with it. Nobody was less self-assertive, less prone 
 to offer advice unsolicited than the mistress of Convent House. 
 Stella sometimes caught herself up, blushing and hesitating, as 
 she found herself launching forth upon a piece of serious 
 counsel to a troubled woman, whilst Esther sat by in silence, 
 saying nothing. But the girl was quick enough to notice that 
 the mothers with real troubles weighing upon them would 
 linger at the end to speak with Miss Lynne alone about them, 
 hanging upon her words, and confident of a comprehending 
 sympathy. Stella missed that constant reiteration of the 
 words, " Yes, miss," " To be sure, miss," " Yes, miss, that's 
 very true," which formed the accompaniment to her own little 
 lectures. But the low-toned earnestness of the speakers, and 
 the fashion in which the women themselves opened their hearts 
 without any questions or probing, to this quiet, reticent 
 counsellor, was a lesson in itself ; and Esther had gently put 
 the key of the riddle into Stella's hands by her words : " My 
 dear, when you have lived life not just looked on at it a 
 few years you will understand better. Youth has a great 
 many privileges, but age has its compensations too. Use 
 your youth so that you may reap a good harvest when the 
 time for the garnering of the crops comes. Do not try and 
 ripen and garner too fast, or the ears will be light weight and 
 poor." 
 
 She did not fully understand even now ; but she was always 
 soothed by Esther's kindliness and quick comprehension. 
 Esther understood her, she felt, as much as anybody did. 
 But nobody really understood not even Rudolf! 
 
 Ah ! and here lay another cause of trouble that Stella 
 scarcely liked to ponder, even when alone with her thoughts. 
 
72 Ube IFlfece of Estber 
 
 Rudolf had gone away for the first time without a special 
 good-bye to her. She could not complain. She had as good 
 as told him that they had better be free ; but somehow she 
 had not thought he would take her at her word. 
 
 Rudolf had always been an integral factor in her life. She 
 had dimly and vaguely looked upon him as her ultimate fate. 
 He would make a career for himself, but it would take him 
 many years. He had said so himself. She meantime would 
 watch over her father, her stepmother, the children, and the 
 parish. She could not think of leaving them ; and why should 
 she ? In the course of nature Rudolf would succeed his 
 father at Bishop's Hall. Very likely, after a good many years, 
 the father would be glad to have his son marry and settle 
 down in the old house and bring a wife there. Then all 
 would be plain sailing and delightful. Cissy would be growing 
 up to usefulness at home ; perhaps Edna might be stronger 
 after some years; she herself would not be far away, and 
 would still be Lady Paramount in Cleethorpe. It had all 
 been so beautifully planned out in her own mind, till Rudolf 
 had broken in upon her vague dreams by his startling 
 proposition, and had forced her hand. 
 
 She could not leave home now. Duty must come before 
 self. She was certain she had chosen right; but she had made 
 Rudolf angry. He had not shown it, but he had not been the 
 same since and he had been so attracted by Diana. There 
 lay the sting of the situation. Stella had never before seen 
 him offering homage to another girl. She did not think it had 
 been done to hurt her ; it seemed simply inevitable. Nobody 
 appeared able to help falling under the spell of that tall, 
 beautiful, masterful girl, with the strong will and the insistive 
 individuality. When she was present others seemed to dwindle 
 before her, to become pale, colourless, insipid. Stella felt 
 herself a little " bread-and-butter school miss " in Diana's 
 presence. She disliked the feeling, but was striving hard 
 against any bitterness of jealousy. Yet this was a tougher 
 
ZTbree Girls ant> tbetr pinions 73 
 
 fight than any she remembered being engaged upon before, 
 and she was sometimes surprised at the strength of her own 
 emotions. 
 
 And now there burst in upon her, sudden and unannounced, 
 this lovely April afternoon, the very person she had been 
 thinking of Diana Conquest herself, with the faithful and 
 admiring Sally in attendance. 
 
 Diana was flushed and radiant, the delicate finish of her 
 appearance not in the least disturbed by the fact that she had 
 been playing golf all the afternoon. Sally was red and 
 panting ; she carried all the tools, which she flung down with 
 a mighty clatter on the floor ; she was hot, dishevelled, dirty. 
 Diana might have come from beneath the hands of her maid, 
 save for the delightful rufflement of her glorious hair. 
 
 " Stella, we're just dying of thirst. You've got to make us 
 some tea straight off, this very moment, and no words about 
 it either, or you'll feel the swing of my tee across your back ! 
 I told Di you had spirit-kettle and everything in this den of yours, 
 and were a hospitable soul to boot. I say, Stella, why don't 
 you come and join the fun sometimes ? Di is learning to play 
 like a stunner ! and so could you, too, if you tried. Isn't it a 
 slashing good game when you begin to get into it, Di ? Isn't 
 it absurd that Stella never comes ? Always stuffing in here or 
 poking round the parish. Horses get mud-fever running too 
 much in mud and wet ; I'm jolly well sure humans get parish- 
 fever, always prying and poking round, and sticking their noses 
 into other people's pies. Oh, I'm devoutly thankful I was 
 not born good ! " 
 
 Stella was busy over her spirit-lamp and kettle. She had 
 heard Sally's opinions a thousand times before, and she smiled 
 at them indulgently ; yet to day, almost for the first time in her 
 life, she felt a little pricking of pain at heart, and wondered 
 why. 
 
 Diana, meantime, was walking round the room, which she 
 had only visited before when the boys were at practice, and 
 
74 TTbe iFtfece of Estber 
 
 she had other matters to think of. Now she turned round 
 one or two of Stella's pictures and looked at them, with frank 
 amazement in her eyes. 
 
 " You don't mean to say that's your work, Stella ? " 
 
 "Yes why not?" asked the girl, turning a loving glance 
 in the direction of her long-unseen canvas a sunset over a 
 stormy sea, with one white-sailed boat running before the 
 breeze not a very wonderful conception, perhaps, yet showing 
 capacity and imagination and the power of conveying to 
 canvas the sense of immensity and loneliness, as well as of 
 the liquid, transitory beauty of the dying day. 
 
 " Well, I didn't think you had it in you that's all ! " 
 answered Diana, examining several of the canvases in turn, 
 and leaving them face outwards this time. " Say, you little 
 goose, if you can do work like that, what on earth do you 
 mean by wasting all your time and energy over what Sally 
 calls this parish pottering?" 
 
 Diana flung herself into the one deep easy-chair the room 
 contained, and stretched out her hand for the first cup of tea 
 without a thought. It was as natural for her to assume the 
 first place as it was for others to give it her. Stella, upright 
 and bright-eyed, at the little table she had drawn out, made 
 answer with more of spirit than she was wont to show. 
 
 11 1 have given up my drawing for the present because 
 there are other and more important duties which I have to 
 fulfil: We are not sent into the world just to have a good 
 time, as Sally insists upon arguing, or to do everything that is 
 most agreeable to ourselves. We have a Pattern set before 
 us. Christ pleased not Himself. That should be our 
 standard. I should like drawing far better than so much 
 parish work; but it would be pleasing myself. You can 
 laugh at me if you like, Sally ; but that is how I feel about 
 it; and we have to do what we believe to be right." 
 
 Diana lay back in her chair, with a face humorously 
 sober. 
 
ZTbree (Btrls anfc tbclt pinions 75 
 
 " I like staying with Esther at Convent House, and cheering 
 her up a bit, better than I should like taking to thieving as a 
 profession, for instance. Say, Stella, ought I to leave the 
 paths of virtue because they please me, to take to vicious ways 
 because they don't ? Because, if so, I'll begin by bagging one 
 of those despised pictures of yours. I should very well like to 
 lay covetous hands upon it. But I suppose, though, I mustn't 
 steal the things I want, but only the things I loathe ! Is that 
 the way the thing pans out ? " 
 
 Sally became convulsed with mirth it took little to achieve 
 that object and roared aloud, declaring that that was " one 
 in the eye for Stella." The girl, however, looked calmly at 
 Diana, and answered with slight disdain in her voice : 
 
 " You know you are talking nonsense, Di." 
 
 " I know it perfectly, my dear ; and you are talking nonsense, 
 too, only you don't happen to know it, which is a pity ; for 
 goodness run to seed is apt to become ridiculous, if not hurtful, 
 as you'll find one of these days when you grow older and wiser, 
 as I suppose you will ; though some kinds never do. You 
 put that in your pipe and smoke it. Sally, leave off that 
 idiotic giggling, and give us your philosophy of life. I'm 
 not sure that you've got any more sense in that tousled head 
 of yours than Stella has in hers. With her it's all work and 
 no play ; and with you all play and no work. Isn't that about 
 the time of day ? " 
 
 " Well, one can only be young once ! " cried Sally, sitting 
 up, " and I mean to have my good time whilst I'm young. 
 Of course, I did my grind at school ; and by-and-by, when I 
 get old and stiff, I'll take to good works, or any other sort of 
 virtuous fooling I mean parishing that Stella, or whoever 
 else may be bossing the show by that time, likes to set me. 
 Perhaps I'll have some sense in my head by then. Now I've 
 only just sense enough to know that I should be no sort of 
 good teaching other people the error of their ways, or the 
 young idea to shoot, or to inculcate piety and all the pther 
 
76 ZTbe iRtece of Estfoer 
 
 virtues of the calendar. I'm just over twenty-one, and except 
 when I was at school where one learns nothing that is ever 
 any good to one I've lived in this rubbishy little village all 
 my life. What on earth have I got to say to anybody about 
 anything ? I should call it jolly good cheek to try it on. I'll 
 just take my fill of fun till I've got some sense into my noddle, 
 and then perhaps I'll think about turning over a new leaf. 
 But I'm blessed if the world is a bit the better for all the 
 tomfoolery over the lower classes which is such a craze now. 
 Hear my dad compare old ways and new and one feels a bit 
 sick, I must say ! " 
 
 Diana had drunk her two cups of tea, and now sat up with 
 eyes that shone bright with stress of feeling. 
 
 " That's just the crux of the whole matter this rotten 
 sentimentality is ruining everything in this blessed country. 
 I begin to see it already. Grandmotherly legislation, whether 
 from government on top, or in little places from local magnates, 
 or in municipalities by boards all the same rotten pandering 
 to the people in some form or another. I'm not going to take 
 up benevolence in any form. No fear ! I say that life is 
 given us to make the most of to climb up. And I'm going 
 to have my climb, too, don't you make any mistake about 
 that ! " 
 
 " Oh, Di ! tell us ! what are you going to do ? " 
 
 " I don't know yet. I'm having a look round. Perhaps I 
 shall never do anything so mighty wonderful ; but I'm going to 
 be something in my own world if in no other ! I'll come out 
 on top of the show, you'll see ! I'm not going to play second 
 fiddle in my world no fear. Ambition is the salt of life. I 
 agree with the sentiment, Milton isn't it ? puts in Lucifer's 
 mouth : Better to rule in hell that serve in heaven. You 
 needn't look so shocked, Stella. It's a figure of speech, of 
 course. But it embodies a good deal of sound sense. I'm 
 not consumed with the love of my kind. I'm not fool enough 
 to think I can set right times which are out of joint. But I 
 
tCbree (Btrls anb tbeir pinions 77 
 
 mean to have a good time in my own way ; and you bet I'll 
 have it. Life is ours to enjoy and that's what I'm going to 
 do. Not by just playing games, Sally, or truck like that, but 
 by making my mark somewhere ; and who knows but I may 
 make a big mark one of these days ? Other women have done 
 it before in less go-ahead times. I've got some of the qualifica- 
 tions. I go about with eyes and ears open. I shall find my 
 ladder one of these days, and then up I go hand over hand. 
 I don't stop long anywhere. I'll be on top before you've quite 
 got your breath." 
 
 Sally believed it. She believed everything Diana said, with 
 a whole-hearted faith that sometimes made Diana want to 
 shake her. It was monotonous to be always adored. Stella 
 did not adore her ; Diana was very well aware of that. She 
 felt to-day an edge of mental opposition which almost interested 
 her. 
 
 As she and Sally walked away together at length, she asked 
 one of her clear, incisive questions : 
 
 " Is your brother going to marry Stella Sinclair?" 
 
 Sally gave her a quick, inquiring look. 
 
 " Oh, it's only a sort of guess of mine ; I haven't heard a 
 word. But I had an idea there was something between them." 
 
 " In a way there is and has been for years. But I'm not 
 a bit sure that it'll come to anything. Stella is developing a 
 will of her own that's no harm only it happens to be rather 
 a sort of will that may keep them apart. I'll tell you what it 
 is, Di. I don't know what might have happened if you hadn't 
 come here ; but it seemed pretty patent to me last month that 
 Rudolf was going to fall in love with you ! Don't see how he 
 could help it myself either." 
 
 Diana laughed carelessly. 
 
 " It's a way boys have," she said lightly ; but when their 
 roads diverged, and she was alone, she said, half to herself: " A 
 rising politician future member perhaps future member of 
 Government. Well, it might be worth considering ! " 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 HOMEWARD BOUND 
 
 THE great P. and O. steamer was churning its course steadily 
 up Channel, and eager eyes from the deck were turned to- 
 wards the coast of Old England, as it appeared in picturesque 
 glimpses through the soft, fine-weather haze that hung over the 
 sparkling water. The passengers, however, were but few. 
 Most had left the ship for the land route through Europe ; 
 but Sir Humphrey Vanborough and his two companions had 
 stuck to the vessel to the last. None of them were in any 
 great haste to reach the end of the voyage. All had enjoyed 
 it in varying measure, and none had any specially near or dear 
 ones awaiting their return with impatience, and grudging every 
 added day of journeying. 
 
 Nevertheless, Sir Humphrey's bronzed face was turned 
 shorewards with a good deal of quiet pleasure and enjoyment. 
 To a man who has spent long years in the torrid glare of 
 India, the green shores and white cliffs of "home" present a 
 picture always eagerly welcomed and fondly remembered. 
 Times and manners might be changed he was sure from 
 what he heard and read and observed even in the land in 
 which he had sojourned, that the England of to-day would 
 differ widely from the England he had first left some thirty years 
 ago. But though men might have changed, the old country 
 remained the same. He sat watching the dim coast-line with 
 contented eyes, whilst Archie played deck quoits vigorously 
 with some of the ship's officers, and York lay back in his 
 long chair, lost in a reverie of his own. 
 
 78 
 
Ibomewarfc ffiounfc 79 
 
 York had gained ground since that afternoon in February 
 when he lay in Sir Humphrey's bungalow and listened to the 
 plans for moving up to the hills. The ghastly pallor of his 
 face had given place to a more healthy hue, and although he 
 could only walk very slowly, leaning upon a stick, and though 
 his left arm would never be very serviceable again, he refused 
 any longer to be regarded as an invalid, though the services of 
 his soldier-servant, who had got his discharge and was accom- 
 panying him home, would in all probability be necessary to 
 him all his life through. 
 
 Sir Humphrey suddenly turned his eyes upon his silent 
 companion. Although these two men had passed many 
 months together by this time, and regarded each other with a 
 warm affection that was entirely mutual, and of which both 
 were keenly conscious, yet they were not specially conversant 
 with each other's family affairs. York had gleaned, chiefly 
 through conversation between the kinsmen, the chief events 
 of Sir Humphrey's life, and his domestic circumstances. But 
 being a very reserved man, he scarcely ever spoke of his own, 
 and Sir Humphrey was not one to pry needlessly into his 
 companion's private affairs. Thus it came about that, though 
 they were rapidly approaching port and the separation which 
 usually follows upon arrival at home, Sir Humphrey had only 
 the vaguest idea what his companion intended to do with 
 himself. 
 
 He turned and looked at him now with a kindly smile in 
 his deep-set eyes, heavily fringed by bushy, black brows. The 
 eyes were dark blue, steadfast in their glance, shrewd, watchful, 
 and genial in expression. Men trusted their glance, women 
 kindled into smiles at it, and little children were drawn as by a 
 magnet. 
 
 " It is understood, York, that you come home with me at 
 the first till you have had time to look about you and make 
 plans?" 
 
 " Is it, sir ? " and York's eyes lighted with pleasure. " The 
 
8o TObe Biece of Estber 
 
 prospect is pleasant enough, but I feel as though you had had 
 something too much of my company already." 
 
 They looked at each other for a brief while in silence, and 
 then the elder spoke, smiling, yet with a touch of sadness in 
 his tones : 
 
 "I have a fancy, York, that we are both lonely fellows; 
 and I am growing old, too, whilst you are out of the race for 
 the present. We both seem to be bound for one of the 
 peaceful backwaters of life. Why shouldn't we keep each other 
 company there, at any rate, for the time being, and see what 
 turns up for us both? I think, from your silence on the 
 subject, that you have no near relatives expecting you ? " 
 
 " No," answered York, slowly and a little sadly ; " I am one 
 of the waifs and strays of the world. My parents died when 
 I was a little chap. I went to some Scotch relations of my 
 mother's. They were kind, but stern. Except for one girl- 
 cousin I should have had rather a sorry childhood. Then 
 she married I was in despair that I was not old enough to 
 marry her myself! and I went to Sandhurst, and from that 
 time lost touch of them all. I had no home after entering my 
 profession. One by one my relations died or moved off, and 
 I lost trace of them. India and soldiering claimed me. I 
 have had my share of the joys of life my days of glory when 
 the wine of life flows red and strong. I do not complain if I 
 am stranded now. It must have come sooner or later. My 
 man and I will rub along somehow, and keep each other 
 company with our soldier-stories. And if you are good 
 enough to let me share your quiet backwater for awhile, till I 
 am able to turn round and get my mind adjusted to the new 
 conditions in the old country why, I shall be very grateful to 
 you." 
 
 " Nay, the burden of obligation will rest with me," replied 
 the elder man. " I am going back to an empty home. It was 
 never empty before. I have not been able to make up my 
 mind to visit it since my father died. It will be peopled for 
 
ftomewavd JBoutto 81 
 
 me with ghosts of past days. You will serve to exorcise those 
 ghosts, which are melancholy companions to a man who is 
 growing old." 
 
 The speaker paused, eyed his companion with a glance of 
 peculiar friendliness and solicitude, and then spoke out with 
 quiet frankness. 
 
 " Will you let me put a very impertinent question upon the 
 strength of our friendship? Your profession has become 
 closed to you. Your career in the army is cut short. Have 
 you private means adequate to your support ? Because your 
 country owes you something she has had your all. I have 
 some influence still, I think. There are berths to be picked 
 up here and there " 
 
 "You are very good," answered York, as the other paused for 
 a moment. " But I have enough private means to keep me in 
 a quiet way. I had a small patrimony, which I have increased 
 from time to time by prize money. I have served almost all 
 my time on foreign stations. I was always ready to exchange 
 with men who wanted to keep at home. The pay has been 
 good and steady ; I have been able to husband my resources. 
 If ever I am fit for work of any kind I shall be glad to avail 
 myself of your good offer; but, if not, I have enough 
 to live upon in modest comfort. A man can do with little, 
 when he is a confirmed bachelor like myself." 
 
 " That is right I am glad to know it," spoke Sir Humphrey, 
 in accents of relief. " It always cuts me a bit to think that 
 any man who has served his country to his own hurt and loss, 
 should suffer want in his old age ; and yet the country cannot 
 support us all in season and out of season. So you and I and 
 Tommy Atkins there, and young Archie if he pleases, will 
 make our way to Nun's Bower Bachelor's Bower, I think we 
 shall have to call it and have a look around us before we 
 settle anything further. I tell you, York, I am not without my 
 selfish reasons for desiring this. I've only got an old couple 
 looking after the place, and from all we hear, the chiefest 
 
 F 
 
82 Ube IRiece of JEstber Xgnne 
 
 trouble in life in the old country is getting domestic servants. 
 Seems odd to us one can scarcely understand it. So your 
 Tommy Atkins will be a treasure to us till we get a household 
 together. Since poor Krishnu died in that sudden fashion 
 before we sailed, I've felt a bit lost at the thought of settling. 
 I quite reckoned on having him to act major domo to the lot 
 of us." 
 
 York's face brightened. The idea tjiat his presence would 
 be a source of help to Sir Humphrey, apart from the pleasure 
 he might take in his society, was gratifying. There is 
 something very depressing in the loneliness of arriving after a 
 voyage without any prospect save that of looking out for some 
 hotel or lodging in which to bestow self and belongings. 
 York had practically no ties in England almost wondered 
 why he had come there at all. But the climate of India was 
 killing him by inches, the doctors all averred, and Sir 
 Humphrey's prompt and kindly action in the matter had taken 
 all decision out of his hands. 
 
 But now he could regard the excitement and bustle of 
 entering dock with amused and appreciative eyes. The sting 
 of loneliness was removed. He, too, had a destination. He 
 was watching the greetings, jovial and touching,- which were 
 taking place around him, when suddenly Archie Vanborough 
 hove in sight, bringing in his wake a tall, dark, handsome 
 compatriot, whom he presented to York in the following terms : 
 
 " I say awfully jolly this Hastings has come to look us 
 up. Good fellow, Hastings, pukka all through. Fagged for 
 him at Eton, you know; was by way of making a little tin 
 god of him ! He saw in the papers that we were coming 
 home in this boat, and here he is to meet us. No beastly 
 hotel, this show ! He's got a house of his own, he says ; 
 bloated luxury, I call it, for a bachelor babe like him. And 
 he's going to put us up for a few nights, till we have time to 
 get some civilised togs, and so forth. Oh, yes, you're to come 
 too, York the little tin god decrees it. He's a bit shy and 
 
Domewarfc :JBoim& 83 
 
 skittish, this colt is, Hastings, but he's all right when you 
 know him ; it's only at start he tries to bolt. Just keep an 
 eye on him till we get clear of the boat ; then he'll come along 
 quietly enough, you'll see ! " 
 
 Rudolf looked at York with an amused smile in his eye. 
 
 " A bit crack-brained, our friend Archie always was, never 
 could be taken seriously. But I hope, Colonel York, you will 
 give me the pleasure of your company, as Sir Humphrey has 
 consented to do. It will be a sort of house-warming for me, 
 since I find it rather lonely work keeping house bachelor 
 fashion." 
 
 And as they walked along together, Rudolf told his new 
 friend a few details concerning himself and his newly-acquired 
 property. 
 
 Very soon, all things considered, the party found themselves 
 enjoying Rudolfs hospitality in the pleasant little house over- 
 looking the river, to which he was already growing attached, 
 though he had not yet made up his mind whether he should 
 really live there for the future, or let it furnished for a spell. 
 He was able to give his guests an excellent dinner, having taken 
 over cook and cellar and all from his deceased benefactor. 
 
 After dinner, as the May evening was very warm and alluring, 
 and the lights upon the river quite beautiful in their way, the 
 men took their chairs outside, and smoked and sipped their 
 coffee, talking of many things the while the war and its 
 probable termination, the state of parties in the country, the 
 various evils and problems of the day all those things which 
 occupy the minds of thinking men, and which have fresh and 
 vivid interest for those who have hitherto only watched their 
 growth and progress from afar. 
 
 York was feeling very tired. His bodily strength was small, 
 and the fatigues of arrival had tried him more than he cared 
 to confess. He spoke little, and presently dropped into a 
 light doze. He was conscious of talk going on around him ; 
 but he had no disposition to try and take part in it. So he 
 
84 Ube mtece of Bstber Xfiime 
 
 let his eyes close, and nobody sought to rouse him. He 
 looked very gaunt and white in the silvery moonbeams which 
 fell upon his upturned face. Rudolf became aware that this 
 Colonel York must have been at some time a remarkably 
 attractive man. The features were good, had they not been 
 chiselled so remorselessly by the hand of suffering and of 
 sickness. He looked at this moment only the wreck of a 
 man. But if Time, the healer, did his work with his 
 accustomed skill, the day might come when the soldier would 
 again win from bright eyes that meed of admiration which 
 they had been wont to accord him. 
 
 The conversation gradually took a more personal turn. 
 Sir Humphrey was asking about Cleethorpe, hearing how 
 matters stood there, and what old faces he might expect to 
 find when he got back. It was whilst this conversation was 
 going on that York suddenly sat up, passed his hand across 
 his eyes, and asked, rather in the voice of a man who dreams : 
 
 " Did somebody speak of Stella Sinclair ? " 
 
 " Of Mr. Sinclair, the clergyman of Cleethorpe," answered 
 Sir Humphrey at once. " But surely Stella is the name of the 
 little daughter I used to see trotting in and out of the cottages, 
 and sitting so very still and mouse-like in the Rectory pew ? 
 How did you know that, though, York ? " 
 
 They looked at him curiously. Again he passed his hand 
 across his eyes. Then he seemed to rouse fully to the 
 consciousness of his surroundings and company. 
 
 " I beg your pardon. I think I was half asleep. I was 
 dreaming of my boyhood. That cousin I told you of, 
 Vanborough she was called Stella. She married a clergyman 
 of the name of Sinclair ; but " 
 
 " Why, that must be the same. The first Mrs. Sinclair's 
 name was Stella, I know ; for Stella was called after her. You 
 know she died many years ago now. Mr. Sinclair has married 
 again since." 
 
 York's eyes were bright with interest. Sir Humphrey smiled. 
 
Ibomewarb 3$oun& 85 
 
 "What a curious coincidence. It must surely be the 
 same " 
 
 "Why, yes; but let's get an old Clergy List and make 
 sure," spoke Rudolf, rising. " I know there is a shelf devoted 
 to Crockford in the library here. What was Mr. Sinclair doing 
 when your cousin married him, York ? " 
 
 York remembered that perfectly ; and in a few minutes it 
 was ascertained without a doubt that Mr. Sinclair must be his 
 cousin by marriage, and Stella the child of his early love if 
 the girl so many years his senior could be thus described. 
 
 "So there is a little Stella now? I wonder whether she 
 will recall her mother in any way. Can you tell me anything 
 about her, Hastings ? Do you know her well ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ; I have known her from childhood ; we played 
 together, and she and my sisters grew up almost like sisters, as 
 you may say." 
 
 " I wonder, is she as good and as beautiful as her mother 
 was ? " 
 
 " Oh, she is a very good girl," spoke Rudolf, with a very 
 slight constraint in his voice, which, however, none of his 
 hearers noticed, not being intimate with him. "You know 
 she is a grown-up woman by this time. She was twenty-three 
 last birthday." 
 
 " So much ! Ah ! how the time runs by. But I suppose it 
 must be so. I know how many years my cousin has been 
 dead. I wonder, will her daughter know my name ? " 
 
 " I scarcely think she can do so, or I should have heard 
 from Sally. Colonel York's name is known in Cleethorpe by 
 this time; but I do not think his connection with the first 
 Mrs. Sinclair has transpired." 
 
 " Then let me make myself known to my little cousin in my 
 own way and at my own time," spoke York, a light still in his 
 eyes that Sir Humphrey was glad to see in their hollow depths. 
 " Tell me, are there more than Stella ? I lost touch with the 
 mother after her marriage. I had an idea that my heart was 
 
36 ttbe tfUece of JEstber 
 
 broken past repair, and that it would be only pain to see her 
 or hear from her afterwards. For a mere callow lad, I must 
 have been a good many kinds of a fool in those days. Has 
 Stella any brothers or sisters ? " 
 
 " One brother of her own out in the backwoods of America 
 somewhere. There are three little kids the children of the 
 present Mrs. Sinclair. But Stella has adopted the whole show ; 
 she mothers them almost more than their mother does. Mrs. 
 Sinclair is not so very much older than Stella herself not 
 more than six or eight years, I believe. They are by way of 
 being great friends. Mrs. Sinclair is delicate, and Stella runs the 
 whole household, and the parish too, on her own lines. She 
 is quite indefatigable and invaluable the type of the modern 
 girl given over to good works. There are several types evolved 
 since you left England last, Sir Humphrey, and you will find 
 specimens of some even at Cleethorpe. Do you remember 
 little Sally, my small sister ? I daresay you would scarcely 
 notice her; but all children adored you. You told tiger 
 stories, and made tiger noises, and played tiger games in 
 your shrubberies. Kids don't forget that sort of thing in a 
 hurry. Sally will have a welcome for you, I know, though 
 she was only a tiny when you were over last. She's another 
 modern type but I won't give her away you'll soon see for 
 yourself. I daresay they have found their way to India by 
 this time; but perhaps they haven't come much in your 
 way." 
 
 York fancied that when Rudolf talked of Stella it was 
 with a distinct edge upon his voice, as though he were speaking 
 with a personal sense was it of grievance, or what? The 
 soldier's senses were almost preternaturally acute through long 
 illness. He studied the face of the young politician with keen 
 interest. He recognised in Rudolf the masterful man of strong 
 character and of strong will. Was it possible that there had 
 been some collision of will already between him and his 
 childhood's playmate ? It was a train of thought not unlikely 
 
Ibomewarfc JBounfc 87 
 
 to be aroused in the heart of the man who had in his boyhood 
 so ardently loved Stella's mother. He knew that love could 
 awaken in some natures at a very early period, and that it did 
 not on that account always prove an evanescent flame. 
 
 It was certainly a curious coincidence, but it was a very 
 welcome one, that the place to which he was going as a visitor 
 should be the place which contained the daughter of the one 
 woman he had ever loved. It made a link instantly between the 
 past and the future. The loneliness was lightened. He was not 
 quite the waif and stray he had believed himself. He would 
 talk to Stella of her mother ; she would like to listen. She 
 would give him her confidence perhaps her love. He might 
 even be able to watch over her life in measure. If difficulties 
 beset her, perhaps his hand might smooth her path, or his 
 strength suffice to cut some Gordian knot. 
 
 He dreamed many dreams that night as he lay in bed, 
 dreams half of waking and half of sleeping, but all centring 
 round Stella. Something to love ! Something in measure 
 his own ! Why had he never thought before this of the 
 possibility of Stella's having left children behind her? 
 
 Ah ! but during his roving life of campaigning what could he 
 have done ? It was only now that he could think of such 
 things as home ties and sweet companionship, or friendship 
 with young creatures of his own kith and kin. It sweetened 
 immensely the thought of the future. When he met the 
 other men at breakfast the next morning, his face was 
 brighter than Sir Humphrey remembered ever to have 
 seen it. 
 
 " I tell you what it is, York," spoke the other, with a smile, 
 " I suspect that you and I are in a bit of a hurry to get down 
 to Cleethorpe. Nothing like talk of old times and old faces 
 to quicken one's desires after old places. You don't know this 
 place, but you've got your magnet there. I have several ; and 
 if that fellow Archie wants too much time with his tailor and 
 his hatter and his hairdresser, it strikes me that we two old 
 
Ube IRfece of JEstber 
 
 fogies will just leave him to follow, and go down at our own 
 time." 
 
 " Well, a fellow must be just decent before he shows himself 
 in civilised society," laughed Archie. 
 
 "Meaning that you and I are not civilised," remarked 
 his kinsman. " Oh, go your own way, my boy. I was 
 young once, and perhaps a bit of a dandy, too. We most 
 of us are some time in our lives. It's better taken young 
 than old. Well, I've got a few things I want to do; but 
 one day will suffice for them, and if you'll keep us over to- 
 morrow, Hastings, I shall be grateful. But after that I think 
 we'll run down to Cleethorpe, and see what we find there. It's 
 been very friendly and kind of you receiving us in this 
 handsome fashion." 
 
 " The pleasure has been mine," answered Rudolf cordially ; 
 " but of course I understand your feelings. Please make your 
 own arrangements ; and if you go down before Archie is ready, 
 I'll look after him and keep his spirits in bounds. I've been 
 bear-leader to that cub before now, eh, Archie ? " 
 
 And so it came to pass that upon the following day, in the 
 afternoon, Sir Humphrey Vanborough and Colonel York took 
 train for the west, and found themselves speeding through the 
 smiling verdant country away towards Cleethorpe. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 THE WANDERER'S RETURN 
 
 THERE was a little flutter of excitement through the place 
 when it was definitely known that Sir Humphrey Vanborough 
 was about to return home. Cleethorpe had not concerned 
 itself greatly about the career of its distinguished civilian ; but 
 was just beginning to wake up to the knowledge that Sir 
 Humphrey was a personage of distinction in some spheres, 
 however little his ascent to this position had been heeded in 
 his native place. Also it was said that he was bringing with 
 him a soldier who had won fame for conspicuous gallantry in 
 India, and people were just in the humour to make much of 
 soldiers at this juncture. But whilst they were wondering and 
 discussing whether they should make some demonstration of 
 welcome for the returning travellers, the Squire intervened, and 
 put down his foot with the resolution characteristic of the man. 
 " Now, I'll have no tomfoolery here in Cleethorpe," he said, 
 when a deputation from the Parish Council waited upon him 
 for his opinion and advice. " You can hang out your little 
 rags of flags if you choose for any little returning village 
 Tommy, who comes strutting home in his khaki, and likes 
 that sort of thing. But I won't have a man like Sir Humphrey 
 Vanborough made a fool of by a vulgar little village ovation. 
 Served his country ? Of course he has served his country ! 
 What else has he been out there all these years for save for 
 that ? It's just because he's served his country so well that 
 he would hate and abhor any trumpery little demonstration ! 
 Bless my soul ! I don't know what he'd think had come to 
 
$o ftbe iftiece of JEstber Ignite 
 
 us all ! He's been away best part of a quarter of a century. 
 When he knew old England, she didn't go into sickly hysterics 
 of admiration over every son of hers who'd played the man and 
 done his duty. She expected it of him, and took it as a 
 matter of course ! All this sentimental foolery and adulation 
 would make a man like Sir Humphrey as sick as it makes me ! 
 We were lads together. I know my man. He'll find out soon 
 enough that the country is going to the dogs; we needn't 
 flourish the fact ostentatiously in his face the moment he sets 
 foot in Cleethorpe. Demonstration flags arches ! Pah ! 
 Don't let me hear another word of such tawdry trumpery ; 
 respect Sir Humphrey's dignity, if you've got none left of 
 your own ! " 
 
 So the parish delegates withdrew with their tails between 
 their legs, as they had a habit of doing when they went to 
 consult Squire Hastings ; and the village school-master, who 
 had been conning over the terms of a suitable address to the 
 hero of the occasion, threw his papers into the fire with a 
 sigh of relief, and Cleethorpe settled down to await events, 
 without troubling its head more about the matter. 
 
 "Are you going to be there at Nun's Bower, I mean 
 Esther, to give them a welcome?" asked Diana, who had 
 been somewhat restless and excited since hearing that the 
 travellers had actually landed on English soil. Life at 
 Cleethorpe, if pleasant and surprisingly congenial to her, was 
 becoming just a trifle monotonous to the high-spirited girl, 
 who had been used to much variety and much amusement. 
 On the whole, she stood the monotony remarkably well ; but 
 she was certainly looking forward to the arrival of a new 
 element in their life. If Nun's Bower were occupied, surely it 
 must make a considerable difference to the lives of the inmates 
 of Convent House; and the sooner that consummation was 
 achieved the better she would be pleased. " You see, you are 
 such an old friend. He might think it a kindly thing to do ; 
 and if you do go please take me. I'm just dying for a little 
 
ttbe Marketer's ifteturit 9* 
 
 masculine society ! Do you think Sir Humphrey will be a 
 man one can flirt with? It's the old ones who flirt most 
 charmingly when they do it at all. I tell them so to their 
 faces, and add that, like all other arts, it only reaches perfection 
 by long practice ! " 
 
 Esther, by this time, was used to Diana's methods of rattle- 
 pate talk, and only smiled as she slightly shook her head. 
 
 " No, dear, I shall not go to Nun's Bower to receive him. 
 After all, it is his own house, and my presence there might 
 seem a slight intrusion, though he would not take it so. Still, 
 I would rather meet him here. I shall, however, leave a 
 little note with Mrs. Burchell, to be given to him on his arrival 
 asking him and his friends to dine here in the evening. This 
 will be a relief to Mrs. Burchell, who has only got temporary 
 village help as yet, and will be a sort of welcome to him from 
 Convent House." 
 
 Diana was satisfied with this compromise ; but during the 
 next day she spent the greater part of her time at Nun's Bower, 
 decorating the rooms with flowers, re-arranging the ornaments 
 and draperies in her own fashion, hauling out from the chests 
 under Mrs. Burchell's care such things as she desired for 
 finishing touches, and producing by her handiwork such a 
 daring scheme of colour and such gorgeous effects that Mrs. 
 Burchell could only clasp her hands in helpless wonder and 
 admiration, exclaiming : 
 
 " Deary me ! just look ! It do be wonderful queer and 
 heathenish. Maybe it'll suit the master. But I'd have bad 
 dreams of a night if I lived in rooms like yon ! " 
 
 More than once as Diana pursued her handiwork she was 
 haunted by the impression of being watched. Never could 
 she locate the unseen watcher. She would swing herself round 
 with extreme rapidity, sometimes with an odd conviction that 
 somebody had come in ; but never sight or sound of human 
 presence rewarded her keenest scrutiny. The feeling was an 
 uncanny one. She had heard of it before ; but this was her 
 
9* ttbe frtfece of Esther %nne 
 
 first experience of it ; and coupled with the glimpses of a 
 gliding white-coifed figure in or near Nun's Bower, she came 
 definitely to the conclusion that the house was haunted. 
 
 11 1 suppose houses can be haunted. One can hardly set 
 aside the mass of evidence on the subject, though rats and 
 drains and tricks and general funk account for a whole heap of 
 the ghosts of the world. Nobody seems to know anything 
 about a ghost here. Perhaps it's only certain kinds of 
 creatures who can feel 'em, and I've got the gift. Shouldn't 
 have thought I had it in me. But one lives and learns. 
 Perhaps, when the house is lived in again, the phantom will 
 take itself off! Sally says she never heard of any ghost 
 bothers anywhere in the place, and Esther says the same. 
 Well, I'm not going to be scared by it. It won't hurt me. I've 
 not got to sleep here, and by daylight who cares for a bit of a 
 creep down one's spine? I think, on the whole, I'm rather 
 proud that I can creep. I've grown up rather like the little 
 boy of the Water Babies, who couldn't be frightened, and was 
 pining for the experience. I've not been frightened yet ; but 
 it would be rather entertaining some day if I were." 
 
 Esther came up with her note later on, and looked round 
 smilingly at Diana's effects. She suggested no alterations, and 
 as the travellers might shortly be expected, she only suffered 
 the girl to set out the tea equipage to her liking, and pull the 
 most comfortable and luxurious chairs into inviting positions, 
 and then she drew her away down the long, straight avenue, 
 Diana looking somewhat regretfully back, and saying : 
 
 " Ah, now, it seems almost unkind not to stay and give the 
 poor helpless bachelor boys their tea. Say, Esther, how would 
 it be for me to dress myself up in a grey nun's garb I'm sure 
 I could work it somehow and wait upon them in serene and 
 ghost-like silence, showing them how charming a real ghost-nun 
 could be?" 
 
 "Well, dear, you ask Sir Humphrey, if he should come 
 to-night, how he would have liked that sort of welcome. I 
 
TTbe Wanderer's IReturn 93 
 
 never heard before that a ghost was regarded as a specially 
 cheerful or attractive companion ! " 
 
 "Ah! but that surely depends upon the character of the 
 ghost ! " returned Diana, laughing. " I must really try my hand 
 some day at giving Sir Humphrey a pleasant little surprise ! " 
 
 <f Well, dear, I think Sir Humphrey's nerves will be equal to 
 the occasion," returned Esther quietly; "but remember, Di, 
 that harm has sometimes been done by ghost-playing which 
 was only intended for fun. Don't run any risks of really 
 scaring anyone from a love of mischievous amusement." 
 
 Diana promised laughingly. She was in extra high spirits 
 that day. She was coming to the conclusion that perhaps (for 
 a time, at least) it was more entertaining to interest yourself 
 really and heartily in a few people, than to mix in a shifting 
 throng, where new faces appeared and disappeared in a never- 
 ending stream, and there was not time to get up interest in one 
 promising or piquant situation before it was pushed aside for 
 another. 
 
 " I've made ten thousand acquaintances these last years," 
 said the girl to herself, as she prepared to dress for dinner, 
 " but there has never been time to make friends. I'm going 
 to try my hand at that sport next. I'm going to make 
 tremendous friends with Sir Humphrey, and perhaps with 
 Colonel York, too. But Sir Humphrey comes first. I suppose 
 he and Esther will end by making a match of it, and I shall 
 aid and abet. If my little mother was the innocent means of 
 keeping them apart all these years, there's a fitness of things 
 in her daughter being the one to bring them together at the 
 last. I'm going to pay the role of a little special providence to 
 them. Good old providence often wants some assistance 
 here below, I take it ; and I've no objection to put my shoulder 
 to the wheel of the god in the car. It will be like a novel of 
 Jane Austen's, or a page out of Cranford, watching the little 
 comedy. It'll be awfully funny, but I'm going to enjoy every 
 bit of it." 
 
94 TTfoe fUece of Bstber X^nne 
 
 A little note had come down from Nun's Bower not half 
 an hour ago, gratefully accepting Esther's invitation. Sir 
 Humphrey and the Colonel were coming. The young kinsman 
 had not yet arrived. 
 
 " He will be useful later," remarked Diana, when she heard. 
 " A boy comes in very handily in a place like this ; but it's 
 just as well there should not be too many in the field at first. 
 Archie will do excellently for me to flirt with later, whilst the 
 other pair do their own billing and cooing." These last 
 phrases, however, were not spoken aloud. Somehow, with 
 all the freedom of tongue she permitted herself, and Esther 
 smiled at, Diana had never ventured to tease her about Sir 
 Humphrey. She was sometimes surprised at her own 
 reticence in this respect. It gave her an unconscious 
 respect for her aunt, which was a salutary experience to 
 one of her temperament. 
 
 Diana looked rather magnificent as she swept downstairs 
 with her toilet complete. National mourning was ended, and 
 the girl had robed herself in a cream and amber brocade, cut 
 low enough to show the beautiful contours of her neck and 
 throat, which rose from a soft mass of creamy filmy lace and 
 chiffon. Her arms also were bare white and round and 
 beautifully shaped. Her only ornament was a collar of pearls 
 round her throat, and a pair of heavy antique gold bracelets, 
 which she often wore, dubbing them her " handcuffs." White 
 and yellow roses were arranged in a graceful spray amidst the 
 soft laces of her bodice, and her shimmering train lay a 
 glimmering mass of drapery far behind her as she moved. 
 Her white skin and the wealth of her golden hair all toned 
 in and harmonised with the rich golden lights and bronze 
 shadows of her dress. She was radiant and bewitching and 
 she very well knew it. 
 
 " My dear, you are so grand ! " exclaimed Esther, between 
 remonstrance and admiration, at sight of the apparition. 
 
 Esther, of course, wore her mourning for her father. Diana 
 
ZTbe Wanderer's IReturn 95 
 
 had only prevailed upon her to lighten it by some softening 
 touches of white crape and chiffon. She had insisted upon 
 doing Esther's hair in her own skilful and graceful fashion, and 
 now, with a little flush in her cheeks, a soft light in her liquid 
 brown eyes, and the pure white roses at her throat, Esther 
 Lynne's gentle and gracious charm was by no means eclipsed 
 by the more daring and dashing beauty of the girl at her side. 
 Diana led her to a mirror, and stood looking over her head, as 
 she said : 
 
 " It reminds me of the old picture that used to hang up at 
 home I don't know where it came from. It was called 
 ' Modesty and Vanity ' ; and I used to sit gazing at it for 
 hours, wondering which was which. Modesty had so much 
 more to be vain of than vanity ! " 
 
 " You are a sad flatterer, Di," spoke Esther, moving away ; 
 " but you shall wear your pretty frocks when you wish, and I 
 will not scold. We can only be young once." 
 
 " Some people can be young always," answered Diana, with 
 a sudden note of gravity in her voice ; " but they have to learn 
 the secret first, and that's a large order ! " 
 
 A few minutes later, and the visitors were being ushered into 
 the room ; two tall, bronzed men one of them somewhat 
 haggard and with a halt in his gait, which rendered him 
 dependent upon his stick even in the house men with that 
 indescribable air of distinction which defies analysis, yet makes 
 itself felt as a power from the first moment of introduction, 
 and causes mere flesh-and-blood physical beauty to take quite 
 a secondary place. 
 
 If Diana had expected anything very dramatic or telling 
 in this meeting, she was destined to disappointment. Sir 
 Humphrey Vanborough was a man of the world, who had 
 been through the mill of life, and Esther had learned self- 
 mastery in a school of which the brilliant girl beside her 
 knew nothing. A vivid smile, the firm, close grip of a lean 
 brown hand, a few genial, cordial, grateful words and the 
 
96 ZTbe iFUece ot JEstber 
 
 thing was over. Sir Humphrey was presenting his friend to 
 their hostess, and then his glance moved and fixed itself 
 upon Diana. 
 
 "We ought not be strangers, my dear," he said, before 
 Esther had finished settling Colonel York in an easy-chair. 
 "Your mother and I used to play together as children. Do 
 you know how like her you are ? I was pleased to hear from 
 young Hastings the other day that Arabella's daughter had 
 come to live at Convent House. I am glad that you are not 
 left alone, Esther I mean, Miss Lynne." 
 
 He turned to her now with another of those smiles that 
 always evoked an answering glow in the eyes which met 
 it, and she replied gently : 
 
 " Must it be so, Sir Humphrey ? Or are we not old enough 
 to be comrades still ? " 
 
 " With all my heart," he answered, as he held out his hand 
 once more and gripped hers close. " I begin to feel I am at 
 home again. There is one person who has not changed 
 Esther Lynne." 
 
 "Not changed only grown old," she answered gently. 
 
 At that moment dinner was announced, and Sir Humphrey 
 gave his arm to their hostess, whilst Diana accommodated her 
 free steps to the slow movements of the Colonel, chatting so 
 gaily to him the while that the slowness of the transit was 
 quite covered. 
 
 " She is a dear girl," spoke Esther softly to her companion, 
 as they sauntered after them. " It has brought the sunshine 
 back to Convent House. She is like her mother, but with a 
 great deal of her father's strength of will and vehemence of 
 purpose. She has had a curious upbringing. It would have 
 spoilt many natures, but it has not spoilt hers. I think she 
 will make a fine woman, and a good one." 
 
 At dinner-time talk was general, and Diana certainly led it. 
 She was in her gayest mood. She felt that both these silent 
 men regarded her with favour and admiration. She was in 
 
Wanfcerer's Keturn 97 
 
 her element, as she called it, in masculine society. Her daring 
 and racy speeches entertained her listeners. She had travelled 
 and observed enough to be interesting in her own talk, and to 
 ask intelligent and pertinent questions of others. She pleaded 
 guilty to the accusation brought against her of having decorated 
 Nun's Bower for the arrival of its master, and received the 
 thanks of the latter with her customary vivacity. 
 
 " I hoped you would think it Mrs. Burchell's taste ! Poor 
 old thing, how she did stare ! I begged her to let me array 
 her for this occasion in flowing Oriental robes and a turban. 
 You should have seen the good soul's face ! But really, she 
 would have looked a very imposing figure ! " 
 
 In the drawing-room afterwards, conversation still flowed 
 freely and gaily. The windows stood open to the soft, warm 
 air; lingering daylight was mingling with the silver radiance 
 from the full moon. Sir Humphrey and Esther were lost in 
 earnest talk about old days. Their faces were very happy and 
 very content. 
 
 Diana and the soldier passed a pleasant time together over 
 reminiscences of people and places both had known for both 
 had travelled ; till the girl, detecting signs of weariness upon 
 her companion's face, moved across the room and stood beside 
 the piano. 
 
 "Sing to us, dear," said Esther. "Humphrey, you 
 remember Arabella's voice ? Diana has it again only more 
 so. She will sing to us, I know. It will be like old times to 
 hear her," and she smiled as the girl took her seat at the 
 instrument. 
 
 Diana gave one look around her, struck a few chords, and 
 began to sing. There was a gay trilling lilt in the joyous 
 young voice, so round, so full, so true, that held the listeners 
 spell-bound : 
 
 " ' When all the world is young, lad, 
 And all the trees are green, 
 
9 s ZTbe IFtfece of JEstber 
 
 And every goose a swan, lad, 
 
 And every lass a queen ; 
 Then hey for boot and horse, lad, 
 
 And round the world away ; 
 Young blood must have its course, lad, 
 
 And every dog his day.' " 
 
 The strong fingers upon the keys improvised a few telling 
 and triumphant chords. Then in a fashion which showed the 
 performer to be no mean musician, the character of the music 
 changed. She was improvising now, and a strange tender 
 melancholy seemed to float around them, piercing and in- 
 sistent. Then she began to sing once more. Was it a touch 
 of true dramatic art, or was it some capacity for sympathy 
 some comprehension of the underlying pathos of life, which 
 brought that thrilling, haunting cadence into her wonderful 
 voice ? 
 
 " ' When all the world is old, lad, 
 
 And all the trees are brown ; 
 And all the sport is stale, lad, 
 
 And all the wheels run down ; 
 Creep home, and take your place there, 
 
 The spent and maimed among ; 
 God grant you find one face there, 
 
 You loved when all was young." 
 
 There was a deep hush through the room. Diana would 
 not look round. She had a feeling that Sir Humphrey had 
 risen, and that his hand was resting upon the back of Esther's 
 chair. She knew without any telling that one pair of soft 
 brown eyes was full of tears. Her ringers continued to stray 
 softly over the keys. She was smiling to herself. Were they 
 really half in love still, these two who had certainly been 
 almost lovers once ? She was interested in the situation. It 
 had an old-world flavour about it which appealed to one side 
 of her nature. One self was touched by it ; the other found 
 it just a shade comic ! Love at that age ! it seemed even 
 a trifle incongruous. But it was rather pretty to watch the 
 
ZTbe ManOerer's IReturn 99 
 
 little flutter in Esther's quiet self-possession, and there was 
 something distinctly fascinating and captivating in Sir 
 Humphrey's old-time courtesy and chivalry. Oh, yes, she 
 very well liked watching it all. It made quite a little mild 
 excitement in life. And if she could aid and abet the 
 consummation by any small artifices of her own so much 
 the better. 
 
 A hand was laid upon her shoulder. Sir Humphrey's voice 
 spoke over her head. There was a little thrill in his tones, of 
 which she was distinctly conscious. 
 
 " Child, where did you learn to sing like that ? " 
 
 She turned herself round upon her stool, and looked up at 
 him, with arch laughter in her eyes. 
 
 " I was taught by my master he was one of the old school, 
 you must know never to think about myself when I was 
 singing, but to throw myself into the spirit of my song, and learn 
 how to sing by watching the drama of life as it would unfold 
 itself before me. Have I learned my lesson well, Sir Knight ? " 
 and she rose as she spoke, and swept him a magnificent curtsey, 
 after which she crossed over to Esther, laid a caressing hand 
 for a moment upon her hair, and said : 
 
 " It is such a lovely moonlight night I am going for one 
 little prowl round the cloister. You can have a chat together 
 till I come back. I shan't be long." 
 
 She gave one quick glance at Colonel York, as much as to 
 invite him to accompany her, but, truth to tell, the soldier was 
 too tired to move, though he feared his presence might be 
 somewhat de trop. So Diana passed out of the window alone, 
 shrugging her shapely shoulders with a whimsical gesture, as 
 she said to herself : 
 
 u I fear our wounded hero is just a trifle dense ! " 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 OLD FRIENDS AND NEW 
 
 DIANA was walking between the Squire and Sir Humphrey 
 Vanborough. It was Sunday afternoon, and the Squire had 
 walked over to renew acquaintance with his old friend, who 
 had arrived the previous day, and who had appeared at church 
 in the old Vanborough pew that morning ; but had been so 
 besieged by the humbler sort of folk at the close of the service, 
 that his quondam companion had contented himself with just 
 a handshake, and the promise to " look him up " later in the 
 day. 
 
 It had been a great delight to Sir Humphrey to find himself 
 remembered by so many of the old folks. The rising genera- 
 tion, and even the middle-aged men were strangers to him ; 
 but the old people he knew by name, and they could exchange 
 reminiscences with him, which showed how well his boyhood was 
 remembered both by himself and others. There were many 
 gaps, to be sure, amongst the once familiar faces ; but some of 
 these gaps were accounted for by infirmity or illness ; and Sir 
 Humphrey had already made many promises of paying visits 
 to cottages round the neighbourhood, where there were old 
 men and women who remembered him yet, and would be 
 "main glad" for a sight of him again. 
 
 " The Squire did you out of your * reception,' " spoke Diana, 
 with laughing eyes ; " but you've had a better one to-day. 
 Flummery and tall talk is all very well in its way ; but it's a 
 bit too cheap in these days. I'm not so hopelessly modern 
 myself but what I can appreciate the difference ! " 
 
 100 
 
friends and *ftew tot 
 
 Then the Squire laughed, and told his old friend of the 
 deputation that had waited on him, and how he had sent it 
 away with a flea in its ear. Sir Humphrey laughed, too, in 
 his genial way. 
 
 " I will let them know that I heard of their kind intentions, 
 and appreciate their goodwill. But I'm glad you stopped any 
 demonstration, Hastings. You were quite right. Ovations 
 are suitable for national heroes, when the heart of the 
 nation is stirred, and people feel they must show them 
 recognition. But one does not like too much of it. It 
 cheapens the dignity of service. It goes against the grain of 
 the English nature unless that nature has changed since I 
 was over here last, which I am loath to believe." 
 
 " It's like this," spoke the Squire, with energy. " The nation 
 is still sound at the core sound when it is really stirred. 
 Look how it rose to the occasion in that dark time we went 
 through eighteen months ago ! Look how our fellows are 
 behaving in South Africa now ! One is proud of them yes, 
 proud of them, sir, and the way they uphold the honour and 
 humanity and dignity of the old country ! I tell you I have 
 heard things of them which have brought tears to my old eyes. 
 My wife has a friend out there among the nurses. The other 
 day she told us that when the lads in hospital got wind of all 
 the lies the foreign press circulated about the atrocities and 
 brutalities of the British soldier, the only thing about it which 
 troubled them was lest the Queen (God rest her !) should 
 believe it. t For it 'ud break her heart,' they said, ' if she 
 thought her boys could behave like that. And it 'ud fair 
 break ours that she should think it of us ! ' That was all they 
 thought of. Quite indifferent to what a scurrilous press might 
 say, if only the Mother-Queen knew it to be false. I tell you, 
 Vanborough, it's things like that which warm my old heart, 
 and bring me comfort yet. For when one looks about us at 
 what goes on beneath our eyes, I tell you, one's soul too often 
 sickens within one ! " 
 
102 tTbe IFUece of Estber 2Lnne 
 
 " Ah, I am sorry, I am sorry," answered Sir Humphrey ; " I 
 have feared it in measure. One sees the change creeping all 
 over the world ; but I am loath to believe it is all retrogression. 
 In an age of philanthropy " 
 
 The word acted something as a red rag on a bull. The 
 Squire brought his stick sharply down upon the ground. 
 
 "I tell you, Vanborough, it's this philanthropy and tom- 
 foolery that is the ruin of the country. It's been at the 
 bottom of the so-called education, which has had thirty years 
 in which to thrive and batten, and has at the end pretty 
 well ruined the industrial classes, and quite ruined the servant 
 class and the agricultural labourer. Our old idea when we 
 didn't prate of philanthropy was to fit men and women to 
 do their duty in that state of life to which it had pleased God 
 to call them. Now the aim and object seems to be to unfit 
 them for that and to fit them for no other. Go where you 
 will, ask any master man you like carpenter, blacksmith, 
 carriage-builder, shopkeeper even, and they will all tell you 
 the same tale. Where to turn for men who will take the 
 trouble to learn their trade and give good work for good 
 money they do not know ! The self-respecting workman who 
 takes pride in his work is becoming as extinct as the dodo. 
 It's just one game of scamp and scuttle a full day's wage for 
 eight hours of lounging and chattering, with the minimum of 
 work accomplished that the patience or the purse of the 
 master can stand. It makes one's heart ache and one's blood 
 boil to watch the example the men of the present day are 
 setting to the rising generation ; and the rising generation are 
 copying them only too closely ! " 
 
 The Squire was mounted on his hobby-horse now, and Sir 
 Humphrey looked into Diana's eyes and returned her smile. 
 It brought old times back to hear the deep voice booming 
 away. Old Squire Hastings used to grow heated over the 
 abuses of his times, and his son was not behind him either in 
 choler or in power of expression. 
 
ffrfenfcs anfc 1Rew 103 
 
 " I tell you, Vanborough it makes me fair sick sometimes to 
 see how the boys begin to go on ! Do you remember when 
 we were lads together, and wanted our games cricket, football, 
 what not? We used to tramp off with our bats over our 
 shoulders, and walk miles if need be to practice or match. 
 But these delicate young jackanapes in the village, oh, bless 
 you ! they can't walk ! They must have a brake and pair of 
 horses to take them to their matches. And you'll see these 
 brakes standing outside every public-house along the road, 
 whilst the young louts are drinking and playing cards inside ! " 
 
 " Is that really so ? " asked Sir Humphrey, taken aback. 
 
 " It is round here ; I hope to goodness it is not everywhere 
 the same ; but why should Cleethorpe be worse than other 
 places ? I tell you, Vanborough, I've seen such play when 
 these matches have been on, as would have disgraced little lads 
 of ten and twelve in our times. Sometimes quite an appreci- 
 able number of the men are slightly the worse for drink. At 
 football it is worse. I tell you, that last Good Friday of all 
 days in the year a football match was arranged, unknown to 
 me, and in a field not far from the church, of all places. We 
 were disturbed by the noise at the three-hour service, and 
 when I went out afterwards to see what was going on, I 
 declare that, so far as I could tell, more than half the persons 
 assembled were the worse for liquor ! Well, I brought that 
 match to an end in double quick time, I tell you ! " 
 
 " I should hope so," said Sir Humphrey gravely. " I am 
 very sorry to hear all this. One likes to be proud of the lads, 
 and encourage them in their sports. In old days we used all 
 to play together on the big green on the top of Clee Rise " 
 
 "Oh, yes, I know, I know. But would you believe it, 
 Vanborough, I had a deputation not long since from this 
 blessed Parish Council, to tell me that they wanted a village 
 recreation-ground nearer at hand, if you please. The boys 
 found it too far to walk three-quarters of a mile to their 
 playground ! They wanted one at their very doors, and what 
 
104 Ube fFUece ot Estber Xgnne 
 
 did I think of giving up the meadow by Glee Mill for the 
 purpose ? They had come to consult me about the scheme, 
 and ask my opinion. Well, I gave them my opinion straight ! 
 They have not been in any mighty hurry to hear it again ! " 
 
 Diana's eyes were brimming with laughter. 
 
 " Isn't he delightful ? " she asked, sotto voce. " I do wish I 
 could be there to hear when these scenes take place." 
 
 " But surely there must be some of the old sort left," 
 pleaded Sir Humphrey, divided between amusement at the 
 Squire's vehemence and regret at the state of things disclosed 
 by these revelations. 
 
 " Why, yes, to be sure there are," spoke the Squire, his brow 
 clearing a little ; " we have a certain number of the old yeoman 
 farmers left, thank goodness, and the sturdy, staunch fellows 
 who feel as much disgusted as I do with this rotten, effeminate 
 nonsense. But the worst of it is that it's the men from the 
 lower stratum, pushing up, who lead the van nowadays. They 
 push themselves upon these detestable little local boards 
 and councils. And then they pander to the people for their 
 votes, always planning some new tomfoolery to keep the 
 riff-raff in good humour. It's in the municipalities that you see 
 the full glory and beauty of our present-day organisation and 
 local government. But it's quite bad enough here, I can tell 
 you." 
 
 They were walking all over familiar ground now. Diana 
 had volunteered to show Sir Humphrey round the garden, 
 and take him to meet the Squire, who had promised to walk 
 over from the Hall. This they had accomplished, but the old 
 friends would not let Diana go, as she suggested. Her bright 
 companionship was pleasant to them both, and she walked 
 between them, amused by their flood of reminiscences, and 
 especially by the Squire's diatribes against new-fangled men 
 and manners. 
 
 She was a notable figure in her long, straight white dress 
 and wide black hat. She looked almost as tall as her 
 
jfrienfcs anfc Ittew 105 
 
 companions, though both men were just over six foot. She 
 wanted to make Sir Humphrey tell her about himself, but 
 somehow it always ended in his telling about somebody else ; 
 and when he and the Squire got upon old days and old 
 times, she was fain to listen in silence, for she found it more 
 interesting than she could have guessed. 
 
 " He is awfully fascinating, though I can't tell why," she said 
 to herself more than once. " I can't think how it was Esther 
 let him slip through her fingers as she did. Duty ! well, I 
 should say a man like that took rank before the kind of fretful 
 old valetudinarian my grandfather by all accounts must have 
 been. After the first wrench, a well trained manservant would 
 have done every bit as well for him. Oh, these good people 
 with their enthusiasm for self-sacrifice, what a hash they do 
 make of their own and other's lives ! Well, thank goodness, 
 I'm not made like that. I mean to have my good time in 
 my own way, and Sir Humphrey Vanborough may be quite 
 a factor in the game." 
 
 For Diana felt distinct pleasure in the very evident 
 admiration she had awakened in her new friend's mind, and 
 responded to his fatherly and chivalrous overtures with a 
 pretty arch playfulness and eagerness that made a link 
 between them at once. 
 
 Meantime, whilst friendships between old friends and new 
 were being prosecuted out of doors, Esther Lynne was growing 
 to know something more of the silent soldier, who had 
 accompanied Sir Humphrey down the long yew walk early in 
 the afternoon, and had been persuaded by the mistress of 
 Convent House to rest awhile in the cool cloistered walk 
 before retracing his steps home again. 
 
 Since Diana's advent, the cloister had become somewhat 
 transformed ; basket chairs and lounges, with abundance of 
 striped blankets and soft cushions, invited, as it were, to 
 leisurely idleness under that pleasant shelter. Persian rugs 
 made patches of warm colour upon the stone tiling, and 
 
IFliece of lEstber 
 
 little light tables, with books, work, or at certain hours of the 
 day the tea equipage, stood handily about, showing that this 
 covered cloister, part in sun and part in shade, was a regular 
 place of resort with the ladies of the house. 
 
 York had found it very pleasant sitting there in the shade 
 with Esther Lynne for his companion. They had had a 
 good deal of talk already, and Esther's face was bright with 
 interest as she turned it full upon him. 
 
 " I am so glad about it so glad that little Stella will have 
 a friend and kinsman and adviser rather specially her own. 
 With her temperament, I almost think that somebody coming 
 fresh into her life may be able to help her more than we can 
 do. You know what I mean ? We have known Stella since 
 she was a tiny mite. Perhaps she thinks we do not always 
 take her quite seriously enough. She has grown up too much 
 in one groove ; but naturally she would not think that I had 
 any call to say that. It would be the pot calling the kettle 
 black ! " 
 
 " You think Stella wants help, Miss Lynne ? Tell me, in 
 what way could I possibly serve her a helpless, broken-down 
 fellow like myself? " 
 
 Esther eyed him earnestly, studying his worn face with her 
 serenely gentle gaze. A smile hovered about her lips. 
 
 " Perhaps your very helplessness may be your greatest help," 
 she said softly. " You have had experience of that very thing 
 which so appeals to Stella you have sacrificed your all at the 
 altar of duty just as she longs herself to do." 
 
 The soldier looked earnestly at her, as though he would ask 
 more. Her meaning was not yet clear to him. 
 
 " She is such a dear, good little girl," spoke Esther tenderly. 
 " She means so well ; she has such almost stern ideals of right 
 and wrong. Not for a moment would one wish to lower these 
 to seek to make her palter with her own conscience. But 
 yet, like all the rest of us, she makes mistakes. Her mistake 
 is that she confuses the means with the end." 
 
jfrienbs anb flew 107 
 
 "I do not think I quite follow you." 
 
 " You will understand better when you get to know Stella. 
 Her admiration goes out in an immensely earnest way towards 
 those persons in the world's history from our Lord down- 
 wards who have sacrificed their all laid down their lives, 
 perhaps given up all they held most dear, to do some great 
 work to which they felt a call. By just a little not unnatural 
 twist she has come to confuse, as I say, the means with the 
 end. She thinks that it is the best and highest thing she can 
 do to sacrifice such things in her own life as seem to her most 
 attractive, without always considering whether this sacrifice is 
 any real step towards the goal she is seeking to reach. You 
 will understand better as you come to know her. The trouble 
 is that young people have so often laughed at and teased her 
 about her devotion to duty, that she has grown sensitive about 
 it, and will very quickly draw into her shell when the subject 
 is brought up. Naturally, you understand, the little grain 
 of obstinacy which we all of us have in our composition has 
 been aroused in her in defence of her theories. She does not 
 very readily talk about them now in the sense of discussing 
 them ; but she hugs them all the harder for that, and I think 
 is sometimes in danger of making mistakes which she may feel 
 sorrowfully when it is too late." 
 
 The soldier sat looking straight before him. In his deep- 
 set, hollow eyes the spark of the old fire smouldered still. 
 Give him something to fight for, something to attain, and he 
 was his own man again ! It was the sense of uselessness and 
 superfluity which had been his haunting trouble all along, since 
 he had faced the prospect of a crippled life. Let him find 
 something to do, someone whom he might help, and he asked 
 nothing more. 
 
 " I am very grateful to you for what you have told me, Miss 
 Lynne," he said, after a long pause. " Stella's mother was 
 dearer to me than any other human being in the world ; for 
 my parents I scarcely remember. Her gentleness and kindness 
 
ttbe Irtiece of JSetber 
 
 made the sunshine of my childhood. If I can in turn do 
 anything for her daughter, however small the service may be, 
 it will make a happy man of me." 
 
 It was not long after this that the pedestrians returned, 
 bringing the Squire back with them. Diana had been certain 
 that Colonel York would still be at Convent House, and had 
 vowed that they must both come back to tea. 
 
 " Nobody's tea is quite like Esther's, is it now, Squire ? I 
 should think even you remembered that, Sir Humphrey ! I 
 never cottoned much to tea till I got to Convent House. It's 
 a liberal education to see how Esther manages the tea-table. 
 There's an old-world grace and charm about her then which I 
 watch with unfailing delight every day. I suppose I ought to 
 take the task off her hands, but I'm not going to. It's the 
 rising generation that expects to be waited on now, you'll find. 
 The aunts and mothers do everything, and the daughters and 
 nieces look on and admire." 
 
 " You remind me of the tale I heard about the elderly 
 gentleman who had never tasted the wing of a chicken. 
 1 When I was young,' he explained, ' the elders had the wings 
 and we youngsters the legs ; but now the young ones have the 
 wings and we old ones the legs; so, as it happens, I've never 
 tasted the wing.' " 
 
 " That's about it," laughed Diana gaily ; " that's the way 
 the world wags now. I wonder whether there will be any 
 turn of the tide. A little chap of five spoiled to the top of 
 his bent, but a charming little fellow all the same told me 
 the other day that he was going to bring up his children with 
 the greatest seventy. And he meant it, too, you bet, the 
 little beggar ! " 
 
 And then they reached the old-world garden and its quaint 
 cloistered enclosure, where already Esther's white hands were 
 moving amongst the tea-cups, and the silver kettle was hissing 
 and spluttering, watched over by the soldier, who looked 
 brighter than Diana had seen him as yet. 
 
<S)16 Jfvienfcs anfc IRew 109 
 
 " We've had the most improving time ! " cried the girl, as 
 she flung herself down with her rapid, graceful abandonment 
 into the easiest of the padded chairs. " My sakes (as the 
 dear old darkies used to say), won't some folks' ears be burning 
 still in and about Cleethorpe ! The Squire's just been letting 
 fly all round, Esther, and I've had a real good time. Squire, 
 you really ought to have waited for me ! You're so awfully 
 fetching the boys are out of it with you ! We'd have had 
 a lively time of it, you and I together, I guess. For I can 
 ramp and rage about some ! I declare we'd make most places 
 hum a bit if we started fair together ! " 
 
 When Diana spoke her most daring slang, she invariably 
 assumed the soft, gentle drawl of the Virginian, which gave 
 a piquancy to her speech quite impossible adequately to 
 convey. She would also put on a most inimitable drollery 
 and innocence of expression, which contrasted so humorously 
 with her words as to convulse her hearers with mirth. 
 She had no diffidence about making herself the centre of 
 observation, or assuming the leading role. As she took her 
 cup from the Squire's hand, she looked up archly at him from 
 beneath the golden fringe of her brows. 
 
 " Young men have their points, of course ; but they've so 
 many things to learn that they make one tired. I find it an 
 improving thing to ask them a riddle. * Which would you 
 prefer, to be a greater fool than you look, or to look a greater 
 fool than you are ? ' It don't matter which they choose ; you 
 just look them up and down, and you say, 'I guess that's 
 impossible, though.' You generally find that settles him for a 
 spell. If it doesn't well, then, he's got some spunk in him ; 
 and I can stand a man with spunk, even if he is a bit of a 
 fool ! " 
 
 "My dear Di!" spoke Esther gently, fearing lest Sir 
 Humphrey might be overwhelmed by this modern specimen 
 of girlhood. 
 
 " No, don't begin to apologise for me, Esther. I'm made 
 
 \ 
 
no zrbe IFliece of Bstfoer Xgune 
 
 so, and I can't help it. Don't be like the Manchester 
 millionaire's daughter who so sweetly besought, 'You must 
 excuse my mother, she's rather vulgar ! ' " 
 
 So Diana rattled away, and they sat and looked at her, and 
 laughed. Very charming she looked, too all white and 
 gold even to the yellow gleams in her bright eyes, which 
 pleasurable excitement not anger this time had brought 
 there. 
 
 She was in her element, and Esther enjoyed her little 
 triumph perhaps more than the girl enjoyed it herself. It 
 was so good to have young life about her again. All sense of 
 haunting sadness was banished in the presence of this gay 
 young creature. Sir Humphrey's kindly face beamed upon 
 her, and now and again he turned his glance upon Esther 
 with sympathetic amusement. When the guests left, and 
 Esther had gone back to the house, Diana still lay back in 
 her chair, with her arms crossed behind her head. 
 
 " I don't want to cut old Esther out," she was thinking to 
 herself in a sort of mischievous, idle reverie, "but certainly 
 Sir Humphrey Vanborough is a very attractive man ! " 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 STELLA'S KINSMAN 
 
 " DID you come into my room last night ? " asked Sir 
 Humphrey, as the two men sat at breakfast together. 
 
 " I ? No. I never left my bed. I was much too 
 comfortable, I assure you." 
 
 " I thought it couldn't be you. I suppose it was a gust of 
 wind. I was half awake and half asleep some time in the 
 night, and the window was open, and the moonlight was 
 bright enough to show up the outlines of everything pretty 
 clearly. I saw the door move and begin to open slowly, and I 
 called out to know if anything was wrong. I wasn't quite 
 awake, but had a notion you might be wanting something, or 
 had sent your man to me. Then the door went-to again just 
 as softly as it had opened. By that time I was quite awake, 
 and jumped up and looked out ; but there was nothing to be 
 seen, and I know you'd have answered when I spoke " 
 
 "And not got away so fast," smiled York. " No, I do not 
 think I am addicted to nocturnal ramblings, either awake or 
 asleep. I should think, as you say, it must have been a puff 
 of wind." 
 
 " Most probably. Perhaps the catch of the door works 
 oddly. I can turn the key another night," and with that the 
 subject dropped, and was speedily forgotten. 
 
 Sir Humphrey meant to make a tour of the place this 
 morning, and look up sundry old friends amongst the rustic 
 population, with whom he had a common past to discuss. He 
 was surprised how clearly and insistently his own boyhood 
 
 in 
 
H2 Ube IFUece ot iSstber Xgnne 
 
 was coming back to him, now that he found himself in his 
 old-time home. On his brief visits to his father he had not 
 felt this nearly so strongly. His mind had been more or less 
 engrossed still with the problems which beset him in the 
 far-off land where he was building up a reputation such as 
 it is only given to a few to attain. Then he had been a mere 
 bird of passage. Now he had "come home." 
 
 He had not troubled his head as yet as to whether he 
 intended permanently to reside at Nun's Bower, or whether he 
 would have a house in town, or at least chambers or a flat, and 
 keep more in touch with the world of politics and of action, 
 which had been his sphere for so long. But of one thing he 
 was certain. He would always retain his footing in Clee- 
 thorpe. He would never sell or let his own quaint little place 
 there. Whether he resided there much or little, he would 
 retain his rights upon it, and make it his home whenever it 
 pleased him to do so. He had no present intention, however, 
 of setting up a regular establishment. With York's well- 
 trained soldier-servant to act as butler, and the help Mrs. 
 Burchell had got in from the village, he intended for the 
 present to rub along. He rather liked the feeling of " camping 
 out," as he called it, after the formality he had been used to in 
 India. He would have to see shortly what must be done in 
 the matter of horse-flesh, and perhaps a groom would have to 
 be engaged before long. But he was not in any immediate 
 hurry even on that score. If walking were rather a novel 
 experience to the " three-tailed bashaw," as Archie irreverently 
 dubbed his kinsman, it was not a disagreeable one. 
 
 The weather was delicious, the sun shone brilliantly, 
 tempered by the cool breezes of the scent-laden spring-tide. 
 The intense verdure of the fields, the glories of the woodlands, 
 bursting into leaf, the wealth of flowers in garden and hedge- 
 row, and the ecstatic carolling of the birds, all served to make 
 this home-coming a season of gladness and content ; and there 
 was so much to see and observe every time he stirred 
 
Stella's Ikinsman 113 
 
 outside, that Sir Humphrey was well content to go afoot, and 
 take it all in, bit by bit, with loving eyes and a grateful heart. 
 
 " I am going to look up the Sinclairs to-day," said York. 
 " Do you think I may presume so far upon my connection to 
 make a morning call ? I want to see little Stella, a,nd I could 
 not get to church yesterday morning." 
 
 " No ; and I'm not sure that you're up to the walk to-day, 
 either. It's only half a mile by the field path, but " 
 
 " Oh, I can do that all right enough to-day. It was the 
 shaking in the train that jacked me up a bit. These two quiet 
 nights have set me up again. I'll take my time ; I want to 
 look about me as I go. You don't think they'll regard it as 
 an intrusion ? " 
 
 For York was a man of singularly retiring nature, and 
 found it difficult to realise that his visit could be regarded 
 in the light of a compliment or distinction. 
 
 " Not a bit of it, I'll answer for that. Yes, I would certainly 
 go. Monday is always a parson's holiday, if he ever gets one j 
 and they'll be extremely glad, I am sure, to claim kinship 
 with you. They do not know anything about it yet, so it will 
 come as an agreeable surprise." 
 
 That morning walk was a pleasant experience for the 
 soldier. Sir Humphrey accompanied him part of the way to 
 put him in the right road. But soon he became aware that 
 York was trying to accelerate his slow pace on his account, so 
 he nodded him farewell, and swung off in another direction, 
 leaving the other to his own leisurely progress, which, after 
 several halts and rests to look about him and enjoy the clear, 
 sweet freshness of the May morning, brought him to the Rectory 
 gate, just as Mr. Sinclair was sallying forth. It took but a 
 very short time to establish cordial relations between the 
 gentle, dreamy clergyman and the soldier, whose name he 
 knew well. 
 
 " Yet I never connected the names," he avowed. " Of 
 course, I remember how Stella used to tell me of Donald 
 
 H 
 
H4 Ube Iflfece of Estber 
 
 York, her cousin and playmate. But when I heard of Colonel 
 York's return with Sir Humphrey, I never put two and two 
 together. My wife will be so interested in your story. Will 
 you let me take you to her, as I have a sick parishioner to 
 visit ? And there is Stella, too. Edna will know where she 
 is to be found. My little right hand, my curate, as I call her 
 sometimes. She is like her mother in very many ways, though 
 with an individuality all her own, too. Sometimes I think she 
 is disposed almost to overdo herself, dear child ; her energy 
 and unselfishness are boundless. But I must not praise my 
 own daughter too much. You shall judge for yourself when 
 you know her." 
 
 York was led into the pleasant drawing-room, where, in the 
 bay window, Mrs. Sinclair's couch stood, and she was giving 
 the three children a little simple lesson. 
 
 At sight of the visitor all the three held back for a moment, 
 and then the youngest boy strode boldly forward, staring up at 
 the intruder, and asking : 
 
 "Is you Sir Tiger?" 
 
 York looked down, his eyes brimming with amusement at 
 the sturdy little chap, whose twin-sister now made a rush 
 towards him, shouting at the top of her baby voice : 
 
 " Sir Tiger Sir Tiger tell us tiger stories ! " 
 
 " Hush, hush, children," spoke the mother, half rising from 
 her couch, and holding out her hand, "Pray excuse my 
 spoilt babies, Colonel York," she said. " They have been 
 so excited about Sir Humphrey's return. Sally Hastings has 
 told them of the tiger stories he used to tell her when she 
 was little, and they will persist in calling Sir Humphrey Sir 
 Tiger ! " 
 
 York, it seemed, was no mean hand in the telling of tiger 
 stories. Whilst Mr. Sinclair explained in a low voice to the 
 mother what Colonel York's connection had been with his first 
 wife's family, the children, clustered round the soldier, were 
 listening, wide-eyed and breathless, to a series of briefly 
 
Stella's Iktnsman us 
 
 entrancing narratives ; and when at last dismissed by their 
 mother, they went off shouting lustily : 
 
 "You're Sir Tiger you're Sir Tiger; and Sir Humphrey 
 can just be himself ! " 
 
 The ice was now happily broken, and Edna's gentle sweet- 
 ness and ease of manner smoothed the way for a pleasant 
 sense of easily established friendship. She was glad to hear 
 about Stella's mother, whose memory the girl cherished very 
 tenderly. 
 
 " She is the dearest daughter-sister to me. I scarcely know 
 which to call it. I was a grown-up parlour-boarder at the 
 school Stella attended for a few years. We loved each other 
 from the first. But you know it is not every girl who would 
 have continued to give her love to the woman her father had 
 married. I was almost afraid myself what might be the end 
 of it. But Stella's sweetness and goodness have never changed 
 or wavered. She is the dearest of companions still, and is 
 like a second mother to the babies. I don't know what I 
 should do without her or her father either. How interested 
 she will be to hear about you ! I wonder whether she is at 
 home. She spends much of her time in a big room of her 
 own that was once a barn, and was fitted up by Gervase 
 for her. If you will let me, I will ring the bell and send. I 
 would like her to see you before you go." 
 
 " May I go and see her myself in this place ? " asked York, 
 who felt as though he would like to introduce himself to 
 Stella's daughter (as she was still to him) in his own way. " I 
 must not tire you too long, Mrs. Sinclair ; but I should like to 
 see Stella before I go." 
 
 Edna was not lacking in tact or sympathy. 
 
 " Ah, yes, perhaps that will be best. Go, by all means. If 
 you step out of that window, and follow the winding path there 
 round to the back of the house, you will see the big room 
 behind a great clump of laurels. There used to be a sort of 
 farmyard behind ; but it has been turned into shrubbery and 
 
TIbe micce of Estber 
 
 wilderness garden. If Stella is not there, she must be out; 
 but I believe she intended to make up the Sunday-schoo 
 registers for the month this morning. She often does that o 
 
 Mondays." 
 
 So York took his way as directed, and quickly saw that b 
 to be rewarded ; for almost as soon as he sighted the big 
 building, with its door standing wide open to the spn 
 sunshine, a girlish figure in soft grey garb presented itself 
 suddenly in the doorway, and a pair of questioning hazel 
 eyes were raised to his, with an expression which suddenly 
 caused one word to spring from his lips. 
 
 "Stella!" 
 
 A startled glance came into the soft eyes. And the sold* 
 advanced with a kindly smile. 
 
 "My dear," he said softly, "do you know how like you an 
 to your mother ? " 
 
 Her face kindled instantly. 
 
 -Did you know my mother?" she questioned breathlessly, 
 and then a gleam of recognition lighted her face; she helc 
 out her hands, exclaiming, " You are Uncle Don ! " 
 
 He took her hands and drew her up to him, stooping to 
 imprint a kiss upon her forehead. 
 
 " Did she teach you to call me that? " 
 
 "I think I taught myself," answered Stella, aglow with 
 eagerness and pleasure. " There was a photograph of a boy 
 a very young soldier in uniform. I used to like to look at 
 it. Mother called it Cousin Donald; but I used to call 
 
 Uncle Don." 
 
 That is the better name, little Stella. Let me go on being 
 Uncle Don. Your mother was the only sister I ever had. 
 I should like her daughter to call me uncle." 
 
 Then she led him into her big room, and made 
 comfortable in the easy wicker chair beside the open window, 
 where the banksia rose peeped in and the montana c 
 framed it in a tangle of starry whiteness. 
 
Stella's Kinsman 
 
 Tell me about mother, Uncle Don, for there are so few 
 here who knew her. She died so soon after we got here four 
 or five years when I was twelve. Nobody knew her when 
 she was little. Tell me everything you remember. There has 
 never been anybody to do that not even father." 
 
 So York lay back in his chair, with the child of his 
 boyhood's dreams at his feet, and talked to her awhile of 
 the mother she had lost. And long before the story ended 
 all sense of strangeness had melted between them, and when 
 Stella asked him of himself, the soldier answered her questions 
 more fully and freely than he was wont to; for the tie of 
 kinship had asserted itself, and to him it was very sweet. 
 
 " I wish you would come here and let me take care of you," 
 she said, lifting the hazel eyes, whose glance thrilled him 
 strangely, and laying her soft fingers upon his thin, brown 
 hands ; " I am a good nurse, and I understand sick people. 
 I should like to take care of you, Uncle Don. You look 
 dreadfully as though you wanted nursing up and being cared 
 
 for." 
 
 " I am quite past that stage, I am glad to say," answered 
 York, smiling. " I do not suppose I shall ever be much 
 sounder than I am now ; so you must make up your mind to 
 a battered specimen of an uncle not at all a show-figure to 
 be proud of. But I don't need any more looking after than 
 my faithful Tommy Atkins gives me; and for the present I am 
 to remain Sir Humphrey's guest. We understand each other's 
 ways by this time, and two old bachelors manage to shake 
 down very comfortably together. He has been more good to 
 me, Stella, than ever I can make you understand. But for 
 him, I don't think you'd ever have seen your Uncle Don in the 
 flesh. If he likes to have me share his quarters for a bit, I 
 should not wish to make different arrangements." 
 
 "No, of course not. I quite understand; but you know 
 there always would be a place here for you ; and I would see 
 that you were taken care of," 
 
us zrbe IFUece of Estfoer 
 
 " I am sure you would, my dear. But, by all I hear, you 
 have your hands full enough without any other burden added. 
 Now, tell me about yourself, Stella. I want to know all about 
 you and the world you live in and the things you do. Every- 
 thing has so changed since I lived in England. I want to get 
 into touch with my country again." 
 
 So Stella began, and poured into her quiet listener's ears 
 a detailed history of Cleethorpe parish, her numerous interests 
 there, her various enterprises, with their varying success or 
 failure; and almost before she knew it, she found herself 
 disburdening herself to this man, whom she had never seen 
 in her life before, of some of those worries and troubles 
 and doubts which hitherto she had kept locked away in 
 her own heart, and had scarcely cared to admit even to 
 herself. 
 
 York spoke little, but what he said was so absolutely to the 
 point that Stella soon experienced that gratifying feeling of 
 being entirely understood. He himself was a man who 
 had had occasion to originate and organise. Not for nothing 
 had he been adjutant of his regiment in his youth, and as 
 he rose in the service, D.A.Q.G., and acting quartermaster 
 also. He was able to enter into the details of Stella's 
 little parish clubs and charities, guilds and associations, with 
 an understanding which amazed her. He made her show him 
 all her books. He approved her methods in the main, but 
 gave her some practical hints which she received eagerly. She 
 thawed in his company out of her complacency, which was a 
 manner partly assumed as a sort of defensive armour against 
 possible adverse criticism. But York did not criticise ; he 
 examined and inquired and showed interest. He approached 
 the situation with an open mind, she felt. He did not make 
 light of her attempts, and she opened her heart to him with a 
 fulness that won his own. It was only when they had done 
 examining into all the business matters, and he was turning 
 pver the little guild membership books, with their lists of rules 
 
Stella's Kinsman 119 
 
 and undertakings, that he said, with a kindly and thoughtful 
 smile : 
 
 "I see you believe in a charge of small-shot rather than in 
 one good heavy bullet ! " 
 
 She looked at him in questioning perplexity. 
 He closed the little books and moved the small piles a 
 little away from him as he crossed his arms upon the table 
 and looked at her, still smiling. 
 
 " New times, new ways, I suppose, Stella ; but somehow I 
 have a feeling that the grand old baptismal vows which are 
 taken for us in our infancy, and which we ratify for ourselves 
 in our youth, are worth and more than cover and overlap 
 all these supplementary vows and resolutions which such little 
 books as these suggest." 
 
 "Oh, of course, Uncle Don, we do not mean to suggest 
 that we are improving upon our Prayer-book vows. Only, 
 you understand, that in the different guilds different parts of 
 these are brought prominently forward, and we try to keep 
 the members in mind first of one portion and then of 
 another." 
 
 " I know that is the idea, Stella. But for my part, I have 
 had a hard enough fight seeking to keep in mind the vows 
 once made for a lifetime. I do not want any new ones." 
 
 " But these are not new, Uncle Don. They are only put 
 in a new way. Of course, if all the people were trying hard 
 to keep their baptismal vows, then no more would be needed ; 
 but" 
 
 She paused, because he was smiling, and she did not quite 
 understand the nature of that smile. 
 
 " I was wondering, Stella, why, when you come across 
 people who are not making this fight, you do not expend 
 your time and energy on trying to make them understand that 
 they are pledged already, and that they are in danger of 
 becoming deserters from the ranks, rather than in going to 
 them and trying to get them to undertake some little fragment 
 
120 Ube IFtfece ot Estbet 
 
 of the whole, which may perhaps tend to make them satisfied 
 that the rest may be left comfortably alone. 1 ' 
 
 " Oh, Uncle Don, I don't think it does that. I wish you 
 could talk with Mabel Brent, of Cleeport. They are doing 
 such splendid work there amongst that difficult, shifting, half 
 sea-faring population. I get most of my ideas from her. 
 You see, our boys and girls so often go on from here to 
 Cleeport, either to service or to the shops, the boys, some of 
 them to sea. That is why I want our organisations to be in 
 connection, that they can be handed on when they leave us. 
 I know we have rather a large number of irons in the fire, as 
 people call it, for one village ; but that is the reason, and 
 really, I am hoping very much that it does good." 
 
 She spoke so appealingly, so almost humbly, that York's heart 
 was touched. He held out his hand, and drew her towards him. 
 
 " My dear child, you must not run away with the idea that 
 I am sitting in judgment upon your methods. Nobody could 
 be more thoroughly ignorant upon such matters than I. I am 
 only trying to look at things from the larger outlook, to apply 
 such experience as I have gleaned from my rough-and-tumble 
 army life to your very different battlefield. It seems to me 
 that you are in danger of clogging your machinery with too 
 much detail. It may be that you are in danger of seeming to 
 put, in some cases, the lesser before the greater. Do you 
 understand me when I say that when first principles are 
 grasped, details fall into order of their own accord ; but that, 
 when you begin with the details without having mastered first 
 principles, the result is often confusion worse confounded? 
 And almost always the originators of this confusion are the 
 least aware of it themselves." 
 
 Stella was not quite sure that she did understand what the 
 soldier meant. Had anybody else propounded this theory, she 
 would simply have said : " Oh, of course," and dismissed it 
 from her mind. But she did not say that to Colonel York, 
 who was slowly rising to his feet. 
 
Stella's Ifctnsman 121 
 
 " I should like to talk to you about a lot of things some 
 other day, Uncle Don," she said ; and with his hands upon 
 her shoulders, and his eyes searching earnestly into hers, he 
 answered : 
 
 " As many as ever you like, my little Stella." 
 
 Before he had got far from the house he was set upon by 
 the small fry with eager shouts : 
 
 " Sir Tiger ! Sir Tiger ! Oh, do please stop ! Billy Blake 
 says he's seen a bogey in your garden ! It's got its head all 
 tied up in white, and its eyes roll round and round, first white 
 and then black ! Oh, Sir Tiger, won't you go and hunt it, like 
 you hunted the tiger out of the jungle? " 
 
 The children were panting with excitement, and a sheepish- 
 looking lad with a pitchfork in his hand stood by, seeking to 
 stem the tide of revelation. 
 
 York despatched the children to their home, from the gate 
 of which they had evidently run out, and then, turning to the 
 boy, he said, with a touch of soldier sternness : 
 
 " Now, my boy, it's not a manly thing on your part to try 
 and frighten little children with silly stories of ghosts and 
 bogeys." 
 
 " But, please sir, I did see it ! " asserted Billy ; though, 
 when pressed as to what he had seen, he grew confused, but 
 all the time declared that whatever it was, it had white all 
 round its head, and rolling, terrible eyes. The boy had passed 
 by the boundary fence of Nun's Bower late the evening before, 
 and had seen this phantom-like form gliding amongst the 
 brushwood. 
 
 "Well, say no more about it, and I'll look into it myself," 
 said York briefly ; " and above all, never scare women or 
 children with tales like this, whether you believe them yourself 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 KINDRED SPIRITS 
 
 A WEEK later and Archie Vanborough, having had his " little 
 fling" in town, and having replenished his wardrobe up-to- 
 date in a satisfactory manner, appeared at his kinsman's house 
 as arranged, and made his first encounter with Diana upon the 
 following morning. 
 
 Archie had taken rod and line immediately after breakfast, 
 and was leisurely whipping the stream. This stream soon left 
 the precincts of Nun's Bower, and entered those of Convent 
 House, finally landing him at the head of the chain of fish- 
 ponds, where, in spite of the brilliance of the sunshine, the 
 trout were biting well, and Archie had just succeeded in 
 landing a beauty, when a clear laugh caused him to look up, 
 and instantly doff his straw hat. 
 
 He was pleasant to look upon, this clean-limbed, fair-haired, 
 bronze-faced lad, becomingly arrayed in white flannels, active 
 in his movements, skilful at his craft, instinct with health, and 
 energy, and purpose. He found himself confronted by a very 
 radiant and dazzling creature all white and gold who was 
 luxuriously reclining in a cushioned punt beneath the shadow 
 of a group of weeping-willows, which had hidden her from his 
 sight heretofore. 
 
 But the girl had evidently been watching him, and her laugh 
 was her tribute to his final triumph. He did not need to be 
 told who she was. He had heard already of Esther Lynne's 
 piece. She, it seemed, had heard of him also ; for when he 
 
Spirits 123 
 
 began a smiling apology for " trespassing," she cut him short 
 with a light laugh. 
 
 " Of course you would be trespassing if you were anybody 
 else ; but in this part of the world anything is permitted to a 
 Vanborough ! " 
 
 " What a happy place in which to live ! " cried Archie. 
 "And you, also, have you not taken it by conquest?" 
 
 " Oh, shocking ! " cried Diana, with another silvery laugh ; 
 " don't you know that puns are quite out of date ? Paradox 
 and epigram as much as you like ; but the homely, domestic 
 pun has to take quite a back seat in these days. But perhaps 
 you belong to the old world of which Cleethorpe is a survival ! 
 I'm quite growing peacefully fossilised here myself! Say, 
 shall you and I put our heads together, and just wake them 
 up a bit ? " 
 
 "With all my heart !" answered Archie, laughing. "Only 
 tell me what to do, and I am your most humble servant your 
 latest conquest ! " 
 
 " Come, come, Archie Vanborough, the keen edge of a joke 
 wears off by repetition. But if you are so very anxious for an 
 enslaved position, come into the punt, and we'll have a chat. 
 It's getting too hot to fish or too bright. But if you like to 
 punt down stream through the ponds into the Clee, and then 
 after half-a-mile push up a little branch stream to Bishop's 
 Hall, we might find Sally there, and take her into our counsels. 
 Sally suffers from a plethora of pent-up energy, which renders 
 her at times a slightly explosive creature. You know her 
 brother, don't you Rudolf Hastings ? " 
 
 Diana had the easy trans-Atlantic fashion of treating the 
 other sex, and of speaking of them. She had had many more 
 boy than girl friends, as it happened, in her childhood, and 
 since she had developed into her early womanhood, admiration 
 and adulation had come to her in an unstinted fashion, which 
 she now regarded as one of her natural rights, and accepted as 
 the most ordinary condition of life, 
 
124 ZTbe IFtfece of Bstber Xgnne 
 
 Archie desired no second invitation. After the heats of 
 India and the Red Sea, the breezy brilliance of this English 
 June morning was exhilarating rather than enervating. He 
 stepped lightly into the punt, depositing his shining treasure- 
 trove in the well. 
 
 "It's Miss Lynne's trout, you know. If I may, I'll come 
 back with you, and present my compliments and my fish 
 together. I hope she won't regard it in the light of a fishy 
 compliment ! " 
 
 "You incorrigible boy ! " was all that Diana answered. 
 
 " I don't know what's the matter with me to-day," confessed 
 Archie ingenuously, "I feel so beastly happy; it makes me 
 talk rot ! Do you know the feeling, Miss Conquest ? Or do 
 you only inspire it ? " 
 
 Diana laughed gaily. She was not in the least embarrassed 
 by this outspoken admiration. She leaned back amongst her 
 cushions, and watched the active movements of the young 
 man, as he sent the light punt sv\irling along. Evidently he 
 was no novice to the art, and they soon shot through the chain 
 of ponds, and came out into the main stream, just as it passed 
 beneath one of the many little bridges which spanned its 
 course through the place. 
 
 "That's one footpath to the Hall," said Diana, indicating 
 the narrow track across a great sweep of meadow-land ; " but 
 it's much farther to walk, and I'm not in the humour for 
 exerting myself to-day. Down below the big bridge we come 
 to another branch stream, and if we take that, we shall get into 
 the gardens of Bishop's Hall, and very likely Sally will be 
 somewhere about playing golf or croquet, or some of her 
 innumerable games. It's rather hard lines for her, having to 
 play alone so much. Geraldine is delicate, and doesn't care 
 for games. She's clever at music ; we have rather good times 
 together. She can play accompaniments, and that's what so 
 few musical people can do well. She sings, too, but has 
 rather a tiny little pipe ; still, it's always in tune, Sally sings 
 
IKinfcrefc Spirits 125 
 
 like a bull of Bashan ; but it's great fun to hear her ! I like 
 it best when the old Squire joins the family concert. Do you 
 know Rudolfs father? I'm awfully in love with him. He's 
 the dearest old boy one of the real old-fashioned kind, who 
 want the world to stand still all the time, and for everything to 
 be as it was when he was a boy, or earlier. He can't make it 
 out the way things are spinning along. I could listen to him 
 all day, when he gets on to that hobby-horse of his. It's just 
 killing ! " 
 
 11 Regular old Tory ; I know the sort. I've got a bit of that 
 blood in me myself. I know it's no good trying to fight 
 against the spirit of the age ; but I confess some of its 
 developments make me feel a bit sick ! " 
 
 " I know what you mean," answered Diana quickly. 
 "Somehow, an old country like this trying to be modern 
 and go-ahead rather comes a cropper ; much after the fashion 
 of an ancient female playing hockey or riding a bicycle. You 
 see 'em at it sometimes, and the spectacle isn't specially 
 edifying. It's prettier when they grow old gracefully, like 
 Esther, my aunt, you know. She's just sweet ! And the old- 
 fashioned ways we hear people talk about sound awfully sweet, 
 too ; but I'm afraid it's no good people trying to cling to them 
 still. They'd better make up their minds to let them go, and 
 to help along the new ideas, and give them the grace they so 
 badly need. If all the best sort stand aloof, swearing at 
 progress because it upsets their old-world notions and ideals 
 well, then, they mustn't wonder if they see only the uglier 
 side of it. You see, I am modern myself. New ways and 
 new ideas suit me best. I think it's time this blessed little 
 Sleepy Hollow got woke up ! What do you say to lending a 
 hand ? " 
 
 " You have only to command me. Your will is law. How 
 are you off for young life in this part ? " 
 
 " Fairly well in the district round. In Cleethorpe itself 
 there are not many families ; but there are houses all round, 
 
i26 tTbe Ifttece of JEstber Xgnne 
 
 and Sally has quite a lot of friends almost as fond of games as 
 she is. The worst of the thing is that so many things are 
 stale. People are going cracked over this new croquet, which 
 I thought rather slow at first, but I confess I'm getting into it, 
 and there are several other good games ; but people have 
 their clubs and regular tournaments. There's no novelty 
 in that. I want to think of something more original and 
 amusing. Two brilliant people like you and me ought to 
 have some ideas between us ! " 
 
 He bowed over his punt pole, and suddenly exclaimed : 
 
 " Well, there seems a lot of water about here one way or 
 the other. Why should we not get down boats or canoes, 
 and institute aquatic sports ? What about a swimming club, 
 for instance ? You know, the modern fashion is to have very 
 fine water costumes, and for us to join the ladies in the water 
 and help them. But if things here are not advanced enough 
 for that, the girls might surely have their own club and their 
 own matches. In foreign lakes I've seen girls swimming most 
 beautifully, and anybody might watch them. When girls do 
 these things gracefully, they beat us into a cocked hat, you 
 know. I'm sure you can swim, Miss Conquest? " 
 
 Diana's eyes were bright. Archie had hit upon the very 
 sort of sport where she knew she could not only hold her 
 own, but in all probability excel every rival. She only 
 wondered the idea had not occurred to herself. 
 
 " Of course I can swim," she answered j " when I was a 
 child my father taught me all sorts of things like that. We 
 lived in Virginia dear ole Virginie ! I always feel I should 
 like to end my days there. There was a big lake, and we had 
 a bathing-hut, and father and I used to spend hours in the 
 water in hot weather. We had canoes, too, and when it was 
 cooler we used to shoot about like fireflies ! He taught me 
 all the Indian dodges with the paddle. He and the old 
 negroes used to vie with one another to teach me how to do 
 everything, just as though I had been a boy. I can shoot 
 
ffcinfcrefc Spirits 127 
 
 and I can ride, and I can drive anything you like to put me 
 behind ! You are a genius, Mr. Vanborough a real genius ! 
 You have hit the right nail on the head, and no mistake ! " 
 
 "You called me Archie Vanborough last time," spoke the 
 young man, with a beaming face, and an accent of reproach 
 in his voice ; " I thought it sounded so much nicer and more 
 friendly." 
 
 " Did I ? I really didn't know it. You see, that is what 
 Sir Humphrey and Colonel York always call you " 
 
 " Yes ; so does everybody who likes me," answered Archie, 
 with a deprecating look which made Diana laugh. 
 
 "Very well, Archie Vanborough let it be," she answered 
 gaily; "for if you are to be permanently brilliant in your 
 ideas, I shall like you immensely myself." 
 
 By this time they had reached the fork of the river at Glee 
 Mill, where it was joined by another stream from the south 
 bank, and widened out into something approaching a river. 
 Passing beneath the bridge, they quickly arrived at the junction 
 of the little narrow rivulet which ran through Squire Hasting's 
 property, and joined the Clee at this point. Archie obediently 
 turned the punt into this small water-way, and before they had 
 proceeded far they heard themselves hailed by a loud voice, 
 and the young man was aware of the headlong advance of a 
 rather ungainly girl, in a short dress of blue linen, who 
 was brandishing a croquet mallet over her head, and 
 galloping towards them with something of the action of a 
 camelopard. 
 
 " Here is Sally," cried Diana, her eyes dancing with amuse- 
 ment ; for Sally never ceased to amuse, and seldom irritated 
 her, as she did so many others. " Come, Sally, and let me 
 introduce Mr. I mean Archie Vanborough to you. He 
 likes to be called Archie Vanborough. He thinks it sounds 
 prettier, and matches himself. You have heard of him from 
 your brother, no doubt ! " 
 
 " Oh, rather," answered Sally, tendering a red and gloveless 
 
128 trbe IFUece of Esther 
 
 paw, and then taking a flying leap into the punt, and embracing 
 Diana with effusion. "You fagged for him at school. He 
 said you were Al at making toast, and that that was your 
 only talent." 
 
 "But it isn't," cried Diana, whilst Archie roared; "he's 
 got a dash of real genius hidden away somewhere. No, you 
 needn't stare at him like that. You wouldn't believe it to look 
 at him, I know ; but I've unearthed the treasure, and mean to 
 keep it as my own discovery." 
 
 "You take care that I shall not be puffed up by your 
 favour," remarked Archie, as he took up his pole again. " And 
 now, whither is it your royal pleasure that I should take you ? 
 Up stream, or down ? " 
 
 " Oh, let's lie a little in the shade, and talk things over," 
 answered Diana ; and this rivulet being well shaded by alders 
 and birches and willow scrub, it was easy to find a place 
 where they could find luxurious shadow, and sit at ease 
 to talk out Archie's scheme of waking up the energies of 
 Cleethorpe and its environs by a succession of aquatic sports. 
 
 " We must have a fleet of canoes ! " cried Diana, in her 
 imperious way ; " boats, perhaps, we can hire from Cleeport, 
 only I am afraid they will be sea-tubs chiefly ; though perhaps 
 we might find some of lighter build. But canoes are the real 
 thing Canadian canoes for preference. I wonder where we 
 could get enough. I don't mind buying a couple straight 
 out for Convent House. I should love to go shooting about, 
 and I'll teach Esther, too. She's light and quick of eye, and 
 fond of the water." 
 
 " I'll get daddy to buy one or two, and Rudolf shall, too. 
 He's quite rich now, so he must be made to stump up ! " 
 
 " I'll start the club, and present half a-dozen canoes ! " cried 
 Archie, who, having more money than he knew what to do 
 with, and no unhealthy tastes, such as run away with the largest 
 fortunes, could afford to stand godfather to any scheme of 
 his own proposing. 
 
Ikiufcrefc Spirits 129 
 
 " You're a trump ! " cried Sally ecstatically, smiting him over 
 the back with the weapon she happened to have with her. 
 " I've always longed to canoe, but somehow, it's never come 
 my way. We've got boats ; but they are all rather tubby. I 
 think mother was afraid to have anything light when we were 
 kids ; and in this old fossil of a place, what one has once, one 
 goes on having. I believe dad would rather have a model ark 
 than any other kind of craft, if he could only be sure of the 
 right pattern ! " 
 
 The idea of a girls' swimming club was also eagerly caught 
 up by Sally. She had learned to swim in her childhood, but 
 had few opportunities of practising, since she was not allowed 
 to make any use of the pool near the house, where the 
 gardeners might see her; and though there were baths at 
 Cleeport, and she sometimes ran over on her bicycle, they 
 were not good enough to be attractive, and the beach bathing 
 she despised as being too slow altogether. 
 
 "I don't know what they'll say about it. Mother has 
 awfully stodgy ideas ! " she cried, with the frankness of her 
 nature. " I really don't think dad would mind so much 
 he likes girls to be able to do things j but mother thinks such 
 a lot of what she calls the proprieties," and Sally's face was a 
 study. 
 
 Archie was choking with mirth. Sally, as the product 
 of a high Tory father and a "stodgy mother," bent on the 
 proprieties, was certainly rather an astonishing specimen. 
 Diana caught the meaning of his mirth, and her eyes were 
 full of laughter. Sally looked from one to the other f 
 accustomed to excite a mirth not wholly intelligible to 
 herself, but never resenting it when she felt it to be kindly 
 in its character. 
 
 "We must make Stella join!" cried 'Diana; "she wants 
 shaking up. We won't let her say she has no time. Parish 
 business always slacks off a little in the summer, Esther says, 
 when the night-schools and guilds and all that sort of 
 
 i 
 
130 be IFUece of Estber x$nne 
 
 mysterious work shuts down for a spell. I guess folks find 
 that they can employ themselves better out of doors. How 
 many love-making guilds do you reckon to have in this village, 
 Sally?" 
 
 Diana felt quite kindly disposed towards Stella, whose 
 feelings she knew she had hurt on more than one occasion. 
 It seemed to her ridiculous that the girl should take everything 
 so seriously, and make mole-hills into mountains, as she was 
 prone to do. But all the same, Diana, when she took an idea 
 into her head, was not going to be hindered by any scruple as 
 to whose feelings might be hurt. The singing of the village 
 choir she had found excruciating, and she was teaching the 
 boys improved methods, and winning their hearts by her 
 merry ways, her grace, and beauty, and daring talk. She 
 knew Stella did not like it ; but that was a matter of minor 
 consequence, if the result were satisfactory. She knew that she 
 meant to make Rudolf Hastings another of her slaves, so soon 
 as he should return home at the rising of the House. It was 
 thought he might possibly be free even before that. She did 
 not know exactly what his relations with Stella were, but she 
 did not intend to take a second place. It was not that she 
 had any present intention of marrying the Squire's son, any 
 more than she thought of marrying the bright-faced boy in 
 the punt, or the white-headed Sir Humphrey Vanborough, 
 or any of those youths in London last year, who had flitted 
 round the brilliance of her presence. She had truly said to 
 her indignant accusers that she did not look upon every " boy " 
 she met in the light of a possible husband. Nevertheless, had 
 she faced the fact, she might have learned that she did regard 
 each one in the light of a fresh " conquest," as Archie had 
 chosen to put it. She was not unfamiliar with the pun upon 
 her name, nor did its aptness in any way displease her. She 
 liked to feel that her motto was " Vent, vidi t vici" ; and so 
 far it had never been otherwise. And if, after her hour of 
 triumph, there had come a gathering cloud, she had simply 
 
Ikinfcrefc Spirits 131 
 
 turned her back upon the threatening tempest, and had sought 
 smiling skies and pastures new elsewhere. 
 
 At Cleethorpe she was conscious of feeling extremely happy. 
 She decided she was being very good. She had brought sunshine 
 into Esther's life. She was going to be quite a little special 
 Providence to poor Sally, giving her friendship and companion- 
 ship, and perhaps, at last, helping her to cast that ungainly 
 chrysalis crust which had enveloped her so long. She meant 
 also to do something towards brightening and widening Stella's 
 outlook upon life. She had not quite decided yet what form 
 this idea should take ; but when, a few minutes after gliding 
 into the main stream on the homeward journey, they saw 
 Stella and York walking slowly along the footpath in the 
 direction of Convent House, a new notion suddenly flashed 
 into Diana's active brain. 
 
 Why shouldn't Stella and poor Colonel York make each 
 other happy? That game of uncle and niece was only a 
 pretty fiction between them. He was a kinsman, but not a 
 near one. He needed somebody to look after him, and 
 Stella had a genius for devotion. And Diana could spare 
 him from her train ! Was she conscious how strongly 
 that argument weighed with her? A man with a haggard, 
 pain-worn face, a halting gait and a shattered constitution, was 
 not the kind of admirer she cared about. She was sorry for 
 him. She admired his quiet courage, and appreciated his 
 services and devotion to his country ; but she had no particular 
 use for him, and he and Stella seemed so well suited. No 
 doubt he would get stronger, and probably he had comfortable 
 means; he would get some light work which would be 
 sufficient for the modest needs of simple, unassuming people. 
 In a few seconds Diana had mapped it all out clearly in her 
 brain, and was quite prepared to cultivate Stella as she had not 
 done before. 
 
 " Hi ! stop there ! " cried Sally, springing up at sight of 
 the pair. "Look here, Colonel York, let Archie I mean 
 
132 Ube IRfece of Estber Xgnne 
 
 Mr. no, I mean Archie Vanborough punt you home, and 
 we'll walk with Stella ! We've ten thousand things to say to 
 her, and you looked jacked up! Come on, Di, it's pretty 
 heavy work punting up the Clee. We'll walk with Stella, and 
 let Colonel York have the punt." 
 
 So the three girls walked together along the path, Archie 
 keeping his eyes in that direction, and admiring the graceful, 
 free movements of the tall girl between her two companions. 
 By contrast Sally looked almost grotesque, and Stella's pensive 
 prettiness suffered a certain eclipse. All the same, Archie 
 could see that she was a pretty little thing, and he decided 
 that life at Nun's Bower would not lack interest and amuse- 
 ment. He had been roving the world for above a year. The 
 idea of a settled life for a spell was not without attractions. 
 
 Esther Lynne and Sir Humphrey were together in the 
 garden of Convent House when the punt and the pedestrians 
 entered it together. The three girlish faces were very bright, 
 and as Archie sprang ashore at the landing-stage and assisted 
 York out, he looked as merry as the merry, merry summer- 
 tide itself. 
 
 The girls were pouring their broadsides of information and 
 aspiration into the ears of their elders. Diana had hold of Sir 
 Humphrey's arm, Sally was prancing up and down before 
 Esther, her voice rising almost to a shout, Stella, much quieter, 
 was yet quite disposed to be roused and interested. Boating 
 was attractive. The net-work of little streams suggested 
 numerous possibilities. Possibly, she thought, some new 
 industry or innocent recreation for the village boys often her 
 chiefest anxiety might be the outcome of these proposed and 
 nebulous schemes. 
 
 Diana's voice suddenly made itself heard above all the 
 others. 
 
 " Let's have an impromptu picnic out here, just our party 
 as we stand. I'll back Esther's larder to stand the strain ! 
 No ; don't let anybody else bother. I'll just shoot off to the 
 
1fcin&ret> Spirits 13$ 
 
 house, and see what I can conjure up. And we'll all drink 
 the health of the new aquatic club, and send the hat round at 
 the close for subscriptions ! " 
 
 With a roguish laugh into Sir Humphrey's face, she sped 
 upon her errand ; and all falling in with her views, the little 
 alfresco meal was quickly arranged. Plans and projects were 
 discussed. Ways and means were considered, and Archie was 
 declared to be simply bristling with ideas, some reckless, some 
 impracticable, but others distinctly alluring. 
 
 " He is quite a treasure that boy of yours ! " cried Diana 
 to Sir Humphrey, as the merry meal wore to its conclusion. 
 " You'd never think to look at him how replete with ideas he 
 could be ! I expect he'll end by drowning himself, or the 
 whole show of us as well, perhaps. But what's the odds so 
 long as you're happy ! " 
 
 As the three bachelors somewhat later in the day retraced 
 their steps to Nun's Bower, Sir Humphrey looked smilingly at 
 the bright-faced lad at his side, and said : 
 
 "Well, Archie, you seem to have found kindred spirits, 
 anyway ! " 
 
 And Archie's answer was spoken with the utmost fervour : 
 " Rather ! I say, that girl is just a stunner ! " 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 DEVELOPMENTS 
 
 ESTHER LYNNE was in those days a very happy woman. The 
 coming of her sister's child had been a source of deep and 
 lasting joy to her. After a very brief season of doubt as to 
 whether the brilliant young thing would be happy in so quiet 
 a life, she had reached the conclusion that she need have no 
 fears on that score. Diana appeared to be one of those 
 happily-constituted persons who make their own sunshine. 
 She seemed not to know the meaning of the word depression. 
 She was never dull and never bored. She was warmly 
 affectionate towards Esther herself, and had won the 
 goodwill of the whole community. Her daring speeches 
 and her vagaries were a constant source of entertainment to 
 Cleethorpe, and it was hard to believe that the girl had been 
 hardly more than three months in the place, her influence 
 there was so strong. In her exuberant vitality Esther seemed 
 to renew her own youth that youth which for her had been so 
 swiftly shadowed, and had taken to itself wings all too soon. 
 
 Added to this was another happiness in the return of her 
 old-time friend and comrade, Humphrey Vanborough. And 
 Esther herself scarcely knew to which of these two causes to 
 attribute the sense of immense content and well-being which 
 at this time seemed her portion in life. Nor was she one 
 prone to over-much introspection. Hers was one of those 
 finely-balanced and happily-constituted natures, growing more 
 and more rare as the world whirls rapidly along in its headlong 
 fashion, not over-much concerned with itself, not strung to the 
 
Developments 135 
 
 tension of modern requirements, to meet the demands of an 
 artificial activity, whether for self-devotion, self-culture, or an 
 unconscious thirst for amusement or novelty. The nervous 
 strain which is the inevitable sequitur of these conditions, and 
 which asserts itself sooner or later, was spared her. The 
 childlike heart and spirit were hers still. As in the past she 
 had accepted without murmur, or self-pity, or any sense of 
 injury, a life which to her world had seemed full of trial and 
 wearisome care, now she welcomed her happiness without 
 questioning too closely of what it consisted. She accepted 
 the joy, as she had accepted the sorrow, as the portion assigned 
 to her by an all-wise and an all- loving Father, and as His gift 
 she rejoiced in it, and took it gladly to her heart. 
 
 " You are growing younger and prettier every day, Esther," 
 Diana would sometimes say laughingly to her; and Esther, 
 looking into the bright, young face, would answer : " Then you 
 must be making me so, Di." 
 
 Diana herself thought there might probably be another 
 cause ; but she held her peace. Even now, after the flight of 
 a week or two, she could not venture upon " chaffing " Esther 
 about Sir Humphrey. That extreme gentleness and sweetness 
 which had won the girl's rather wayward heart, and made her 
 aunt dearer to her than she had once believed that any person 
 would be again, held within its compass an element of dignity 
 and delicate reticence which had more than once stopped 
 Diana's tongue upon the verge of a playful impertinence. 
 And yet Esther had never rebuked her, or appeared to know 
 that she was exercising wholesome restraint. 
 
 "How does she do it?" Di had often asked of herself. 
 She had sometimes been present when Esther had interviewed 
 an offending servant, or recalcitrant village lad, or some angry 
 woman, hot with a real or supposed injury, who had come 
 tearing up to Convent House for help or redress. And again 
 and again had the girl marvelled at the quiet tact, the fearless 
 candour, and the gentle dignity which invariably brought the 
 
136 Ube Iftiece of Estbet xgnne 
 
 offender to a proper attitude of mind. No anger, or excite- 
 ment, or ruffled composure ever betrayed itself; but an 
 inflexible firmness, together with an insight and sympathy that 
 set Diana wondering where it had been obtained. 
 
 " In the school of life, my dear," Esther once answered, 
 smiling, when the girl put a frank question. "Experience is the 
 best master, as a wise man said ; but his lessons are very dear. 
 When we are young we think we can dispense with them, and 
 rule ourselves and others by the light of reflected wisdom, or 
 our own intuitions. We learn differently as we go on in life ; 
 but yet it is good to be young, and to feel that the world lies at 
 our feet. Only we must not be led away by our own sense of 
 strength and power ; we must be willing to learn the lessons 
 life has to teach us." 
 
 Diana's eyes kindled at those words. Were they meant as 
 a hint or a warning to her ? She sprang up, and kissed Esther 
 in her sudden and vehement fashion, though outward demon- 
 strations were not very frequent with her. Yet in her heart she 
 felt that she was strong enough to rule her own life, and that 
 of others also, without over-much guidance. But she did not 
 put the thoughts into words, lest Esther should read between 
 the lines. 
 
 Diana had looked forward on Sir Humphrey's return to 
 watching the immediate consummation of an elderly romance. 
 She was certain that her aunt and he had been lovers once 
 whether openly declared or not. The whole place had 
 expected them to make a match of it ; even the old cottage 
 women had said as much. Her mother's sudden and 
 unexpected marriage had been the means of hindering that con- 
 summation long since. But to her youthful imagination there 
 appeared no reason of any sort why, if they still cared for one 
 another, they should not immediately take up the threads of 
 the old courtship, and fulfil the expectations which had once 
 been formed respecting them. There was nothing in the 
 world to hinder them now ; and people as old and far older 
 
Developments 137 
 
 married every day of the year. Her young impatience saw 
 no reason why there should be any delay at all. She had 
 expected the matter to be settled within the first week, and 
 when day after day passed by, and she saw no sign of anything 
 but the renewal of a very cordial and pleasant friendship, she 
 began to question and to wonder. 
 
 The intercourse between Convent House and Nun's Bower 
 was almost constant. The gate between the two properties 
 remained permanently unlocked. Sir Humphrey and his 
 friends came to and fro almost at will, and scarcely an 
 evening passed without bringing one or more of them to 
 listen to Diana's music, to take a hand at whist, or to sit 
 within the shelter of the cloistered garden, whilst the night- 
 ingales or warblers beside the stream and pools made sweet 
 accompaniment for their talk ; and they would rise sometimes 
 and wander away through the dim paths and alleys of the 
 garden, under conditions so suggestive and so appropriate that 
 Diana would sometimes say half impatiently to herself: 
 
 " Well, if it does not come off to-night, I shall not believe 
 in it at all ! " 
 
 Gradually there was stealing over Diana a feeling of keen 
 interest and admiration where Sir Humphrey Vanborough was 
 concerned. From the first he had attracted her. A man who 
 had done good work, and who had achieved something in the 
 eyes of the world had always appealed to her, Power was 
 her fetish, whether she knew it or not. She loved to feel her 
 own power; she loved to exert it over others. It gave her 
 a thrill of exceeding delight to feel it being exercised over 
 her, and doubly so when she was conscious of a reflex current, 
 whereby she, in her turn, made her own power felt over the 
 very individual whose influence she was aware of succumbing 
 to. So it was between her and Sir Humphrey. He 
 fascinated her imagination; he even swayed her opinions, 
 and inspired her with the desire to stand well in his sight. 
 And she was perfectly aware that she in some measure 
 
138 ttbe mtece of j0tber 
 
 captivated him. His kind eyes lighted at sight of her. When 
 she sat down to sing to him, his glance rested upon her with a 
 satisfaction and pleasure of which she was delightfully conscious, 
 and which quickened her pulses and gave an added depth and 
 expression to her rich tones. Although nominally it was she 
 and Archie who were the comrades and friends, and it was 
 with him she more often than not paired herself, when they 
 strolled forth into the softened glories of the June nights, yet 
 she was ever more and more aware of the growing bond between 
 her and the older man, and already was beginning to delight 
 in making tiny trials of her power over him. 
 
 "Who does he come to see?" she asked of herself one 
 night, as she lingered in the garden after their guests had gone, 
 loath to leave the scents and the beauties and the glamour of 
 the summer night. "What is the magnet that draws him here ? 
 Of course, he has been used to easy intercourse all his life ; 
 but is that all ? And if not, what is the attraction ? " 
 
 Diana felt all her pulses tingling somewhat. She and 
 Sir Humphrey had been walking together awhile up and 
 down the yew avenue, whilst Esther and York had finished a 
 game of backgammon together. Archie had been splashing 
 about in a Canadian canoe, which had arrived that very day, 
 and of whose safe balance he was not entirely assured. They 
 had talked of many things together, he and she. Often he 
 told her little anecdotes about her mother, and she told him 
 of her early life, and the varied experiences through which she 
 had passed. He always listened as a man does who is 
 interested in what is told him. When she had spoken a few 
 words of her father's sudden death a matter to which she 
 seldom alluded he had just laid his hand softly for a moment 
 upon the one resting lightly on his arm, and she had felt 
 herself thrill at the touch. 
 
 Now, standing and looking out over the beautiful dew- 
 drenched world with the silver and sable cloak of night 
 enshrouding it, Diana was conscious even yet of that curious 
 
2>ev>etopmettt$ 139 
 
 little heart-throb, and turning her gaze towards the lighted 
 windows of the quaint old house she had left, she found herself 
 asking a series of questions which had certainly never suggested 
 themselves to her before. 
 
 " After all, is she not happier as she is ? Would it not be a 
 mistake to change too entirely the tranquil course of such a 
 life ? Would it really be for her happiness ? I am not at all 
 sure. Esther is just sweet as she is quite perfect I wouldn't 
 have one single thing different about her. But would it suit 
 her to be married? Would people at all laugh at her? at 
 them ? Not at him ! There is never anything the least absurd 
 in a man marrying somewhat late in life. He is still in his 
 prime splendid, I call him ! But Esther ? how would it be 
 with her ? She is a perfect darling as she is, and quite, quite 
 happy and content. I'm not at all sure that she wants 
 anything different, or would be happier for it. Things can 
 never be as they once were. You may try to tie up the 
 threads, but they won't always join right. They are perfectly 
 happy in their friendship. It is a beautiful thing to see. I'm 
 not sure that I want it changed for anything else, and I'm not 
 a bit sure that it would be for their happiness, or that either of 
 them want it really. If they do, why does it still hang fire ? 
 And if not well, I begin to think that they have judged 
 rightly for themselves." 
 
 Diana, having reached this conclusion, suddenly became 
 aware of a curious illumination of spirit. She did not 
 trouble to examine into it. In fact, she was not altogether 
 unacquainted with the sensation. She had known moments 
 before of a similar kind. The experience was always exilara- 
 ting and delightful, though latterly it had been rare. She sped 
 towards the house with a wonderful grace and swiftness, 
 and the light in her eyes was so vivid and intense when she 
 entered the room that Esther looked at her with a tender, 
 questioning smile. 
 
 " It is such a glorious night. Archie has been trying the 
 
140 ftbe IFUece ot Estber 
 
 canoe for me. I think it's all right ; but he is not quite 
 satisfied. He'll be round to-morrow early for another experi- 
 ment. We are going to have a perfectly lovely summer 
 I am quite, quite sure of that. Esther, you darling duck ! 
 Tell me, are you getting the leastest wee bit tired of me? 
 Do you think I had better make tracks before I've had time 
 to do any mischief here ? I'll go in a moment if you think I 
 ought if you are tired of me if I am in the way " 
 
 " My dearest child, what are you talking about ? Are you 
 getting tired of the monotony of Convent House ? I was just 
 hoping we were going to be lively enough to give you some 
 real pleasure and enjoyment at last." 
 
 Diana suddenly flung herself down at Esther's feet a 
 graceful heap of filmy white drapery. Her fashion of treating 
 her beautiful clothes still somewhat exercised her aunt, 
 although she had ceased to remonstrate. 
 
 "Tired of Convent House! No, Esther, I'm not such an 
 ungrateful idiot as that. I'm happier here than I once 
 thought I ever could be again. I just love it I love you I 
 love everything. I am happy all the time. Everything is just 
 sweet. But after all, it's your house I've no real right here 
 no claim upon you " 
 
 Esther stopped her with a kiss. 
 
 "My dearest child, what has come to you? Who could 
 have so near or dear or close a claim ? You are my very own 
 flesh and blood. You are the dearest thing in the world to 
 me. This is your home as much as it is mine, as long as you 
 care to make it so ! " 
 
 Diana rose to her knees, and flung her arms about Esther 
 in an almost passionate paroxysm of affection, which Esther 
 was somewhat perplexed to account for. 
 
 " Oh, I hope you will never, never, never regret the day you 
 took me in ! " cried the girl, with sudden intensity. 
 
 Early next morning Archie Vanborough was at the ponds of 
 Convent House making experiment with the canoe, and half 
 
^Developments T 4 r 
 
 hoping that his energy and early rising might be rewarded 
 with a sight of Diana, to whom he had given a hint as to his 
 intentions. She, however, did not appear, and presently, 
 having satisfied himself that the canoe was all safe and as 
 little tippy as such craft can be, he tied it up in the boathouse 
 again, and strolled back towards Nun's Bower, not making 
 straight for the house, but taking a thick shrubbery path 
 towards a little deep pool, which Sir Humphrey used as a 
 bathing place, and where he went almost daily on rising for a 
 morning plunge. 
 
 As he neared the place he saw York standing in the 
 overgrown path, with something in his hand, which he was 
 scrutinising closely. Archie came up and asked what it was. 
 York held it out for his inspection, and he saw a murderous- 
 looking knife, with its edge like a razor for sharpness. 
 
 " Hullo ! " he exclaimed ; " where did you get that thing, 
 and what are you doing with it ? " 
 
 York turned a rather curious expression upon Archie as he 
 answered, pointing to a little heap of earth and fallen leaves 
 in the path : 
 
 "I found it there, embedded in the earth, edge upwards, 
 just lightly concealed by the leaves most ingeniously set. If 
 I had not been walking slowly, and had not just touched it 
 with my stick, I might have stepped upon it myself." 
 
 " But what in thunder is it doing there ? Who the dickens 
 can have put it ? " 
 
 "That is just what I should like to know; for it has been 
 put with a purpose." 
 
 The sound of splashing not far distant told them that Sir 
 Humphrey was enjoying his morning swim in the pool. Both 
 men knew that in these hot June mornings he was wont to 
 walk through the shrubbery paths to the water in his long- 
 quilted dressing-gown and slippers, take his bath, and return 
 in the same garb. A man so shod, stepping upon an edge like 
 that unguardedly might almost sever his foot in twain, and bleed 
 
142 Ube fUece of Estber Xgnne 
 
 to death before assistance could well reach him, or, perhaps, 
 fall a victim to lockjaw. The thing was horrible to con- 
 template. Some of the healthy red left Archie's face. A 
 stern expression, like that upon York's thin features, settled 
 upon his own. Suddenly he sprang forward and groped a 
 little. The path was dim and dark, thickly overgrown ; but 
 he had seen something, and now pulled at it viciously. It 
 was an ingeniously hidden bit of cord, just placed so as to 
 cause a man to trip in such a fashion that he must inevitably 
 have brought his foot heavily down upon that murderous, 
 shining blade. 
 
 " Holy Moses ! " muttered the young fellow, as he and 
 York stood facing each other, " what devil's brew is this ? " 
 
 " Devil's brew, indeed ! " spoke York sternly ; " I only wish 
 to goodness I had been a few minutes earlier, and had caught 
 the devil at work ! " 
 
 " You think it has been done since the boss went down ? " 
 quoth Archie, with a glance in the direction of the sounds of 
 splashing. 
 
 " I believe so. Sir Humphrey does not take the same path 
 every day. He was evidently watched for, and the thing done 
 the trap laid immediately after he had passed, to make sure 
 of him on the return journey. I happened to wake early, and 
 came prowling along just a little while later. I thought I 
 heard a rabbit scuttle away ; I remember thinking that had I 
 been in India I should have thought it was a snake gliding 
 through the grass. There was a sort of sinuous sound about 
 it ; but I merely supposed that to be my fancy. When my 
 stick touched metal it stopped me, and I looked and saw. If 
 I had been a walker, as other men are, I might have gone full 
 tilt into the diabolical thing myself. It was set as firm as a 
 rock. I had some trouble in getting it up. Though, as I am 
 well shod, the results would not have been so serious." 
 
 "Serious enough," returned Archie grimly, looking at the 
 murderous blade ; " what a horrid-looking knife ! Looks as 
 
^Developments 143 
 
 if it had been stolen from the house, too ! There are 
 murderous weapons and to spare hanging up there." 
 
 " Yes ; it's Indian workmanship," returned York. " Looks 
 to me like a Goorka knife, or some such thing. It has 
 probably, as you say, been taken from the house, and 
 sharpened to this keenness. I want to know a little more 
 about it, and what it was placed there for." 
 
 " I should have said that the boss hadn't an enemy in the 
 world," spoke Archie impetuously, " and yet it seems plain it 
 was meant to do him a pretty deadly sort of injury." 
 
 41 That seems pretty clear," returned York. " It must have 
 been meant for him. Had we been in India one might have 
 understood it " 
 
 " Why, even there he seemed to be universally beloved." 
 
 "Yes, in measure; but a man never lives all those years 
 dispensing even-handed justice without stirring up some 
 amount of enmity in many quarters. But over here I 
 confess that is the puzzle. And yet well, Archie, I have had 
 a vague suspicion before that something is a bit queer at the 
 house yonder. Have you ever heard or seen anything odd ? " 
 
 " Not that I know of. How do you mean?" 
 
 "Have you ever heard noises at night that you can't 
 altogether account for?" 
 
 " Bless you, no ! When I go to bed I go to sleep. I don't 
 take any account of noises. Besides, if I did hear any I 
 shouldn't be surprised. Old houses like that are always given 
 to rats and so forth, aren't they ? " 
 
 " Yes, that's what I've always said myself, and not troubled 
 my head over the matter. But now I remember, Sir Humphrey 
 told me the very first morning after we arrived or the next 
 that he thought I was coming into his room at night. The door 
 seemed to open ; but I never gave the matter much thought 
 till I began to hear strange noises myself." 
 
 "And you think?" 
 
 " I did not think it till now ; but I am beginning to wonder, 
 
144 ITbe IFUece of JEstber Xsnne 
 
 in face of this, whether there may not be a plot on foot against 
 Sir Humphrey ! " 
 
 " Great Jehoshaphat why ? " 
 
 " That I cannot say. It is not unheard of that when houses 
 remain empty an indefinite number of years, people who have 
 no business there make use of them for illicit purposes. Only 
 that sort of thing seems rather remote in the twentieth 
 century. If these were days of smugglers and coiners one 
 could better understand the possible motive. As it is, I am 
 at sea. But I shall do what I can to find out." 
 
 " You will tell him, of course." 
 
 " Yes ; I am waiting till he comes back to show him what we 
 have found. If there be danger of any sort, he should be on his 
 guard. Here he comes. Archie, put that cord as it was, and 
 we will show the whole devil's trap as we found it." 
 
 Sir Humphrey looked and listened and examined with that 
 quiet, judicial, and impersonal air which he had acquired 
 in his long term of office. He made very few comments, but 
 let nothing escape him, and in the end he laid a hand upon 
 York's shoulder, saying : 
 
 "Under Providence I think I owe to you an escape from 
 what might have proved a very serious accident. I hope 
 the plotter will prove to be no more dangerous than a very 
 mischievous boy, or perhaps some poacher or vagabond who 
 may have a desire to clear Nun's Bower of its present occupier. 
 Don't say anything about it. I will keep my eyes and ears 
 open, and most likely if the fellow be not scared away, he may 
 play into our hands. It may prove to be the mad act of some 
 insane person. But time will show. If there is any sort of 
 concerted plan, we are certain to have fresh developments as 
 time goes on." 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE JOCUND MONTH OF JUNE 
 
 " A PRETTY sight, Esther, is it not ? " 
 
 " I think I have never seen anything prettier. How happy 
 they all look ! And how they are enjoying themselves ! " 
 
 " The privacy of your garden has been seriously menaced," 
 added Sir Humphrey, smiling at his companion. " I wonder 
 what the old-time residents of Convent House would have 
 thought of our twentieth century sports ? " 
 
 Esther's smiling gaze swept up and down the chain of fish- 
 ponds, which were alive with colour and motion. The water 
 sparkled beneath the summer sun, reflecting the deep blue and 
 white dapple of the sky, together with the vivid green of the 
 alder and willow bushes fringing the margin on the farther side. 
 On this side was a smooth bank of emerald turf, sloping from 
 a wide gravel terrace, and by the brink of the water grew many 
 rare and beautiful water plants, and a zone of water-lilies and 
 clumps of sedges where the warblers nested and made music 
 for Esther all night long. But there were many places free of 
 choice plant or covering reed, where the light canoes might 
 put in at will. Esther made the whole flotilla welcome to her 
 hospitality. The garden of Convent House had become the 
 regular rallying-point for the aquatic club, quickly started 
 and rapturously supported by the young people of the district. 
 There was nothing Esther loved better than seeing happy 
 young life about her, and after the long seclusion of the past 
 years she seemed to be stepping forth into a new world of 
 sunshine and joyousness. 
 
 145 K 
 
146 tbe flfece of )0tber Xsnne 
 
 She looked up now into her old friend's face, and the light 
 in her soft brown eyes was very intense. 
 
 " I think those nuns of olden days would have felt much as 
 I do to-day, Humphrey : that it is good to see the young 
 enjoying their youth, and that when our own is passed, we can 
 live it again with and through them ; and perhaps with a 
 happiness deeper than they can quite understand or appreciate." 
 
 He looked at her, at the serene tranquillity of her still fair 
 face, at the shining sweetness of her liquid brown eyes, at the 
 upright and slender figure, graceful in its outlines, and touched 
 by that indefinable dignity and gentle aloofness which is the 
 outcome of a lonely life that has held within its compass a 
 long sorrow and burden silently and bravely borne. He 
 looked, and as he did so, there came a new shining into his 
 own eyes. 
 
 But he, too, had learnt reserve and patience in a different, 
 though in some sort a kindred, school. The reticence, the 
 calmness, the patience^ which puzzled and almost fretted the 
 spirit of Diana, was the natural result of training and of 
 temperament to these two. Neither desired to snatch at 
 happiness, to precipitate any sudden consummation. The 
 long years of the past rolled between them in some sort as a 
 great gulf. They had joined hands joyfully across this gulf. 
 It was good to know, to feel, that friendship bridged it so 
 firmly and so well; and for the moment that was enough. 
 The rest if there were more to follow could wait. 
 
 Sir Humphrey's eyes dwelt earnestly upon the face of 
 the woman he had loved all through the years of his youth, 
 and whose image had stood betwixt him and that life to which 
 a man in his position naturally looks forward, and in his eyes she 
 was still as fair as ever. But there came to him the question 
 whether it could be possible that she should wish to change 
 the tranquil current of her life, even for one which might be 
 outwardly almost as sheltered and tranquil. 
 
 With the modesty which is inherent in all finely-tempered 
 
ZCbe Socuufc fl&ontb of June 147 
 
 and generously-developed natures, Sir Humphrey felt how 
 little he himself had to offer. He was close upon sixty. 
 His health, though seemingly untouched by the Indian 
 climate, might possibly give way unexpectedly before many 
 years had passed. Esther's whole life since her girlhood had 
 been spent nursing a failing father. Was it fair to contemplate 
 asking of her a second similar task or even its possibility ? 
 She was still so young in his eyes, her silvery hair notwith- 
 standing. She ought to enjoy this spell of tardy summer-tide 
 untouched by other cares. He would wait ; he would watch ; 
 he would seek to discover how it was with her. He had been 
 patient all these years ; he could surely be patient still. She 
 was so near him now, their intercourse was so free and sweet. 
 That, at least, was his inalienably if he did not recklessly 
 endanger it by some false or precipitate step. A woman's 
 soul is a sealed book to a man, more so, perhaps, than his 
 to her. 
 
 That tranquil reticence and reserve of spirit which had left 
 its impress even upon Diana's youthful impetuosity was well 
 known to her old friend, who, in spite of their intimacy, had 
 never entirely penetrated it. It was to him one of her 
 greatest attractions, lending to her and encircling her with a 
 certain soft mystery which made their friendship full of charm 
 and of little unexpected surprises. No ; he did not desire her 
 in any sort other than she was. She had been his ideal woman 
 through his life ; she was not less so now that her youth had 
 passed, and she stood aside to watch the pastimes of the young 
 as a spectator, not as a partaker, yet with a full and sweet 
 sympathy of one whose heart will never grow old. 
 
 " Esther ! Esther ! look at my babies ! Don't they make 
 wonderful progress ! " 
 
 Diana's clear, young voice came ringing over the water, as a 
 large canoe, more firmly balanced than some others, owing to 
 a contrivance of ballast devised by York, came skimming 
 towards them in a somewhat irregular fashion. Diana was 
 
us tbe totece of Esther Xgnne 
 
 lying at ease against the cushions in the hinder part, directing 
 the zealous, but rather uncertain, efforts of the Rectory twins, 
 who, with a small paddle each, were delightedly splashing 
 about in imitation of their elders, and forcing the little light 
 craft along in a zig-zag course, to their own unbounded delight. 
 As they saw the spectators on the bank they redoubled their 
 efforts, shouting out joyously their baby-greeting : 
 
 " Auntie Miss Lynne ! Auntie Miss Lynne ! Sir Tiger ! 
 Sir Tiger ! " For York, having in some mysterious fashion 
 developed into " Uncle Don," the higher-sounding title had 
 reverted once more to Sir Humphrey. 
 
 " Yes, yes, darlings, we see you ! You are doing 
 beautifully ! But take care, my pets, take care ! It is such 
 a tippy little boat, Di dear, do you think it is quite safe for 
 them ? " 
 
 "Oh, as safe as a house! They're as right as rain, ^those 
 two ! " cried Diana, laughing ; " and if anything happens, I'll 
 undertake to haul out the drowned kittens all safe and sound ! 
 Besides, in about two two's they'll be able to swim themselves ; 
 won't you, kittens ? I carry them out of their depths every 
 day on my back, and they splash themselves back into shallow 
 water, just holding on to my pigtail behind. Very soon 
 they'll despise even that frail support." 
 
 At this moment up came Sally, splashing about lustily in a 
 very light outrigger, with sliding seat, which she was striving 
 to master. She could scull well enough in an ordinary boat, 
 but the slider bothered her, and the exceeding lightness of 
 the craft caused her to sway perilously from side to side. 
 Diana's clear laugh rang over the water : 
 
 " Go it, my dear ! That's something like style ! One good 
 crab, and you'll be overboard ! Look out ! You'll have your 
 right scull in the reeds in about no time ! Then you'll be over 
 like a shot. Here, stop ! or you'll foul us next. Easy a bit, 
 and take a look round you ! That's it. Now, how do you 
 find yourself? Not quite so easy as it looks, is it? " 
 
Jocund flDontb of June 149 
 
 Sally's face was a boiled lobster colour ; she wore the same 
 dress as Di a white serge skirt, with a fine white flannel shirt, 
 a red tie and sash, and a coat to put on at will. But somehow 
 no one would have guessed to look at them that their club 
 dress was identical. When Diana brought her skiff skilfully 
 to shore, handed out the " babies " to the relief of Esther 
 and invited Sir Humphrey for a paddle, standing up with the 
 longer paddle in her hands, prepared to play the part of 
 gondolier whilst he took his ease in the rear part her tall, 
 slender figure, instinct with strength and grace, formed an 
 extraordinary contrast to that of Sally, who had shoved herself 
 towards the bank, and landed with that elephantine leap of 
 hers which always convulsed Di each time she saw it. Sally 
 was not heavy or really clumsy, or she would have had her 
 boat over in a second; but she managed to convey the 
 impression of clumsiness and ponderous weight, whilst Diana, 
 with her out-of-the-way height, and with considerable breadth 
 of shoulder and development of muscular strength, looked 
 fairy-like by comparison. 
 
 Archie came dashing up through the water in a rainbow 
 cloud of spray. He, too, sprang ashore, nearly sending his 
 canoe under in doing so. 
 
 "Well, Miss Sally, and how do you and the skiff hit it off 
 together ? " 
 
 " Oh, it's a bit of a beast but I'll best it yet ! " answered 
 Sally, with her customary fine frankness of diction. " I've 
 always longed to manage a sliding seat, especially since Rudolf 
 said it wasn't the sort of thing for girls to do. When he takes 
 that high and mighty tone, I always yearn and burn to do the 
 things. I mean to go at it tooth and nail, and get a dab at it 
 before he comes home. He'll be so awfully disgusted. He's 
 got a touch of the governor in him. It comes out different, 
 you know ; but it's there, all the same. And I can coax dad 
 a deal better than Rudolf. Not that I bother much about 
 him. One's not bound to obey one's brother, and he's a good 
 
iso Ube IRiece ot Estbet 2lsnne 
 
 sort mostly; but he's got some of the mater's stodgy ideas, 
 and that always riles me a bit." 
 
 " I'm going to try that racer next, Sally," cried Di, as with 
 her new passenger she skimmed off along the shining water. 
 " Esther, have some tea ready for us soon. We shall all be 
 like fishes by four o'clock. There's quite a gathering out 
 to-day. Be a darling and feed us all. I'll tell them they 
 needn't be shy of coming. I want to have a talky-talky a 
 real palaver presently with the club girls. For the Cleethorpe 
 Regatta comes on early in August, and if we mean to make 
 entries we must begin to think about it and settle something. 
 I rather think we'll start a county regatta of our own, or at 
 least, some water sports and games. Things are humming 
 very well, considering we've only just started. Archie has 
 been a host in himself. You are quite a benefactor, Sir 
 Humphrey, to have imported such a delightful and inventive 
 genius into the place. All the girls declare it is going to be a 
 delightful summer, and the last two have been so dull, they 
 say." 
 
 It was true that this water-club had been started at a very 
 propitious moment. The previous year, owing to the war, 
 and the one before, perhaps because of the unsettled condition 
 of affairs and the war-rumours in the air, had been very quiet 
 ones through the district, and this year, owing to Court 
 mourning, many families owning the large places round had 
 refrained from going up to town in the usual way, but had 
 remained at their country seats. This made the young people 
 all the more willing and eager for any diversion which might 
 offer itself; and the sudden and complete fashion in which 
 sleepy little Cleethorpe had suddenly developed into an aquatic 
 centre, with a regular flotilla of canoes, boats, and even a couple 
 of gondolas, had taken the whole place by storm. 
 
 It was a capital district for water sports. A network of 
 small streams meandered through the peaceful meadows and 
 formed connecting links (or divisions, as you choose to take 
 
Socunfc /toontb of June is 1 
 
 it) between the various properties. These streams were too 
 narrow for the most part for boats, and there were frequent 
 rapids, or fallen trees, or a too great tangle of reeds and sedges 
 for navigation to be easy. But light canoes, which could be 
 dragged ashore and carried round obstructions, were the very 
 thing for the country, and willing arms and hands set to work 
 in dozens of places to clear away obstructions, so that the 
 waterways might be more readily available ; and already it had 
 been discovered that Diana Conquest and Archie Vanborough 
 were the presiding spirits of the new pastime, and that there 
 was no pleasanter rendezvous for rest and refreshment on a 
 hot afternoon than the garden of Convent House, where all 
 members were made welcome by Esther Lynne, with a sweet 
 and ready hospitality which put all intruders at ease. 
 
 Moreover, it was Miss Lynne who had permitted a little 
 backwater in her garden to be used as the housing-place fcr 
 all the club craft. She had erected there a big, rough boat- 
 house, large enough to accommodate all the boats and canoes ; 
 and what was more, she told off one of her under-gardeners to 
 keep these clean, and swab them out, and look to the proper 
 housing of the cushions in a little arbour close by, where they 
 would keep dry in any weather. So it was natural that her 
 house should be a gathering-place ; and the frequent appearance 
 of Sir Humphrey Vanborough, either upon the water or in the 
 gardens of Nun's Bower or Convent House, was not without 
 its element of attraction. Diana sometimes told him that 
 she thought his sobriquet should be changed from "Sir 
 Tiger" to "Sir Lion," for he was becoming quite a lion in 
 the neighbourhood, whether he knew it or not. 
 
 Diana liked to get Sir Humphrey to herself sometimes, and 
 sweep along through the chain of ponds and down into the 
 main stream below. She was not unaware of the admiring 
 glances which followed her progress in and amongst the other 
 craft, nor the impression produced by her beauty, her grace, 
 her skill. She liked to know that Sir Humphrey witnessed 
 
152 TTbe IRtece of JEstbec Xgnne 
 
 her small triumphs. She had come to value the quietly 
 appreciative glance of his steady, kindly eyes. He was one 
 of the few men she habitually met who did not pay her 
 compliments, either extravagant, playful, or humble, as the 
 case might be. Though he treated her with the kindly 
 intimacy of an old friend, he never over-stepped the limits 
 of his old-world code of fine courtesy and good breeding. 
 Modern as she was herself, and used to the outspoken 
 camaraderie in which she had been reared, this chivalrous respect 
 and reserve charmed her more than anything she had hitherto 
 experienced. She began in Sir Humphrey's presence to tone 
 down her own vocabulary in some sort. She was not conscious 
 of any restraining influence ; their intimacy was very real, and 
 she was always happy and at ease with him ; yet, for all that, 
 he exercised a silent power upon her, the strength of which 
 she would have been astonished to discover had the matter 
 ever entered her thoughts. 
 
 That very day she heard a few words spoken by some of 
 the club members who were leaving the boat-house whilst she 
 was tying up her canoe in the shadow words which sent hot 
 thrills through her pulses, though she affected to herself to 
 laugh in silent mirth. 
 
 " Isn't she lovely ? All the boys are mad about her, and 
 really one doesn't wonder. But I don't much think they have 
 a chance." 
 
 "There is safety in numbers, you mean ? " 
 
 " Well, I didn't mean that exactly ; I was thinking that she 
 looked as though she might be booked already. Have you 
 noticed Sir Humphrey Vanborough ? " 
 
 " Why, he's old enough to be her father." 
 
 "Men marry wives young enough to be their daughters 
 every day." 
 
 " That's true ; and often I think those are the wives who 
 have the best time of it. Sir Humphrey is perfectly charming, 
 and he isn't a bit old, Only I thought" 
 
Socunfc /IDontb of June 153 
 
 But by this time the speakers had got out of earshot, and 
 Diana, sincerely glad that she had insisted upon landing her 
 companion before taking the canoe to its moorings, emerged 
 from the shadows with shining eyes and laughing lips. 
 
 " How girls do love pairing off their acquaintances ! " she 
 said to herself; " and what mare's nests they do get hold of! " 
 
 Nevertheless, there was a peculiar brilliancy about Diana 
 that afternoon as she made the centre of the white-clad bevy 
 of merry girls, towering above them in height, seeming by 
 natural right to take her place as their queen and champion. 
 They had many matters to discuss together, but all seemed to 
 look to Di for guidance ; and she regarded Archie Vanborough 
 as her henchman and right hand. He was deputed to make 
 an expedition to Cleeport, and discover whether, at the 
 approaching regatta, there were any " events " coming off in 
 which the Cleethorpe Girls' Club could take part. 
 
 " We won't go in to be beaten, mind that, Archie," spoke 
 Diana, in her imperious way. " We must be victorious if we 
 put in an appearance at all. Women can always beat men if 
 they try ! " 
 
 " Oh, gracious, yes ! " cried Archie, with a droll side-glance 
 towards a group of the despised sex who were kindly 
 permitted to be "honorary" members of the Girls' Club. 
 
 These lads exploded with untimely mirth, and Diana 
 flashed one of her brilliant and imperious glances at them. 
 
 "You didn't wait till I had finished," she said. "Women 
 can beat men at sports which depend upon quickness and 
 agility and skill rather than on brute strength." 
 
 " I'd sooner trust to brute strength ! " shouted Sally, 
 brandishing a paddle boat-hook which had lately become her 
 favourite weapon in lieu of hockey- or golf-stick or croquet 
 mallet. Sally could never be happy without some " besom of 
 destruction," as Archie called it, in her hand, and her 
 interpolation evoked another roar of laughter from the boys. 
 
 " Order, order ! " cried Di's clear young voice, rising above 
 
154 ZTbe TOece of Estber 
 
 the clamour ; but there was not much more order to be got 
 out of that meeting, and it shortly broke up amid laughter and 
 merry banter, some of the guests returning by water, others 
 striking across footpaths in many divergent directions, the rest 
 driving back in the conveyances which had brought them 
 from more distant homes. 
 
 Stella had a very pretty little canoe of her own, given her by 
 York, who was himself enjoying greatly a mode of locomotion 
 which was easier to him than any other, and from which his 
 many injuries did not seriously debar him. 
 
 Although his left arm was very weak, his right was strong, 
 and by a little dexterous practice he was enabled to use the 
 paddle with fair ease and success. Stella delighted to 
 accompany him on his small voyages. He taught her the 
 use of the paddle, and she relieved him whenever he was 
 tired. The intimacy between the two had ripened rapidly, 
 and Diana was fostering it all she could, in the good-natured 
 hope that Stella would console herself for the loss of Rudolf 
 Hastings as a lover in the attentions of her distant kinsman. 
 
 For Rudolf had paid two flying visits since the Vanboroughs 
 arrived at Nun's Bower, and Diana was very well assured 
 that his fancy if ever he had really had one for Stella 
 Sinclair was a thing of the past. She found hjm an enter- 
 taining and exhilarating comrade. He was ambitious, and 
 so was she; a note of common sympathy and interest was 
 struck at once between them. His talk, brilliant and 
 cultured, opened up new vistas for her, gave her glimpses 
 into a seething world of which she knew almost nothing, 
 but desired to know more. A man with prospects and 
 aspirations like that to marry a little country parson's 
 daughter without a penny ! Absurd ! it would be ruination 
 to his career ! Fancy Stella in the world of politics, 
 with the flood of party feeling surging round her, in a 
 position where tact, savoir faire, diplomacy, and perhaps a 
 little innocent intriguing would be invaluable it was ridiculous 
 
Jocunfc /iDontb of June 155 
 
 to think of such a thing ! Probably Rudolf saw that for 
 himself. Certainly it was not Stella at this juncture whom 
 he sought out ; his confidences were not poured into her ears. 
 But each time that he went away Diana felt she knew him 
 better, had advanced a step in intimacy, and was more vividly 
 interested in his future, and in the drama of the political stage 
 than she had ever been before. 
 
 But Stella knew nothing of this ; for the fresh interest in her 
 life had enabled her to put away the achings of regret which 
 for a while had followed her decision with respect to Rudolf. 
 She hoped she had done right ; but it was not a matter upon 
 which she could speak, even with her so-called uncle. And 
 she found it answer best to think of it as little as possible. 
 
 As Stella piloted her canoe down stream towards home, 
 York accompanying her, as he liked to do for a chat with her 
 father, he chanced to put his hand beneath the cushions, and 
 drew out a parcel from beneath. It was some exercise-books 
 for the children, wrapped in paper, but the paper was covered 
 with clever little pencil-sketches of the different boats and 
 canoes and their occupants, dashed in with such a skilful 
 touch, and so much vivid characterisation, that York exclaimed 
 in surprise : 
 
 " My dear child ! you never told me you had your mother's 
 gift ! " 
 
 Stella's face was crimson ; she looked much taken back. 
 
 " Oh, I did not mean anybody to see. I only did them for 
 lame little Phcebe. She got left out in the cold, somehow. 
 She is not a pretty or taking child, and is just getting to the 
 shy, gawky age, and fancies nobody cares for her. It amused 
 her to see me draw, and she forgot her little troubles. But, 
 indeed, I did not mean you to see." 
 
 "My dear, why not? It is a great gift. Look at that 
 sketch of Miss Conquest only a few strokes and yet it tells 
 so much ! Stella, I think you see more than people give you 
 credit for/' 
 
156 Ube IFUece of Bstbev %snne 
 
 She coloured hotly, for she knew what he meant. She had 
 felt it almost ungenerous ; but she had not been able to help 
 giving to her representation of Di just that suggestion of 
 aggressiveness which the grace and beauty of the original 
 deftly disguised. It was not caricature ; but one touch more 
 and it would have been. 
 
 York looked long at the drawing, and laid it aside, glancing 
 into Stella's face. 
 
 " You are hiding your light beneath a bushel, my dear. 
 Some day you must tell me why." 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE PHANTOM NUN 
 
 ARCHIE was looking squarely at her, a mixture of seriousness 
 and banter in his eyes. 
 
 "A ghost at Nun's Bower? No, I've never seen the 
 glimpse of such a thing. I suppose it's the proper thing for 
 an old house to have its traditional spook, but 
 
 "The odd thing about this one, though," interrupted Diana, 
 " is that so far as I can gather it isn't a traditional spook at all. 
 Tradition seems to have been lacking in imagination. Esther 
 has told me that there are no ghostly traditions either about 
 her house or yours. This spook is a purely modem arrival, or a 
 revival of some dead-and-gone ghost of the past. But I tell 
 you several people declare they have seen the gliding, shadowy 
 figure, and there is a certain unanimity in their description of 
 the apparition." 
 
 " Village bumpkins ! " ejaculated Archie, with a good- 
 natured contempt, "a fine story they make about nothing. 
 One sees and the rest think they do, and follow up the lead. 
 Pouff!" 
 
 Diana had hesitated once or twice before speaking again ; 
 but after a pause she suddenly broke out : 
 
 " It isn't only the country bumpkins who have seen the 
 thing, Archie, unless you count me as such. For I've seen it 
 myself!" 
 
 " You ! " cried Archie, in undisguised,, amazement ; " well, 
 that collars the crumpet and no mistake ! " 
 
 "Until I heard of somebody else seeing it too, I scarcely 
 
 157 
 
158 tlbe fifece of lEstber Xsnne 
 
 knew whether I believed in my own eyes," continued Diana. 
 " For one thing, I never believed in ghosts ; for another (if it 
 isn't a bit of a bull), I never thought I was the right sort for 
 seeing them, if they were there. When one hears of noises, 
 one says 'rats.' When one hears of vague and ghostly 
 happenings and misfortunes, one says 'drains.' When one 
 hears of apparitions, one says 'liver.' That's been about my 
 attitude of mind. I've said that last word to myself since my 
 own experiences of ghost-seeing. But so far as I know, my 
 liver's all right. And yet I believe I've seen the phantom nun 
 on two distinct occasions, and each time within the precincts 
 of Nun's Bower." 
 
 And led on by Archie's eager questions, she gave him the 
 full account of the two times when she had believed herself 
 either the victim of delusion or else the witness to some occult 
 phenomenon. 
 
 "A nun, you say the thing has that appearance, has 
 it?" 
 
 " It certainly has that appearance. It has been very dark 
 both times I have seen it ; but the white coif round the head 
 has been the most conspicuous thing about it. And the 
 village bumpkins who profess to have seen it all say the same. 
 It appears to be a woman clad in grey, with a white coif about 
 the head; and coming from Nun's Bower, or being seen in 
 those precincts, naturally one first thinks of a nun." 
 
 "You had not heard of a ghostly nun before you saw the 
 figure ? " 
 
 " No. And I have not spoken a syllable about it to anyone 
 till now. I wasn't going to set any rumour afloat. I was a 
 bit ashamed of having seen the spook-like thing myself. 
 Archie, do you believe there are such things as ghosts ? " 
 
 " Not much ! " he answered, ruminating the while somewhat 
 hard for him, "at least, you know, I've an open mind on the 
 subject. One hears things one can't altogether pooh-pooh. 
 But I believe a great deal more in some tomfoolery or trick, 
 
TTbe pbantom *Kun 159 
 
 when one hears of phantom nuns and so forth. I'd phantom 
 them, if I could once lay hold on them ! " 
 
 Archie looked almost savage, remembering a certain murder- 
 ous knife-blade he had seen in York's hands not so very long 
 ago. Could the two things have any connection ? the glid- 
 ing figure of the coifed nun and that snake-like rustle amid the 
 underwood, which York had heard just before he made his 
 significant find? Sir Humphrey had sworn his friends to 
 silence upon that incident for the present, and Archie's lips were 
 sealed. But it flashed into his mind that the ghost and the 
 knife might have some connection, and he spoke musingly. 
 
 " Do you think, Miss Conquest, it could be possible that 
 there should be any sort of plot afoot in the village to get Sir 
 Humphrey out of Nun's Bower again ? Yes, I don't wonder 
 you look surprised. But it's not an unheard-of thing for a 
 house, left empty year after year, to become a place of very 
 convenient resort for the bad characters of the place or 
 perhaps even those of some more distant locality. In old times 
 one would have thought that perhaps smugglers from the 
 coast might use it as a depositary for their goods ; but in these 
 days that seems scarcely probable, though one does hear of 
 clever and organised smuggling still carried on where one 
 would least expect it. A house such as ours presents a great 
 variety of possibilities. No servants in the main building ; a 
 curious construction which enables an intruder to dodge about 
 in a marvellous manner, and circle round and round in case 
 of pursuit, escaping in a variety of ways. If anything illicit 
 were going on in or near Cleethorpe even the poaching which 
 at some seasons of the year is a regular trade still a house 
 like this would be uncommonly handy, one can fancy ; and it 
 would disgust the gang who used it not a little to find it no 
 longer available. Really, the notion of getting up a ghost " 
 (" and a dangerous one, too," he added mentally, though he did 
 not speak these words aloud) "to try and scare the legal 
 intruder away, would be rather a brilliant one, and has been 
 
160 ZTbe iFUece of iSstber 
 
 known to do the trick before now. I declare I believe we are 
 on the right scent after all ! " 
 
 Diana's face had flushed hotly. 
 
 " I hate model villages," she cried, " if this Cleethorpe is a 
 specimen ! A little cockered-up place, run by the parson's 
 daughter ! chock full of the latest crazes in the way of 
 councils and guilds and associations and all the tommy-rot 
 you can think of. And at heart just as bad as it can be ! 
 Hear the Squire on the subject ! Oh, it's enough to make me 
 turn high Tory ! And when they get a man here like Sir 
 Humphrey, to try and scare him away by their pettifogging 
 little trumpery tricks ! I'd like to ghost them, I would ! " 
 
 Archie laughed at her sudden vehemence. 
 
 " Well, if that's the game, they might know (if they knew 
 anything of their man) that it was foreordained to failure. 
 The boss will stay in his own house just as long as it suits 
 him, and will not budge an inch for any sort of silly intimida- 
 tion. But you need not be quite so down on Cleethorpe, Di." 
 Archie sometimes let this name slip from him when the two 
 were alone together, and had never been rebuked. The girl 
 liked him, and was quite ready to admit him to terms of 
 brotherly intimacy. He was utterly and entirely her slave, 
 and she knew it, and did not trouble to assert her authority. 
 " I think it's almost more likely that the offenders come farther 
 afield than just the village. But I mean to keep eyes and 
 ears open. They may have accomplices in the place who are 
 spreading rumours. Perhaps things are not moving fast 
 enough for them. You saw this apparition, it seems, more 
 than two months ago, before we arrived on the scene at all. 
 It may be they are disappointed at results, and want to set 
 rumour flying, hoping to create a scare of some sort. There 
 is no knowing." 
 
 Diana's eyes were glowing with a curious mixture of 
 emotions. 
 
 " Oh, if that's the game, let us all help to play it for them ! " 
 
tTbe phantom flun 161 
 
 she cried. " If they want ghosts, let 'em have them, by all 
 means ! If they want to scare other folks, let us get up a good 
 scare for them. I'll play ghost for Cleethorpe. I've had half 
 a mind to do it before. If it's a case of tit-for-tat, I'm doubly 
 ready. If they want to scare us, we'll show them that it's a 
 game that two can play at. Phantom nun ! Well, they shall 
 have one, and my bogey shall be a long sight better than 
 anything they've thought of themselves ! " 
 
 Where Diana was concerned, Archie was blind to every 
 consideration save to do her will. Whatever mad-cap project 
 she evolved, he was ready to carry out with faithful docility. 
 Moreover, this particular idea rather appealed to him. He 
 was decidedly puzzled by sundry small things which had 
 transpired of late. York, who was a bad sleeper, and often 
 passed wakeful nights, when pain kept his senses on the stretch, 
 had more than once spoken of his conviction as to the presence 
 of some stealthy presence in the house ; but owing to his 
 slowness of movement, he was never able to dash out upon 
 the intruder, and had never caught a glimpse of anything as 
 yet. Sir Humphrey had spoken occasionally of a curious 
 sensation of not being alone, particularly in the long drawing- 
 room, where Diana had experienced a precisely similar feeling. 
 Archie had not infrequently kept watch and vigil, trying to 
 surprise and dodge the intruder ; but hitherto without any 
 success. The creature either did not chance to put in an 
 appearance that night, or had some inkling of his presence, 
 and made off. He was more and more disposed to suspect 
 trickery in the matter, and was rather chagrined that rustic 
 delinquents should have so far outwitted him. 
 
 He could not believe the matter more serious than some 
 plot to get rid of the owner of Nun's Bower before the autumn 
 should set in. Sir Humphrey himself had spoken of poachers, 
 and that seemed the most likely supposition. Ignorant men 
 were generally superstitious. It might be that to create a 
 counter scare as regards Nun's Bower might have a salutary 
 
 L 
 
162 ube IRtece of Bstbet Xgnne 
 
 effect. Archie had an inner consciousness that if he were to 
 speak to his kinsman on the subject, the proposed plan would 
 be instantly vetoed. But his chiefest desire was to please 
 Diana Conquest; the girl was eagerly resolved upon her 
 madcap prank, and Archie was determined at all costs to aid 
 and abet. 
 
 It was not difficult to satisfy her wishes. Just at this 
 juncture there was practically no moon. The nights were 
 still and dim, never too dark for the due carrying out of the 
 project, but dark enough to give sufficient cover to conspirators, 
 and to facilitate their movements. 
 
 Just at this time strange whispers were going abroad, 
 confined for the most part to the village itself, but carried by 
 the servants into some of the larger houses, that a ghostly 
 figure was not infrequently to be seen gliding up the avenue 
 towards Nun's Bower, or through the dense shrubberies which 
 surrounded it. The postboy, coming up with a belated letter, 
 or telegram, had seen the apparition more than once. Billy 
 Blake, the odd job lad, employed by pretty well every house 
 in turn, told the same tale. A woman on her way to Convent 
 House at night to ask aid of Miss Lynne in a moment of 
 emergency had been terribly scared by the sight of the 
 phantom nun. They all called it that ; for the chiefest thing 
 about it was the white coif round the head, which all swore to. 
 What the rest of the dim and shadowy figure looked like none 
 could rightly say ; but all could testify to the white folds about 
 the head, and the dim darkness of the shrouded face. 
 
 It was with something like a sympathetic start that Archie, 
 in the dim recesses of the boat-house, lighted only by the 
 phosphorescent gleam of the phantom craft he had so 
 carefully prepared, saw stealing in upon him the gliding 
 phantom figure with the white folds of linen round the head. 
 His start was noted by his accomplice as she approached, and 
 Di's silvery laugh, muffled and subdued, set his heart beating 
 to a different tune. 
 
ZTbe pbantom IFlun 163 
 
 " You are delightful, Archie ! What a real ghost-boat you 
 have got for me ; it will just attract attention, and light up 
 my ghostliness without betraying too much. You are a 
 capital boy, and you can come along with me for a little way ; 
 but you must not betray yourself or me. I bet you anything 
 you like nobody will dare approach to investigate matters ! I 
 shall just be sighted by a few belated stragglers, and seen from 
 a few cottage windows looking on to the water. I shall set 
 tongues wagging, or it wouldn't be Cleethorpe. And if any 
 of the real ghost-makers are abroad, on mischief or anything 
 else, we'll pay them out in their own coin." 
 
 " And you want me back here to remove all traces on your 
 return ? " he said ; " I wish you'd have let me come with you 
 as a phantom boatman." 
 
 "Oh, no; that would have spoiled the whole show. The 
 nun would never be attended like that. We must keep up 
 appearances, or we shall upset the apple-cart. Now, Archie, 
 just help me in, and arrange my ghostly robes properly. 
 Follow me down to the bridge, but then come back here and 
 wait for me. If you go too far you'll be seen, and that would 
 give us away at once." 
 
 A minute later, and forth from the boat-house there crept a 
 faintly-luminous craft, looking more like some gigantic shell 
 than a boat, as it floated softly down the stream. That it 
 could be steered, and even propelled noiselessly against the 
 current was obvious to anyone critically watching its course ; 
 but the almost motionless figure seated in it appeared to be 
 borne along without any effort or act of her own. Archie 
 covered his mouth with his hand to keep back the chuckling 
 laugh which well-nigh broke from him. The phosphorescent 
 light illumined the ghost-like motionless figure, the faint light 
 seeming to concentrate itself upon the white coif, leaving the 
 face in deepest shadow, so that the ghastly effect was almost 
 produced of there being no face at all only a blank, 
 featureless mask. Soft-falling grey robes fell ghost-like 
 
1 64 tTbc Iftfece of JEstbet %gnne 
 
 about the figure, and the whole effect was unearthly in the 
 extreme. 
 
 Archie, choking with suppressed laughter, cautiously followed 
 the course of the little craft till it had reached the bridge, 
 beneath which it glided forth into the wider waters of the 
 Glee. He saw that the girl was able to manage it with perfect 
 ease, and without any apparent motion. He had been at 
 some pains to arrange an unseen propeller which one so well 
 used as Diana to aquatic manoeuvres could manipulate with 
 the minimum of motion. The phantom nun looked as though 
 carved out of stone so rigid and motionless was her pose. 
 Archie watched the boat round the bend of the stream, and 
 permitted himself the luxury of a faint guffaw. 
 
 "Well, I only hope that some of those chaps are on the 
 look-out to-night ! A regular case of the biter bit, I should 
 say. I wish she'd have let me go with her ; not but what she's 
 as right as a house. Nobody in this blessed little hole of a 
 place would dare tackle a thing like that ! But it'll set tongues 
 wagging, and no mistake ; and if it doesn't scare the real ghosts, 
 maybe it will make them suspect that their trick is discovered, 
 and that they'd best lie low for a spell." 
 
 Archie had crossed the stream by the bridge, and after 
 retracing his steps and entering the precincts of Convent 
 House, did not immediately return to the boat-house, but 
 sauntered along beside the fish-ponds till he found himself at 
 the entrance to the long yew walk, which ran down almost to 
 the water's edge. He had just set his foot within this, when 
 suddenly he gave a great start, and exclaimed beneath his 
 breath : 
 
 " Holy Moses ! there's the other of them ! " 
 
 For he was certain he had seen something white, at a 
 considerable distance from the ground, flitting ghost-like up 
 the avenue. Nothing but the white spot was visible to him ; 
 but instantly he was certain that it must be the coifed head of 
 the phantom nun, and gave chase with a silent impetuosity 
 
TTbe pbantom 1Run 165 
 
 which took him over the soft turf at a high rate of speed. 
 Again he caught sight of the white coif, this time perceptibly 
 nearer, and made a dash towards it. Archie was a trained 
 athlete. He was pretty certain no rustic encumbered by 
 drapery had a chance against him. The white spot seemed to 
 be stationary for a moment, as though its wearer had just 
 heard the sound of pursuit. Then it moved, glided onwards 
 rapidly, with a sinuous, scarcely - perceptible motion that 
 was quite foreign to the young fellow's preconceived ideas of 
 the run of a village lad or yokel. But he was too hot in 
 pursuit to give over-much heed to the character of the 
 movements of the quarry. That came to his mind later. 
 For the present he was engrossed in catching up with the 
 figure, whose long dim garments were becoming faintly visible 
 to him in the grey dusk of the midsummer night. 
 
 He had flung away all secrecy of movement ; he was pursuing 
 now fiercely and at top speed. The hunted phantom was 
 gliding before him with a swiftness that was astonishing ; but 
 still Archie gained upon it. It seemed aware of this, and 
 suddenly deflecting its direction, plunged into the tangled 
 shrubberies, intersected by many half-overgrown paths, glided 
 down one of these, the twigs making marvellously little sound 
 as the thing dived through them not half the noise Archie 
 was conscious of making himself. The boughs and tangled 
 undergrowth bothered him a good deal more than it seemed 
 to bother the quarry; still he saw the white coif before him, 
 till it suddenly seemed to dip and vanish. He supposed at 
 the first that it was merely hidden from view by a sharp turn 
 in the path or some fresh tangle of undergrowth. But it 
 certainly had seemed to fall earthwards and disappear in a 
 mound covered by rough grass and stones, where he 
 came himself to a sudden stop, half falling over the 
 impediment in the path. When he rose again and listened 
 attentively, not a sound could he hear. The night wind just 
 whispered in the trees overhead, the owls hooted in greeting 
 
1 66 zrbe iRiece of JEstber 
 
 or challenge ; but not a sound suggestive of human proximity 
 fell upon his strained senses. Not a glimmer of white could 
 he see before him, though now the view lay less impeded to 
 his gaze; for he had approached that little stream which 
 formed the boundary of Sir Humphrey's property, and widened 
 out into the pool which he made his bathing-place. 
 
 "Done, by jingo!" cried Archie, chagrined; "I did think 
 I'd got the fellow into a tight place that time ! I'm not often 
 outrun, and I don't believe in melting into thin air. But 
 where in thunder could the creature have got to ? I should 
 have heard a splash if water had been touched, and short of 
 that there's no way of escape that I can think of ! " 
 
 He stood looking about him. He kicked the stones beneath 
 his feet, as though they were in some way in collusion with the 
 phantom, and at last, with a muttered "Well, I'm jiggered!" 
 he walked back in the direction of his rendezvous with Diana, 
 more perplexed than he had been for a considerable time. 
 
 " It's a stupid bit of business ; but it's devilish clever," he 
 remarked to himself, and with the memory of that gleaming 
 knife before him, he concluded it might be devilish in more 
 ways than one. " I'd give a good deal to unravel the tangle 
 I would, indeed. Don't think this prank of Diana's is going 
 to work the oracle much. I incline to believe there's a cleverer 
 head or hand in it than she's begun to think so far. I wonder 
 what the boss makes of it. He's so dead quiet, you never 
 know. I don't know whether Di will tell him of her escapade, 
 or what he would think of it. I'm afraid we shan't read the 
 riddle that way." 
 
 Di returned in great spirits from her ghostly voyage. She 
 had been just sufficiently seen to satisfy her, and she had 
 produced an effect quite to her own liking. 
 
 " I don't think any villagers will come here playing ghosts 
 in a hurry," she remarked. " I fancy they've had a taste of 
 their own brew which will last them a long while. I got out 
 at the churchyard, and did a bit of a glide round the graves 
 
TTbe pbantom IRun 167 
 
 there. The sexton's wife saw me at it. I'm not sure you 
 won't hear her shrieking still if you listen hard enough. I 
 took to my skiff then, and came back. We shall hear a fine 
 tale to-morrow morning, you bet ! " 
 
 " And, meantime, I've been having a ghost hunt on my own 
 account," said Archie, feeling that it would be mean to keep 
 his own adventure to himself. "The rival nun was out 
 to-night, and I sighted her, and gave chase. But she escaped 
 me, and apparently vanished into thin air ; where he, she, or 
 it got to I can't imagine. I'm going to hunt that shrubbery 
 out to-morrow by daylight. But she bested me that time, and 
 no mistake. If I did believe in real live spooks, I should 
 say I'd seen one to-night ! " 
 
 " A good many people will be saying that to-morrow ! " 
 laughed Di, who was elated with excitement of her adventure ; 
 " but really your adventure is quite exciting, Archie. I must 
 get home now, or Esther may discover my absence, and be in 
 a pucker ; but I'll come and hunt with you to-morrow. I'm 
 quite determined to get to the bottom of the matter. It would 
 be too ridiculous if it were to baulk the whole lot of us ! " 
 
 She disappeared laughingly in the direction of the house, 
 and Archie, looking after her, stroked his face, and said : 
 
 " I wonder if this is going to be another case of' There are 
 more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed 
 of in our philosophy ! ' " 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 ON CONQUEST BENT 
 
 DIANA'S eyes were wide with amaze. Really, this was a new 
 experience. She scarcely believed her ears when first it 
 dawned upon her that Colonel York was actually daring to take 
 her to task, to blame her, to criticise her actions ! Yet there 
 was no mistaking the clear and terse import of his words. 
 True, she had provoked the attack by herself leading up to 
 the subject, and giving a graphic account of the " scare " she 
 had inflicted a few nights before upon Cleethorpe, with which 
 the place was ringing yet ; but that this silent soldier, with 
 whom, in spite of constant meetings, she had scarcely ever 
 really conversed or exchanged opinions, should actually dare 
 to criticise her to her face was a startling novelty. It arrested 
 her attention. It set her studying him as she had never 
 thought it worth while to do before. And more than this, it 
 opened her eyes to a certain fact to which she had hitherto 
 remained blind, and she found herself observing York, and 
 appraising him in a fashion she had never thought of doing 
 heretofore ; whilst the conclusion she reached in her headlong 
 method was summed up in a few brief phrases which she 
 formulated to herself. 
 
 " Really, he is a distinguished-looking man. I had no idea 
 he would ever be so handsome. He was such a scarecrow 
 when he came ; but how wonderfully he has improved ! He's 
 rather interesting, too. I declare he's much too good for 
 Stella. Stella is a namby-pamby a good little soul, but 
 tiresome. She wants a tame curate for a husband. A man 
 
 168 
 
<S>n Conquest Bent 169 
 
 like that would be thrown away upon her ; she'd drive him silly 
 with her little finikin ways. Really, I believe I'll cultivate 
 him myself. It's most improving to hear him pull my 
 character to pieces like that." 
 
 A sparkle crept into Diana's eyes. She looked exceedingly 
 attractive that sunny morning, as she stood in a picturesque 
 pose in the prow of the gondola, into which she had invited 
 Colonel York to step, promising him a " lift," as she phrased 
 it, down to the Rectory, whither he was bent. She was in her 
 club white and red, the vivid colour in her cheeks contrasted 
 with the peculiar fairness of her skin producing a somewhat 
 dazzling effect. The golden gleam which had leaped into her 
 eyes bespoke a certain stress of feeling, and she was conscious 
 of experiencing one of those quick thrills of emotion which 
 stimulated and excited her long before she traced them to 
 their source. 
 
 She had once told Esther that she could not endure to be 
 criticised or found fault with. This was true ; but her rebellion 
 against such criticism was apt to take different forms. When 
 it aroused scorn and anger she generally had her flash out 
 and then, in her own phrase, " made tracks." To-day, how- 
 ever, she had no disposition to follow out that line of action. 
 Her mentor was a man that was in itself a thing unique ; and 
 a well-looking man to boot which made the experience more 
 piquant. She found herself aroused and interested rather than 
 annoyed. And beneath the surface surprise and amusement 
 lay another dawning sentiment this man must be conquered ; 
 he must not escape her sway. If she in measure felt his 
 power, he must be made to feel hers. Hitherto she had 
 scarcely given him a thought ; now she found herself regarding 
 him with considerable interest, and telling herself that she had 
 been decidedly blind ; or else that the past two months had 
 wrought a very great change in Donald York. 
 
 Both these things were true. York's improvement in 
 health had been gradual and imperceptible, but it was none 
 
i?o TTbe IFliece of 
 
 the less steady and real. The voyage home had been beneficial, 
 and this quiet, restful life in surroundings so pleasant, and 
 through a delightful English summer, had brought a measure 
 of healing and recuperative power which was gradually making 
 a new man of the battered soldier. Physically he would 
 never be much " good " again ; he would never walk rapidly, 
 or be able to do many things which others could without a 
 thought. But he was losing that weary sense of exhaustion 
 and that constant, wearing, neuralgic pain, which for so long 
 had sapped away such energy and vitality as remained to 
 him, and made life too often nothing but a burden. As a 
 natural outcome of this improved state of things he had 
 slowly lost the drawn and cadaverous aspect which had made 
 him something of a death's-head on his first landing. He 
 was very gradually putting on flesh, and beneath the ingrained 
 bronze of his long exposure to tropical climate a healthier 
 tint was beginning to replace the almost livid pallor which had 
 been painfully apparent before. In fact, York might in time 
 recover some measure of those good looks which had once 
 caused him to be called the handsomest man in his regiment, 
 though he would never recover more than a measure of that 
 vigour and strength which his own courage and gallantry had 
 been the cause of his losing. 
 
 To-day, for the first time, it dawned upon Diana that 
 this change was going on, and that she had too quickly ruled 
 York out of her life and her thoughts. She paused now, as 
 they glided out of the chain of fish-ponds into the shady 
 windings of the river, and she looked at him from beneath the 
 golden-brown fringe of her long lashes, and said, with a 
 tentative little smile : 
 
 " I think you have been hearing tales from Stella. Stella 
 does not like me. I am not good enough for her." 
 
 Diana spoke with that admirable frankness which was too 
 characteristic of her to excite wonder or embarrassment. 
 York's grave gaze met hers squarely as he made answer ; 
 
Conquest JSent 171 
 
 " Of course Stella has felt vexed about it. Mrs. Gregson was 
 made quite ill with the fright, and one small child who saw the 
 phantom boat on the river had a fit of something approaching 
 convulsions. It set the whole place talking, and then the 
 truth came out. I do not think it can have been very pleasant 
 for Miss Lynne, either. That sort of exploit cannot often be 
 carried through without unpleasant after-results." 
 
 Diana laughed a little recklessly. 
 
 " Oh, Esther is very good. She understands me nobody 
 else does. Of course, I got a little scolding, but that was all 
 right. I daresay I deserved it. But when I told Esther I had 
 a reason for what I did, that it wasn't just an escapade without 
 any raison tfdtre for it, she believed me. I suppose you 
 wouldn't ! " 
 
 Diana's glance at York was half defiant, half appealing, and 
 wholly bewitching. His grave face slightly relaxed as he 
 made answer : 
 
 " Pray do not think that I arrogate to myself the place of 
 your judge, Miss Conquest. That would be a grave imperti- 
 nence on my part. You began the subject, and challenged 
 my opinion. I gave it you. And I may add that I have a 
 private grievance of my own in this matter, but that, of course, 
 you did not know." 
 
 Diana's eyes kindled. She leaned forward eagerly. 
 
 " I wish you would tell me," she said ; " you know that I 
 have myself seen the other ghost the real phantom nun 
 whom I tried to personate the other night, hoping by that 
 means to scare off the other intruder, who would be certain to 
 hear of my impersonation. That was what I really wanted to 
 do ; only, having had to own up, so that these precious scared 
 folks may be able to sleep in their beds in peace again, has 
 just gone and spoiled the whole show." 
 
 " So that was your motive, was it, Miss Conquest ? Well, I 
 see your point. But I particularly did not want that first 
 ghost scared away. I was setting my traps to try and corner 
 
172 Ube IFUece ot Estbet Xgnne 
 
 him or her or it. And now I am afraid you may have 
 frightened it away for a spell. Whoever it is that comes 
 short of a real apparition, which theory I shall not too readily 
 accept comes with some deliberate purpose, and a purpose 
 which I fear is malevolent and inimical to Sir Humphrey. As 
 an idle man, whose eyes and ears are the only things he has of 
 much value to himself or others at present, I have been 
 keeping close watch and ward since my suspicions were first 
 aroused. I have been laying my own plans, and this mid- 
 summer weather with its short, light nights was all in my 
 favour. If, as I fear, your action may result in the temporary 
 withdrawal of the unseen foe, things may become more difficult. 
 The crisis will be postponed and my chances of capture lessened. 
 That is the private crow I have to pluck with you, Miss 
 Conquest. But I absolve you from any knowledge that your 
 action would be in any wise harmful to Sir Humphrey 
 Vanborough." 
 
 Diana's eyes were dilated with wonder. Archie had indeed 
 spoken about some possible poacher conspiracy, but York 
 looked more grave and serious than she thought this theory 
 warranted, and she felt her pulses stirred to quickened interest. 
 She leaned towards him, her breath coming thick and fast, the 
 blood tingling in her veins. 
 
 " Danger to Sir Humphrey ! Oh, Colonel York, what do 
 you mean ? Not real danger ? Only some silly trickery that 
 he would laugh to scorn. As though he would be scared away 
 by village yokels ! " 
 
 "For my part, I do not believe in the village yokel theory. 
 I am afraid that it is a more serious matter ; but I have not 
 one shred of evidence, and for the present Sir Humphrey is 
 not disposed to accept my theory, though I did propound it." 
 
 " Tell me what it is ! " cried Di, her face quivering. " You 
 don't know how I respect and admire Sir Humphrey 
 Vanborough ! If you are doing anything for him do let 
 me help you if I can ! " 
 
Conquest Bent 173 
 
 He smiled at her eagerness ; but he did not explain his 
 words altogether, though Di's quick wits were able to fill up 
 some of the blanks. 
 
 '* I do not think Sir Humphrey would wish my very vague 
 suspicions talked about. But we have both lived long in 
 India. We have seen strange things there and heard 
 stranger. I remember once being associated a good deal 
 with a native soldier a capital fellow in his way. He applied 
 once, rather suddenly, for leave of absence and got it. He was 
 away a month, and came back and went to work as quietly 
 as ever. Some while after, we chanced to be camping out 
 together, and I asked him about his sudden journey and its 
 object. I knew he had had an object. Then he told me the 
 story a regular case of vendetta, as we call it in Europe. 
 It was just a case of the old blood feud. It was his duty to 
 do some killing, and he had quietly gone and done it. The 
 strange, almost ghastly persistency of this sort of thing is its 
 chiefest peril and mystery. It is not blind rage that actuates 
 the avenger, nor even a personal enmity, which might be 
 combatted. It is an act of faith, a part of his religion, as you 
 say. Blood has to be shed, and he is set apart as the 
 instrument. It may be a long job, or it may be quickly 
 accomplished. But done it must be, and by his hand. He 
 will bide his time with a patience that is almost appalling ; but 
 one day he will strike and strike hard." 
 
 Diana's rich colour had slowly paled. 
 
 " You don't mean to say that anybody hates Sir Humphrey, 
 and is pursuing him in that awful fashion ? " she cried, almost 
 fiercely. 
 
 " I have no reason for suspecting anything so serious," 
 he answered. " What I do suspect, however, is that he has 
 been followed from India for some reason or other. He was 
 instrumental not very long before he left in breaking up a very 
 dangerous conspiracy, and in bringing to condemnation and 
 death some of its chiefest members. Very shortly before we 
 
174 TOe IFltece of lEstber 
 
 left for England his faithful and attached native servant died 
 suddenly. I always thought the man had been poisoned, and 
 he believed the same. I saw him just before his death, and 
 he tried to convey a warning to me. What it was I did not 
 rightly catch; but I believe it referred to some sort of 
 vengeance to be wreaked upon Sir Humphrey; though 
 it was not for a long while that I suspected the vengeance 
 would follow him out of the country and over here. There, 
 Miss Conquest, you have wormed out of me a great deal 
 more than I meant to tell you more than Archie knows ; 
 almost more than I confided to Vanborough himself when 
 we discussed this thing. I trust you to keep this confidence 
 to yourself. You will not fail me, will you ? " 
 
 She held out her hand suddenly; her face was very 
 earnest. 
 
 " Indeed, indeed, I will not. I thank you for trusting me ; 
 you shall never have cause to regret it. And if ever I can help 
 you in any way whatever, my services are yours to command. 
 May we not be friends in this ? You know how I care for 
 Esther Lynne. I think you know something of her story. If 
 it were only for her sake, I would almost give my life to shield 
 Sir Humphrey Vanborough from harm ! " 
 
 Her eager face was all aglow with the enthusiasm which 
 possessed her. York took the young, strong hand, and held 
 it for a moment. He had not hitherto been so much 
 attracted towards Diana Conquest as others habitually were. 
 But to-day some new element had made itself felt in his 
 intercourse with her. He did not seek to explain this ; but 
 he accepted it and took pleasure in it. 
 
 From that day forward a slight but unmistakable change 
 asserted itself in his relations with the ladies of Convent 
 House. Sometimes before this he had wondered whether 
 he were not somewhat de trop during the pleasant evenings 
 spent there ; but now he never felt it. 
 
 Diana suddenly made the discovery that he was possessed 
 
Conquest Bent 175 
 
 of a voice. That he loved music she had always known, 
 without giving it a thought. Now she took delight in making 
 him show what he could do himself. He was no longer 
 suffered to be a silent listener. Her own flute-like soprano 
 and Archie's light tenor had often been heard together with 
 advantage. Now York's deep and melodious baritone formed 
 a new element, and sometimes Esther would be pressed 
 into the service to provide the contralto, though she would 
 laughingly say she was too old to sing now, and bid them 
 ask Stella to take her place. 
 
 Sometimes Stella did come, York fetching her in the canoe, 
 and taking her back when the evening was wearing away. He 
 thought it good for Stella to be brought into more direct 
 contact with the young life of the place. He had encouraged 
 her to join the aquatic club, and had fairly laughed away her 
 scruples lest giving a few hours weekly to a healthy out-door 
 recreation might be a waste of time, or an indulgence which 
 it was not right to permit herself. Stella was looking some- 
 what brighter and less pensive for the new elements which had 
 come into her life of late ; and the feeling that her so-called 
 uncle was really in sympathy with her, and her own undisputed 
 property (after a fashion of speaking) was a source of keen 
 pleasure to her. She had not liked to own it, even to herself, 
 but it had given her real satisfaction to note how little the 
 soldier seemed fascinated by Diana Conquest, who took most 
 people more or less by storm. She had never suggested to 
 him that she herself neither quite liked nor quite trusted the 
 brilliant girl who had made herself such a power in the place. 
 But York was far too keen an observer not to be well aware 
 of the faint and indefinable hostility between the pair, and to 
 watch it with some attention. 
 
 " Don't let her take you from me, Uncle Don ! " Stella once 
 burst out, with a sudden and most unwonted vehemence, as 
 the two slid down the stream one moonlit evening, after a 
 pleasant little musical gathering at Convent House. 
 
1 76 ZTbe IFUece ot JEstfoer 
 
 " My dear child, what do you mean ? " he answered. 
 
 "Don't you know what I mean? I should have thought 
 everybody must have seen it. She gets them all to be her 
 slaves, even Sir Humphrey quite an old man ! Can't you 
 see how she tries to fascinate him, how he can't help watching 
 her, making much of her, spoiling her in every way ? Archie 
 Vanborough is just over head and ears in love with her, and 
 she plays with him like a cat with a mouse ! She will never 
 give two thoughts to him, but she makes him think she is 
 quite fond of him. It's the same with all the boys at the 
 club ! Oh, I know it sounds horrid to say it ; but watch, and 
 you'll see it's true." 
 
 "True in a sense, Stella; but you are a little jaundiced 
 from your ignorance of life. If you had seen more of the 
 world you would know that what seems a really serious 
 flirtation perhaps to you (for want of a better word) is nothing 
 but the small change that passes as current coin amongst 
 young people in a more gay and fashionable world than yours. 
 They all know the game, and play it with more or less of 
 energy. Miss Conquest has that gift of fascination which is 
 quite indescribable, though we all feel it. She knows it, and 
 we all know it, and those boys ought to be able to take care of 
 themselves. There are plenty of them safety lies in numbers. 
 As for Archie, as I have seen him equally desperately in love two 
 or three times already within the compass of a few months, I 
 think you need not feel seriously disturbed on his account." 
 
 " I shan't care for anything if you won't let her get you 
 away, Uncle Don !" cried Stella; "but she is setting her cap 
 at you now. Oh, I know that is not a pretty way of putting it. 
 But don't be vexed with me ; I can see it, and I know what 
 that is like when it happens. She is so beautiful, and so 
 clever and quick, and one cannot help listening and watching 
 whether one wants to or not. And then, somehow the 
 mischief is done you can't tell how, and things are never the 
 same again." 
 
n Conquest JSent 177 
 
 Stella's face was in shadow ; but there was a sound as of 
 tears in her voice, and a bitterness which was foreign to the 
 habitual gentleness of her disposition. York had suspected 
 before this that Stella's life held a hidden trouble, and it 
 was not very long after this little episode upon the water 
 that he obtained an unexpected confirmation as to his 
 suspicions. 
 
 Rudolf had come home, and they were all dining at Bishop's 
 Hall a friendly little gathering of the immediate neighbours. 
 The dinner had gone off merrily. Music had followed. 
 Geraldine Hastings, the delicate girl seldom seen outside the 
 walls of home, had charmed them all by her sweet singing, 
 and Rudolf had a good voice which had been well trained. 
 Sally had manoeuvred that Stella should play some of his 
 accompaniments, as she had always done in old days. The 
 girl had a sympathetic touch, and if not a great musician, had 
 the gift of subordinating herself to the singer, and following 
 his lead. A few wrong notes she might perpetrate, nor was 
 she very quick at reading at sight ; but she had always been 
 Rudolfs accompanist in old days, and Sally was desirous of 
 seeing the old ways revived. 
 
 But suddenly Diana swooped down upon them. Stella was 
 bungling a little over a catchy modern accompaniment she 
 had never seen before. She was swept from the stool by the 
 impetuous young enthusiast, and Diana's clear, incisive grasp 
 of the phrasing brought a smile of approval to Rudolfs rather 
 clouded face. 
 
 Sally was lounging in an easy and ungraceful attitude on the 
 sofa, the other end of which was occupied by Colonel York. 
 He and she were on very friendly terms. She loved to draw 
 him out about the life he had led, and the things he had seen 
 and done. Possibly she had a clearer idea than anyone else 
 in the company what his adventurous and chequered career 
 had been like. This had engendered a certain pleasant 
 
 intimacy between them, and as they occupied a di.-tant corner 
 
 II 
 
1 78 Ube IFltece of Bstber Xpnne 
 
 of the room, beside an open window, there was no danger of 
 their being overheard in other quarters. 
 
 " There ! " exclaimed Sally, " that was just what I was afraid 
 of!" 
 
 " What ? " asked York, rousing up and looking round. 
 
 " Why, I wanted Stella to have a good time. And I wanted 
 Rudolf to appreciate her as he used to do once. She is a dear 
 little soul, with all her little cranks and fads. If he could only 
 cure her of a few of those, she would be just the right wife for 
 him, whatever the mater may think. Rudolf must have some- 
 body who admires him, and it would be better for him to marry 
 somebody with rather tight and scrupulous ideas. I can say 
 that to you, Colonel York, because you don't laugh at me 
 as other people do. I don't want Rudolf to marry a gay, 
 ambitious society woman. He's got enough ambition himself 
 for one mtnage. He wants a wife to love and admire him, but 
 who will use the brake rather than the whip. I've always wanted 
 it to be Stella, and once I thought it would." 
 
 York looked roused and interested. He remembered a very 
 faint suspicion which had entered his own head when Rudolf 
 had first spoken of Stella. He looked across the room at the 
 slim, white-clad figure, standing now somewhat pensively apart 
 with Geraldine, seemingly turning over music with her, but 
 covertly watching the pair at the piano. Diana occupied the 
 stool, Rudolf standing beside her. She was striking chords 
 and playing phrases, and he was watching her animated face 
 and strong, long fingers wandering over the keys. When he 
 began to sing there was a curious intensity in his voice. The 
 theme was an animated one love and war combined, and he 
 sang and she played as though one spirit animated them. 
 
 " You see how it is," Sally's voice at his elbow continued ; 
 " it has been so almost from the beginning. Stella doesn't seem 
 to get a look-in when Di is there. I can understand it, can't 
 you? When Di makes a set at me for anything, she just 
 sweeps me up I'd go to the world's end with her or for her. 
 
n Conquest Kent 179 
 
 But afterwards one wonders a bit how she does it. I've known 
 her a goodish spell now, and we're quite great friends as things 
 go ; but I haven't a notion whether she cares a red cent for 
 me, nor whether, if she chose to take herself off to the ends of 
 the earth suddenly, she'd ever give me so much as a thought 
 
 again ! " 
 
 York was a better listener than talker ; he made an expressive 
 gesture, but spoke no word. 
 
 " Now Stella, with all her little cranks and crazes, is staunch 
 all through. When you've got her, you've got her. She'll 
 never go back on you. That's why I want her for Rudolf. 
 She'd make him happier than a more brilliant woman I'm 
 quite sure of that. But something has come between them, 
 and how it'll end, goodness knows ! " 
 
 And Sally got up and lounged out through the window, 
 leaving York to his own meditations and observations. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 RUDOLF THE DIPLOMAT 
 
 " BE on our side, Rudolf, be on our side ! " cried Sally, 
 capering wildly, her boat-hook brandished with a dangerous 
 energy, which caused him to take a backward step, whilst 
 Diana firmly wrenched it from Sally's reluctant hands, and 
 threw it back into the boat they had just quitted. " If you'll 
 only fight our battle with the governor I mean with dad," 
 seeing the little crease which showed between Rudolf's eyes, 
 " I'm sure we should get him over. Di can generally turn 
 him round her little finger ; but he's a bit stubborn over this. 
 Be on our side there's a beamish boy ! Dad always listens 
 to what you've got to say." 
 
 " Of course he will be on our side, Sally," spoke Diana, 
 with her queenly assurance, as she turned her brilliant glance 
 upon Rudolf. " What is he our captain and coach for, if not 
 to be our champion, too ? What do you think of your crew, 
 sir, after your fortnight of serious coaching ? Do we not do 
 you credit ? And shall we not bring you fame and kudos in 
 a wider sphere ? " 
 
 For Rudolf, since his return, had thrown himself with much 
 zest and energy into the water pastimes which he found in full 
 swing. In his Oxford days he had been stroke of his college 
 eight for some while, and had come near to being numbered 
 amongst the 'Varsity Blues, though never having actually 
 attained that distinction. He was, however, an excellent 
 oar, and extremely deft and clever with the paddle or any 
 other propeller. Finding the girls full of eager enthusiasm 
 
 1 80 
 
tbe Diplomat 181 
 
 over their practice in a light little, out-rigged four-oar, which 
 Sir Humphrey had presented to the club, he had constituted 
 himself their coach, and had run or ridden or cycled along the 
 riverside path almost daily, inculcating instruction, and striving 
 to accustom his crew to a longer, a stronger, a more rhythmical 
 stroke, and to throw their weight upon the oar instead of 
 contenting themselves with mere arm-rowing, such as is 
 common with girls ; and so quick had Diana and Sally been 
 to assimilate his instructions, that already an immense advance 
 had been made in speed and appearance, and the girls were 
 eagerly conscious of their advance in proficiency, and growing 
 in ambition and the desire to excel. 
 
 And now, when something had really been attained, and 
 Rudolf had been more satisfied and complimentary than he 
 had permitted himself to be at first (Diana had liked him all 
 the better for his candid criticisms and sharp rebukes at the 
 commencement of the practice), they broached for the first 
 time the subject which had been engrossing them more or less 
 through the summer, and which now must be decided quickly 
 one way or the other. 
 
 Sally broke out before Rudolf could frame his question. 
 
 " The regatta, Rudolf, the regatta ! You know all about 
 it ! At Cleeport the August regatta. It is coming quite 
 near now. And there's one race open for women a four-oar, 
 you know. And the Cleeport girls, who have a sort of a club, 
 and boat a good bit, are going in, and they have almost 
 challenged us since we started our club. They awfully want 
 us to enter, and we are dying to. They think they will lick us 
 into fits, and we think we can knock spots out of them. And 
 we're just dying to have it out with them ; but dad you know 
 what he is " 
 
 " He is perfectly fascinating a real treasure of a Squire ! " 
 broke in Diana, in her imperious way. " I won't have a word 
 spoken against such a delightful survival as your father, Sally ! " 
 She turned to Rudolf with her indescribable air of camaraderie 
 
182 trbe fftiece of lEstbet 
 
 and good fellowship, a laugh in her eyes, an arch smile upon 
 her lips, and she finished her speech to him. " Sally does not 
 know what she possesses in such a father. She doesn't 
 understand that if he were not what he is, Cleethorpe would be 
 spoiled out of knowledge in about two two's ; I'll back the 
 Squire all I know even if we do have to put up with a bit of a 
 disappointment now and again. But if you'll take our part in 
 this one thing, I believe amongst us we might square him, 
 and even induce him to take an interest and a pride in our 
 performance." 
 
 Rudolf began to understand. 
 
 " You girls want to enter your four-oar for this regatta, and 
 my father is against it ? Is that so ? " 
 
 " Yes," cried Sally ; " he says he won't have daughters of his 
 making themselves a show to be stared at by all the bounders 
 and clodhoppers of the neighbourhood, and the rowdy riff-raff 
 of Cleeport. You just know the sort of thing he would say, 
 Rudolf ! And it's no use trying to get a word in edgeways 
 when he's off on his high-horse like that. He won't let us 
 have a regatta of our own as we intended though we may 
 have a water-party sometimes if we like, and have games and 
 races amongst ourselves, and so on. But that's all so 
 amateurish. We want to enter for the regatta. Do be on 
 our side, there's a darling boy ! Diana wants it as much as 
 anybody don't you, Di ? " 
 
 '* Of course I do. I'm very proud of my four, and Mr. 
 Hastings is such a diplomat, as well as such a boating 
 enthusiast, that he is going to fight our battle for us with 
 the Squire. You will be able to explain to him that things 
 are not quite as he thinks, and that we shall not sink to the 
 level of pugilists and prize-fighters by entering ourselves for 
 the * ladies' ' race at the Cleeport Regatta. It really is to be 
 for ladies not fishwives, as in some places. A crew is coming 
 over from Stillwater one of Lord Greystone's daughters is 
 captain and stroke, and the Cleeport girls, all of them come 
 
tbe Diplomat 183 
 
 from the same sort of homes as our own. They have two 
 crews, and they are set on our competing against them. 
 There is a nice little local rivalry, and if we don't come up 
 to the scratch they will think it is because we are afraid of 
 being beaten." 
 
 " Oh, we must go, we must go ! " cried Sally, in an agony of 
 emulation. " I know we shall beat them. We were every bit 
 as good as they before I've been over to watch them surrep- 
 titiously, and they're none such great shakes. And now that 
 we've got on so with your coaching, Rudolf, why, we should 
 just walk away from them ! It'll be pretty well a row over for 
 us ! Oh, it would be a shame not to enter ! " 
 
 " Keep your hair on, Sally," said Rudolf good-humouredly. 
 " I'll have a talk with the powers that be, and see if the 
 objections can be overcome. Mind you, I've a certain sort 
 of sympathy with my father's view of the case " 
 
 " So have I, 1 ' suddenly spoke Diana. " And if we could 
 hold back the pace of the world a bit, I'd really not mind 
 much. But we can't, and it's precious little good trying; 
 and it only leaves us stranded to try too much. That's 
 how I feel about things. I must be in the swim. 
 The water may be a bit turbid and foul, but I can't stand 
 the feeling of being out of the current ; I want the 
 feeling of the great flood of life all about and round me, 
 bearing me along never mind exactly where, so long as one is 
 on the crest of the wave. Do you know what I mean ? " 
 
 For Rudolfs eyes had flashed back an expressive apprecia- 
 tion ; and now he spoke in a strangely earnest way : 
 
 " Do I know ? Do I not know, indeed ! You have just 
 voiced the innermost thought of my heart, Miss Conquest. 
 Are you going home ? Let me see you to the house I want 
 to pay Miss Lynne a visit ; I always feel that I get ideas by 
 exchanging them with her. Do you know she is a very 
 remarkable woman, though so quiet and unassuming. I 
 sometimes feel that had her lot been differently cast, she 
 
1 84 Ube IFUece of Bstbeu Xgnne 
 
 might have been a power in a very different world from 
 this." 
 
 " Can women be a power in the great world of of well, 
 politics and diplomacy?" asked Diana eagerly, as they 
 pursued their way together through the shrubberies and 
 towards the house, leaving Sally to take her own way home as 
 she would, by water or land. 
 
 " I should think she could ! " answered Rudolf instantly, 
 flashing a rather curious glance at the girl beside him, so regal 
 in her air, so instinct with vitality, beauty, and individuality. 
 " I often think that a clever and tactful and observant woman, 
 well-informed, and with the facilities for knowing something of 
 the under-currents of party strife, might be an immense power, 
 and make herself something of a society queen. But so often 
 women's energies and ambitions go to other and more trivial 
 ends, and the chance is lost." 
 
 " Tell me more what you mean," spoke Di, with a touch of 
 imperiousness in her voice. 
 
 Rudolf, nothing loath, obeyed. He spoke well, with 
 trenchant, telling phrase and apt illustration. The world of 
 politics and of diplomacy had its grip upon him. He was in 
 the heart of the strife, and he knew much of men and things, 
 and could throw illuminating side-lights on half the subjects 
 which were stirring the minds of thinkers. Diana was not a 
 student of any of these things, but she read the paper in a deep, 
 rapid, and intelligent way, and discussed matters with Esther 
 more at leisure. She had quick intuitions, and was swift to 
 grasp the leading points in an argument, and extract the 
 kernel of the problem. She was never afraid of asking a 
 question which might show ignorance, or of betraying her 
 ignorance where she did not know. Her felicitous questions 
 struck Rudolf to-day, as they had struck him many times 
 before. She seemed to go straight to the crux of the matter, 
 whatever it might be, and sweep aside any tangle of sophistry 
 with an unconscious acumen which delighted him. 
 
tbe Diplomat 185 
 
 He stayed somewhat long at Convent House that day, 
 talking with aunt and niece. They sat in the shady, cloistered 
 garden, and Diana moved hither and thither sometimes, 
 unable for too long to remain stationary; and it seemed to 
 him as though the sunshine followed her about as she moved, 
 whilst the very birds of the air knew and loved her, and at her 
 call would circle and wheel around her as she stood scattering 
 grain, many of the bolder ones perching upon her hands or 
 head or shoulder, and taking it from her fingers or lips. 
 
 She was like the very embodiment of summer, in her 
 exuberant vitality and radiant beauty. When he was gone, 
 Esther sat looking thoughtfully before her for some while, till 
 Diana came skimming towards her, and with her graceful 
 abandonment of movement, flung herself along the ground 
 at her feet. 
 
 " Well, Esther, and what do you make of him ? " 
 
 " I always think that Rudolf Hastings will make his mark 
 in the world. I have thought it since he was a boy." 
 
 " Yes, a mark ; but what sort of a mark ? Will it be a real 
 big splasn that will make the world stare at him, and his name 
 known in a widening circle ? Or will it just be the mark of 
 the useful party man, who can be trusted to do good work ; 
 but who never gets up to the top of the ladder ? " 
 
 "Ah, Di who can read the future to that extent?" 
 
 "Ah, that's just it! And I want to read the future! I 
 want to know ! That's the tiresome part of it, you see, 
 Esther ! How can one be sure of anything ? I like the men 
 that succeed ! Look at your Sir Humphrey he reached the 
 top of his own tree. They all say he was unique in his own 
 way. But before men can do that they are old. Ever so 
 charming and fascinating, lots of them keep, but still old. 
 And the young ones so many of them promise so well ; and 
 somehow it seems to begin and end there. Either they lose 
 their chance, or they muff it, or they get shouldered aside in 
 the race, and one hears no more of them. That's the puzzle 
 
i $6 tlfoe Irtfece of JSstber Xgnne 
 
 of it all one cannot tell what it is going to be. And if you 
 wait to see why, you grow old yourself in waiting ! " 
 
 Esther partly understood. She had not watched Di all 
 these months with the loving insight of her observant nature, 
 without having gained a considerable knowledge of her some- 
 what complex character. If there were certain things which she 
 never guessed at, certain reservations which she had never 
 probed, she at least was not unaware of many of Diana's 
 temptations and foibles. Now she put her hand out gently 
 and stroked the golden head against her knee, saying : 
 
 " My dear child, you will learn as you grow older and wiser 
 that it is not mere success which makes the happiness of life. 
 You forget that it is love, as the old song says, that makes 
 the world go round j the rest may or may not come. I do not 
 think it always makes for happiness when it does. But true 
 and earnest and unselfish love is its own crown and its own 
 reward. Wait till that comes to you, my darling child, and 
 you will find that all the other things fall into rank without 
 any trouble or calculation. When it comes you will know how 
 to value it, and it will simplify everything. It is an old- 
 fashioned doctrine, I know, but it is none the less true for 
 that." 
 
 Diana put up her hand and took that of Esther, and held it 
 fast, but she kept her face turned away nevertheless. 
 
 " That was the old way, and it answered in the old days, 
 when women were old-fashioned darlings, and believed in 
 men, and fell in love, as a matter of course, and generally 
 managed to go on adoring their bargains though even then 
 I'm not sure that all the love matches turned out so remarkably 
 well. But don't you know that we modern girls don't fall in 
 love? We rather despise men. We think ourselves every 
 bit as good as they and rather better ! Men don't marry as 
 young as they did, because they can't, as a rule, afford it, 
 and the girls grow up to be women and they lose their 
 illusions 3 and don't care so much about marrying not if they 
 
IRuboIf tbe diplomat 187 
 
 can have their own independence without. It's easy to fall in 
 love at seventeen and eighteen and up to twenty. I did it 
 myself in a sort of way. I found it quite natural to get up 
 romantic attachments for the boys that came along. But it's a 
 vastly different matter now. I'm five - and - twenty, and I 
 know too much to be caught easily. Men are very good as 
 friends and companions. I like them, and they like me. 
 But to take one of them altogether for better, for worse ! I 
 should be horribly afraid it would be for worse. That's just 
 the worry of it ! " 
 
 Esther was silent awhile. She understood in measure, and 
 yet to her love had been the one glorious and perfect thing in 
 her whole life. She had given it in her early maidenhood, 
 and she had never had cause to withdraw it. Whether as love 
 or as friendship, it had been without flaw ; the crown of her 
 life, though it had been a source of pain as well as of joy. 
 Her heart had always safely trusted in the great heart of the 
 man who had through life been dearest to her. What the 
 consummation of that faithful attachment would be she did 
 not know yet, nor did she closely question. She was 
 content in the present, and asked no hostages of the future. 
 The restless, calculating spirit of her niece troubled her 
 vaguely, as one of the signs of the times which she observed 
 without fully comprehending. Diana seemed so joyous, so 
 heart-whole, so young and gay for the most part, that Esther 
 watched her with a sense of pure delight. When now and 
 again she noted under-currents which indicated a troubling of 
 the waters, and a strife of spirit which she could not entirely 
 understand, she felt the stirrings of anxiety, and yet knew not 
 how best to deal with the girl's ardent nature, save by giving 
 to her unqualified love and sympathy. She was very certain 
 that Rudolf Hastings was deeply smitten by the personal 
 charm of her niece, and she had almost fancied when she saw 
 them together that the girl's heart was also drawn towards him ; 
 but if ambition rather than affection were the compelling 
 
1 88 zrbe Ittfece of lEstbet %snne 
 
 power, would that be likely to make for the best happiness 
 of either ? 
 
 Next day Rudolf appeared early, with Sally in his wake a 
 beaming and ecstatic Sally, who hurled herself out of the 
 boat with a perilous vehemence, exclaiming : 
 
 " It's all right ; it's all right ! Dad has given way. Rudolf 
 has bested him ! We may have our race ; we may enter 
 ourselves when we like ! And now we've got to make up our 
 mind about our crew ; for we mustn't have any rubbish in our 
 boat, just for sentimental reasons ! " 
 
 A very earnest and animated discussion now commenced, 
 in which many appeals were made to Rudolf, who, bright- 
 eyed and alert, was throwing himself keenly into the matter 
 which seemed near to the heart of Diana. She was the stroke 
 and captain of the boat, and Sally rowed behind her. Diana 
 had suggested that her weight was rather great for stroke seat, 
 and had offered to change with Sally ; but no one would hear 
 of the alteration. It was Di's long reach and perfect steadiness 
 which were the chiefest elements of probable victory. Di was 
 never nervous, never flurried, never lacking in cool confidence 
 in herself. Her superb strength and her grace and finish alike 
 made her conspicuous in any crew, whilst Sally, who could be 
 trusted to row like a Trojan behind an able stroke, would 
 never keep her head, had she the responsibility of judging and 
 setting it. 
 
 Geraldine was coxswain of the boat, being at once small and 
 light and quick of eye. She had really roused up to take an 
 interest in this new outdoor pursuit, and had grown stronger 
 in consequence. It was this benefit to Geraldine which had 
 won over Lady Caroline to the new pastime of her energetic 
 daughter, and she had actually raised no objections to the 
 entry for the regatta, when once the Squire had been conquered 
 by the diplomacy and tact of Rudolf. 
 
 Millicent Ballard, the doctor's daughter, and Stella Sinclair 
 had been most frequently the other two oars in the practice, 
 
Rufcolf tbe diplomat 189 
 
 because they were most accessible when wanted quickly. But 
 several of the more distant members had often rowed behind 
 Di and Sally, and it was a matter of some importance now to 
 select the best material which was available for the race, which 
 was likely to be somewhat closely contested. 
 
 " I don't think Stella is good enough," said Sally decidedly. 
 " I don't even know that she'd care to be tried for the race ; 
 but I wouldn't have her, if I were you, Di. She's a pretty 
 way of rowing, but she puts precious little back into it. It's 
 all very well for ornamental paddling, but when we get to racing, 
 that's quite another pair of shoes." 
 
 " Yes," spoke Rudolf, with some decision, " I don't think 
 Stella is strong enough, and we can't depend upon her suffi- 
 ciently for the practices. If anything happened in the parish 
 or at home, of course she would have to attend first to that. 
 We ought to have girls with a larger command of their time. 
 And I doubt whether she would even care for the place if it 
 were offered." 
 
 Truth to tell, Rudolf did not desire just at this juncture to 
 be thrown too frequently into the company of Stella. He was 
 somewhat displeased at the treatment he had received from her, 
 and though he was swiftly reaching the conclusion that their 
 youthful affection had not been more than a boy-and-girl 
 affair, it had, nevertheless, hurt him in the rupture more than 
 he altogether understood. He never saw her without a curious 
 and uncomfortable thrill, and just now he had no desire to 
 have her brought prominently before him. Sally thought only 
 of the composition of the boat ; she did not mix things up in 
 her wholesome, concrete mind. She wanted Rudolf to marry 
 Stella, but she did not want Stella to spoil the race, either by 
 nervousness or lack of muscle. She never, in fact, saw any 
 connection between the two, and was eager to bring over some 
 few of their best u men," as she was pleased to call them, for 
 Rudolf to select from. 
 
 " I'll go out if I'm not good enough," she said heroically ; 
 
190 Ube flfece of JEstber Xsune 
 
 but Di patted her on the back and told her that she would 
 have nobody else behind her. Sally could always be trusted 
 for backing up any spurt most loyally, whilst her strength was 
 equal to Di's, and they pulled evenly one against the other. 
 The remaining two should be selected from other members of 
 the club near enough to attend the practices regularly ; but 
 about Diana and Sally no doubt existed in any minds. 
 
 Stella heard of her own disqualification quite quietly, and 
 made no remark when Sally came and told her she was not 
 thought either quite strong enough or quite sufficiently to be 
 depended on for the place. She did not particularly desire to 
 row in the regatta ; but for all that, she was conscious of a little 
 thrill of pain and hurt feeling at being passed over without 
 even a trial. 
 
 " It is Di's doing, I know," she said to herself. " She does 
 not like me, and she wants Rudolf all to herself. He is to be 
 the next. I wonder how many more. If she cared for him 
 if she would make him happy I would not mind. I want 
 him to be happy I would give up everything for that. But I 
 do not believe he is anything to her save just another slave 
 another arrow in her quiver. Oh, it is a horrible thing to see 
 a woman going on so ! Sometimes I am afraid she is even 
 coming between Miss Lynne and Sir Humphrey. Men are 
 so blind where a beautiful woman is concerned ; and she is 
 beautiful, though I do not think there is much behind. I 
 hope I am not growing jealous or bitter ; but sometimes I do 
 feel it rather hard. He would not have kept away, I think, as 
 he has done lately, if it had not been for her." 
 
 Stella, passing to and fro in the village, saw a good deal of 
 the practice of the boat, and of Rudolf coaching the girls, 
 both in the four-oar and separately in pairs, he steering them 
 in this latter practice. He, as coach, and Diana, as captain and 
 stroke, were thrown constantly together. Stella saw them thus 
 time after time, and noted the easy intimacy which had sprung 
 up between them. She saw something new stealing into 
 
IRufcolf tbc Btplomat 191 
 
 Rudolfs manner an indefinable air of mastership and 
 command, which perhaps was the result of his position 
 towards the girls, but which Stella could not but fancy had 
 its roots in some deeper sentiment. 
 
 Rumour was rife through the village, and really it seemed 
 not without cause. The Squire's son was a great favourite, 
 and it was about time he should think of marriage ; and who 
 more suitable than the beautiful and wealthy maiden who 
 had made for herself such a warm place in the hearts of the 
 Cleethorpe people ? 
 
 " It'll be a match before very long, you'll see," said the old 
 folks; and Stella, with a strange pang at heart, wondered 
 whether indeed it might not. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE FLOOD-TIDE OF TRIUMPH 
 
 THE regatta had come and gone. Diana's crew of girls at 
 Cleethorpe had vanquished all rivals. Her own masterly 
 rowing, combined with clear judgment and remarkable self- 
 control in moments of excitement, had carried all before it. 
 The race had been rowed in heats, and on one occasion a foul 
 had only been avoided by Diana's quickness of eye and clear 
 commands to the coxswain, whilst the rival boat, which had 
 tried to take a rather mean advantage round the bend of the 
 river, had been splendidly beaten by sheer good rowing during 
 the final hundred yards. The shouts of applause had been 
 good to hear, and Di was the observed of all observers that 
 day. 
 
 Her stately height, her remarkable beauty, the rumours of 
 her wealth and position, and the speculations concerning her 
 future, all served to make of her an object of special interest 
 to the inhabitants of the district. The girl knew this perfectly, 
 and rejoiced in the sense of power which even this small 
 triumph had won for her. It seemed to her an earnest of 
 that which lay beyond, which she was reaching forward after 
 with all the strenuous purpose of her eager nature. She was 
 quick to hear and quick to note. She was perfectly aware 
 that her name was linked with that of Sir Humphrey 
 Vanborough in some quarters, with that of Rudolf Hastings 
 in others. Some speculated whether young Mr. Vanborough 
 might not be the favoured aspirant, and others watched the 
 advances of the many young fellows of the locality who made 
 
 192 
 
jflooMifce of Uriumpb 193 
 
 her little court, and asked whether one of these might not, 
 after all, win the prize. 
 
 But the girl herself made no sign. She held the balances 
 with a bewildering impartiality. Homage she received as 
 naturally as though she were a queen upon her throne. 
 Towards the elder men, such as the Squire and Sir 
 Humphrey, there was in her manner a touch of pretty 
 deference and arch playfulness, as though towards them she 
 was not afraid or unwilling to show favour and liking ; but for 
 all that, no one, not even Esther Lynne herself, who watched 
 her with loving eyes and sometimes a slightly anxious heart, 
 could guess at those deeper feelings and purposes which 
 must almost of necessity in such a nature as that underlie 
 the surface charm and brilliance. 
 
 The girls regarded her with a generous admiration, scarcely 
 touched by jealousy. She managed to hold their friendship 
 and attachment, even though reigning as a queen in their 
 midst. Some few held a little aloof. There were here and 
 there to be found those who spoke of her as heartless and a 
 flirt. But for the most part she laid her spell upon all with 
 whom she came in contact, and she appeared as well pleased 
 with the adulation and admiration of the girls as with that of 
 the other sex. She never seemed to make the smallest effort 
 to win masculine regard. She simply accepted it when offered 
 in a spirit of open camaraderie^ which was at once her chiefest 
 charm and the chiefest peril to those who approached. 
 
 Even the Squire had been almost won over at the last to 
 some enthusiasm about the race, and had driven over the 
 Cleethorpe party in his own four-in-hand, which was only 
 used on very special occasions. Sir Humphrey had also 
 come to the fore, having had a great marquee erected in a 
 meadow adjacent to the race-course, and inviting to lunch and 
 tea all the ladies who had been engaged in the aquatic 
 contests, as well as his own friends and neighbours from 
 Cleethorpe and its vicinity. Esther Lynne and Diana helped 
 
194 Ube Btcce of Bstbet 
 
 to do the honours of the entertainment for him, and most 
 merrily did all go off. Interest and excitement were further 
 stimulated by the appearance of a Hindoo juggler, who found 
 his way into the meadow, and salaaming deeply before Sir 
 Humphrey, petitioned to be permitted to show his skill in the 
 sight of the ladies there assembled. Sir Humphrey conversed 
 a little with the man in his own tongue. Cleeport, being a 
 seaport town, often received visits from dark-skinned denizens 
 of other lands. It was nothing very remarkable to see 
 Lascars, Arabs, negroes, or natives of India walking its streets 
 or lounging upon the quay. Sir Humphrey was eagerly beset 
 by the ladies of the party to let them see what the man could 
 do, and he smilingly assented, and gave the needful permission, 
 which was received with a deep salaam of respect. 
 
 The tricks (which included some serpent charming) were of 
 the sort which are common enough in India, and excited no 
 wonder from the men who were familiar with them, but which 
 held the rest of the company spell-bound and entranced. For 
 out in the open meadow, without the possibility of artificial aid 
 or trickery, there seemed something fearful and uncanny in the 
 things they saw, and Diana gazed with the rest, fascinated by 
 wonder and doubt. Her eyes were so quick ; she had such 
 confidence in her powers of observation, that she had felt 
 almost that she would be able to detect and expose the 
 subtle trickery which must be employed. Then, when she 
 found herself nonplussed, she felt a momentary irritation and 
 impatience. Her gaze wandered from the dark-skinned man 
 to the ring of faces about him, and was suddenly arrested by 
 the peculiar light she saw in York's deep-set eyes. His glance 
 was fixed so earnestly upon the man that she was almost 
 startled by the intensity of his gaze. It was not the clever 
 trickery of those slim, rapidly-moving hands which so engrossed 
 him ; of that she was sure. He was studying the whole aspect 
 and countenance of the conjurer, his brows drawn together in 
 a slight frown, his lips compressed, his face tense. 
 
tlbe Jfloofc^tifce of Vriumpb 195 
 
 Suddenly there leapt back into Diana's mind the memory of 
 that confidence he had once made to her. He had spoken of 
 some possible peril menacing Sir Humphrey Vanborough, and 
 had connected it with some plot of Oriental origin. Since her 
 own escapade of playing ghost, not a glimpse of the apparition 
 had been seen, so far as she was aware, by any person in 
 Cleethorpe. The villagers had been satisfied that what they 
 had hitherto seen was "just the young lady having her bit of 
 a game." It had never occurred to them that it had not 
 been Diana all along, and she held her peace. But, at any 
 rate, the former ghost seemed to have ceased its nocturnal 
 prowlings. No one had caught so much as a glimpse of it, 
 and Diana had forgotten in the pressure of recent events even 
 those vague fears which York's words had once awakened. 
 But as she watched the expression of his face at this minute, 
 the memory of it all came back upon her with a curious 
 insistency. 
 
 She turned and gazed at the juggler again. The dark face, 
 the white turban what did it suggest to her mind ? If such 
 a creature as that were shrouded in some enveloping cloak, 
 would he not produce very much the same impression as a 
 coifed nun the white wrapping of the head, the dark nothing- 
 ness of the face beneath, and the vague, shrouded figure of 
 indistinct outline ? 
 
 Could it be possible that such an interloper as that had 
 found entrance into Nun's Bower even before the owner 
 returned, and was lying in ambush there for him, so to speak ? 
 At the very thought of anything so strange and uncanny 
 Diana's flesh crept. And yet, had she not been certain that 
 something was gliding through the lower gallery that day, when 
 she had been looking down from the upper one ? And were 
 not both she and others occasionally possessed by the strange 
 sensation of not being alone in certain rooms or, at least, in 
 one room of that house ? Were such things possible in this 
 twentieth century ? Were men still shadowed, and their safety 
 
196 OTe IRtece of Estber Xgnne 
 
 perhaps endangered through some mysterious blood feud, dating 
 back for long generations perhaps, and transferred at last to the 
 agent of the law who had brought condign punishment upon 
 certain of the offenders ? It was a rather terrible thought, but 
 it might be so, if York were right. The tense expression on his 
 face seemed to indicate that his thoughts were travelling in 
 this direction. And suddenly, at that moment, their eyes met, 
 and a look of mutual comprehension was flashed between 
 them. Then York's face became impenetrable as a mask, 
 and she felt that she would learn nothing from him, charm 
 she never so wisely. 
 
 The Hindoo was rising and making his salaams prior to 
 taking his departure. He was informing Sir Humphrey that 
 he was his father and mother, and the protector of the poor, 
 and a variety of other things, and as Archie Vanborough, who 
 had picked up the current phrases of this sort of palaver, 
 translated it aloud to the ladies, it evoked peals of merriment 
 from them, in which Diana herself joined. 
 
 It was growing late now, the horses were already put to, 
 and the party, with much laughter and many mutual congratu- 
 lations and hopes for another merry meeting ere long, were 
 bidding each other adieu. 
 
 Very soon Diana was mounted beside Rudolf on the box- 
 seat of the drag, the Squire having surrendered the reins to 
 his son, and Di being eager to ringer the ribbons herself, as 
 soon as they should be clear of the town and its traffic. She 
 had not been asked to do this on the drive out, as she had to 
 husband her strength for what lay before her, and run no risk 
 of an unexpected wrench or strain. But now she was free to 
 do as she would, and before long she and Rudolf had changed 
 places, and she had the fine team of bays well in hand, 
 swinging along the road home at a ten-mile-an-hour trot, 
 Rudolf sitting beside her with a wary eye upon horses and 
 driver, but his thoughts chiefly concentrated upon the 
 latter. 
 
Ube jfloo&*ttfce of tttiumpb 197 
 
 Laughter and talk arose from behind. Archie and Sally 
 were in great form, exchanging chaff and banter together. 
 Sir Humphrey's genial presence was always felt as an addition 
 to any company. He and Esther sat together, and each had 
 something to contribute to the enlivenment of the party. The 
 Squire himself was like a boy out on a holiday. He was 
 proud of both his "little girls" now that his prejudices 
 had been conquered. He declared that it was all very 
 foolish and not very becoming, but that being granted, he had 
 liked to see the way in which Sally had done her part in the 
 races, and the judgment and skill shown by Geraldine in the 
 steering. Of course, Diana had been the heroine of the 
 occasion ; but the Squire's daughters had backed her 
 excellently, and they had quite done their part to ensure the 
 victory upon which their captain had set her heart. 
 
 Diana's eyes were very bright as she looked now and again 
 sideways at Rudolf. 
 
 " I hope you are proud of your crew," she said. " I think 
 you are the only person who has not said pretty things to me ! 
 Have you any fault to find with our form, even though we 
 carried off the palm of victory ? Do not be afraid to say so if 
 you have. I like to be praised ; but I hate flummery. If you 
 have any criticism to offer, don't keep it back. Let us have 
 it out, and we will do better in the future." 
 
 "It's not that," he said, in a rather peculiar voice; "it's 
 that I'm afraid if I once begin to speak I shall not know 
 where to leave off. That is what I am afraid of ! " 
 
 The flush which exertion, triumph, excitement and pleasure 
 had painted upon Diana's cheeks to-day deepened very slightly 
 before the ardent gaze of Rudolfs eyes. 
 
 " Really, I did not know we were as bad as all that ! " she 
 cried gaily, lightly flicking the off leader with her whip \ " I 
 must call together our crew and inform them of the terrible 
 lecture in store for them. I don't think I can face it all alone. 
 I must wait for my supporters ! " 
 
198 ZTbe IFUece of ]0tber l#nne 
 
 Rudolf observed her quietly as he made reply : 
 
 "You know that is not my meaning; you know you did 
 well excellently. But you know, I think, that if I were to 
 try and begin to praise you to say what I thought about you 
 I should not know where or when to stop. Diana, will you 
 let me try ? " 
 
 He bent a little nearer to her in the dusk. The girl felt her 
 heart throb ; but she knew there were other eyes behind her. 
 Was not Stella somewhere in the rear? Sir Humphrey, too, 
 and others who might be watching them who might be keen 
 to note the significance of any very earnest talk. She was con- 
 scious in a moment that though she liked to know that Rudolf 
 loved her, she did not wish him to come to the point. Their 
 friendship was very pleasant to her. Perhaps some day she 
 did not know yet it might be that he was the man who 
 would be able to give her that which she chiefly wanted. But 
 she was not sure. She did not intend to be hurried. There 
 was so much to think of before any irrevocable words were 
 spoken. Certainly she did not wish to send him away ; 
 but neither did she desire to commit herself too much. 
 
 " I like you to praise me," she said, flashing a smile at him, 
 frank and pleasant and sweet; "we were friends from the 
 first, were we not? And you have been just delightful all 
 this time our best champion and friend. Don't let us spoil 
 that by too much soft sawder. I like you best when you abuse 
 us a little. I like spice with my cakes, and salt with my meat. 
 Now look at that mare the near wheeler. Do you think she 
 is going to bolt ? She's got her ears laid back very flat. 
 Something is coming into her head. What do you think it 
 is?" 
 
 " She hears a motor-car coming behind ; that's what annoys 
 her. She is like some others of her sex, she likes to be first. 
 She can't endure being passed; she always tries to race 
 motors. Shall I take the ribbons till the snorting abomination 
 has gone by ? " 
 
jflooMifce of ttriumpb 199 
 
 Diana yielded them up ; not that she was nervous in the 
 least, or doubted her powers of control. But there were 
 moods of hers when she felt that it was more graceful and 
 more attractive to show consciousness of the superior powers 
 of mankind. She leaned back in her seat and looked behind 
 at the approaching motor-car, and at the rest of the company. 
 
 " Now, Squire, here comes one of your deadly foes. Do let 
 us hear one of your best sermons delivered in your best style ! " 
 she cried, with her sauciest and archest laugh. " I'm thinking 
 of setting up a motor-car myself, and being my own driver and 
 engineer " 
 
 "Really, my dear! Well, in that case, I think we had 
 better all of us bespeak our graves in the churchyard. 
 It's getting rather full, you know, and they might wish to 
 consider the question as to the enlargement which would 
 then become advisable. Steady, lassie, steady. There, 
 there, now, it's all safely over. Phew ! what a disgusting reek 
 it leaves behind ! " 
 
 "Then, Squire, if I'm not to have a motor-car without 
 becoming the butt of so many insults, you'll really have to 
 find me some horses. I feel like settling down here for the 
 winter, if Esther will keep me, and I must have something to 
 ride. You know you are pledged to teach me to hunt, and I 
 suppose I can't hunt on a motor-car " 
 
 " Some fellows think they can ! " snorted the Squire, in 
 sudden wrath ; " and more will do so as time goes on, 
 you'll see ! Cover fifty miles or more on their stinking 
 abominations, scare the horses to death, and go tearing like 
 hell-hounds let loose all over the place, getting some yokels to 
 tell them the likely spots to cut into the hunt, and spoiling 
 the whole run for the real sportsmen. You never know when 
 you cross a road whether you won't find a dozen of these 
 snorting monsters lying in wait. Hunters aren't used to them 
 as harness horses have to be. They don't understand them, 
 and baulk and get nervous and unmanageable, and lose the 
 
200 ube IFltece of Estber %nne 
 
 enthusiasm of the run, as their riders do. I call it a scandal 
 and a prostitution of sport. I'd like to " And the Squire, 
 being well started, launched forth, whilst Diana turned with 
 laughing eyes back to Rudolf. 
 
 " I do love your father ! " she cried ; " I could listen 
 to him for ever. I would like to take him a trip over the 
 pond, and let him speak his mind to the Yanks, It would be 
 just improving to hear him at it ! " 
 
 There was no chance after that for Rudolf to pursue the 
 theme he had been suddenly surprised into starting. He had 
 himself well in hand, and understood at once that Diana was 
 not yet ready to surrender her liberty to anybody. He could 
 not wonder at it. He did not wish to hurry her, to rush her 
 into any step she might afterwards regret having taken. He 
 wanted her immensely, but he kept a level head, and knew 
 that others were running him hard in the race. He felt he 
 was better worth the prize than many of these. He believed 
 that Diana would herself become more and more aware of 
 this. Rudolf intended to be a man with a career not just 
 a country squire like his father, or a man of means and leisure, 
 such as some of those who followed in the train of the beauty. 
 He meant to do something with his life. Already he saw 
 looming before him the prospects of a Parliamentary career. 
 He would certainly be put up sooner or later as a candidate 
 for some constituency. When that chance occurred he meant 
 to work it for all he knew. He believed that this girl would 
 be his warmest and chiefest ally. She was just such a wife as 
 a rising politician needed. She was interested already in the 
 world in which he moved. He would win her to greater 
 interest yet. He thought he saw his way before him, and he 
 could afford to wait. But he did not mean to be beaten, and 
 he did not think he should be. 
 
 It was a week of triumph for Diana. Two days later the 
 water-party at Bishop's Hall was held, and the girl carried off 
 prize after prize in the mimic contests, though she often 
 
fflooMibe of ttriumpb *<>t 
 
 gracefully declined the real concrete prize, being amply 
 satisfied with her victory, and insisting that the second 
 candidate should receive it instead. 
 
 " It is not fair," she would say ; " I ought to be handicapped 
 I am such a hulker ! Of course, I have longer reach and 
 more muscle. And I have so much more time and oppor- 
 tunity to practise. It isn't fair that I should take everything. 
 It's not really that I'm any better, only I'm built like a man 
 and ought to be handicapped as though I were one ! " 
 
 They laughed at this designation of herself ; but her strong 
 will carried the day, and the prizes were thus fairly evenly 
 divided amongst the different competitors, and Sir Humphrey, 
 who watched Esther dispensing them towards the close of the 
 day, regarded Diana with kindly glances, and said, as she 
 joined him at the close of proceedings for a stroll round the 
 gardens : 
 
 " That was prettily done on your part, my dear. You have 
 made a great many young things very happy to-day." 
 
 " Ah, but it would have been horrid of me to take all the 
 prizes. I should have been so ashamed ! I do like to be 
 first I sometimes wonder whether that may not be my 
 besetting sin. I like to feel that I do the thing best, and am 
 liked the best, and admired the most ! But that is quite 
 enough for me. I don't want all the real solid prizes too. I 
 consider I have quite my fair share and more of the good 
 things of this world. It is the kudos I want not the prize- 
 money if you know what I mean. Tell me, do you think 
 that sort of feeling is wrong ? I have it sometimes so strongly 
 that I am almost afraid of myself. I sometimes wonder 
 whether it is a feeling which belongs to men more than 
 women. I know when I try to talk to Esther about it she 
 does not fully understand, though she is always so sweet over 
 anything I take to her for advice. I know she thinks it a sort 
 of snare or peril ; and yet sometimes I feel as though it must 
 be something the same feeling which has made the great men 
 
*<>2 ttbe fftiece of 
 
 of the world what they are. I have an instinct that Lord 
 Kitchener (for instance) would understand me. He is the 
 sort of man who goes straight ahead, and carries everything 
 before himas I want to do. Tell me, Sir Humphrey- 
 please tell me the truth do you think it is a wrong 
 feeling?" 
 
 She looked at him with a luminous appeal in her eyes. The 
 light of the golden sunset was behind her, investing the graceful 
 white-robed figure with a peculiar radiance. Her beauty was 
 wonderfully insistent at such a moment, and he was more 
 keenly conscious of it perhaps than he had ever been 
 before. 
 
 " Not perhaps a wrong feeling, my dear ; for, as you say, I 
 think it is a feeling akin to that which has inspired some of the 
 greatest heroes of history ; but possibly rather a dangerous one, 
 too, or holding elements of danger in its scope, against which 
 we should guard ourselves." He paused a moment, and as 
 her eyes still searched his with earnest, questioning gaze, he 
 added : " I think we should try and be sure that our love of 
 power and supremacy does not come from personal and sordid 
 motives. If we want it for ourselves alone for our own 
 enjoyment or our own aggrandisement then I think it must 
 become a snare to us. But if it is for our country, for what we 
 can accomplish for her, or in the interests of humanity and 
 civilisation, or," and here he made a little pause, lowered his 
 voice, and bared his head, " if by our own advancement we 
 can further the purposes of God, work His will in measure, do 
 some work which He has set us to do, then I think we shall 
 have within us the antidote of that which might else be perilous 
 to us. I do not know whether I have made my meaning plain, 
 my dear, or whether my opinion is worth the having, but that 
 is, as best as I can put it, what I feel." 
 
 " Thank you," said Di, looking out straight before her, " I 
 shall think of your words. I feel sure you know what is the 
 truth." 
 
tbe jftoot^ttoe ot triumpb 203 
 
 He was carried off from her then by some call from the 
 distance. She did not accompany him, but stood in the same 
 attitude, her eyes fixed full ahead. 
 
 " Yes, that is the crux of the whole matter, I can see. He 
 has just put his finger on the spot. Other people whom I 
 fancy I am like have been working for noble ends for 
 sovereign, country, or cause. But I am working just for my 
 own self. Diana Conquest is the sun and centre of my world, 
 and at present I do not even want any other." 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 RENUNCIATION 
 
 STELLA was sobbing bitterly. So absorbed was she, for the 
 moment, in her own woes, that she did not hear the slow, 
 halting footfall, which she knew so well by this time, and 
 York had reached the threshold of the open door before he 
 was aware of what was going on inside that big familiar room 
 of Stella's, to which he had long had privilege of entrance, 
 without ceremony or any sort of announcement. He came 
 and went at his own pleasure, and had the liberty to remain 
 and rest there at will in the absence of its owner. 
 
 He had heard a little sound as of grief, and thought that he 
 should find Stella consoling one of the twins, or some other 
 child in trouble. It never occurred to him that she might be 
 in trouble herself. Generally, Stella was so self-contained and 
 collected, that it filled him with astonishment and also with 
 dismay to see her so shaken with the tempest of her grief. 
 He closed the half-open door through which he had entered, 
 and advanced towards her with an anxious face. 
 
 " My dear child, what is the matter ? " 
 
 She gave a great start at the sound of his voice, and sprang 
 up, upsetting, as she did so, a little easel before which she had 
 been seated, and a rough charcoal sketch fluttered and fell 
 almost at his feet. 
 
 " Oh, don't look don't look ! " cried Stella ; but she spoke 
 too late. 
 
 He had looked and seen, and now replaced the drawing in 
 
 204 
 
Renunciation 205 
 
 its former position, whilst Stella struggled convulsively with the 
 choking sobs that still burst from her over-charged heart. 
 
 The drawing, rough though it was, spoke eloquently in its 
 own way. It represented a man and a woman engrossed in 
 each other it indicated an absorption which could only mean 
 one thing. Rudolf Hastings was the man and the artist had 
 indicated, in a masterly fashion, the eagerness and resolute 
 purpose in his whole face and pose. The woman was Diana 
 Conquest beautiful, and yet just a little repellent, as had 
 been the case in another sketch of her which York had seen 
 by the same hand. He could not define wherein that element 
 of repulsion lay ; yet he was keenly conscious of it, and it 
 told him more eloquently than words could ever do, of the 
 feeling which Diana inspired in the heart of Stella. 
 
 But the picture seemed to tell him something else. He 
 had not forgotten Sally's words of a few weeks back ; he had 
 not forgotten a number of minor details which he had since 
 observed or surmised. He was very strongly of opinion that 
 Rudolf and Stella had been lovers once whether they actually 
 knew it themselves or not that something had intervened 
 between them, and that Stella was suffering, if he were not. 
 Now this picture seemed to give him the opportunity to speak 
 which had been lacking before. 
 
 " Is that so ? " he asked slowly, his kindly hand upon 
 Stella's shoulder, " I have not heard it though, of course, 
 I have seen indications. Are they engaged ? And is it this 
 that is troubling you, my little Stella ? Don't mind telling 
 me if it is. You know I am only a battered old bachelor, 
 who half broke his heart when he was a boy over your 
 mother's marriage, and has been heart-whole ever since, 
 because no one has come up to his ideal. Perhaps I shall 
 understand the trouble better than you would think to look 
 at me. Don't cry so bitterly, my child, but try and talk the 
 sorrow out. Sometimes that is the best way of getting rid of 
 the first bitterness. You know your secret will be safe with me." 
 
206 ube fFitece of iSstber Xsnne 
 
 " Oh, Uncle Don, it's not that only it's everything ! " cried 
 Stella, with sudden passion in her tones. " Everything is 
 going wrong all my plans my hopes all my world is going 
 to pieces about me. I don't know how to bear it I don't 
 indeed." 
 
 Never had he guessed at the passionate depths which under- 
 lay Stella's exterior reserve and self-control. He was utterly 
 at a loss to know what could have happened so to upset her ; 
 but he regarded himself as her next-of-kin and lawful protector 
 after her father, and he set himself to the task of first under- 
 standing and then grappling with this state of misery and 
 despair, from whatever sources it might spring. 
 
 He sat down and drew her towards him. She did not 
 resist, and made no effort to master her tears. His kindly 
 touch upon her shoulder seemed to give her strength and 
 courage. Presently she wiped her eyes and sat quiet, letting 
 him take her hand and hold it in his. 
 
 " Now, Stella, that is better. Remember, my dear, I do not 
 want to force your confidence, but do you not think it might 
 ease your heart if you were to talk it all out with someone 
 older than yourself? I have lived nearly twice as long in the 
 world as you have, and have seen a good bit of the rough and 
 tumble of life, and perhaps I shall be able to help you in your 
 battle or trouble, or whatever it is." 
 
 " And you won't laugh at me, Uncle Don ? " 
 
 "That, indeed, I can promise you, Stella. I do not 
 think that any trouble, even the most trivial or the most 
 well-merited, can ever occasion mirth or scorn in the minds of 
 those who have ever known themselves what trouble 
 means." 
 
 "Oh, Uncle Don, I like to talk to you. You seem to 
 understand me. So many of the others laugh they would 
 laugh at me now, if they were here. It was something father 
 told me this very morning which seemed to put the finishing 
 touch to everything. Have you heard about it ? It is partly 
 
IRcnunciatton 207 
 
 Sir Humphrey Vanborough's doing. He is going to have 
 a curate ! " 
 
 There was something of a tragic note in her voice ; but 
 York did not smile. He waited to hear more. 
 
 " I know how kindly it is meant. Father is not so strong as 
 he was, and the parish has extended, and that little mission 
 church away on the moor, belonging to Cleethorpe and 
 Stillwater, is a tax upon him. I know last winter he was 
 tried and overdone. I believe I ought to be glad. I hate 
 myself sometimes that I am not more unselfish. Sir 
 Humphrey and Miss Lynne and a few more are going to 
 subscribe the sum needful for a curate, and I believe Edna's 
 brother will come. And Edna says his wife is sweet, and has 
 two little children, and most likely will take our three and 
 teach them all together she seems to have a great gift for 
 teaching. And he is musical, and will train the choir. Father 
 says he thinks that it should be done in a different way now. 
 Diana spoilt all the old methods, which were good enough 
 before she came ; and now she is tired of it, and has unsettled 
 the boys and made them despise me ; and they are unruly, 
 and sometimes impertinent, and not a bit reverent over the 
 practising, as they used to be. They expect to be amused. 
 Diana could amuse them ; and they are bored when she isn't 
 there, and behave badly, and some of them have had to be 
 turned out. Father says they want a man's hand over them. 
 It never used to be so. But everything is going wrong now ; 
 and soon I shall be of no use at all, and shall have nothing 
 left to do ! " 
 
 The tears had all been shed; but the deep, almost 
 passionate, intensity of the tone was more tragic than another 
 burst of weeping would have been. 
 
 " I can scarcely think that, Stella," answered York, kindly 
 and gently; "you have been almost too busy heretofore. 
 Everybody says your hands have been too full. It will not 
 be amiss, surely, if you have time to join more in the young 
 
Biece of lEstber OL^nne 
 
 life of the place and in those recreations which are natural to 
 youth and health. It is not always well to live in a drive, and 
 to be overburdened with the worries of a whole parish." 
 
 Stella was silent for a moment, and then she burst out 
 .almost passionately : 
 
 " Those are just the things I do not care for amusements, 
 recreations, games and pastimes, which lead to nothing, and do 
 no good in the world. I always believed life was given to us 
 for better ends. I was so glad that there were always other 
 things for me to do. I cannot give up myself and my life to 
 sports and games, or to society pleasures. That is not the 
 higher life the life of self-sacrifice. I was quite young when 
 I began to understand what that meant. I tried from the 
 beginning to follow the light. I have given up almost every- 
 thing I cared most for first, those things which other girls do, 
 because they seemed trivial, and I saw how absorbing they 
 became if followed ; then my art, because I loved it better 
 than anything in the world, and I thought it might become a 
 snare to me. Then Rudolf " She stopped short there and 
 came to a dead pause. The colour flooded her face, and she 
 turned it slightly away. 
 
 " Did you give up Rudolf Hastings ? " asked York quietly. 
 " Am I right in thinking that once you and he were lovers ? " 
 
 " I don't know exactly what you would call it. We were not 
 engaged," answered Stella, " but we cared for each other. We 
 had always done that. He asked me once if I would marry 
 him some day, and I said I would, if he would wait till I could 
 be spared." 
 
 She stopped short, and York said, with a slight smile : " Well, 
 and perhaps that time may be coming at last, Stella." 
 
 " Yes, when it is too late ! " she cried suddenly and 
 passionately. " It is my fault, Uncle Don. Don't blame him 
 He came to me in the spring. He had inherited that little 
 fortune. He wanted us to be married soon. I did not see 
 how I could be spared. I told him so. He was rather angry. 
 
Denunciation 209 
 
 We did not exactly quarrel ; but he said it must be one thing 
 or the other, either we must be engaged and married in 
 reasonable time or else there must be an end." 
 
 " Well, Stella ? " 
 
 " I did not see how I could be spared. There were so 
 many, many things then ; and I thought Rudolf was selfish. 
 We were young, and we must think of others before ourselves. 
 I spoke to him about renunciation, and he did not seem to 
 understand or sympathise. I thought perhaps we should not 
 be happy together. So I told him there had better be an end 
 of it and he went away. Somehow I did not quite know 
 what it would be like without him. And now he has forgotten 
 all about it. He only thinks of Diana Conquest. He would 
 marry her to-morrow if she would have him ; and I think 
 perhaps she will have him if nobody better turns up. But 
 she does not love him. She does not know what love means. 
 She will never, never be able to make him happy. Oh, Rudolf 
 Rudolf!" 
 
 York sat still and quiet before this self-revelation. When he 
 spoke it was in gentle and reassuring tones. 
 
 " Things, indeed, do seem to be going wrong with you, little 
 Stella ; but we need not quite make up our minds it will always 
 be so . You gave up Rudolf from a sense of duty, was that it ? And 
 do you think he understood that it was not from a lack of love ? " 
 
 Stella spoke with a certain hopelessness of tone. 
 
 " Sometimes I don't think anybody understands not even 
 Miss Lynne, though she is always kind. I know she never 
 approved of my giving up my drawing, which I love better 
 than any other occupation in the world. But that is just it. 
 When I love a thing like that I feel that there must almost be 
 something wrong about it. I must put every other duty first, 
 and give it up, if need be. All the most beautiful lives I know 
 have been lives of self-sacrifice. That is what I have always 
 wanted mine to be. I have always tried to give up the things 
 I cared for most." 
 
 o 
 
IFlfece of Bstbet xnne 
 
 " That you might follow the more closely in the footsteps of 
 our Lord," spoke York reverently ; " that has been the thought 
 in your heart, I think, Stella." 
 
 Tears of another sort suddenly stood in her eyes. 
 
 " Indeed, indeed, it has, Uncle Don ! I am so glad you 
 understand some people don't. Not so very long ago Diana 
 Conquest told me I was talking nonsense when I tried to say 
 something like that to her. I find it so hard to make people 
 understand what I mean. But I can never get rid of this 
 conviction : the Pattern Life was a life of self-sacrifice, and 
 therefore we who call ourselves His followers, and are called 
 by His name, must also sacrifice ourselves, and give up our 
 own will, and choose the hard and stony paths instead of the 
 smooth and pleasant ones. Look at Miss Lynne's life ; look 
 at yours, Uncle Don. You have both given up so much, 
 suffered so much, and it has made you different from other 
 people." 
 
 He did not speak ; he sat looking straight before him. 
 
 Stella's eyes sought his face, and she asked softly : " Do you 
 understand, Uncle Don ? " 
 
 " Yes," he answered ; " I think I understand your point of 
 view, Stella. But I also understand that of the people who 
 seem to you unsympathetic and lacking in comprehension. 
 Do you really fail to see what they mean, too, though they 
 may not put it very sympathetically ? " 
 
 " I think I understand very well," she answered ; " they are 
 not willing for self-sacrifice themselves, and they cannot under- 
 stand it in anybody else. People don't like whether they 
 know it or not to hear a higher standard advocated than they 
 are prepared to live up to themselves. I don't mind saying 
 this to you, Uncle Don, because you will not misunderstand 
 me, and think I have an exalted opinion of myself. I know 
 how very, very far short I fall: All I can say is, that I am 
 trying, and that the life of self-sacrifice is the life of Christ. 
 That is so, is it not, Uncle Don ? " 
 
Denunciation 211 
 
 u It is and it is not if you know what I mean, Stella. 
 Do you understand what I mean when I tell you that you are 
 putting (as the homely proverb has it) the cart before the 
 horse ? " 
 
 She did not understand, and her face showed it. 
 
 " Our Lord came to live upon earth as Man, not, primarily, 
 to suffer and die, but to do the will of the Father. That was 
 the end and aim and object of His mission. That the will of 
 the Father involved the bitter suffering of the Cross, the laying 
 down of the human life, that He might receive it again in 
 Resurrection glory as the first-fruits of those that sleep, He 
 knew, and in that knowledge He went forward along the 
 appointed path without flinching, as followers of His have 
 done along their appointed path of suffering in the power 
 they have received from Him. But our Lord has left us a 
 very beautiful and a very significant lesson, which should be 
 to us a warning, as well as a lesson a warning against any 
 sort of morbid love of self-immolation and suffering for its 
 own sake, if it be not appointed us from God Himself." 
 
 He paused ; but Stella said nothing, only keeping her hands 
 rather closely locked together. 
 
 " In the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed that the cup of 
 trial and suffering might pass from Him that He might not 
 be called upon to drink it ; but only that if it were the will 
 of the Father. There, again, came the crux and touchstone 
 of the whole matter the will of God. He did not choose 
 suffering and death ; but He bore it without a murmur when 
 convinced that His Father had willed it for Him. It was 
 necessary for the Captain of our salvation to be made perfect 
 through sufferings. But are we ever told that we are to be 
 perfected (of necessity) in the same way ? " 
 
 " I thought we were to follow Him." 
 
 "Yes; but as He shall show us the way. He received 
 gifts for men when He ascended into the heavenlies, which 
 by the Spirit He transmitted to us below apostles, prophets, 
 
212 ftbe Ittfece ot jEstber 3L#nne 
 
 evangelists, pastors, and teachers, 'for the perfecting of the 
 saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the 
 Body of Christ/ We are perfected not through works or 
 sufferings of our own, but through His gifts. As with Him, 
 so with us ; we may not decide whether this or that act of 
 self-sacrifice may be appointed us. I mean that we must not 
 regard it as a foregone conclusion that every act of renuncia- 
 tion is a step forward along the heavenly road. We must ask 
 whether it be the will of God that we make it. He has given 
 us all things richly to enjoy. He may ask of us to renounce 
 some of these ; but He does not desire to see us, His 
 children, throw back all His good gifts in His face, and 
 then flatter ourselves that we are of necessity pleasing Him. 
 He gives us talents which it is a joy to us to exercise, and 
 which may be exercised also to the good or the pleasure 
 of our fellowmen, and often in measure to His honour 
 and glory. He does not give us these tastes and talents 
 with one hand to snatch them away with the other at least, 
 I cannot believe it. We must use, of course, a discretion 
 and moderation in all things. But I believe that of each 
 talent entrusted to us we shall be asked to render account 
 one day. To bury it in the earth is not to use it for His 
 honour. Little Stella, do you say of God that He is an 
 austere man, reaping where He has not sown, and gathering 
 where He has not strawed, that you are so resolved to make 
 no use of the talent entrusted you, or to let everything else 
 take precedence of it, and think you are doing well in 
 this ? " 
 
 Her eyes had suddenly lighted eagerly. 
 
 u Oh, Uncle Don, I had never thought of it like that ! Do 
 you think my drawing is a talent like that ? " 
 
 " I certainly do, Stella. It is a gift bestowed ; its exercise, 
 of course, in moderation, would take you out of yourself and 
 your little wearing treadmill ; it would be a source of pleasure 
 to you and to others ; and, moreover, it might be one day if 
 
tRenunctatton 213 
 
 you do not marry, perhaps even if you do a factor of no 
 small importance in your life and in that of others." 
 
 " How do you mean ? " 
 
 " Why, I mean a very practical thing. I mean you might 
 make money by this talent. Your father is not a man of 
 private means. He has three little children, besides yourself, 
 and a delicate wife. If anything were to happen to him, it 
 would become a serious question how you would all live. 
 These are things which should be thought of, Stella. And 
 even if you never really wanted money in this way, its 
 possession might enlarge your sphere of usefulness in many 
 ways. This, of course, is a more mundane view of the matter, 
 but it is not one to be altogether set aside. You have a 
 brother. Some day, perhaps, you will want to visit him. It 
 would be a joy to you both ; but travelling is a costly pleasure, 
 and you might not be able to afford it, unless you could make 
 the money. He might some day be in need of help for some 
 venture. If you could furnish the funds, what a pleasure it 
 would be to you both ! But you know I would not say these 
 things to you if I believed that the exercise of your talent 
 would be a snare to you following a lower path, and leading 
 you into temptation. It is because I believe God gave you 
 that gift to exercise that I want to see you doing so. And 
 now that your way seems opening for a larger command of 
 your time, instead of weeping you should be smiling, and 
 preparing some of those canvases and colours, and getting 
 ready to start work again ! " 
 
 " Oh, Uncle Don, if I only dared to think it ! " 
 
 His face, which had been smiling, grew grave again, and 
 he looked very earnestly upon her as he said : 
 
 " Until you can see and believe in your heart that it 
 is right, you must not do it, Stella. St. Paul has warned 
 us never to tamper with the conscience of the weak brother. 
 If even an innocent thing seem sinful to him, then he 
 must not touch it. We may not laugh and flout his scruples, 
 
Ube Iftfece of Estber 3Lsnne 
 
 but we may strive to open his eyes, and to strengthen 
 that feeble grip he has upon the glorious liberty of the 
 children of God, which enables them richly to enjoy and 
 abundantly to use those gifts which He has bestowed upon 
 them. But if, through lack of faith, or a morbid perversion of 
 certain truths, he cannot see his liberty, then he must wear his 
 fetters till God strikes them off from him. See here, Stella, 
 you are running the risk of spoiling your own life, and perhaps 
 that of another, by your passion for self-sacrifice. What I 
 want you to be quite certain of is whether it be God's will that 
 you sacrifice all these things to your code of duty, or whether 
 you are not deciding for yourself, simply because you believe 
 the harder path invariably to be the one you are called upon 
 to tread. If this be so, then you are in danger of that false 
 righteousness which tends to pride and not humility, and which 
 may become a snare to you such as your work would scarcely 
 be." 
 
 He had risen, and was moving with his slow strides up and 
 down the place. 
 
 " Stella, you spoke once of me you instanced my wreck of 
 a carcase as a case of self-sacrifice. It was nothing of the 
 kind. I simply did my duty as an English officer, and got 
 badly cut up, and am what you see now. Do you think I 
 wanted to be sacrificed? What would you have thought of 
 me, or any other soldier who had deliberately walked into 
 danger for the sake of sacrificing himself, as you call it? 
 You would see instantly what a hideous and unpardonable 
 act that would have been. A soldier does the will of his 
 superior officer and takes the cost and the risk ; there again 
 you have the case in a nutshell. If he take the risk and the 
 cost without orders without the raison d'etre, he is a fool, if 
 not a knave. That is your pitfall, Stella, only in another 
 form. 
 
 " You can see the point when put crudely in that fashion, 
 but the principle will apply equally to your own life. Be sure 
 
IRenunctatlon 215 
 
 that such sacrifices, such renunciations as you make are 
 according to the will of God, not selected by yourself. 
 Remember that the calling of the Christian is to follow the 
 Lamb whithersoever He leadeth, not to decide which is the 
 way of the Cross and follow that, whether that be the road 
 He appoints for us or not. There, I have done. I never 
 meant to preach you such a sermon, but when I see the child 
 of my Stella crying her heart out like that, I must see what 
 the matter is ; and I think the fountain-head of all these tears, 
 my child, has been the discovery that there is something 
 wrong with your theories of life ; but that something can be 
 set to rights by a little serious thinking, and a good deal of 
 earnest prayer." 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE WANING OF SUMMER 
 
 ESTHER stood at an upper window, a fleecy wrap about her 
 head and shoulders, waving an adieu to Diana, as she rode 
 away upon her mettlesome chestnut to join Sir Humphrey and 
 Colonel York and later on the Squire, and possibly Sally, for 
 a "training run," as she termed it, for herself and her new 
 possession. 
 
 A crisp touch of autumnal chill had suddenly come, as 
 though to remind them of the approaching change of season. 
 The heliotropes and some of the more delicate of the bedding 
 plants hung blackened heads and shrivelled leaves earthwards, 
 though the hardier flowers yet made brave show ; and Esther 
 declared it her opinion that these few premature frosts would 
 be succeeded by plenty more bright, warm weeks, and refused 
 to permit any wholesale destruction of her summer garden. 
 
 But the cold or something else had also laid hands upon 
 herself, and for a week now she had not been downstairs. She 
 sometimes felt that her health had suffered somewhat from the 
 long years of confinement spent in the heated and enervating 
 atmosphere of her invalid father's room. She was herself one 
 of those who loved fresh air and sunshine, and to whom an 
 outdoor life was a joy. But it had been her lot to live in 
 something of a hothouse atmosphere, and this had developed 
 in her a susceptibility which had not been natural to her in her 
 youth, and for which she was not prepared. This, at least, 
 was how she accounted for the little attack of threatened 
 pleurisy which had forced her to keep to her room these last 
 
 216 
 
ZTbe Waning of Summer 217 
 
 days. And now, though the sun was shining, and she was 
 longing to be out again, she had promised to remain one more 
 day in durance vile, though she had insisted upon Diana's 
 taking the projected ride, which was to be something of a trial 
 of the capabilities of her new hunter, and of the girl's own 
 qualifications as a horsewoman. 
 
 The Squire and Sir Humphrey had both interested them- 
 selves not a little over the question of Diana's hunter. Sir 
 Humphrey had been setting his own stables in order with a 
 view to some riding and hunting for himself, and also for York, 
 in so far as he was able to indulge in that congenial exercise. 
 He was now sufficiently recovered to enjoy saddle exercise in 
 moderation. He had neither the strength nor the means to 
 hunt, and would not have indulged himself in that pastime at 
 another man's cost. But he could not refuse to mount the 
 sturdy cob Sir Humphrey had included amongst his own 
 purchases, and already the congenial and familiar exercise was 
 having a beneficial effect upon him. 
 
 It was natural under these circumstances that Diana should 
 solicit Sir Humphrey's co-operation in the matter of her own 
 hunter. The Squire was the adviser and referee of them both, 
 and took a lively interest in the choice. 
 
 "I think I should like him fair best," Diana had said. 
 " I'll not make a point of it. If he comes dark, I'll take him ; 
 but for choice I prefer fair men and fair horses ! " 
 
 So when this handsome chestnut had been passed sound, 
 warranted to take fences and water-jumps without flinching, 
 and to show a sovereign contempt for motor-cars and engines 
 of all descriptions, Diana was delighted to feel him her own 
 possession, delighted alike with his bright " fair " coat, with 
 his symmetry and strength of build, and with that hot and fiery 
 temper which the Squire told her usually went with chestnuts, 
 unless they were " slugs." 
 
 " It's a curious thing with that colour, they're almost always 
 either extra hot, or extry ' logy,' as my old friend Jim the whip 
 
218 ftbe fUece of Estber 3Lgnne 
 
 used to call it. You don't often get the medium with chest- 
 nuts. But he's a nice-tempered creature no vice about him. 
 That's where I draw the line for a woman's riding. I hate to 
 see a habit on a vicious horse. But a high spirit and playful- 
 ness, with a good temper and a good mouth that's what I like 
 myself, and try to get for my friends. I think that's what you 
 will find you have got in Conquerer, my dear. I know the 
 stock he comes from. I don't think he'll fail you." 
 
 It was Archie who gave the creature his name. Diana 
 laughed and called it appropriate, and it stuck from that 
 moment. Esther, as she watched the pair that crisp autumnal 
 morning, thought that they looked as though they could 
 conquer the world between them. She followed them with 
 her eyes to the gate, where the other horsemen awaited her. 
 She saw the greetings exchanged between them, saw how Diana 
 rode along beside Sir Humphrey, turning her bright face 
 towards him, eager over some question she was putting. She 
 saw him bend towards her, and seem to show her something 
 about the holding of the reins. She remembered with a little 
 thrill how in old days she and Humphrey Vanborough had 
 ridden side by side down that very leafy lane, and how he had 
 shown her the military fashion of using the reins, which she 
 had invariably adopted so long as she continued her riding. 
 She had given up this exercise, as she had given up so many 
 things, because her nervous and fretful father could not bear 
 the thought of her continuing it. She found that he was always 
 worse on her return that he was always picturing imaginary 
 accidents and perils for her. She had fought his fancies as 
 long as she was able, and then, when she had found it 
 impossible longer to combat them, and saw that he really 
 suffered, she quietly gave up her own pleasure, and for seven 
 years had never mounted a horse. 
 
 The riders vanished round the bend of the road, but Esther 
 still stood gazing out over the sunny October world. There 
 was an immense depth of sweetness in her eyes but was there 
 
Ube Waning of Summer 219 
 
 just a touch of sadness too? Diana had been telling Esther 
 all through the summer that she was growing younger, that 
 she was younger and prettier every day. But to-day she felt 
 just a little as though the frost of age had touched her as 
 the autumn frost had touched her garden. She had had a 
 wonderfully happy summer. Often it had come over her with 
 a little thrill of wonder, almost of self-reproach, how happy this 
 summer had been the first one since her loss. And to-day 
 she was not unhappy only something had just come to dim, 
 as it were, by a faint breath, the sunshine in which she had 
 been walking. She scarcely knew what it meant herself; but 
 she found herself asking questions, each one of which brought 
 a tiny little pang to her own heart. 
 
 " Would it be for her happiness and for his ? They are 
 the two dearest things I have upon earth. If it should be so 
 with them, would it not be a joy to me ? I think that I am 
 growing old. Is it not always that a woman ages before a 
 man? He is not old not in heart or in mind or in 
 constitution. And Di dear, loving, impetuous Di does she 
 not want a strong hand over her? Does she not feel that 
 herself sometimes ? Is it not that consciousness which makes 
 her so often leave the young men for him ? Has she not that 
 feeling of safety in his presence which I know so well ? Why 
 should she not care for him? He is old enough to be her 
 father, in truth ; but many happy wives have husbands as old ; 
 and is age, after all, quite so much a matter of years as some 
 people think? I wonder I wonder ! Oh, if it were for their 
 happiness I should be glad I should rejoice ! 
 
 " My dream is quite, quite over and done with. Of course, 
 there will never be for me anybody like him in all the world. 
 That I have always known I love the knowledge. But when we 
 grow old we can content ourselves with that which in youth seems 
 such a poor exchange friendship for love. He will always be 
 my friend the best and truest friend. Nothing can change 
 that. But does he desire anything else ? Sometimes I have 
 
220 zrbe mtece of Estber Xsnne 
 
 thought but that may be all my fancy. I have so little to 
 offer him I am just an old-fashioned, middle-aged woman, 
 without anything to attract. My love he would have the 
 love of a lifetime ; but after all, what is that ? And she is so 
 beautiful so brilliant ; she would make a name for herself in 
 the gay world and he has a name and a reputation of his 
 own. And if she has come to love him ? ah, let me not 
 stand for one moment in the light of her happiness ! Would 
 I have her suffer, that I might be a little more happy than I 
 am now ? Oh, no, no ! God knows that her happiness and 
 her safety stand first in my heart. I sometimes think she is 
 in danger in danger from herself. He would help her to 
 fight her battles. He perhaps sees what I do of the perils 
 which beset her perils of which she is partly conscious 
 herself and seeks aid against from us. Shall she seek in 
 vain ? My dearest sister's only child ! Ah, if it is not to be 
 for myself that noble, generous heart let it be for her ! " 
 
 Esther had scarcely regained her pleasant upstairs parlour, 
 and settled herself before the cheerful fire with her books, her 
 work, and some letters to answer, before her solitude was 
 invaded by Stella, who entered with a very bright face, and 
 with a square, slim package, carefully wrapped, in her hands. 
 
 " I have brought you a little present, Miss Lynne," she 
 said ; " I do hope you will like it. May I undo and show it to 
 you ? " And without waiting for answer, Stella slipped off 
 string and wrappers, and displayed a crayon head of Sir 
 Humphrey Vanborough. 
 
 It was a telling likeness. Esther almost started as she 
 met the level, direct gaze of the pictured eyes, which 
 seemed looking straight into her own, with just that mellow 
 friendliness and kindliness which was so marked and 
 characteristic of her old friend. Stella was talking eagerly. 
 
 " It is Di's idea. She brought him to my studio for it. 
 She has persuaded him that I can paint his portrait for the 
 Academy next spring, and that if he will let me do so, it 
 
ttbe Manilla of Summer ^i 
 
 might be the means of my getting hung there. I can scarcely 
 believe it ! It seems too good to be true ; but they seem to 
 think that the portrait of Sir Humphrey Vanborough, K.S.I., 
 would have a very good chance of a place, if the painting 
 were not too fearfully bad. And I will work oh, how I will 
 work ! But I said that the first sketch I made must be for 
 you. Dear Miss Lynne, you have always been telling me 
 that I ought not to neglect my drawing, and now I am so 
 happy at taking it up once more that sometimes I begin to be 
 frightened again ; only I am trying to grow into the feeling 
 that it is one of those things given me richly to enjoy. And 
 oh ! how I do enjoy it ! n 
 
 "My dear child, I am so glad! How has it all come 
 about?" 
 
 " I think it is Uncle Don's doing, really ; though, of course, 
 it is a great deal because Edna's brother and his wife have 
 come, and I have so much more time now. Only if it had not 
 been for Uncle Don, and the things he had made me see, I 
 don't think I should have dared to do anything I liked so 
 much. I am half afraid now sometimes. I can't quite get 
 over the feeling that the thing one wants most to do is the 
 thing which one ought to give up first. But Uncle Don says 
 it is a want of faith, and shows an imperfect understanding of 
 the fatherly love of God. Do you think that, too ? " 
 
 " I think, dear, that the real essence of it all is that we 
 should not be too eager to choose for ourselves, but to ' wait 
 upon God,' as it says in the Psalm, leaving Him to direct our 
 path and our way. And it may be just as self-willed of us to 
 be resolved to give up that which is dearest to us, should it 
 be a gift or a talent which He may have endowed us with for 
 some wise and useful purpose, as to choose some pleasant path 
 merely for our own gratification. Would an earthly father be 
 pleased with this spirit in a child, if, when he gave his son 
 something, the use and exercise of which would be for 
 pleasure and profit, the boy were to lay it aside and scarcely 
 
222 ube IFUece of lEstbet OL^nne 
 
 touch it, saying, c I enjoy it too much, therefore it must be 
 wrong or dangerous.' We know that such a spirit of renuncia- 
 tion in other times led men and women to that unnatural life of 
 the cloister, and robbed the world of influences which might 
 have been very beneficial to it. In these modern days, when 
 it seems so hard for people to show moderation, when they 
 are so prone to ride their hobbies to death, I often think 
 the danger is much the same. Whether it is for pleasure, or 
 whether it is for work, or whether it is for self-sacrifice and 
 devotion people seem in danger of overdoing it. I suppose 
 it is the spirit of the age. One sees it in everything. But our 
 baptismal vow of temperance in all things covers the whole 
 field. If only we thought more and prayed more for that 
 spirit, I often think we should go less often astray." 
 
 "How strange that you should have said that ! It is exactly 
 what Uncle Don is always telling me. I did not understand 
 at first what he meant ; I am not quite sure that I am clear 
 now. He does not say anything against them, but I know he 
 does not like all our local guilds and associations and con- 
 fraternities. He thinks that they often waste time and energy 
 in straining at side-issues, instead of driving home the real 
 integral truth. I don't know quite what to think about it. 
 Uncle Don is very kind and nice, and understands that 
 one has to try all sorts of things to get hold of people. But 
 he always comes back to that same point the baptismal vow. 
 He says that that covers everything which, indeed, it 
 does and that we ought to be hammering at that good old 
 fundamental vow already taken, instead of imposing little 
 differently- worded, and what he once called ' trumpery,' 
 promises and undertakings, when so much more had really 
 been solemnly pledged." 
 
 Esther sat looking at the picture before her, whilst Stella 
 talked on and unbosomed herself of so many of the doubts 
 and perplexities which had been assailing her lately. Suddenly 
 she heard words which arrested her attention afresh, though 
 
ZTbe TKflanin0 of Summer 223 
 
 it had not really wandered, and she had given sympathetic and 
 comprehending answers to the confidences bestowed upon 
 her. 
 
 " Just think of it. You were no older than Diana when you 
 made that great renunciation. Oh, please don't mind my 
 speaking of it, for of course everybody knows how much Sir 
 Humphrey cared for you when he was a young man. I have 
 always had that before my eyes. It is your example partly, 
 Miss Lynne, that always made me feel that self-sacrifice was 
 such a holy and beautiful and elevating thing. And how can 
 I help feeling it more than ever in watching Diana now? 
 Everything, everybody, is to be sacrificed to her pleasure. She 
 does not think and she does not care, so long as she is first, so 
 long as she is amused. She took Rudolf away from me well, 
 perhaps that is speaking too strongly. I had sent him away 
 myself, but I think he would not have taken my words as so 
 final but for her. I tried not to mind. I was ready to give 
 him up if it were for his happiness and hers. They seemed 
 suited to each other. The family would have liked it. But 
 see how she treats him. She gives him no answer that I 
 know from Sally ; Sally is getting hot about it. She wants to 
 keep him still in her train ; but out of sight with her is out of 
 mind. He has gone back to his work, and now, for want of 
 better amusement, she is trying to get Sir Humphrey away from 
 you ! Oh, Miss Lynne, don't let her ! don't let her ! She 
 would make him miserable. He knows what a good, true, 
 unselfish woman is like. It would be terrible for him to be 
 tied" to a selfish, frivolous, heartless " 
 
 Stella stopped suddenly, for Esther's astonished gaze was 
 bent upon her. If a pet dove had suddenly turned into a wild 
 hawk, the astonishment felt by Esther could scarcely have been 
 greater. Her face was just a little pale, but there was no 
 anger in her expression, only a great, questioning surprise. 
 Stella suddenly flung herself at her old friend's feet. 
 
 " Oh, forgive me if I am saying what I have no right to say, 
 
224 trbe Ittfece of Estber 
 
 but do just watch and be on your guard. I know how 
 beautiful she is, and how fascinating to most people ; but oh, 
 that is just the danger ! I do not know whether she means it or 
 can help it ; but she has a genius for self-gratification, and you 
 are so good ! so good ! Oh, Miss Lynne. don't be angry with 
 me. I know it must sound ridiculous from me ; but if I have 
 made a mistake about self-sacrifice and renunciation and I 
 begin to think I have don't, don't yourself give up everything 
 for Di. She is not worth it indeed, she is not. Any man 
 would do for her, who had money and brains and a career. 
 Success is all she cares for a name and a position, and to be 
 admired and courted. Oh, don't give up Sir Humphrey to 
 her. She does not care for him really. She has no true 
 understanding of him. It is just that she must be first with 
 everyone ; and he is so very kind and delightful and fascinating 
 in his way. Do please be on your guard, and forgive me. 
 You have never had anything all your life, and she has had so 
 much so much. Don't let her have this, too ; and please, 
 please forgive me for saying all this ! But I met them out 
 riding as I came, and I saw how it was with her, and it seemed 
 to set my heart on fire. Now I am going ; please don't be 
 very angry with me, but just watch. You will see I am afraid 
 you will see. But don't let her have all her own way. It isn't 
 fair it isn't good for her. And, oh, we do all so want to see 
 you happy at last ! " 
 
 The girl was gone before Esther could recover herself to 
 make reply. She sat very still and quiet, with the pictured 
 face before her, those steadfast eyes seeming to probe into 
 hers with a half-smile, whilst the firm lips were grave and sweet. 
 It was the face of her youthful lover, matured and grown 
 stronger and nobler. It was a face to trust a face to rest 
 content with, a face upon which it was good to look. But was 
 it the face of a man easily hoodwinked, easily cajoled, easily 
 deceived ? She thought not. 
 
 Stella's words had struck her almost like a blow. She 
 
Tflflantno ot Summer 225 
 
 herself had not been ignorant of the failings in Di's character 
 failings of which the girl herself was by no means unaware, 
 and of which she spoke sometimes with the touch of humility 
 which always went to Esther's heart. But she had not known 
 that others saw them so plainly that they were discussed 
 between the girls, her companions, that hard things were 
 spoken of her, and unworthy actions and motives attributed. 
 That was what hurt ; and it hurt the more that the 
 imputations were not altogether undeserved. The sting of 
 the whole thing lay there ; and Esther passed a strange day, 
 scarcely opening a book or touching a pen, her ears all on the 
 alert for the sounds of returning horse-hoofs. She grew so 
 restless that she could not remain upstairs as she had intended, 
 but betook herself to the warm and cosy boudoir, where she 
 presently rang for tea. But before the tray had been brought 
 she heard the clear tones of Diana's voice calling gaily to some 
 companion : 
 
 " Ah, but come in do ! I'll give you a cosy cup of tea. 
 I can really make it as well as Esther if you can believe me. 
 And you shall tell me some more of your fascinating tales. 
 Perhaps, by-and-by, I'll take you upstairs to see Esther, and 
 you shall assure her that Conqueror is really capable of 
 carrying Conquest. But we will get our tea first I'm 
 just dying for a cup. We've had a splendid day ! That's 
 right, come in ! " Then the door was flung open, and Diana, in 
 her splashed habit, advanced into the room, and stopped short, 
 exclaiming, " Why, here she is herself Esther is in evidence- 
 to answer for her own sins and shortcomings. Esther, darling, 
 I have just insisted upon giving Sir Humphrey his tea ; but it 
 will be ten times more refreshing if you will give it to us both. 
 I'll just take my ease, and you shall do everything. You are 
 sure you are fit to be down ? " 
 
 Next minute Sir Humphrey was holding Esther's hand and 
 asking anxiously after her. She looked up to meet the kindly 
 glance of those friendly eyes, and the tremor and trouble of 
 
226 ube IRtece of Estber Xgnne 
 
 her heart was insensibly quieted. Diana had tossed off her 
 hat, and was stretched in one of her easy, graceful attitudes in 
 a deep easy-chair. The firelight danced and flickered over 
 her trim figure in the well-cut habit, and the deep, golden 
 lights and shadows of her hair. Her eyes were bright and 
 very watchful as they rested upon the pair opposite. She let 
 them both wait upon her and attend to her wants as a matter 
 of course, she watching them the while with a flicker of 
 amusement in her eyes. 
 
 11 We have had a delightful day, and Sir Humphrey is 
 charming," she remarked. " I really think he has a better 
 seat than the Squire ; and I can't say more than that ! My 
 horse is perfection, and I think I've convinced the Squire 
 that I can ride. He'll take me with him to the first meet, and 
 I'm going shooting with him, whether he likes it or not. Sally 
 mayn't shoot Lady Caroline has put her foot down there. 
 Poor Sally is awfully riled, but consoles herself with hockey. 
 She won't ever ride to hounds, you know. She uses up her 
 father's old hunters when they are not up to his weight any 
 longer, and cuts about by herself, joining the run when she 
 chooses, and making her own line. She says she looks a 
 fright on horseback, and hates the flummery of the meet. 
 But she can stick on over everything, though she looks like 
 a sack of potatoes on a horse. Poor old Sal ! It's too bad to 
 laugh at her ; she's a real good sort. But how she came to be 
 such an ungainly creature I can't imagine ! " 
 
 They told Esther of the day's doings. Diana had a charming 
 way of drawing out Sir Humphrey, and making him talk. She 
 had learnt more about himself and his own doings than 
 anybody else, and they had little jokes and mutual under- 
 standings of their own, which evoked many a peal of laughter 
 as they talked. Diana always explained to Esther the meaning 
 of any such hidden jest, and Esther had never hitherto thought 
 of herself in any way as an outsider when they were all 
 together. But to-day (was it that she was a little tired and 
 
Waning of Summer 227 
 
 not quite up to the mark?) she found herself wondering 
 whether she were in any sense of the word dt trop or 
 whether they would have enjoyed their tea more had she 
 remained upstairs. 
 
 She put the thought away. Never did any bitter or repining 
 sentiment flourish in that gentle and unselfish heart. 
 
 Di's clear voice was saying joyously as she bid Sir Humphrey 
 adieu : 
 
 " The summer is over, to be sure. I thought I should be 
 sorry when it went ; but, really, I think autumn is going to be 
 just as charming in its way ! " 
 
 Summer over ! The words fell upon Esther's ears somewhat 
 strangely as she sat alone in the dusk. Their guest had left. 
 Di had gone to change her dress, and she sat alone over the 
 fire. 
 
 Was summer gone indeed never to return ? 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 SHOOTING AND MISCHIEF 
 
 ESTHER'S face showed that she did not quite like it; her 
 expression was slightly disturbed and anxious. Diana saw it, 
 and laughed gaily, turning herself round for inspection with 
 that confidence in her own appearance and the perfection 
 of her appointments which was natural to her, and which 
 scarcely seemed to savour of vanity, it was so thoroughly 
 matter-of-course. 
 
 Busvine had cut the short, workmanlike coat and skirt; Heath 
 was responsible for the dainty and most becoming cap. Every- 
 thing was perfect in its way and the latest thing out down 
 to the light shot-gun, whose shining barrel seemed so strangely 
 out of place in Esther's old-world room, which at all seasons 
 seemed to smell of rose-leaves and lavender, and to wear its 
 peculiar aspect of peace and stillness. Esther was still a good 
 deal upstairs. Her strength was not equal to too many 
 demands, and her old friend, the doctor of the place, told 
 her, in his rather bluff fashion, that her charming niece had 
 been just a little too much for her these past months, and that 
 she had overdrawn slightly upon her reserves of strength. She 
 could not quite get rid of her cough, and though she went 
 out most days, and came down to meals and for the evening, 
 she was not altogether sorry to be counselled to spend a certain 
 number of hours upstairs in the quiet of her own room, leaving 
 Di and her merry young friends, who had now got into the way 
 of making Convent House a sort of centre, to entertain them- 
 selves below, enjoying the distant sounds of their gay voices, 
 
 228 
 
Sbootina an& /totecbief 229 
 
 but not always joining them, save, perhaps, for a brief time to 
 dispense the hospitalities of the tea-table. 
 
 Not infrequently she found Sir Humphrey there ; continually 
 Archie Vanborough was one of the party, and, more occa- 
 sionally, Colonel York, whose friendship with Esther herself 
 had become an unexpected factor in his life. Diana used 
 laughingly to declare that Convent House must really take 
 the bachelors of Nun's Bower upon its mind during the dull 
 winter days, or else the wretched men-folk would betake them- 
 selves to London and club-land in sheer despair. So far, 
 however, those bachelors had appeared entirely contented 
 with their quarters and with their surroundings, and though 
 they very readily availed themselves of the easy hospitality 
 accorded them, showed no disposition towards London life, 
 save that Archie was more or less backwards and forwards, 
 though it was wonderful how he kept returning to his kinsman's 
 house, as though drawn thither by a magnet. 
 
 And now sport was all the talk, and the prospect of pheasant 
 shooting and hunting occupied the masculine mind a good 
 deal, to the exclusion of other matters ; and Esther Lynne was 
 just a little aghast to discover that Di intended to accompany 
 the sportsmen, just as she intended to follow the hounds when 
 the hunting should commence. 
 
 And now, clad in her workmanlike clothes, which her height 
 and her graceful proportions made eminently becoming to her, 
 she presented herself before her aunt, and lightly pirouetted 
 round her to show herself off. 
 
 " I know you don't quite like it, you old-fashioned darling ; 
 but you know you took me ' for better for wuss ' when I 
 thrust myself upon you, and I warned you you'd got rather a 
 handful with your bargain ! I can't stay at home when all the 
 world is out ; and I can't make hockey the aim and object of 
 my life as Sally does. I'm a modern-day product, and must 
 live as such. You may be very thankful I don't insist on 
 smoking cigarettes in the drawing-room. I do consider your 
 
230 tbe fftfece of jstbet Agttne 
 
 feelings to that extent, Esther. When I smoke, I do it in 
 private. So be thankful for small mercies." 
 
 Esther was looking at her with her gentle luminous gaze, 
 which somehow expressed so much more, both of love and 
 of misgiving, than her lips were wont to speak. Diana felt 
 that something underlay the significance of that glance, and 
 dropping a light kiss on Esther's brow, asked laughingly : 
 " Well, and what would you like to say, if you dared, O 
 most sapient and cautious mentor ? " 
 
 " I scarcely know how to put it, my darling ; only I am so 
 anxious for your happiness your best and truest happiness. 
 And sometimes I am half afraid you will trifle with it, or throw 
 it away without really knowing what you are doing." 
 There was a laughing light in Diana's eyes. 
 " You sweet, old-fashioned thing ! You are just like a 
 revival of Cranford or Jane Austen. You think I am not 
 ' elegant female ' enough to please the taste of the men-folk ! 
 Your idea is that a girl must get a husband before she can be 
 really happy ; and you are afraid I am not going the right way 
 to work! But I assure you, you darling creature, that 
 husbands are by no means the aim and object of our lives. 
 I'm not sure that the surest way of having a good time all 
 round, and steering clear of worries and bothers and troubles 
 of all sorts, isn't to keep matrimony at arm's-length. Anyhow, 
 this child is in no hurry to find a mate : so don't you worry 
 about that ! Sally and I will set up as two old maids together, 
 and rent Nun's Bower from Sir Humphrey when he doesn't 
 want it any longer. So long, Esther ! " and Di vanished with 
 a peal of silvery laughter, leaving her words with respect to 
 Nun's Bower unexplained, though they had brought up a quick 
 involuntary flush to Esther's face. 
 
 Diana marched away, carrying her gun in the hollow of her 
 arm, in a fashion which showed her well used to the use of that 
 weapon. She was in gay mood, and was laughing inwardly 
 the while. A spirit of mischief possessed her. She was just a 
 
Sbootina anb /HMscbtef 231 
 
 trifle piqued by Esther's words. She had spoken the truth in 
 measure when she said that she was in no haste to wed ; but 
 she had no intention of remaining permanently a spinster. 
 She knew enough of the world to be aware that the position 
 she desired to hold there would not be easily attained by an 
 unmarried woman, even though she might have a handsome 
 fortune and a plentiful dower of good looks and assurance. 
 The short cut to the position she desired to occupy was a 
 suitable marriage, afterwards launching herself upon the gay 
 tide of fashion and politics, where, with her own gifts and the 
 prestige of such a husband as she should select, she might 
 hope to cut a figure and fill a place such as she desired to do. 
 But she had not yet made up her mind as to the partner she 
 should select ; and as she sped along she spoke half aloud in a 
 smiling soliloquy. 
 
 " Sir Humphrey would really be a good man for the part. 
 I should love to be my lady there is a good sound about 
 Lady Vanborough and perhaps, if the oracle were worked 
 aright, we could get him made a baronet or even a peer in 
 time. I should be presented at Court, of course. I should 
 make my way by leaps and bounds; and there is something 
 particularly fascinating about him. I am never bored in his 
 company. I behave better with him than with most; and 
 then it would not, in all probability, be a contract that would 
 last long enough for me to get too much bored by. 
 
 " There are such things as laws of nature, and without meaning 
 anything brutal or unkind, or desiring his dear old life shortened 
 by a day, I should most likely be left a widow in the prime of 
 my life, with an assured position and a handsome income ; 
 and that is not a thing to be sneezed at. I'm awfully fond of 
 the old dear. I would make him a most charming wife. I 
 should be an old man's darling, as the saying is, and I really 
 think I should play the part with spirit and grace. It's really 
 worth considering seriously. It doesn't do to trifle with a 
 situation too long. It's pretty plain that he and Esther are 
 
232 Ube IFUece of lEetber 
 
 going to content themselves with a platonic friendship for the 
 rest of their days ; and really, I believe that they have judged 
 wisely and well for themselves. If he were to marry, he ought 
 to marry a wife who would push him on, who would make him 
 young again, who would brighten him up and trot him round, 
 and keep him from getting fossilised. That's just where Esther 
 would fail him. They would settle down as two old fogies 
 together, placidly happy, perhaps ; but I'm not so sure even of 
 that. 
 
 " Changes and excitements don't altogether suit Esther. She 
 is showing that very plainly. It would be delightful for her to 
 have us often down at Convent House, and for her to play a 
 sort of fairy godmother part to us; but she isn't fit for any 
 other role, that's self-evident. And I really think I might be 
 doing a kindness to make up Sir Humphrey's mind for him, if 
 the dear old chap is in any difficulty about making it up for 
 himself." 
 
 Musing thus, and with the light of mischief dancing in her 
 eyes, Diana came upon the shooting-party at the appointed 
 spot. She heard the Squire's booming voice before she came 
 in sight of the speaker. He was holding forth in the fashion 
 she loved to hear. 
 
 " Sport, sir ! I tell you, sport in the old-fashioned sense of 
 the word in which we use it and our fathers used it before 
 us is almost a dead letter now. We used to make up a party, 
 a few good guns not too many a few good dogs who knew 
 their business, and one's own beaters when they were wanted, 
 and be content with a decent bag at the end, and not grumble 
 at a good tramp to get it. All that's out of date now, I tell 
 you. You'll meet huge brakes or wagonettes crammed with 
 * bounders ' (as the lads call them) from the towns, or fellows 
 who have made a pile in trade, and think to play the country 
 gentleman, who scarcely know one end of a gun from the 
 other. You'll see them going out in gangs in their carriages, 
 and they'll have some hundreds of half-tame birds driven 
 
Sbootfna anfc /iBfgcbief 233 
 
 across their guns, and, I tell you, it's like a field day at 
 Aldershot to hear them ; you'd think you'd come into a 
 mock battle by the sound of the volleys you'd never 
 guess, I say, that it was pheasant shooting. Sport, you 
 call it ! I call it barn-door butchery ; and I often wonder 
 how long it'll be before these fellows take to shooting old hens 
 out of their own yards ! I declare, it wouldn't be a bit 
 more unsportsmanlike than the things they do now. Fire 
 across high-roads, frighten horses anything, it don't matter 
 what, so long as they feel that they're playing the country 
 gentleman, and killing something. And then the birds go 
 into the market to be sold faugh ! it makes one sick. I 
 declare, if things go on much longer as they're going now, I'll 
 never fire a gun again myself ! They take the flavour out of 
 everything with their disgusting, modern, vulgar ways. Sport, 
 indeed ! they don't know what sport is ! Our fathers would 
 turn in their graves to see what was going on now. I often 
 feel like turning in my own." 
 
 Diana's clear laugh rang out at this point, as she swung 
 lightly into their midst. She had threatened to join the party, 
 but they had not quite believed she meant it. Archie had 
 entreated her to come, but the others had been reticent. 
 And now the Squire looked her well over with drawn brows 
 and something between a grunt and a snort. He was very 
 fond of Di. He regarded her in some sort as the girl his son 
 was likely to marry, and whom he hoped he would choose. 
 It was perhaps rather odd that, with his pronounced Tory 
 views, he should have taken so strong a liking to so very 
 modern a product as Diana Conquest ; but the Squire was no 
 freer from inconsistencies than the rest of the world, and the 
 girl stood high in his favour. 
 
 " Well, young madam, if you were a daughter of mine you'd 
 be sent home double quick with a flea in your ear. But since 
 you are not my property, and the responsibility of you rests 
 with Miss Lynne " 
 
234 tTbe IRiece of iSstbet Jtgttne 
 
 "Ah, no, Squire. Don't put that grievous burden upon 
 poor darling Esther. I assure you she doesn't approve of me 
 in the least. But, you see, ruling me wasn't in the bargain 
 when I took the Convent House by storm. I'm the only 
 person responsible for my evil self and all my naughty ways. 
 But really, when you see me shoot I think you'll forgive me." 
 
 Sir Humphrey regarded her with a lenient smile. He had 
 seen modern women in India women with whom Di's 
 modernity compared very favourably. He had knocked about 
 the world too much to get into any special groove, or to 
 draw hard - and - fast lines as to what was or was not to 
 be done. He realised fully that it was generally not the 
 thing which was done, but how it was done, which made it 
 objectionable or the reverse. He had known women who could 
 make tea-table conversation or a ballroom dance a thing of 
 horror, whilst others could display a daring audacity without 
 suggesting a thought of harm. 
 
 Diana saw the smile and returned it, and attached herself 
 to Sir Humphrey's side, in so far as they were able to walk 
 together. The Squire was master of the ceremonies, and 
 there were seven guns in all, Diana being the seventh ; and 
 they saw some very pretty shooting as the day went on, in 
 which the girl acquitted herself so well, and with such a 
 sportsmanlike quickness, dexterity, and understanding of the 
 unwritten laws of the game, that the Squire could not but be 
 mollified, and Archie was delighted. Her bag was as good as 
 that of anyone, and at lunch she was, as ever, the life and soul 
 of the party. 
 
 When dusk fell, they found themselves at some distance 
 from home. Archie was claimed by a party of sportsmen 
 with whom they had fallen in on the confines of the Squire's 
 property, and who insisted on carrying him off to dine and 
 sleep with them. The Squire himself had business to do at 
 this far end of the estate, and excused himself to attend to 
 the representations of a farmer tenant, who wanted to show 
 
Sbootfns-anfc fllMscbief 235 
 
 him certain matters. It was the most natural thing in the 
 world for Di to tramp homewards beside Sir Humphrey, 
 discussing the day's doings in animated fashion, and making 
 him laugh again and again with her droll mimicry of 
 one or another of the younger men who had formed their 
 party. 
 
 Di could be a very charming companion when she chose to 
 be so; and now she did choose. She had noted, with her 
 habitual quickness of intuition, to-day, both with their own 
 party and with that with which they had fallen in later, that 
 Sir Humphrey was a distinct personage in the world in which 
 he moved. Young men treated him with deference. It was 
 easy to see that he was admired, courted even, and that his 
 notice was regarded as a favour and distinction. 
 
 Rudolf had said something of this before. She was 
 beginning to see it more and more plainly. If he chose, 
 Sir Humphrey could be a man of mark in a bigger sphere 
 and a wider world than the one in which he was content to 
 move for the present. Insensibly she led the talk towards 
 that subject. She spoke of London, of the way the world 
 wagged there, of the men of note it contained who were 
 known to him, and she was struck anew by the admissions 
 which fell from him respecting his personal acquaintance with 
 so many men of mark and rank. In India he had entertained 
 all distinguished persons who visited his part of the country, 
 and in return had been invited by them when he himself was 
 on furlough. 
 
 The girl's eyes dilated as she realised that this man could 
 at a moment's notice, if he so chose to do so, float himself 
 and his wife upon just such a tide as that whereon she longed 
 to launch her own bark. Great houses would be open to 
 them ; they would be courted and feted wherever they went. 
 That gay, palpitating world of which she had had brief 
 glimpses would become her own natural sphere, where she 
 would have her own part to play as Lady Vanborough. 
 
236 ttbe iFUece of jstber 
 
 Her quick mind was leaping forward ; her eyes had kindled ; 
 her cheek had flushed. She exclaimed suddenly : 
 
 " Oh, why don't you go why don't you go ? What are you 
 doing here?" 
 
 He looked at her with a smile in his eyes. Naturally he 
 had not followed her train of thought. His own had been 
 wandering off in other directions. He had to ask her to 
 explain herself. She did so earnestly and almost vehemently. 
 
 " Why, don't you understand ? You ought not just to be 
 vegetating here. You are not an old man. You have a place 
 in the world. You might be a power there. You might do 
 things. You might be things. Oh, I should love to see you 
 there. You might be such a king amongst men. You cannot 
 be content to settle down at Cleethorpe. The voice of the 
 world is always calling upon its good men. Can't you hear it 
 calling upon you ? " 
 
 He looked at her then with a smile in his eyes that kindly 
 and comprehending smile which she knew and loved. 
 
 " What do you know about that voice, child ? " 
 
 " Oh, I can hear it myself. I have ears, too. I just long 
 to be a man to go forth at its bidding. I could have done 
 such things." 
 
 " Do you think it is only men who can do great things in 
 the world, my dear ? Do you think the world does not want 
 its good women, too, perhaps even more than its men ? " 
 
 " Oh, I don't know I don't know. I am fond of talking 
 big about what women can do ; but when it comes to trying 
 conclusions with life, we find ourselves awfully, frightfully 
 handicapped. I don't know how or why it is ; but the fact 
 remains." 
 
 Sir Humphrey stroked his moustache thoughtfully, looking 
 straight before him the while. 
 
 " Woman's sphere is different from man's that is very true ; 
 and, for my part, I am old-fashioned enough not to wish too 
 many changes in that direction. I would not compete with 
 
Sbootin0 aito /HMscbiet 237 
 
 woman ; I would hold her as infinitely, immeasurably above 
 me, to be cherished, looked up to, reverenced. Ah, my dear, 
 you are, perhaps, too young to estimate as yet what power a 
 good woman holds in her hands, and what she can be as a 
 motive power for good to the man whose heart safely trusts in 
 her the man who loves her." 
 
 He spoke the last two words very softly, rather dreamily, 
 and with an infinite tenderness ; at the same moment, as 
 though by an instinct he was half unconscious of, he bared his 
 head. Diana knew in that moment that he was thinking of 
 Esther Lynne, and a strange and quite unexpected and 
 incomprehensible jealousy filled her heart. Perhaps, uncon- 
 sciously to herself, she had come nearer to loving Sir 
 Humphrey than she knew. Or else the passion for mastery 
 in her nature had been stirred to sudden life. 
 
 Her eyes sparkled rather dangerously beneath the long 
 lashes ; but her voice was very gentle as she made answer. 
 
 "I think I partly understand what you mean because I 
 know Esther. She is the sort of woman one feels that about. 
 But, Sir Humphrey, have you ever considered what it takes 
 out of a woman to lead that sort of saintlike life giving all, 
 asking for nothing again ? I tell you, Esther has just killed 
 herself with it. It is not cold she is suffering from that is, 
 only just one little symptom. It is the strain of trying to pull 
 herself out of the groove in which her life has been running all 
 these years. At first, when I came to her, I urged her to do it. 
 I thought it would be for her good. It seemed so hard that 
 she had never had life as we mean it when we use the word. 
 But now I see that I was wrong that others have been 
 wrong, too. If we do not care we shall kill her amongst us 
 and we shall only know it when it is too late ! " 
 
 A startled look crossed Sir Humphrey's face. " What do 
 you mean ? " he asked. 
 
 11 1 mean that we must let Esther alone. We must not try 
 to change her life too much. She is like a sweet lavender 
 
238 Ube IRtece of fistber Xgnnc 
 
 bush or anything else that is tender and fragrant and old- 
 fashioned that you choose to liken her to the darling. Left 
 alone in her quiet corner, she will flourish still, and shed 
 sweetness round her upon all who approach. But we must not 
 try to transplant her to change the habits and methods of a 
 lifetime, to rouse her to a new life even though it may seem 
 to be one of greater pleasure one she so well deserves. Oh 
 I know that I am not one who ought to talk. I have been the 
 worst of all ; for I was quite determined that she should have 
 a lovely time, after all she had been through, and should not 
 settle down as just a regular old maid though the sweetest 
 sort they make of the kind. But I have had to give in at last. 
 Now, as you know, I am keeping her away from things. It is 
 doctor's orders, of course ; but I shouldn't care a red cent for 
 them, if I didn't see that we were half killing her amongst us. 
 That's what comes of being one of the saints of the earth. 
 You have to pay for it. But I'm not going to let Esther pay 
 for it with her life, if I can help it ; and if she has to vegetate 
 and live very quietly again this winter, I'll be hermetically 
 sealed up with her and keep her company. But I don't like 
 that transparent, ethereal look she is gettingnot one little 
 bit. And I mean to put a stop so far as I can to the conditions 
 which have created it." 
 
 He walked on, looking straight before him like a man in a 
 dream. 
 
 " You mean you think that Esther Lynne would suffer in 
 health from from well, I mean from any condition which 
 would too much overset and alter those under which she has 
 been living so long." 
 
 " I think it would just kill her," said Diana concisely; "and 
 that we have some of us quite innocently begun the killing 
 process already." 
 
 Sir Humphrey did not speak again until they parted almost 
 at the gates of Convent House, nor would he come in, though 
 pressed Jx> do so. His farewell was spoken in a more distrai 
 
Sbootina-anfc flDiecbfef 239 
 
 way than was usual with him ; and Diana, after bidding him 
 adieu, turned to watch him go, and marked his bent head and 
 air of abstraction, a little gleam of malicious amusement in 
 her eyes. 
 
 " I think I have put a spoke in your wheel," she remarked. 
 " I am not going to let you throw yourself away even on dear 
 old Esther, not if I can help it." 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 DREAR NOVEMBER 
 
 WITH the rapid shortening of the days, and with the chill 
 and rain of November, Sir Humphrey Vanborough's visits to 
 Convent House became fewer and more irregular. A sweet, 
 patient wistfulness began to mingle with the serenity of Esther's 
 glance, and to shine in the depths of those liquid brown eyes. 
 But no sense of injury or jealousy could find entrance into her 
 faithful heart and tender thoughts of the two whom she loved 
 best in the world. She only said to herself: " He meets her 
 so often elsewhere. They shoot together and hunt. He does 
 not need to find her out here as of old. I pray God they may 
 be very happy together ! If she will but give him the true 
 love of her ardent young heart, she will be indeed a happy 
 woman. He will make her the best and truest and tenderest 
 of husbands. I should fear for Di were she tempted by a 
 marriage of worldly splendour and ambition ; but there can be 
 nothing of that in her thoughts of Humphrey. His career in 
 a sense is ended. A quiet, peaceful end to a life of strenuous 
 work is what he is looking forward to. Idle or useless he will 
 never be; but a smaller sphere will content him, and those 
 quieter joys of domesticity which he has never tasted yet. It 
 will be a safe life for her, and a happy one. Ah, I will be 
 glad for them both I will indeed ! Their happiness is the 
 dearest wish I have left in the world. When I have seen that 
 consummated, I can say my Nunc Dimittis with a joyful 
 heart." 
 
 For there were times when Esther began to feel herself 
 
 240 
 
2>reav November 241 
 
 suddenly old not exactly from physical failing, though she 
 had been a little over-strained and run down latterly, but 
 rather as one whose life's history is done with, and the book 
 ready to be closed, She knew she was not really old that 
 many years of useful life probably stretched before her ; and 
 yet in spite of this knowledge there was a sense upon her 
 of a full stop of a blank wall rising up, as it were, of 
 the closing for ever of her life's story. She did not seek to 
 analyse closely ; her nature was not introspective, and she had 
 long schooled herself to take joy and pain alike from the 
 hands of the Heavenly Father without murmur or revolt. 
 Yet the feeling weighed somewhat upon her, bringing a tender 
 wistfulness into her eyes ; and Diana saw it, chafed beneath it, 
 till her mood alternated between fits of wild spirits and days 
 of restlessness and feverish energy, which perplexed Esther, 
 and made her question sometimes whether all were quite well 
 with the girl. 
 
 Diana in those days made great show of affection for 
 Esther. She would caress her vehemently almost roughly 
 sometimes calling her by a hundred odd terms of endear- 
 ment. She watched over her with something of a dragon-like 
 authority, insisting upon her resting much, not exposing herself 
 to fatigue or cold, and not being worried with too much 
 company. 
 
 " Dr. Ballard says you have been overdone ; and I know he 
 thinks it's my fault. You were quite well till I came, and I 
 stirred you up with a long pole and see the result. Now I'm 
 going to get you round again. I won't have it said that I've 
 killed you, or am going the way to do it. You were a perfect 
 darling. You gave us all a lovely summer. I never had a 
 better all-round time in my life ; but if it's going to be the 
 death of you, we'll never have such another." 
 
 It was useless for Esther to protest that the summer gaieties 
 could not have had much to do with it. Diana had made up 
 her mind, and that was the end of it. The girl herself was 
 
 Q 
 
242 Sbe Iftiece of Esther 
 
 out all weathers, and most days, coming home in the dusk, 
 wet and dirty, but bright-eyed and full of animation, whilst the 
 hour she spent retailing her adventures to Esther over the fire 
 and a cosy cup of tea was the happiest one in the day for her. 
 Esther ceased to ask why Sir Humphrey did not come. She 
 supposed, of course, that he was wet and tired, and preferred 
 to go straight home. It was quite natural that the dark, 
 damp evenings did not tempt him out as the bright ones of 
 summer had done. It was all perfectly natural and right, and 
 Esther tried to hide even from herself the little shadow which his 
 absence, and the cessation of that pleasant, easy, almost daily 
 intercourse, cast athwart her sky, or the blank which it left in 
 her life. She quite understood how it came about that she 
 saw less of him ; and she heard of him constantly from Diana, 
 from Sally, and from Stella. Both of the latter paid her 
 frequent visits, and cheered her much by their gay or 
 affectionate talk. Stella's portrait of Sir Humphrey was 
 growing steadily towards completion. He gave her sittings 
 as they were needed, and the girl was throwing herself into 
 her task with a heartiness and an enthusiasm which were 
 having marked results in breaking through her little crust of 
 conscious self-righteousness, and was making her at once more 
 lovable and more human. 
 
 Her real duties were still punctually and diligently performed. 
 But she had gradually ceased heaping upon herself or 
 allowing others to heap upon her (to their own detriment) 
 offices which she was in no wise called upon to undertake. 
 She was learning that she could be a clergyman's daughter 
 and a useful one, too without " having her finger in every 
 pie," as Sally used gibingly to phrase it. Moreover, she had 
 with some spirit turned upon Sally, and insisted upon her 
 doing something towards relieving her of a few small offices 
 which the latter could perfectly well undertake and perform 
 if she would. Sally had grumbled and scoffed at the outset ; 
 but York had backed Stella, and had told Sally pretty plainly 
 
2Drear IRovember 243 
 
 that life was not made simply and solely to be spent in the 
 playground. 
 
 Sally had a great secret admiration for the soldier, crippled in 
 his country's cause, and bearing his infirmity without a murmur 
 or a sign of impatience. She had given in when he joined 
 forces with Stella, and now the girl was rinding that it really 
 was rather interesting, and not without its element of amuse- 
 ment, this visiting at outlying cottages and bringing sunshine 
 in her wake. She brought other things, too, in a rather 
 stealthy and surreptitious fashion, for Stella was always 
 preaching against pauperising the people. But Sally's gifts 
 were too quaint and original in character for that, generally 
 consisting of little contrivances of her own planning to 
 keep out a draught, to cure a smoky chimney, to keep an 
 enterprising, crawling baby in bounds, and so forth. The 
 carpenter's shop on her father's property saw her more and 
 more, and the hockey field somewhat less. But for all 
 that she was finding life more full of interest than of old, 
 and she fraternised with Stella over matters about which 
 heretofore she had been either absolutely indifferent or slightly 
 hostile. 
 
 They were neither of them seeing much of Diana just now. 
 She was too much absorbed in the pursuits in which they did 
 not join. Sally, to be sure, when the hounds met in the 
 locality, would mount her sagacious old horse, set out "on 
 her own hook," as she phrased it, and manage to see some- 
 thing of the run, and do a bit of exciting following on her own 
 account ; but she never consorted with the rest of the field 
 not even with her friends. She liked to be a free lance in the 
 company. She knew that her riding, like most other things 
 about her, was somewhat ungainly. She never dressed for the 
 saddle like other girls. She liked to be able to jump off and 
 ease her horse, or go scrambling with him up or down some 
 risky declivity. She often watched Di from afar saw how 
 courted and popular and admired she was. She would tell 
 
244 Ube Iftfece of Estbet %snne 
 
 Esther Lynne of her niece's prowess in the field not that Di 
 was reticent herself on this point, though she possessed the 
 happy knack of being able to talk of her own exploits without 
 appearance of bragging of them for she noted that it always 
 gave her pleasure to hear these things. She and Stella paid 
 very regular visits to Convent House at this time, knowing 
 how much Di was away ; and sometimes walking homewards 
 together, Sally would " let fly," as she called it, with her 
 customary candour. 
 
 " I think Di is behaving like a brute ! " she flashed out one 
 day, quite suddenly. " She makes such a fuss over Miss 
 Lynne, calls her darling, and sweetest, and all sorts of 
 sugary names, but never thinks of giving up a single day's 
 pleasuring to be with her ! On a wet, miserable day, when a 
 bright fire and an amusing book seem more to her taste than 
 a tramp or a ride, she'll be there, making great show of her 
 devotion ; but I wonder Miss Lynne don't see through her ! 
 When it comes to giving up a single thing she wants to do 
 no fear ! " 
 
 Stella looked rather wonderingly at Sally, for she was 
 speaking with an unwonted vehemence. 
 
 " I thought you were so fond of Di ? " she said, with a query 
 in her voice; for though Sally had made remarks before, it 
 was rather more in a joking than a serious fashion. 
 
 "So I am in a way. There's something about her that 
 gets hold of you. You want to be looking at her all the time 
 when she's there. I want to hear what she says and she's 
 been so nice to me, too. We quite chummed up for a 
 goodish bit, and we're chums in a way still ; but I've got eyes 
 in my head, and I see how things are going. Sometimes I 
 believe I shall up and out with it to Di herself whether she 
 likes it, or whether she don't ! " 
 
 "What do you mean?" asked Stella, who felt that there 
 was an under-significance in Sally's words which she had not 
 fully grasped. 
 
H>rear November 245 
 
 "Well, I'll not just say exactly what I do mean, if you 
 haven't seen it for yourself," she answered. "I don't hold 
 with saying behind a fellow's back what you don't say to his 
 face. I'll have it out with Di herself one of these days. 
 Then, perhaps, I'll tell you. Of course, I may be wrong, but 
 I don't think I am." 
 
 Sally's opportunity was not long in coming, for Lady 
 Caroline, her mother, had resolved to give a little dance 
 to the neighbourhood, by way of enlivening the rather dreary 
 November days, and as dances were not very common in 
 Cleethorpe, it caused a little flutter of excitement through 
 the place. 
 
 Sally frankly hated it all. She declined to dance at any 
 price, but promised to do her best to keep things going, 
 introduce the men who would come down from town with 
 Rudolf specially invited for the occasion, though he could 
 only spare a couple of days to the girls of the place, and look 
 after the younger section of the guests generally. 
 
 Diana was in great spirits. The dance it was not on a 
 scale large enough to be dignified by the name of a ball 
 would be a welcome break in the monotony of the long 
 evenings, which were beginning to pall upon her to a very 
 considerable extent. She could not imagine why Sir 
 Humphrey so seldom came in now. He was not a man 
 to fear weather, or to be tied to his own fireside after dark, 
 as Esther fancied. Di was growing somewhat restless and 
 impatient. She had almost made up her mind to accepting 
 Sir Humphrey Vanborough. She began to feel herself 
 almost in love with him. A day when she had not seen 
 him seemed blank and colourless. When they were together 
 she monopolised him, and fancied that he monopolised her. 
 She took his escort in the hunting-field for granted. 
 
 Though nominally under the care of the Squire, she was 
 much more with Sir Humphrey, and she was perfectly well 
 aware that the neighbourhood was expecting some denouement 
 
246 TOe IFUece of Estbev Xsnne 
 
 before long. There were days when she had declared to 
 herself that she would bring matters to a crisis before night 
 and yet the crisis had never come. Always friendly, courteous, 
 treating her with an old-world chivalry which appealed to her 
 as both charming and picturesque, he never crossed the line 
 of demarcation betwixt friendship and love. Yet it did not 
 seriously occur to Di that it would be possible for a man to 
 resist her, if she made up her mind to his subjugation, and 
 the very difficulty she was finding piqued her to a stronger 
 determination. Already it almost seemed to her as though 
 she had never cared for anyone else, and would never care for 
 anybody again. 
 
 So her mood was fluctuating and variable, and high spirits 
 alternated with fits of brooding or of restlessness, and flashes 
 of irritability which perplexed and pained Esther, who began 
 to doubt her ability to make the girl happy with her. Yet the 
 more she knew of Di, the more she felt concerned at the mere 
 thought of her taking her life into her own hands, and living it 
 in some independent fashion of her own. 
 
 But the prospect of the little dance brought a change with 
 it. Di was excited and amused, and she gave herself over 
 to the mysteries of re-modelling one of her London dresses 
 (which hitherto had been little worn) with an energy and 
 interest which amused Esther, but which carried her along 
 with it. 
 
 Esther had decided herself not to go to the dance, and Di 
 had assented to this prudent resolve with resignation, though 
 apparent regret. 
 
 " I would have loved to have you there ; but if it knocked 
 you up or gave you cold afterwards, I should be so grieved. 
 I can stay at the Hall. They have asked me to do that, to 
 help to entertain the house-party. I shan't want for a chaperon, 
 and I dare say you will really be happier at home, hearing all 
 about it from me afterwards." 
 
 So Di went, and Esther stayed behind, content to be 
 
2>rear ficwember 247 
 
 regarded as one past the gaieties of youth. But Di was 
 resolved to be the person of the first consequence that 
 night, to dazzle, to captivate, to carry all before her ; and the 
 culminating point of triumph for her was to be the final 
 subjugation of Sir Humphrey Vanborough. 
 
 The evening came and the evening passed. Di, in her 
 floating diaphanous draperies, was undoubted queen of the 
 ceremonies. She looked her best; she had a regular court 
 about her all the while. She was vivacious, racy, piquant, and 
 charming; but she took care that her brightest smiles, her 
 merriest sallies, and her most bewitching advances were 
 reserved for Sir Humphrey. It was he who danced the 
 cotillion with her after supper, professing his utter ignorance 
 of the dance and its figures, but suffering himself to be 
 instructed by his partner. 
 
 It was with him that Di vanished afterwards into the 
 conservatory, not emerging thence until half of the guests had 
 taken their departure, and then escaping to her room without 
 saying good-night to anyone. Her face was flushed, her eyes 
 were extraordinarily bright ; but when she reached her room, 
 she began tearing off her finery with rough hands, careless how 
 she injured the filmy textures in which she had taken such 
 pride and pleasure ; and having pulled off her ball-dress, she 
 snatched a thick walking-gown out of the wardrobe, as though 
 she meant to don that. But then, as the clock in the tower 
 overhead boomed out the hour of two, she suddenly broke 
 into a short laugh, flung it back into the cupboard, and 
 subsided in a heap upon the rug before the fire, her dishevelled 
 hair, half unfastened by her rapid movements, falling in a golden 
 mass about her face. 
 
 The door slowly opened, and in came Sally with a tray ; 
 Sally in her plain, white dress, which, in its unwonted length, 
 and with its elbow sleeves and open neck veiled in filmy lace, 
 gave a touch of grace to the girl's angular and square figure, 
 which at no other time was visible ; she came in slowly with her 
 
248 ZTbe IRtece of Bstber Xgnne 
 
 burden, and put it down on a little table, saying in rather an 
 odd voice : 
 
 "Mother was so sorry you did not stay for some soup. 
 It is two hours since you had supper, and she was afraid 
 you were overdone. I said I'd take it myself. I wanted to 
 see you, Di and to see you to-night. I want to have it over. 
 It's got to be said or I shall I shall burst with it. It may 
 be no business of mine I don't care. I'm not going to keep 
 my mouth shut. I stood by quiet when you did your level best 
 to get Rudolf away from Stella and succeeded ; though I don't 
 believe now you mean to marry him. I believe you are playing 
 fast and loose with him to amuse yourself. But when you set 
 yourself to get Sir Humphrey away from Miss Lynne that I 
 won't stand in silence. 
 
 " I didn't care so long as it was just your flirting with him 
 trying to bewitch and captivate him honestly for I knew he 
 was a man who had the sense to look below, and that Miss Lynne 
 would always stand first with him But when you go telling 
 tarradiddles about her putting him off with horrid little mean 
 half-truths keep him away from her, that you may make the 
 running yourself ! Di, I am ashamed for you ! I hate to 
 think any woman can be so mean so small. I'd never 
 have guessed it of you. I wouldn't really have believed 
 it at all, if I hadn't heard you myself! People had said 
 things. Archie asked me questions which set me wondering. 
 I've had suspicions before, and I've meant to have it out with 
 you. But till to-night I've never been quite, quite sure that 
 there mightn't have been some mistake. But now I know 
 there hasn't. Di, do you know you've been a beast ? " 
 
 The final question was flashed out just in Sally's old style. 
 Up till then she had spoken with unusual sobriety and quite 
 unusual fluency. Diana had never heard so long a speech 
 pass her lips before. She sat back on her heels, staring 
 mutely at her, the colour rising hot in her face at first, and 
 then ebbing slowly away. 
 
Drear November 249 
 
 By the time Sally wound up with the familiar and inelegant 
 word, Di had somewhat recovered from her first astonish- 
 ment and indignation at being taken to task. Something in 
 the direct frankness and unflinching aspect of the girl befor 
 her appealed to the more generous side of her nature. She 
 looked full at her, and asked : 
 
 "What do you mean ? What have you heard ? " 
 
 " I was in the conservatory when you and Sir Humphrey 
 came in. I was almost asleep. That rubbishy cotillion had 
 given me breathing time. When I woke up you were talking 
 together. I never thought of such things as secrets between 
 you I've heard you talking a dozen times, and I was very 
 sleepy and not taking in much, till suddenly I knew that he 
 was asking about Miss Lynne something you had said to him 
 before about her. Archie had told me that Sir Humphrey had 
 the idea that Miss Lynne was overdone by so much to-ing and 
 fro-ing between Convent House and Nun's Bower. I told 
 him it was all rubbish ; that it was her greatest pleasure ; 
 but you know what you told him to-night, Di. You know 
 what you meant and so do I. You are just trying to get 
 him away from Miss Lynne, whom he has loved all his life ; 
 you are trying all you know to make him love you and propose 
 to you. And when he does it, you will play with him a little, 
 and then get tired of him, and fling him aside like an old glove, 
 and go off after somebody else you will serve him just as you 
 have served Rudolf! You have no heart. I think you are 
 like Undine without a soul. And you don't care how many 
 hearts you break and wreck so long as you are amused and 
 are the first with everybody ! " 
 
 Diana had risen slowly to her feet. Her eyes were glowing 
 strangely. Sally did not know whether the girl might not fly 
 at her like a tiger ; yet she faced her without flinching. But 
 the words, when they came, surprised her both by their 
 briefness and by the tone in which they were spoken. 
 
 " You, too, Sally ! " 
 
250 TOe IFUece of Estber 
 
 There was a tense silence between them. Sally was the 
 first to speak. 
 
 " What do you mean, Di ? " 
 
 "Only that you are repeating what I have heard before. 
 I suppose history has a way of repeating itself. Can I help 
 it?" The girl broke out now almost passionately. "I 
 believe I am made like that ! It has always been the same. 
 I first make friends wherever I go and then I make enemies. 
 They turn against me. How can I help it if the boys the 
 men will come after me ? " 
 
 "Sir Humphrey has never come after you not in your 
 sense ! " cried Sally hotly. " He knew your mother you 
 are Miss Lynne's niece and he has never had a thought for 
 anyone but her ! It is just that which you could not bear ! 
 You must have him, too ! Oh ! I have nothing much to say 
 about the young men not even Rudolf though I do think 
 you have treated him very badly. Stella was aggravating. 
 She irritated and provoked him she has owned up now. 
 And then you came, and I can understand it all very well. 
 It was natural and all that, and he ought to know enough of 
 the game to take his luck. But Sir Humphrey and Miss 
 Lynne ! That is what I can't get over. You have just tried 
 to come between them, whether you know it or not. And 
 yet all the time you profess to love her " 
 
 " I do love her ! " cried Di, catching her breath. 
 
 " You don't you only love yourself. What you call love 
 for other people is only a sort of make-believe. You care for 
 Miss Lynne because you like the ease and comfort of Convent 
 House, and to be looked after by her, and petted and spoiled 
 by everybody. You don't care that for her herself, or you 
 could not you could not try to come between her and her 
 happiness her and her love. You may think it ridiculous 
 that men and women can love faithfully all those years ; but 
 other people don't. No; I don't want to talk about it, I 
 don't want to argue about it ; I've had my say, and if you like 
 
Drear IRcwember 251 
 
 to quarrel with me you can. But if you have one spark of 
 honour or love or principle left, you'll try to undo the mischief 
 you have done. You'll let Miss Lynne and Sir Humphrey be 
 happy together without holding them apart by your plotting 
 and your lies ! " 
 
 Again the last word came out like a snap; and Sally, 
 without a pause, turned and marched out from the room, 
 holding up her head very stiff and high, whilst Diana looked 
 after her rigid and motionless till the door closed sharply 
 behind her, when she suddenly flung herself upon the bed, 
 and broke into a storm of wild weeping. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 AN UNSEEN HAND 
 
 " WHAT was that ? " cried Sally, stopping suddenly short. 
 
 "What?" asked Stella, pausing also, but unconscious of 
 anything unwonted either in sight or sound. 
 
 But Sally had senses accentuated by her open-air life and 
 love of woodland roving. Her ears were preternaturally sharp, 
 and now she dashed forward, crying out : 
 
 " Something has happened ! I heard a scuffle, and, I think, 
 a fall. Keep your eyes open, Stella ; follow me, and if you 
 see anything, sing out." 
 
 Stella's heart was beating wildly. True, it was still almost 
 broad daylight, though the dusk would fall rapidly now in 
 the woods. It seemed scarcely the hour for poachers to be 
 abroad ; yet, if Sally were right in what she surmised, what else 
 could it be save some scuffle with poachers ? 
 
 " Sally, what is it ? Do you think we ought to go ? What 
 could we do if we got there?" she asked, following Sally's 
 galloping steps with her lighter flying footfalls. 
 
 But Sally only cried : 
 
 " Come on ! come on ! Somebody may want our help ! " 
 And in a moment more she uttered a queer kind of yell, and 
 made a dash, as it were, into the very heart of the thicket, 
 shouting out to Stella : " Catch him ! catch him ! Ghost or 
 no ghost, we'll nab him between us ! Yonder he goes ! Look 
 sharp, Stella! Head him off, can't you? Great Jehoshaphat! 
 where has the beggar got to now ? " 
 
 Stella was mute with astonished bewilderment. Sally 
 
 252 
 
an ZHnseen Ibanfc 253 
 
 seemed dashing after some phantom of her own creation. 
 For one moment Stella did think she beheld something 
 moving in the brushwood, something white and small, but she 
 could not make nothing of it ; probably it was a young owl 
 fluttering along not far from the ground. But Sally was 
 plunging and diving about in a wild and erratic fashion, 
 only coming up at last breathless and panting, with a strangely 
 baffled look upon her face. 
 
 " Made tracks the beggar ! But I declare I thought I'd 
 beat anybody at that game ! Did you see what it was, 
 Stella ? " 
 
 " No ; I saw nothing ! " Stella was shaking all over now, 
 with the nervous terror which peril and mystery easily awaken 
 in young girls. " What was it, Sally ? " 
 
 " I believe it was that creature, whoever it may be, who was 
 playing ghost round here last summer ! " 
 
 "That was Diana." 
 
 "There was another, too. Di saw it, and so did Archie. 
 After Di's escapade had set all the village talking and watching, 
 the first ghost disappeared for a bit. I believe the beggar has 
 come back now. I saw the white thing wrapped round its 
 head ; but I saw eyes as well wicked, vicious-looking eyes, 
 gleaming out of blackness ! Where the creature's got to I 
 can't imagine ; but I can't wait to see now. He's been up to 
 mischief of some sort. And I'm going to see what it was ! " 
 
 "Oh, Sally, how do you know? Hadn't we better get 
 help?" 
 
 " Yes, of course if there's need. That's what we've got to 
 find out. Come along this way. It wasn't far off where the 
 scrimmage was. Here, don't you look so scared, you little 
 goose ! I've got my weapon. I'll defend you. Besides, the 
 spook or whatever it is is well scared off by now. All 
 we've got to do is to find out what he's been up to, and if any 
 mischief has been done. Come on ! " 
 
 And Sally dashed fearlessly forward, followed closely by 
 
254 tTbe *Uece of fistber 
 
 Stella, who felt anything preferable to being left by herself in 
 the wood, where some mysterious and ghostly being might be 
 lurking, bent upon mischief. 
 
 An exclamation from Sally, who kept a short lead, showed 
 that she had made a discovery. Next minute Stella uttered 
 a little sharp cry of fright and distress. Sir Humphrey 
 Vanborough lay extended upon the ground at their feet, his 
 white face turned up towards the sky, his eyes closed, his 
 features rigid, and a stream of blood flowing from him, and 
 dyeing the ground crimson. 
 
 In a moment Sally was on her knees beside him. Sally had 
 been a sort of doctor to injured animals all her life. Blood 
 did not affright her. Her nerves were well under control. 
 Whenever there was something to be done, she had abundant 
 capacity. Awkward and blundering she might be in a drawing- 
 room, but when an emergency stared her in the face, she 
 had all her wits about her, nor were her fingers all thumbs 
 where she had wounds or broken bones to deal with. 
 
 " Quick, Stella, whip off that scarf of yours, and my neck-tie. 
 It's a great, deep gash down his arm almost to the bone. 
 It's bleeding frightfully ; but we'll get that stopped. I know 
 how to make a rough tourniquet. Just you do what I tell 
 you, and we'll stop the worst of it." 
 
 Sally's hands were moving as fast as her tongue. She had 
 her knife in her hands, and was ripping up the coat-sleeve 
 with reckless disregard for seams. Stella, white and trembling, 
 but nerved by the emergency into prompt action, did everything 
 Sally ordered her, got a thick, stout bit of stick, and watched 
 Sally twist it into the ligature, and draw it tighter and tighter. 
 They saw the flow of blood slacken and almost cease, and 
 Sally looked up and issued her orders in the same prompt, 
 imperious fashion. 
 
 " Run to Convent House it's much the nearest ; go to the 
 stables straight. Tell them there to get out old Mr. Lynne's 
 wheel-chair, and run it along here as fast as they can. Don't 
 
Hn Unseen ibanb 255 
 
 say a word to Miss Lynne yet. We'll do all that later. He's 
 got to be taken to the nearest house as fast as he can be got. 
 Off with you ! I'll stay by him till you come back. Don't 
 lose a moment ! " 
 
 Stella was off like the wind. In less time than Sally had 
 reckoned possible, men were beside her, with the invalid chair, 
 which ran lightly and easily upon its wheels. Sir Humphrey 
 was lifted and placed within it, still unconscious from loss of 
 blood. 
 
 "Never mind that," spoke Sally. "It's just as well he 
 should stay in that faint. If he came to, the bleeding might 
 start again. We'll get a doctor to him now as fast as we can. 
 Take him up to Convent House, men. I'll go and tell Miss 
 Lynne. It'll be all right, you'll see. He ought not to be 
 moved more than can be helped till the wound is dressed. 
 And it's twice as far even to Nun's Bower." 
 
 Sally dashed off in advance of the convoy, and burst in 
 upon Esther just as the dusk was really deepening, and she 
 was beginning to wonder why Diana did not come in. How- 
 ever, as the girl was uncertain in her movements when out 
 shooting, she was in no wise concerned, and looked up with 
 a smiling face as the sound of flying footsteps along the 
 passage made itself heard. 
 
 But it was no Di who rushed in upon her, breathless and 
 excited, and Esther started back with a gasp of dismay, for 
 Sally's hands were crimson from her recent surgical manipula- 
 tions, and there were stains upon her dress also, though 
 evidently the girl herself had received no injury. 
 
 " My dear, what has happened ? " spoke Esther anxiously. 
 " Has there been some accident ? " 
 
 "Yes; we are bringing him here. It isn't very bad a 
 flesh wound, you know, but deep, and it bled dreadfully. We 
 got the wheel chair from the stables. We knew you would 
 lend it. It was just outside your ring fence, by the little gate. 
 I told them to bring him here, and to go for the doctor sharp. 
 
256 ttbe Biece of stber 
 
 It is Sir Humphrey ; he has been wounded in the arm rather 
 badly." 
 
 Instantly Esther became quite Composed and alert. With 
 her hand on Sally's arm, she moved towards the hall, ringing 
 the bell as she passed it. The hall of Convent House was in 
 effect one of its pleasantest rooms. A great glowing fire 
 always blazed there, and it was lighted up before the rest 
 of the house, so that already the lamps gave a clear 
 glow. Esther, with Sally's assistance, drew a little forward 
 a great couch, placing it sideways to the fire, and 
 the housekeeper, at her instructions, brought quickly all 
 such medicaments and restoratives as were likely to be 
 wanted. 
 
 Sally watched and helped so long as there was anything to 
 do, and when the sounds of the approach announced that the 
 patient had arrived, she dashed away into the darkness, and 
 scudded up the wide yew walk to Nun's Bower upon an errand 
 of her own. 
 
 She did not know whom she might find there. Archie 
 would most likely be out shooting, but Colonel York would 
 probably be back. He did sometimes take out his gun, but 
 he was not able to stand long tramps or long hours. When 
 the door was opened for her, however, there was Archie, just 
 pulling off his muddy gaiters in the hall, whilst York stood in 
 the open doorway of one of the rooms, exchanging greetings 
 with him. Both men looked in amaze at Sally as she 
 appeared ; for though she had washed her hands, and done 
 something towards modifying her dishevelment, she was still 
 something of a wild figure, and her face showed that she came 
 as a bringer of tidings. 
 
 " Sir Humphrey has been attacked in the woods," she said, 
 in her abrupt way. "We found him lying there bleeding. I 
 saw the creature who had done it just for a moment. It is 
 that gliding thing who plays ghost round here, with the white 
 about its head." 
 
Hn Tttnseen 1banb 257 
 
 "Ah!" cried York, starting forward, "that Hindoo juggler 
 chap again ! " 
 
 " Is it that ? " cried Sally. " I declare I believe you are 
 right ! I never thought of that ; but it would all fit. A 
 creepy-crawly thing that glides and squirms, and seems to 
 wriggle and vanish away. Oh, that would explain why I 
 couldn't lay hands on him " 
 
 "You don't mean that you tried? you a girl and 
 unarmed ! " cried Archie, who was buttoning up his gaiters 
 again as fast as he could. 
 
 " Why not ? I had a stick. Besides, I didn't know who or 
 what it was. I didn't know then what had happened, only 
 that there had been some scuffle somewhere. Then we found 
 Sir Humphrey, Stella and I. We've had him taken to Miss 
 Lynne at Convent House." Sally faced the two men 
 squarely as she added : " I've come to tell you. But I want 
 him to stop there for a few days. It would be much the best 
 for him and for everything." 
 
 " But, Miss Lynne," cried Archie, standing up and pulling 
 on his overcoat, " it will be too much for her." 
 
 "It won't be too much for her," answered Sally stoutly; 
 " it's as much for her as for him I want it. Don't take him 
 away. Let him stay for a little while. What good are men 
 with anybody who's been hurt and is a bit weak and ill ? You 
 leave him to Miss Lynne ! " 
 
 They looked at her ; they looked at each other, and then 
 Archie said: 
 
 " Come along, Miss Sally. We'll go and have a look how 
 things are going, and what the doctor says about it all. You 
 don't think he'll be too bad to move, do you ? " 
 
 " I don't think so ; not unless there's something beside the 
 deep cut right up his arm. But I just want it to be settled so, 
 and I came to get you on my side." 
 
 They were plunging along together now down the dark 
 avenue. Sally had eyes like a cat in the dark, and when 
 
 R 
 
258 TTbe Ifttece of JEatber Xsnne 
 
 Archie stumbled she cried, " Hold up ! " and put her hand on 
 his arm to steady him. 
 
 "Look here," he said, "I want to do what you wish, of 
 course ; but how about Miss Lynne ? She's not been well, 
 and Miss Conquest says she has been overdone with so many 
 things, and that she should be kept quiet and all that ; and 
 now" 
 
 " Don't ? you believe a word of what Di says ! " suddenly 
 flashed out Sally. " I mean, don't you let anything she has 
 said make a difference now. Miss Lynne is just the best 
 nurse in all the place, and loves to care for sick people. Sir 
 Humphrey is her oldest friend. They have known each other 
 all their lives. What on earth can be more natural than that 
 she should take care of him just for a day or two, when he 
 is brought to her house ? Di doesn't understand at least, I 
 hope she doesn't. Don't ask me any more. I don't want to 
 talk about it. But if you let anything she says to you, or has 
 said, stand in the way of what I want, I'll never forgive you ! " 
 
 Archie was silent. In the darkness he could not see Sally's 
 face, but he heard by her voice that she was moved and 
 disturbed that some emotions were working within her, of 
 which she did not choose to speak more explicitly. Neverthe- 
 less, Archie was not a stupid or a dense youth, so his mind 
 rapidly surveyed the situation and the events of the past 
 months, and a curious illuminating flash seemed to break in 
 upon him. 
 
 "Holy Moses!" he exclaimed, beneath his breath, "can it 
 be possible she has been working for that, and that Sally, of 
 all the people in the world, has been the one to see through 
 her?" 
 
 " Did you speak ? " asked Sally, as they emerged out of the 
 blackness of the yew avenue. 
 
 A little gleam of moonlight now relieved the gloom, and 
 had Sally been wont to study faces much, she might have 
 been struck by the expression upon her companion's. 
 
Hn Tnnseen tmnb 259 
 
 " I didn't exactly speak/' he said, in a curious voice ; " but 
 one of these days if you will let me, Sally I declare I 
 believe I will speak." 
 
 " Oh, all right," she answered, not in the least estimating 
 the curious tumult of emotion she had suddenly awakened 
 within him, " only just you remember and be on my side now. 
 If you fail me here, I shall be awfully angry with you." 
 
 " I don't intend to fail you, Sally," he said, in the same 
 curious tone of voice, " either now or in the future." 
 
 It was not very unusual for him to call her Sally, and she 
 habitually called him Archie, as Di had done from the first. 
 She dashed on now towards the house, he following her step 
 for step, and in another few minutes they had gained the 
 house, and had entered by the partly opened door. 
 
 Standing in the smaller outer hall, they could see the group 
 in the larger one. The doctor was bending over the prostrate 
 man (he had been luckily caught almost at the gates, and 
 was on the spot as soon as the patient) and was evidently 
 dressing the wound, whilst Esther stood beside him, handing 
 what was needed, her face grave, but quiet and tranquil, her 
 whole mind absorbed in the task ; no quiverings of nervous 
 trepidation visible about her, no shrinking, and no repulsion ; 
 nerved by the great wish to do all that was possible, which 
 she was plainly doing without effort. 
 
 Sir Humphrey had recovered consciousness. From time to 
 time his eyes opened, and each time they did so they fixed 
 themselves instinctively upon Esther's face. Once and again 
 she held a glass to his lips, and there came a ghost of a smile 
 upon his pale lips as he made a gesture of thanks. Archie 
 watched for a few moments, and felt the pressure of Sally's 
 hand upon his arm, as much as to say, " I told you so ! " 
 Then he stepped forward, the doctor having evidently almost 
 completed his task, and presented himself in the group about 
 the prostrate man. 
 
 " Well, here's a pretty kettle of fish ! " he remarked. 
 
260 Ube Iftiece of Estber 3Lttne 
 
 " Didn't know you were not to be trusted to get home alone 
 all safe and sound. What in the world has happened to 
 you ? " 
 
 " Never mind now," spoke the doctor quickly ; " there's a 
 time for talking, and a time for keeping quiet ; and just now 
 it's the turn for keeping quiet. You ought to be put to bed 
 at once, Sir Humphrey, and to stop there for forty-eight hours 
 without getting up." 
 
 "There is a room ready now for you, Humphrey," spoke 
 Esther, with her tranquil smile. " I did not think Dr. Ballard 
 would sanction your exposure to the night air again, or your 
 being moved so soon with those stitches in your arm." 
 
 " Quite right, Miss Lynne, quite right," spoke the doctor ; 
 "if it had to be done why, we'd do what we could; but 
 it's far the best thing for him to stay here, if you'll take him." 
 
 " But, Esther, I really could not so impose upon you," 
 spoke Sir Humphrey, in a voice which seemed curiously thin 
 and toneless, and bespoke his physical feebleness more than 
 even the deadly whiteness of his face. 
 
 Her answer was a smile, whilst Archie instantly said : 
 
 " Oh, that's all nonsense, boss, if Miss Lynne has made her 
 arrangements. What good are a pair of bachelors like York 
 and me, when there's a sick man in the case ? We'd black your 
 boots, or do any mortal thing for you we could ; but men are 
 such clumsy brutes even with the best will in the world. 
 And we all know what Miss Lynne is like. And if she can 
 manage it without taxing her strength, why then " 
 
 " Ah, but I am afraid it will tax her strength. Esther, you 
 have been ill and overdone as it is " 
 
 Sir Humphrey could not speak too many words at a time. 
 Loss of blood had told upon him. Esther laid her hand 
 softly upon his lips, and answered : 
 
 " It is all arranged, Humphrey. I am not ill or weak. I 
 am in my element where there is illness. Give me this 
 pleasure, for the old sake's sake. We have been brother and 
 
an ^Unseen fmnfc 261 
 
 sister so long; surely you do not grudge me the sister's 
 place?" 
 
 His gaze sought hers with a curious intensity. At that 
 moment he was aware of another pair of ardent eyes fastened 
 upon him. He slightly turned his head, and there was Diana, 
 pale and strained, gazing upon him with parted lips and wild 
 eyes. 
 
 "You must forgive me, my dear, for this intrusion," he 
 said. " It was involuntary on my part. I never would have 
 disobeyed orders had I known what they were doing to me." 
 
 Diana spoke no word ; she turned and fled upstairs like a 
 hunted thine;. Esther gazed for a moment at her in amaze, 
 and then at Sir Humphrey, as though to ask an explanation. 
 But he offered none. His eyes had closed again. He was 
 carried upstairs, and Archie went with him, pondering many 
 things in his mind, chiefly conscious of Sally's curious 
 expression as he saw it last, and the little ejaculation which 
 had passed her lips as Di and Sir Humphrey exchanged looks 
 and words. 
 
 So the girl had her way. Sir Humphrey Vanborough for 
 five days was the guest of Esther Lynne at Convent House, 
 whilst great hue and cry was made for the perpetrator of the 
 cowardly assault, of which the invalid was able soon to give 
 some account. 
 
 He was decidedly of York's opinion now, that his assailant 
 had been an Oriental though whether the Hindoo conjuror 
 or not he could not surmise. He never saw him clearly. The 
 man must have been hidden in a tree, and have fallen upon 
 him like a snake from some upper branch as he passed along. 
 His quick ear caught the sound of the rustle in the boughs, and 
 he saw the gleam of the murderous knife which was so aimed as 
 to strike downwards to his very heart. He had caught the 
 blow on his arm, which had been gashed to the very bone, 
 and he thought he had received a blow on the head also, as 
 Unconsciousness had supervened instantly, and there was a 
 
262 ube IRfece of Estber Xgnne 
 
 swelling which might have been caused either by a blow or a 
 fall. 
 
 He began to entertain York's idea that he was pursued by 
 the avenger of blood the result of one of those endless 
 feuds of the East, carried on so relentlessly, so silently, so 
 mysteriously. It was not a pleasant thought, for the assailant 
 had got away and was still at large. Whether he thought his 
 work sufficiently done, or whether he heard the sound of 
 approaching steps, and feared to make sure of his victim then, 
 could only be a matter of surmise. What was plain was that 
 he would sooner or later learn that his victim had escaped ; 
 and there was little doubt but that he would repeat the attack 
 at some other occasion. 
 
 This, however, the men kept to themselves. They spoke, 
 indeed, very little of their guesses on the subject, save to each 
 other, and to the private detective whom Sir Humphrey was 
 prevailed upon to summon from Scotland Yard. Not that he 
 had much faith in the methods of the West as opposed to the 
 cunning craftiness of a son of the East ; but it seemed right to 
 take every reasonable precaution, and he took it accordingly. 
 
 Yet, in spite of all anxiety and suffering, he was strangely 
 content in those days. When he came down upon the third 
 day, it was to sit beside Esther's fire, to talk with her, to watch 
 her at her little tasks, and be waited upon by her, as though it 
 were his right. It seemed so natural to them both, that he 
 scarcely protested, and she showed that she did it without a 
 thought. Diana scarcely appeared. She had a curious dislike 
 and shrinking from weakness or suffering in any form. She 
 shivered when she saw Sir Humphrey's slung arm ; but over 
 and above that there was another reason why she avoided 
 his society just now. She wondered sometimes what he 
 might say what he might think. A curious hatred of 
 herself alternated with fits of almost hatred of him. And 
 yet he exercised a curious fascination over her still at 
 moments, fier life was dominated by thoughts of him in 
 
Hn IHnseen ifoanfc 263 
 
 a persistent and inexplicable manner. She grew irritable 
 and angry at last. 
 
 " I can't stand this much longer ! " she cried fiercely to 
 herself the day that Sir Humphrey had gone back to Nun's 
 Bower, the old easy intimacy between him and Esther 
 completely re-established. " If I am to stay here much 
 longer and somehow I don't want to go I must find 
 something fresh to amuse myself with. I've played with 
 edged tools once too often. I've cut my own fingers at 
 last; and suppose he should find it out?" 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 COMING CHRISTMAS 
 
 IT was Sir Humphrey's idea ; but Diana took it up with her 
 characteristic energy, and flung herself into the scheme with 
 that eagerness and enthusiasm which was one of her 
 characteristics. 
 
 " It is so long since I spent a Christmas in England," Sir 
 Humphrey had said, "I should like a real old-fashioned 
 Christmas a day for the children. We old folks have 
 memories which are prone to make us somewhat sad, but the 
 children have all their life before them. It is their fay par 
 excellence let us have a real children's feast." 
 
 Cleethorpe did not lack for its contingent of little folks. 
 There were the three at the Rectory, and now three more at 
 the curate's home. These latter had some little cousins, 
 whose parents were in India, coming to spend the Christmas 
 holidays with them. Other houses in the locality had young 
 people coming home from school, as well as the nursery party 
 at home, and there could not be too many for Sir Humphrey, 
 whose motto seemed to be, "The more the merrier." 
 
 It was Diana who voted for some tableaux from favourite 
 fairy tales, and it was Archie who declared that if they once 
 roofed in the central court of Nun's Bower, they could contrive 
 the most picturesque and charming stage effects for the 
 little actors, and arrange the most delightful groups. Sir 
 Humphrey caught at the idea. He declared that Nun's 
 Bower had never had a proper house-warming yet, and that it 
 should have it now at the approaching festival. To cover in 
 
 264 
 
Coming Gbrtstmas 265 
 
 the little courtyard would be a matter quite easily arranged, 
 and would only involve the temporary darkening for a few 
 days of the upper and lower corridors, which must be lighted 
 artificially during that time. He had set his heart upon 
 giving the entertainment himself, and his house was quite 
 large enough for eating and drinking purposes, and for a 
 certain amount of romping and playing ; for the double 
 corridors, with the little connecting stairways at the corners, 
 and the rooms all opening from each other, gave scope as he 
 remembered well for a great variety of delightful games. 
 
 But he had not seen his way at first to the theatrical 
 arrangements, or exactly how and where to place the giant 
 Christmas-tree which he had set his heart upon but this idea 
 of Archie's made all smooth sailing, and the three bachelors 
 threw themselves heart and soul into the work of arranging and 
 transforming the house, whilst York designed the roofing of 
 the courtyard, gave instructions to the village carpenter, 
 and made himself clerk of the works generally, as Diana did 
 that of mistress of the ceremonies concerning the arrangement 
 of the little children's play and the setting of the tableaux. 
 
 As for Esther, she was Sir Humphrey's right hand in all 
 other matters. She was able to give him all the help he 
 needed as to the question of supply. They spent one long 
 day together in London at toy-shops and confectioners ; and 
 no one thought of interfering or saying that Miss Lynne was 
 being done to death. 
 
 She looked much better than she had done earlier in the 
 season. Perhaps it was the touch of frost in the air which 
 brought the little pink flush to her cheeks. She looked 
 younger again ; her step was light and free ; she was full of 
 plans and projects of her own, as ever at the Christmas season. 
 But she had always time and thought to spare for any demands 
 made upon her by her neighbours, and of these, first and 
 foremost stood Sir Humphrey Vanborough. 
 
 The old easy friendship had been completely re-established 
 
266 ube IFUece of Bstber 
 
 now. He came and went as he had done at the first. Often 
 he would sit for the greater part of the afternoon with her 
 beside her fire. They talked of the past and of the present 
 seldom of the future. Sometimes they sat in the silence of 
 true intimacy, content and at rest. Esther asked no more. 
 She knew not what was coming. She sometimes watched her 
 old friend closely when Diana was near and wondered. But 
 of late the girl seldom remained long with them. She seemed 
 full of work, and endued with the secret of perpetual motion. 
 With the Christmas holidays had come the frost, and skating 
 was added to other occupations. Here, indeed, Di was in her 
 element ; for though her childhood had been spent in warm 
 latitudes, she had passed several Canadian winters, and her 
 grace and skill and dexterity upon the ice was a thing beautiful 
 to watch. She threw Archie's achievements which were not 
 small altogether into the shade, and the only person who 
 ever seemed in any way to rival her was oddly enough the 
 crippled soldier, York. 
 
 To his own surprise, the soldier found himself on skates less 
 helpless than on his feet walking. He, too, had had his 
 Canadian winters in far-off years, and he showed at once 
 what an expert he had been when in full strength and health. 
 Even now upon the ice a grace of ease of movement returned 
 to him which was most exhilarating. Diana, who had by fits 
 and starts taken an interest in this man, and had felt his 
 latent power, suddenly found him more companionable 
 than she had dreamed he could be. It was curious, she 
 thought, but some of her power seemed latterly to have 
 escaped her. Sir Humphrey was her friend, but nothing more. 
 Now that Sally had so rudely opened her eyes, she saw this 
 plainly ; and with a curious sense of mingled shame and self- 
 scorn, had withdrawn herself from any further efforts at 
 establishing any supremacy over him. Archie, too, in some 
 curious fashion seemed to have changed. They were still the 
 most excellent friends and comrades, but she was instinctively 
 
Coming Gforistmas 267 
 
 aware that her power over him was gone. He admired, but 
 he no longer adored her. She was his very good friend, but 
 she was not his bright particular star. He would do her 
 bidding as a matter of course, and with alacrity ; but he did 
 not show by his every act and word that he regarded her 
 service as the chiefest delight and glory of his life. He did 
 not, as it were, lay himself down for her to walk over. Perhaps 
 she regarded him with more respect on this account ; but it 
 set her wondering. 
 
 York had never been her slave ; that she knew very 
 well. From the first she had always been aware that he 
 criticised her that he appraised her at more of her true 
 worth than some others were able to do, that her beauty 
 did not dazzle him, nor her powers of fascination charm 
 beyond a certain point. Nor had she cared about this, save 
 in moments of occasional pique. She had regarded York at 
 the outset as rather beyond the pale. His infirmity and 
 broken health slightly disgusted her to use a strong word. 
 There was in her heart a curious sense of revolt against 
 whatever was not shapely and attractive and flawless. The 
 sight of suffering was repugnant to her, and no one could look 
 at York in old days without knowing him to be a very suffering 
 man, if not in the immediate present, yet in the recent past, 
 the traces of which remained branded upon him. 
 
 He would carry something of that look all his life ; but it 
 had greatly modified with time and returning strength. She 
 watched him upon the ice; she took pleasure in circling 
 about with him, and cutting those elaborate double figures 
 which none but they two could attempt. She decided that 
 he was a distinguished-looking man, with the remains of 
 what must have been great physical attraction. The attrac- 
 tion, indeed, remained still, she decided ; and when she saw 
 him amongst eager boys and laughing girls, crowding round 
 him for instruction and " wrinkles " as to how this or that was 
 to be done, and heard his clear, terse directions, and noted how 
 
268 ube Wece of Bstber 
 
 commanding were his ways and words, and how naturally all 
 looked to him to umpire their contests and arrange their 
 handicaps, she recognised in him that quality of a leader 
 of men which attracted her singularly ; and she realised 
 as she had never done before what it must have been to such 
 a man to be laid aside from active service, to have his career 
 cut short in its prime, and to know that he could never fill 
 that place for which he seemed to be destined by training and 
 temperament. 
 
 Diana was seeing in these days many things which had 
 escaped her before. She was noting something about Sally 
 which perplexed her somewhat. Since that night when Sally 
 had spoken her mind with such frankness, the two girls had 
 not met very often in private, though they were constantly 
 together in company. No apparent diminution in their friend- 
 ship had taken place ; and Di was generous enough, with all 
 her faults, to admire Sally for her courage and her candour; 
 but it had left its mark all the same. Sally was doubtful 
 whether Di had forgiven her. Di felt that Sally had 
 seen through her rather more than was agreeable. They 
 avoided, by mutual consent, being alone together, and Di 
 wondered whether, when Rudolf should return for Christmas, 
 as was expected, Sally would say anything to him in her 
 bluff way as to what had happened. She wondered also 
 whether she would find Rudolf as attractive as she had 
 done in the summer. For really, if she did, it might 
 be worth while to think of settling something with regard 
 to the future. She saw very plainly that she would 
 never be Lady Vanborough though whether Esther ever 
 would (thanks to her interposition) she could not hazard an 
 opinion. Perhaps she might do worse than take Rudolf, and 
 push him to the forefront, using her own wealth, beauty, force of 
 character, and ambition, to be seconded by his own. She might 
 live to be Lady Hastings before so many years had passed. 
 And she felt as though she would like to retain her friends 
 
Comfits Cforfstmas 269 
 
 and interests in Cleethorpe ; and, after all, Bishop's Hall and 
 Convent House would make a very respectable estate when 
 joined together (as in the course of nature they would be) by 
 a union between the Squire's son and the niece of Esther Lynne. 
 
 Diana had an unwelcome and a most unwonted feeling of 
 having made something of a mess of her affairs all round, and 
 she wondered whether the neighbourhood were in any way 
 conscious of it. If so, she must show them pretty plainly that 
 they were mistaken, and perhaps a speedy engagement with 
 Rudolf Hastings would be the best way out of the present 
 rather uncomfortable situation. If any unpleasant remarks 
 had been made, this would silence them. She would become 
 again the central figure of local interest, and would queen it 
 royally and graciously over all the place in right of her future 
 position. So she skimmed about upon her skates a graceful, 
 notable figure, in crimson velvet and soft grey fur the 
 observed of all observers ; laughing heartily when she caught 
 sight of Sally, leading her hockey team with unrivalled energy 
 perfectly at home on her skates, wonderfully rapid in her 
 movements, and in her powers of stooping, twisting, and 
 turning ; yet nevertheless preserving through it all the 
 characteristic ungainliness of action which seemed inseparable 
 from all she did, and which always evoked from Di laughing 
 comments of amusement. 
 
 " Isn't she like an elephant on skates poor old Sally ? " 
 she asked laughingly of Archie, as she skimmed along at his 
 side. 
 
 " She plays the best game of ice-hockey that ever I've seen," 
 he answered, and turned his head to watch her as she struck 
 at the ball, and followed its course, guiding it with rare skill, 
 for all her ungainly action, and keeping it well away from all 
 adversaries. 
 
 " Oh, yes ; she's awfully good at games -it's her metier^ 
 you know," and Di gave him a curious glance sidelong as she 
 swept onwards, and very softly whistled under her breath. 
 
270 TTbe IFifece of lEstbet X^nne 
 
 It was dusk before Sally's game was finished, and then she 
 was delayed by various small good-natured offices performed 
 for other skaters. Children had to be helped out of their 
 skates, and there was a boy with a cut hand to be bound up 
 and sent on his way. By the time that Sally was free to make 
 her own way home it was almost dark, and the company of 
 skaters had pretty well dispersed. She was used to be 
 amongst the last to leave, and the walk across the home fields 
 was short and familiar. But she had only just reached the 
 style which led thither before a familiar figure emerged from 
 the shelter of the hedge. Archie flung away the end of his 
 cigar, and offered her a hand as she flung herself over, and 
 then possessed himself of her skates. 
 
 " Oh, you needn't do that ! " she cried, laughing ; " I'm not 
 one of that sort of girls ! " 
 
 "What sort of girls?" he asked, delighted always when he 
 could draw her out. 
 
 " Oh, you know, the sort that expects to be waited on, and 
 have things done for them, as though they hadn't got arms 
 and legs of their own. I hate not having something to carry ; 
 I don't know what to do with my hands. If you think you're 
 bound to carry my skates, I'll have yours ! " 
 
 And before he knew what she was about, she had possessed 
 herself of them and was examining them critically, they being 
 the newest patent out like everything that Archie possessed. 
 
 " Don't think I care about them. I swear by my old acmes 
 I don't cotton to all the new-fangled dodges. When I've 
 got an old friend, I stick to it. I suppose I take a bit after 
 my governor, after all. Now, you hanker after every latest, 
 newest thing you see or hear of, whether it's clothes, or 
 whether it's guns, or whatever it may he. You ought to 
 marry the daughter of some big universal provider, like 
 Whiteley, or one of that fry, so that your papa-in-law could 
 provide you with every latest fad and fashion just as soon as 
 ever it came out." 
 
doming Cbvtetmas 271 
 
 A curious light leaped suddenly into Archie's eyes: 
 " I don't want to marry the daughter of a U. P., Sally ; I 
 want to marry you." 
 
 She looked at him for one single moment from under her 
 brows, and then her eyes went back to the skates in her hands. 
 
 "That's a good 'un ! " she remarked. 
 
 Archie almost laughed aloud, despite the fact that he was 
 desperately in earnest more in earnest than he had ever been 
 over anything in his life before. He thought his own way of 
 proposing and her way of taking it were alike original, and that 
 the situation, if a little critical, was exceedingly delightful. 
 Never had this odd girl attracted him more. He did not care 
 one whit for her eccentricities of mind or of person. There 
 was something beneath all that which had got a firm grip of 
 him, and he, the dandy and man of fashion, whose ambition 
 had always been to have everything of the most perfect and 
 sumptuous about him, was ardently in love with a girl 
 distinctly plain, distinctly awkward, and whose tastes and 
 aspirations were as different from his as light from darkness. 
 And yet he loved her ! Would she ever believe it ? Would 
 she ever return his love? 
 
 "It's the best I have to offer," he said. " Won't you take 
 it, Sally?" 
 
 Something in his voice arrested her attention this time, and 
 held it. She looked at him straight, and saw that in his eyes 
 which brought a slow flush to her cheek. 
 
 "I thought you were chaffing again," she answered slowly. 
 
 " I have never been chaffing at any time, Sally. I have 
 been trying to tell you this ever so long, but you always put 
 me off." 
 
 " I thought you were chaffing," she said again. " Men 
 don't say those sort of things to me I'm not that style." 
 
 " You're the style I want my wife to be, Sally ! " cried 
 Archie, with sudden heat. " I don't want my wife to be a 
 woman that every man has made love to for Heaven knows 
 
272 tTbe IFUece of lEstber t^nne 
 
 how many years ! who has flirted with them all in turn, 
 brought them on, and thrown them aside who likes to turn 
 you inside out for her amusement, and then pitches you away 
 like a squeezed orange. That's not my ideal for a wife, after 
 having had a good look round. Sally, will you marry me ? " 
 
 She continued to gaze at him with round, wide eyes. 
 
 " I say, don't you think you're just a bit rough on Di ? " 
 
 It was like her, he thought, that she should at such a 
 moment as this take up the cudgels for her friend. 
 
 "I'm not thinking only of Miss Conquest; I've been in 
 London, in India I've seen that type everywhere. But I've 
 never seen another Sally. I want my wife to be unique." 
 
 " A sort of freak," quoth Sally, a curious twinkle in her eye, 
 though there was a quiver about her lips that was not dis- 
 couraging, " so that you can make a show of her, if all other 
 means of livelihood fail." 
 
 " I want a woman I can trust a woman who is pukkah all 
 through, if you know what that means. I expect you know 
 your Bible long chalks better than I do, Sally ; perhaps you 
 know where the verse can be found I know it is there some, 
 where the verse that comes into my head sometimes when I 
 am watching you or thinking about you : ( Her husband's 
 heart can safely trust in her.' That's the kind of feeling I 
 want to have about my wife." 
 
 Sally was silent. The thing had come upon her after all 
 with a sense of surprise, though she had not been able to 
 avoid the consciousness that Archie Vanborough had for some 
 while been wanting to get to close quarters with her. At first 
 she had been too utterly taken aback to consider it seriously 
 for a moment. Then a curious sense of wonder, and almost 
 of indignation, possessed her, as though she saw in the prospect 
 some sort of infringement of her liberties, the imposition of 
 new fetters and shackles. Then a different and inexplicable 
 feeling stole over her of which she was half afraid the sense 
 of new meanings to life, of some factor with which she might 
 
domino Cbrfstmas 273 
 
 have to reckon, of which she had never taken real cognisance 
 before. She had put the matter from her, had ridiculed 
 herself for letting such notions possess her ; but all the same, 
 she had not quite succeeded in banishing thought, or those 
 dreams which are the prerogative of girlhood and youth. 
 And now Archie had spoken words which could not be set 
 aside or misunderstood. She had suddenly reached the 
 rubicon of life. The next few minutes must decide it all. 
 And yet, what a big decision it would be ! 
 
 " Why do you say such things to me ? " she asked, almost 
 fiercely. 
 
 " Because I love you, Sally," he answered squarely, " and I 
 want you to let me teach you to love me in return." 
 
 11 You don't expect me to love you yet ? " 
 
 "I wish I did," he answered; "but I'm not such a vain 
 ass." 
 
 " Oh, but I do like you, Archie I like you awfully ! " she 
 cried; "I won't have you call yourself names. You have 
 been hugely good to me. We chummed up from the first. 
 I like you tremendously; but the other is such a big 
 thing." 
 
 " I know it is, Sally an awful big thing. It gets hold of 
 you, and there's no getting away from it. I did try to get away 
 yes, I truly did ; for I didn't think you were going to be an 
 easy girl to win. I don't think you are now ! But I've got to 
 try and get you. It's come to that with me. But I won't ask 
 much to begin with only that you'll let me love you, and try 
 to teach you how to love me " 
 
 " And not talk about getting married just straight down on 
 the nail, as though you wanted it next week ? " 
 
 " I'll be as patient as I can, Sally ; but that's what I want. 
 I want to marry you. I want us to have a little home of our 
 own not too big, but big enough to keep our horses and dogs 
 and have friends down to enjoy the garden and the tennis and 
 the golf and things. We'd leave ourselves a margin, so that 
 
 s 
 
274 Ufoe IRtece of Estber ignne 
 
 we could go abroad when we wanted and see the world. There 
 are heaps and heaps of places I long to see, and a lot more I 
 want to show you. When I find myself thinking about them, 
 it always comes into my head to say, ' I wish I could show that 
 to Sally ! How she would laugh ! ' We could climb some 
 snow mountains together that's awful fun ; and we could go 
 yachting in the Norwegian Fiords I've done that too. Sally, 
 I'd give you a real all-round good time of it if you'd only let me. 
 Would it be so very hard to marry me ? " 
 
 " I'll not marry you for the things you can give me ! " cried 
 Sally quickly ; " I'll only marry you if I can care for you 
 yourself enough. But that's the trouble ! How can I know 
 whether it is enough ? I like you I think you're awfully nice. 
 I can't think why you want such a gowk as me ; it makes me 
 feel almost ashamed. But I don't feel as though I knew what 
 being in love was like. Archie, do you know yourself? " 
 
 "O Lor', yes!" groaned Archie, "I know all about it- 
 worse luck, I was going to say; for if you won't have me, 
 Sally, it will be awful hard luck. I'll have to go away, and not 
 come back any more. I'll go to South Africa or something 
 and get a Boer bullet into me perhaps " 
 
 " You shan't ! " cried Sally fiercely ; " I won't have it ! " 
 
 Light leaped into Archie's eyes. Somehow or other, next 
 minute he had Sally by both her hands, and the skates had 
 fallen with a clash to the ground. 
 
 " You don't want me to go away and be shot? " 
 
 " I won't have it, I say ! " 
 
 "Then you'll have me, Sally you'll have to take one 
 or the other; for if I don't stay for you I'll go off 
 instanter ! " 
 
 There was a deep, breathless pause, broken only by the 
 slight, panting sound from their parted lips. 
 
 "Then I guess you'll have to stay, Archie," said Sally 
 slowly ; and the next minute he had kissed her unawares. 
 
 She broke from him then, and ran like a hunted hare across 
 
Coming Cbrtetmas 275 
 
 the fields. He picked up both pairs of skates, and leisurely 
 followed, his eyes dancing. 
 
 " I'll go and have it out with the Squire forthwith," he said. 
 " Nothing like striking whilst the iron is hot. Well, one thing 
 I can be very sure of : no man except her father or brother has 
 ever kissed my Sally before that's one comfort." 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 THE CHILDREN'S F&TE 
 
 IT was the prettiest sight ! Never had such a tree as that 
 been seen in all the countryside ! It really was a tree ; it 
 was planted for the time being in the central fountain of the 
 little courtyard, now converted into something more like fairy- 
 land than the children could have imagined, and towering up 
 right to the top of the roofed-in enclosure, which was as 
 high as the house itself. The tree was a perfect blaze of 
 candles, glass balls, sparkling ornaments, and gay flags, whilst 
 toys and gifts of every description loaded the branches, and 
 were also piled in fascinating heaps around the fountain itself; 
 for some of the gifts were too heavy and bulky for even the 
 strongest of the boughs to bear. 
 
 All the children of the place were congregated in the sur- 
 rounding corridors, gazing with sparkling and fascinated eyes 
 at the wonderful tree. One of the sides of the corridor had 
 been reserved for the farm children; and another for the school 
 children, so that all the little people of the place might share 
 in the treat. The little folks who were of Sir Humphrey's 
 indoor party, in their dainty muslins and party suits, occupied 
 the other two sides of the quadrangle, distinction being chiefly 
 made in order to facilitate the rapid distribution of so many 
 gifts. 
 
 Later on all the children were to join in singing a few 
 Christmas carols, after which the village contingent would 
 retire with bags of buns and nuts and oranges, whilst the 
 remainder would enjoy the sumptuous tea provided for them, 
 
 276 
 
tlbe Cbflfcren's if etc 277 
 
 and romp about the delightful house, whilst all traces of the 
 tree would be removed, and the stage effects for the little play 
 and the tableaux quickly arranged. 
 
 Sir Humphrey, disguised as a veritable Father Christmas, 
 stood beside the tree, a magic wand in his hand, with which 
 he dexterously unhooked the hanging fruit, and passed it to 
 one or another of his many fairy assistants. They looked like 
 fairies to the dazzled children, those pretty ladies in their white 
 dresses, especially the tall one with the shining coronet on her 
 brow ; for Di, true to her instincts, had dressed for the part, 
 and looked the very impersonation of the fairy godmother, and 
 her strong capable hands were never idle. The heaps of gifts 
 at the foot of the tree were rapidly sorted out, and distributed 
 during the more tedious and fascinating operation of stripping 
 the tree. Archie was in the upper corridor, with a long, 
 hooked stick, denuding the higher branches, and Father 
 Christmas had a never-failing flow of merry remarks and apt 
 illustrations wherewith to amuse his eager little guests. All 
 the sashes of the windows giving upon the court had been 
 removed, so that the double arcade was open to the roofed-in 
 enclosure, and nothing impeded the view of the spectators. 
 
 Esther Lynne was busy enough, providing big bags and 
 wrappers in which the delighted children stowed away their 
 treasures, writing labels for the bags, and piling them safely 
 away in the place set apart for the purpose. It was pretty to 
 see them crowding round her, eager to display their gifts, 
 confident of her sympathy and interest, and of the ability of 
 her clever fingers to pack up even the most fragile acquisitions 
 so that they would come to no harm. 
 
 Esther looked up from her task, deeply hemmed in by the 
 eager little crowd, all clamouring for her attention, to find Sir 
 Humphrey's eyes fixed smilingly upon her. He had finished 
 his task by this time, and had doffed the wrappings and 
 flowing beard of Father Christmas, in which he had not been 
 recognised by many of the small fry. When they were aware 
 
of )stber 
 
 of his presence they set up a shout of, " Sir Tiger ! Sir 
 Tiger " and transferred to him some of their multitude of 
 questions and exclamations, as sure of his sympathy and 
 interest as of Miss Lynne's. 
 
 In the courtyard Stella and Di were marshalling the 
 contingent of carol singers, and soon the strain of children's 
 voices rose strong and sweet, led by the firmer, rounder notes 
 of their adult instructors. The children rushed off to see, 
 to hear, and join, so that for the moment Esther and Sir 
 Humphrey were alone together in the toy-strewn room. She 
 was carefully gathering together the different belongings, and 
 as carefully sorting and labelling them ; he was watching her 
 at her task with a curiously bright and intense light in his 
 eyes. Both listened to the sound of the children's voices, and 
 when their eyes met, they smiled. 
 
 He came and placed himself by her, helping her with 
 the last of her parcels. Then they stood side by side together 
 in the doorway, from which a glimpse into the illuminated 
 court could be obtained. 
 
 " It is like a combination of East and West," spoke Sir 
 Humphrey, with a smile ; " though not much of the East 
 about it, save the draperies and the harmony of colour. 
 How often I have wondered what my first English Christmas 
 would be like ! Do you know, I always pictured it spent 
 somewhere near you, Esther ? I think Christmas would not 
 be Christmas to me under other circumstances." 
 
 She lifted her eyes to his face. There was a very sweet 
 shining there. He looked deep down into them, and his 
 heart leaped. But for the memory of certain words of warning 
 heard not long ago, he might then and there have spoken out 
 that which was in his heart. But it came to him that perhaps 
 the warning had been right. Friendship true and deep might 
 content a woman's heart, if not a man's. He must not act 
 selfishly towards one whose whole life had been one long act 
 of sweet unselfishness. At that moment he wanted her for his 
 
tEbe Cbilbren's jfete 279 
 
 very own, as perhaps he had never done before ; but again he 
 reminded himself how little he had to offer just the fag-end 
 of a life which might be cut short tragically at any moment, 
 and he held his peace. 
 
 He was not a man to let himself be daunted or dominated 
 by personal fears ; but he had become gradually convinced 
 that there was some plot on foot against his life, and this, one 
 of those mysterious, deadly, Oriental plots, inexplicable almost 
 to the Western mind, a plot which weaves itself with peculiar 
 subtlety and caution, and may take years in the accomplish- 
 ment, if the agent cannot be taken red-handed, and so 
 consigned to prison and impotence. Even then it might be 
 possible that others would be found to take up the task. Sir 
 Humphrey had not passed the greater part of his adult life in 
 the East for nothing. He knew the peculiar, stealthy patience 
 of the Oriental in all its mysterious ramifications. He knew 
 how one of his last acts in the country before he left had been 
 intimately connected with the unravelling of some widespread 
 conspiracy which had cost many lives, and which had led to 
 the execution of certain notable criminals, who, but for his 
 astuteness, might probably never have been tracked down. 
 He could understand that he might be the mark for some 
 racial hatred and vengeance. He was certain that his life had 
 been attempted, and might probably be again. Was this, 
 then, the moment to ask of the woman he loved the gift of 
 herself? He thought not, and, indeed, the psychical moment 
 had already passed ; for the carol- singing came suddenly to an 
 end, and his duties as host once more engulfed him. 
 
 The business of tea was an engrossing one for all. Sir 
 Humphrey had prepared all manner of charming surprises for 
 the little people. There were cakes which, when cut, were 
 crammed full of crackers or of sweetmeats. There were buns 
 which squeaked when they were cut or bitten, and others 
 which contained folded paper caps or pinafores, or funny 
 animals' heads. Laughter and fun prevailed everywhere down 
 
IRiece of JEstber 
 
 the long tables, and constantly the children were heard to 
 exclaim : " Aren't we having a nice party ! " 
 
 But the entertainment, instead of ending with tea, seemed only 
 just to have begun. It was seven o'clock before they had 
 finished the meal, and there was to be an hour given over to 
 romps and games of hide-and-seek, whilst the little actors were 
 getting ready for their parts, and the stage effects were being 
 prepared in the courtyard. Fascinating glimpses of these 
 latter could be obtained through the corridor windows, 
 although curtains had been by this time let down, so as to 
 block out anything like a perfect view till the right moment 
 should arise. 
 
 York was stage manager. Diana was mistress of the 
 ceremonies in the dressing-room. Sally and Archie arranged 
 the fall or rise of the curtain, the lime-lights or red fires, and 
 acted in various useful capacities behind the scenes. 
 
 Sally's sudden engagement to Archie Vanborough had taken 
 the place completely by surprise, and nowhere was the surprise 
 so great as within the walls of her own home. Lady Caroline 
 had never dared to hope that Sally would make a decent 
 marriage ; all she ever ventured to hope was that she would 
 remain single, and not make some horrid mesalliance with any 
 person beneath her in social standing. She had never under- 
 stood this daughter of hers, had never in the least gauged 
 her character. Her amazement only equalled her delight 
 when told of Archie's proposal. 
 
 The young man had been received with open arms, and 
 now Sally was enjoying a consideration and indulgence which 
 was quite bewildering to her. To-night she was wearing a 
 really very pretty new dress, white and shiny, as though it 
 had been frosted. Her mother's maid had done her hair, 
 and instead of its being dragged off her brow and tightly 
 coiled into one hard knot behind, it had been so arranged as 
 to soften and frame her face, and she had even submitted to 
 the tiniest of tiny fringes curled over her brow, whilst the 
 
tTbe CMfcren's jfete 281 
 
 plain gold collar, richly chased, which she wore round her 
 throat (the gift of Sir Humphrey, who had welcomed her 
 warmly as a prospective kinswoman), gave her a certain quaint 
 dignity and originality of aspect. 
 
 Archie had gazed at her in amazement when they met. 
 True, he had before observed that when Sally could be 
 coaxed into evening dress some of the ungainliness of her 
 aspect was modified j but he had never seen her look as she 
 did to-night. Pretty she never would be, and if grace ever 
 came to her, it would be by slow development ; but, at least, 
 there was some softening and change plainly visible about her 
 a change which, without robbing her one whit of her 
 originality and individuality, had toned down in measure 
 some of her more accentuated peculiarities ; and with children 
 Sally was always at her best. They delighted in her funny 
 sayings. They were not in the least afraid of her. They 
 laughed with her and at her, and she understood them and 
 their ways thoroughly. 
 
 She never professed to care specially about them. She 
 called them " tiresome little beggars," " cussed little creatures," 
 and had never been known to gush over them, or to talk with 
 the faintest approach to sentiment: but all the same, she 
 liked to be with them, and they with her, and she was always 
 in request at any juvenile function, however many grimaces 
 she professed to pull at the prospect. 
 
 Archie regarded her with visible delight and pride. Di 
 watched her and watched him she had time for this as the 
 children's play proceeded, for York acted as prompter, and 
 she stood with the others in the wings, and surveyed the 
 result of her toil and other things as well. 
 
 "He is thoroughly in love," she said to herself, "and I 
 can't for the life of me tell why. I like Sally tremendously 
 but to marry her ! to have her always before one's eyes oh, 
 my ! I should want to cut her throat half-a-dozen times a day if 
 I were her husband ! Certainly there is no accounting for taste." 
 
2^2 tTbe fUece of )stber 1/snne 
 
 Diana would not admit, even to herself, that she was jealous. 
 To be jealous of Sally ! the thing was absurd ! And yet, 
 why had Sally won away one of her chiefest admirers and 
 slaves and that without an effort (for she knew Sally had 
 tried no artifices that she hadn't it in her to do so), whilst 
 she herself was still free still to be won ? Her glance roved 
 round the scene, and lighted upon Sir Humphrey, standing 
 beside Esther, who had a group of the youngest children 
 about her, and was explaining the course of the little play as 
 it proceeded. 
 
 With a queer sharp pang at heart she realised how that 
 strong man's heart had never wavered or faltered, though she 
 had tried hard to win it for herself persuading herself that it 
 would be for the good of all. She had deceived herself in the 
 matter for a while ; but she had not deceived others. It was a 
 galling thought, and the memory of one episode sent a thrill of 
 unwonted shame and pain through her. Then her quick eyes 
 roved round till they rested upon Rudolf and she gave 
 a little start. Rudolf had been three days at home ; she had 
 seen him several times. He had been pressed into the service 
 to-night. They had had time to discuss certain matters 
 together, and she thought that she saw in him the same 
 readiness as of old to fall beneath her sway. She had almost 
 resolved that it should be Rudolf Hastings. 
 
 In some respects he was most suited to her, in age, in 
 position, in the matter of his future career. A seat in 
 Parliament was already being talked of for him, at the next 
 bye-election, where a Government candidate would be pretty 
 sure of the seat. He was elated at the prospect. She was 
 excited about it, too. They had discussed it with some energy 
 already ; there was much more still to say. But as her glance 
 lighted upon him now, she was conscious of a queer and 
 disagreeable thrill running through her. Rudolf was talking 
 to Stella, talking with earnestness and animation, and she was 
 listening with something of a kindred interest, her eyes alight, 
 
tTbe (tbilfcren's jfete 283 
 
 her colour coming and going, her lips curving to eager 
 smiles. 
 
 Suddenly Diana awoke to the knowledge that Stella had 
 changed of late, had developed, had improved. Contact with 
 masculine minds, the virile personality of her kinsman, the 
 enlarging influence of the legitimate exercise of a great gift, 
 and a lawful ambition with regard to it, had broken down in a 
 great measure that wall of prim complacency and unconscious 
 self-righteousness which had been Stella's bane in the past, 
 which had seemed to make separation between her and others, 
 and raised up fancied barriers that cut her off from those 
 about her. It had come gradually. It had been the steady 
 unconscious growth of many months. 
 
 Diana had had so many other things to occupy her that 
 often she had not thought of Stella for weeks together. She 
 knew, however, that her portrait of Sir Humphrey Vanborough 
 was accounted rather a wonderful achievement for a young 
 girl with so comparatively little training. She had heard that 
 a really noted artist had seen the work, and had been struck by it, 
 and had spoken warmly to Stella, urging her to study and culti- 
 vate her gift, prophesying some renown for her in the future. 
 
 Perhaps it was this recent praise and encouragement which 
 had brightened her up and given her animation and style. 
 Her dress was particularly becoming designed, no doubt, by 
 herself, and very artistic in its lines and adornment. Diana 
 felt that Rudolf was taking all this in ; perhaps he might be 
 realising that Stella Sinclair was something more than just 
 the Rector's daughter that she might have some independent 
 prestige and career of her own. This was the sort of thing 
 which would appeal to a man of his calibre. It suddenly 
 came into Di's head to ask whether he would think more of 
 a wife whose beauty and whose money were all she had to 
 offer, than of one who might be known to the world by some 
 talent which might raise her from among the crowd of women 
 who could do nothing but talk and pose. 
 
284 tbe "Wfece of iSstfoer 
 
 A curious revulsion of feeling was sweeping over Diana 
 Conquest. Hitherto no qualms respecting herself or her 
 universal sway, wherever she chose to exercise it, had ever 
 seriously beset her. She had taken adulation, flattery, 
 admiration as the natural elements of life. She had wielded 
 the sceptre of her beauty and her power as a matter 
 of course, never pausing to ask by what right she regarded 
 herself as an uncrowned queen wherever she went. Now, 
 for the first time, perhaps, in her life, she began to ask 
 what this sovereignty was worth? Was it a merely passing 
 and evanescent thing, a yoke willingly worn by those about 
 her for a while, but from which they one by one emancipated 
 themselves as they came to know and appraise her better? 
 Or was it due to some inherent power and attraction in herself, 
 which deepened and strengthened with time? Diana asked 
 the question of herself fairly to-night ; and she felt that the 
 true answer was the one least to her liking, most galling to her 
 pride. 
 
 "They don't care for me as they did not one of them !" 
 she said to herself, as her eyes roved over the familiar faces. 
 "Only perhaps Esther and that is her sweetness, not my 
 merit. I have treated her worse than anyone if only she 
 knew it. But if she did, it would make no difference. The 
 rest they like me; oh, yes, I can hold a sort of pleasant 
 friendship and liking; but it cools down to that and stays 
 there. I can amuse them ; when I like I can fascinate and 
 dominate them; but I cannot hold them. It is froth and 
 flummery ; and bit by bit they come to know it. Why is it?" 
 
 She asked the question almost fiercely ; yet all the while, 
 deep down in her heart that heart which now and again 
 she had partially laid bare to Esther the answer lay hidden. 
 At this moment she dragged it out and held it up before her 
 eyes in a fierce kind of scorn. 
 
 " It is because I am selfish selfish to the core. I want all 
 that life has to offer for myself and myself only. I like to be 
 
Ube Cbilftren's ffete 285 
 
 loved and courted because it ministers to my vanity ; because 
 I want always to be first, not because I have anything to give 
 myself, anything to be loved for except just my good looks and 
 my ability to lead and amuse people. For a time I succeed, 
 and then I think I am everything in the world, and I get blown 
 out with vanity and conceit. 
 
 "It has happened again and again, but I have made 
 tracks before anything like a real fiasco could come about. 
 I have sought pastures new, and have fancied myself still 
 omnipotent. But here I have been a fixture, and they are 
 beginning to find me out. There's nothing in me that's the 
 simple truth ! I'm a floating soap bubble, pretty to look at 
 you can't help looking at them but when they are pricked, 
 pouf ! there's an end ! It's going to be like that with me here. 
 I shall be tried in the balances and be found wanting. I shall 
 be relegated to a back seat. Esther will keep me as long as I 
 care to stay ; but what is life going to be like in the future, if 
 I am just a girl getting beyond girlhood, too whom men 
 propose to after a few weeks' acquaintance, but after a few 
 months' think better of it? That is what I ask." 
 
 Strange thoughts, perhaps, for such an evening, but yet not 
 quite out of place either; for Diana had felt already more 
 than once to-night that her sovereignty was on the wane. 
 Sally was in some sort a greater object of interest than she to 
 the adult guests Sally in the blush of her happiness and 
 wonder over her recently announced engagement. Stella, 
 even, was having her little triumph, on the strength of her 
 artistic achievement. Diana had felt a curious sense of being 
 left out somehow in the cold. She could not really complain 
 of not having received plenty of attention, and she had been 
 too busy over the tree and the children to find time to spare 
 for other admirers, but time was when these would have come 
 flocking about her like bees round a honey-pot. Now she was 
 not quite this centre of attraction, despite her good looks and 
 her wonderful gown. Was it that people began to be half 
 
286 zrbe iFUece of Estber 
 
 afraid of playing with fire in her society? She had the 
 reputation of being able to say very cutting things to the 
 admirers who presumed too much ; and yet she did not desire 
 them to cease presuming altogether. 
 
 " The fact is, whatever I may choose to call it, I have been 
 an arrant flirt for years, and at last the name has caught on 
 and stuck. They are afraid of me, and it serves me right ! " 
 
 The girl was too clear-headed, too outspoken to others not 
 to be outspoken with herself when her blood was up. At this 
 moment a great wave of self-scorn was rushing over her, and 
 she had a momentary impulse to " cut the whole concern," as 
 she mentally called it, to bid adieu to Esther and Convent 
 House and Cleethorpe, pack up her goods and chattels, and 
 betake herself to Paris or the Riviera, or to some gay winter 
 resort, where, under the pleasant chaperonage of some 
 fashionable dame (who could easily be found willing for the 
 task), she might enter upon a new career of triumph, and 
 forget all the small humiliations of the past. 
 
 Yet, whilst these thoughts were floating and forming in her 
 brain, the children's play was being enacted amid much 
 applause, and all that Di had undertaken to do was promptly 
 and ably accomplished. The play ended, the tableaux began, 
 following each other in rapid succession. The eyes of the 
 audience were concentrated upon the stage. Nobody saw 
 how it happened. None were aware of the approaching 
 tragedy. How it originated no eye witnessed ; but the stealthy 
 flames had crept up beneath the roofing of boards which 
 formed the covering to the courtyard. The fire must have 
 had considerable hold before the least sign of it appeared, for 
 when the draperies suddenly ignited a perfect sheet of flame 
 seemed to be waving overhead. Masses of blazing wood and 
 flaming curtain fell upon the stage on to the heads of the 
 terrified children. Screams of horror and terror and anguish 
 instantly arose in dread concert, lost in the overwhelming 
 yell of, "Fire! Fire! Fire!" 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 THE terror and the panic was short-lived, thanks to the 
 coolness, promptitude and courage of the men present, Sir 
 Humphrey, Colonel York, and the Squire being first and 
 foremost in this matter. But for a few awful moments it 
 seemed as though the flames must swallow up everything, and 
 the paralysed children, wild with terror and pain for many of 
 them were rather badly scorched, and some of them really 
 burned, though not in a serious or dangerous way were with 
 difficulty extricated from the flimsy stage trappings which were 
 falling about them in masses of flake-like fire. 
 
 York, however, in his capacity of clerk of the works, had so 
 arranged matters that the water-tank at the top of the house could 
 be utilised at a moment's notice in case of need, and scarcely had 
 the cry of fire been raised, before a deluge of water was falling 
 upon the blazing stage, and was hissing fiercely through the 
 woodwork overhead, where sullen tongues of flame were seen 
 to be licking like the tongue of some fierce devouring animal. 
 
 Through the fire, the steam, the tumult, strong men and 
 eager women rushed, snatching the children out of peril, 
 carrying them into the shelter of the stone walls of the house, 
 which the quickly-extinguished flames were powerless to touch. 
 White-faced mothers caught at their little ones, eagerly bearing 
 them off into lighted rooms, where their condition could be 
 examined into, and uttering for the most part exclamations of 
 thankfulness at finding how little harm had been done, beyond 
 the scare and the destruction of pretty flimsy fairy frocks. 
 
 287 
 
288 zrbe ifliece of lEstber isnne 
 
 Sally, her new dress scorched and torn, her face blackened, 
 her hands red and blistered, carried out one of the last of the 
 little ones, who had dropped behind some falling woodwork, 
 and had been stunned by a blow on the head, so that he might 
 have sustained severe hurts had not Sally's quick eyes detected 
 him where others had seen nothing. It was little Hugh whom 
 she thus rescued, and Stella, uttering a cry of relief, made a rush 
 forward to receive him. 
 
 " I was getting so frightened. I knew he was behind the 
 scenes. He was wanted for the next picture. Oh, Sally, you 
 don't think he's badly hurt ? " 
 
 " Oh, no ; I hope not. See, he's had a bad knock on the 
 head, poor little chap ; but I don't think he's burned anywhere. 
 There was a great lot of water pouring down close to him. It 
 was splendid how the water came hissing down before one 
 could say f Jack Robinson ' ! But for that it might have been 
 frightful. See, we'll put him on the sofa here. He'll come to 
 directly. Miss Lynne has the little ones who have been hurt. 
 She knows just what to do ; and the rest are to go in to supper, 
 and be made to eat and drink and forget about it if possible. 
 It's much the best way. It's a great mercy it was no worse. 
 I wonder however it happened. Everything was so carefully 
 arranged to guard against any danger of fire." 
 
 Sir Humphrey, rather blackened by smoke, but quiet and 
 composed, and even smiling, paused for a moment at the door 
 and looked in. 
 
 "It's all safe now," he said; "the fire quite under, and 
 nothing spoilt but the temporary structure, which must have 
 come down anyway. What about the children ? Any more 
 been hurt? That's Hughie from the Rectory. What's the 
 matter with you, my man ? " 
 
 Hugh opened his eyes and stared about him, and sat 
 up. 
 
 " I'm to be Jack the Giant-killer next," he said ; " have I 
 been to sleep ? " 
 
"So as bs fire" 289 
 
 Sir Humphrey smiled, felt his small limbs all over, and 
 finally set him on his feet. 
 
 " You'll kill giants yet, my man ; though a big giant called 
 Fire did have a hit at you just now. But he's not done you 
 much harm. Do you feel like having some supper, eh ? " 
 
 Hugh felt quite like it, and the girls followed him and Sir 
 Humphrey into the supper room, where Diana, in all the 
 undimmed beauty of spotless raiment and unsinged drapery, 
 was surpassing herself in trying to make fun and nonsense 
 for the little folks, that they might forget the fright they had 
 had, and carry away nothing but pleasant impressions of Sir 
 Humphrey's Christmas party. 
 
 The mothers who had remained with their little ones were 
 in another room with Esther Lynne, busy over the few little 
 sufferers who had really been hurt by the fire, or were too 
 much upset to join in the feast. But since by far the larger 
 number had only seen the sudden fall of the fire upon the 
 stage, and had been whisked away almost before they had 
 grasped whether it were a real catastrophe or a part of the play 
 itself a clever make-believe they were not seriously upset, 
 and a very little coaxing and fun on the part of those about 
 them caused them to forget their incipient fears, and be ready 
 for whatever was proposed. 
 
 Di's face was pale beneath its brightness, and her expression 
 was curious. Any but children would have known her mirth 
 to be strained, and neither Sally nor Stella was surprised that 
 it should be so. Thankful as they themselves were that the 
 threatened tragedy had been averted, and that so small an 
 amount of real harm had been done, they could not forget the 
 awful moment when it had seemed to them as though the 
 whole place might be engulfed in flames, and that nothing 
 could save a number of children from terrible injury, and 
 perhaps a frightful death. If Di had also shared this fear, it 
 was no wonder she looked like that. But the curious thing 
 was that she had so preserved her spotlessness of adornment. 
 
 T 
 
29 Ube IFUece ot lEstbet 
 
 She had certainly been behind the scenes at the moment of 
 the fire. She must have been one of those who had rushed 
 to the aid of the children in their peril she, so strong, so 
 quick, so courageous, and so level-headed on all occasions. 
 How, then, had her dress retained its glistening whiteness and 
 its undimmed purity ? That was certainly a puzzle ; but then 
 Di was a wonderful person, who always did manage to look 
 different from others. 
 
 Sir Humphrey put his hand upon her shoulder and smiled. 
 
 " This is very good of you, my dear," he said. " We have 
 all been so busy elsewhere ; but this is capital. We must not 
 let our little folks go away with doleful face and scared brains. 
 Thank God ! no great harm has been done, and no one is 
 badly hurt, though I fear a few of the little ones will have 
 something to suffer. I must go and see how things are going 
 there. You will keep them happy here, will you not ? The 
 carriages and flys do not come till nine o'clock. Perhaps 
 we can organise some games to keep them amused till then. 
 You will do what you can till then ? " 
 
 Sally followed Sir Humphrey out of the room. 
 
 " Your hand and arm are burnt," she said. " You must let 
 Miss Lynne see to you. She has done all that is wanted for 
 the children. I'm going to ask her to bind up this finger of 
 mine, and she'll do the same for you, too, if you'll come." 
 
 " My child," he said, concerned, " are you hurt ? " 
 
 " It didn't begin to hurt till just now. It smarts a bit ; 
 but it'll be all right when I get an oiled rag round it. You've 
 got a worse burn yourself. Look at your coat-sleeve." 
 
 " I expect the coat-sleeve has saved the arm. I'm sorry 
 you are hurt, my dear. I feel horribly guilty over the whole 
 thing. But wait one moment," he added suddenly, stopping 
 and retracing his steps ; and he made straight for Diana. 
 
 " My dear," he said, " I find that several of the rescue party 
 have suffered in the cause. Tell me, have you any burns that 
 should be looked to ? " 
 
"So as bs jffre" 291 
 
 She turned her face full upon him with a curious intensity 
 of gaze that was almost wild. 
 
 " Are you mocking me ? " she asked fiercely despairingly 
 as it almost seemed. 
 
 " My dear child, what do you mean ? " 
 
 " Mean ? I mean that the moment I saw the danger and 
 I think I saw it first, before anybody else my one and only 
 thought was to save my own skin. What did it matter what 
 anybody else suffered, if only I got safe away out of that 
 horrible place, which was going to be a flaming furnace in a 
 moment. I raised the cry of fire, and I fled for my life, 
 without a thought for others. That is me all over, Sir 
 Humphrey you may as well know it first as last. I turned 
 tail and ran. . I never came out again until the danger was all 
 over ; and you ask me whether I have suffered in the cause of 
 my self-devotion ! " 
 
 He looked at her searchingly for a moment, and then said 
 very gently and kindly : 
 
 " My dear child, there is many a brave soldier who has felt, 
 when first exposed to fire, that temptation to turn tail and run. 
 Some have even done it who have lived to make ample 
 reparation afterwards for what is often just a trick of the 
 nerves. And I think it needs as much courage often to 
 realise and confess to an act of timidity as it does to face 
 a peril." 
 
 He said no more. It was neither the time nor the place, 
 but his smile was very friendly as he looked into her face, and 
 Diana made an effort to smile in reply, though the bitterness 
 and strain of her expression yet remained. 
 
 She saw the children through their supper; she drafted them 
 off to the drawing-room, where Archie and Rudolf had hastily 
 improvised together a bit of comic acting and conjuring, to 
 finish off the evening for those who remained, the injured 
 children having by this time been quietly removed to their 
 homes. Several mothers had been present, who had undertaken 
 
292 Ufoe IRtece of Bstber X$nne 
 
 this duty, and no child was too much hurt to be moved. 
 In fact, no one had been severely injured, though one or two 
 had been badly scared, and had suffered rather large super- 
 ficial burns. It was with great sense of thankfulness that all 
 those who had witnessed the sudden and alarming incident 
 realised how small had been the harm done considering the 
 magnitude of the peril. A real tragedy had been imminent, 
 but by promptitude and presence of mind it had been averted; 
 and from the sounds of laughter and the clapping of hands 
 constantly breaking out from the crowded drawing-room, it 
 was abundantly plain that the spirits of the children, damped 
 for a moment, had risen again almost to their former 
 pitch. 
 
 But Diana did not follow the little crowd to the drawing- 
 room. She turned and passed rapidly through an ante-room 
 beyond into the dimly-lighted library, which was the one spot 
 that had not been disturbed, or utilised for the evening's enter- 
 tainment. Two shaded lamps burned there, giving a faint 
 illumination, and a red fire of glowing coal made a cosy spot 
 of warmth and brightness. 
 
 Diana scarcely looked round her ; her mind was in a strange 
 tumult ; she flung herself down upon a great, deep, leathern- 
 covered couch with something very like a deep groan, and she 
 buried her face in the cushions, speaking muffled, incoherent 
 words half aloud, as we do sometimes, when we think ourselves 
 alone, under stress of some keen emotion. 
 
 But her senses were sharp enough notwithstanding her self- 
 abandonment, and almost at once she heard a slight sound 
 which made her start up and gaze round, and immediately her 
 glance fell upon York's tall figure, as he was making his way 
 slowly and quietly towards the door. 
 
 In a moment she grasped the situation. He had been in 
 the room when she entered. He had seen her, though she 
 had not seen him, and now he was trying to get away, that she 
 might have the place to herself. He had witnessed the external 
 
"So as bg if ire" 293 
 
 signs of this outbreak of abandonment, and was desirous that 
 she should not know it. 
 
 Diana started to her feet. In the uncertain light they faced 
 each other. She saw that he was unwontedly pale, with dark 
 shadows beneath his eyes. He had removed the traces of 
 smoke and grime from his face and person ; but he looked 
 like a very exhausted man. She knew very well that it 
 was mainly owing to his marvellous promptitude in action 
 that the flames had been so quickly arrested. What he had 
 done exactly she did not know ; but, at any rate, he had not 
 spared himself, that was evident. 
 
 " Don't go," she said, recovering herself by a great effort. 
 " I expect you came here to rest and be alone as I did. 
 Can I get you anything ? You look about done for. I know 
 I'm not much good in an emergency I've found out that ; but 
 I think my courage will stand the strain of getting you a glass 
 of wine, or a brandy and soda." 
 
 The exceeding bitterness of her tone was not disguised by 
 its lightness. York turned back, and looked at her with 
 attention. 
 
 " Thank you, please do not trouble. My man has done aH 
 that for me. I am all right, Miss Conquest. What is the 
 matter with you ? " 
 
 " The matter is, that I know myself to be an unmitigated 
 coward, and that I despise myself from the bottom of my 
 heart ! " 
 
 " Because you ran away from the fire ? " 
 
 " Did you see me ? " 
 
 " Yes ; we both started to run together. I thought at first 
 you were making for the water-rope. If I'd been sure you 
 knew how it acted, I should have left it to you and turned 
 back." 
 
 " Yes, to run on to the burning stage, and rescue the 
 children as you did later as Sir Humphrey and Archie and 
 all the men did, as Sally and Stella tried to do, and did 
 
294 tTbe fliece of )9tber 
 
 partially, though the men tried to stop them, lest their 
 draperies should catch fire too ; as Esther did, without anyone 
 knowing or seeing, because they could think of others, and 
 care nothing for themselves, if the children could only be 
 snatched from an awful peril. I only thought of the horrible 
 pain. What should I do if I were overtaken by those awful 
 tongues of fire ? if I should lose my beauty, my strength, all 
 that I hold most dear ? if I should have to suffer horribly ? 
 It drove me wild, the very thought. Oh ! I knew perfectly 
 that I was strong, active, daring when I chose to be that I 
 could do almost as much as a man in the work of rescue ; but 
 was I going to do it ? Not a bit of it ! All I thought of was 
 to save my own skin. If I did that, I did not care who else 
 might be burned to death ; the whole house might go ! " 
 
 " Miss Conquest, you are unjust to yourself." 
 
 " I am not ! I am not ! I wish I were. I am seeing 
 myself as I am for the first time, with all the glamour and self- 
 adulation stripped away. Colonel York, sit down. You are 
 not fit to stand. I will sit down too, and have my say out. 
 I must have it out with someone. Sir Humphrey would not 
 understand ; no doubt he thinks most women are like that lose 
 their heads in a moment of panic, and are not responsible 
 exactly for what they do. But that's not it at all. I did not lose 
 my head. Never was my mind clearer than when I suddenly 
 saw the flaming draperies beginning to fall upon the children 
 grouped below. If I had made one spring, I could have got 
 two or three out in a second the very ones who have been 
 most hurt but I should have run the risk of being hurt 
 myself. I realised that instantly and I ran away ! " 
 
 York had sunk down once more into the deep chair beside 
 the fire. Diana sat opposite, very upright, with a tense and 
 rigid aspect, and brightly-gleaming eyes. 
 
 " And all my life through I have been priding myself upon 
 my courage, my presence of mind, my promptitude in 
 emergency. I have always said to myself that should 
 
"So as b if ire" 295 
 
 occasion arise I should show that I had the true heroine 
 nature. I have longed for my chance to come to prove what 
 I was made of, that men might see and admire and applaud. 
 And now I have had my chance. I have been tried in the 
 balance, as they phrase it ; and the result has been that I have 
 shown myself a pitiful coward. Even Stella Sinclair, whom 
 I have looked down upon (oh ! I beg your pardon, I had 
 forgotten the relationship ; but never mind, you cannot think 
 worse of me than you do now) looked down upon as a 
 namby-pamby sort of little prim miss even she has put me 
 to shame to-night. I shall never hold up my head again 
 in this place. Even the children may well point the ringer 
 of scorn at me. And the sooner I get myself out of it the 
 better." 
 
 She had said her say, and York lay back, regarding her 
 steadfastly, astonished at the outburst, amazed at the fierceness 
 of her self-contempt, and at the ruthless fashion in which she 
 had torn away the veil, and contemplated herself without a 
 rag of self-deception. It was almost like seeing a living thing 
 dissected. He longed to interrupt her, and yet felt it better to 
 let her have her say out. He wondered why she had spoken 
 thus openly to him, whose acquaintance with her had not 
 been intimate, though in spasmodic fits and starts she had 
 shown him favour and some amount of confidence. After a 
 very brief pause she looked him full in the eyes, and 
 said : 
 
 " Since hearing from Sir Humphrey the story of your life, I 
 have always regarded you as one of the bravest men I have 
 ever known or heard of. Do you know, I had even time in 
 that moment to think of you, and what your bravery had cost 
 you ; and I said to myself it was all very well for a man, but 
 that I wasn't going through that sort of horror no, not for 
 anything ! " 
 
 She threw herself back in her chair, and gazed at him 
 with eyes that seemed to blaze through the dim glow of 
 
296 Ufoe IFUece of JEstber 
 
 lamps and firelight. And at last he spoke in his low, even 
 tones. 
 
 " Miss Conquest," he said, " as you have brought me into 
 this, I should like to tell you how much you sometimes remind 
 me of what I was once." 
 
 " How ? " she asked, with eager interest. 
 
 " Partly in your very pride of life, and strength, and beauty," 
 he answered. " Do you know that once I was a very 
 handsome man?" 
 
 " You are still ! " it was on the tip of Diana's tongue to say ; 
 but he had not asked the question to get an answer, and 
 continued speaking without a break. 
 
 " I can say it now without vanity but so it was. Before I 
 was crippled I was very tall, too, over six-two, and with a 
 strength that is not always the accompaniment of extra inches. 
 I thought I was going to take the world by storm. People 
 talk of the vanity of women ; but I often think that it sinks 
 into insignificance before the insensate vanity of men. We 
 have sex pride, as well as the other forms of vanity the sense 
 of being the lords of creation, made to be worshipped and 
 bowed down before. I had no great desire to marry. I had 
 loved passionately ridiculously, perhaps as a mere boy ; 
 and I could not afford marriage, nor did I particularly desire 
 it. My sword, my horses, my position in a dashing cavalry 
 regiment was enough for me. Wherever I went I was noticed 
 and made much of. I thought no life could be so pleasant. 
 I desired none other." 
 
 Diana listened with parted lips and wide-open eyes. How 
 well she understood ! Strange that this quiet man, with the 
 halting walk and the lined, brown face, with its underlying 
 pallor, should understand her so well, should have passed 
 through some like experiences in his life. 
 
 " I never thought myself a selfish, conceited ass. I thought 
 myself a very fine fellow. The world was good to me ; I got 
 on well in my profession. I was chiefly in India; the life 
 
"So as fcs jfire" 297 
 
 suited me, and so did the pay and the climate. I was always 
 ready, if we were ordered home, to exchange with any officer 
 of my standing who wanted home service, and I stopped out. 
 I wanted to save money, and perhaps one day to marry 
 money and settle down at home as a country gentleman. 
 But, meantime, I was very well content as I was. It never 
 occurred seriously to me that my life could ever be anything 
 but a brilliant success, with a brilliant climax." 
 
 Diana caught her breath, and listened in deep 
 silence. 
 
 " Well, last year came the end of all that sort of dreaming, 
 and I had time to discover what my real worth was what 
 was the value of all the flattery and adulation I had received. 
 Was it the friends who had made most of me when I was 
 an amusing guest at their parties, or could ride their polo 
 ponies to win, or do those things that make a splash in our 
 little station-world, who were any good to me when my career 
 was over, and I was only a mangled, helpless bag of bones, 
 with a very slender chance of ever pulling through again to a 
 crippled sort of life ? Not a bit of it. It was the chance or 
 Providence, as I like to call it of Sir Humphrey Vanborough's 
 being our way on business of his, to which I owe my life. 
 He took me up, and in his bungalow, watching him and 
 talking with him, I began to see a vast number of things I 
 had never understood before, the chiefest of them being my 
 own insignificance and worthlessness, and the worthlessness 
 of a great variety of those things which I had set such store 
 by before. It's got to come to that, Miss Conquest; we've 
 got to learn our own insignificance, and then the rest comes 
 bit by bit. As long as we are our own idols, whether 
 consciously or unconsciously, we shall never be any good, 
 either to others or to ourselves." 
 
 He said no more. Di spoke not a word. She sat looking 
 silently into the heart of the fire. And thus they were found 
 by Sir Humphrey and Esther, who, missing Di when the 
 
*gb tTbe Iftiece of istber 
 
 little people had gone away, came to look for her wherever 
 she might be found. 
 
 " I thought you must have run home, dear," said Esther ; 
 and Diana, rising in her sudden fashion, threw her arms 
 about her now. 
 
 " Take me home now, Esther, take me home now ; I am so 
 very, very tired. I want to be with you at home." 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 AN ACT OF HUMILIATION 
 
 IT was New Year's Eve, and many persons in Cleethorpe were 
 busy over an entertainment for the school children which was 
 to be given that evening. But although Diana had promised 
 them a song, she was net engulfed, as some were, in the 
 cutting of bread-and-butter, or the arrangement of the rooms. 
 She had been sitting alone over the fire for some while, until 
 the early dusk began to fall; and then suddenly rising and 
 throwing on her fur-lined coat and fur cap, she sped with swift 
 steps up the wide yew avenue, lying ghostly beneath a slight 
 sprinkling of snow, and only paused at the door of Nun's 
 Bower, asking whether Sir Humphrey Vanborough was at 
 home, and whether she could see him alone. 
 
 As it chanced, he was at home, and in the library alone. 
 Diana seldom entered that room, and as she crossed the 
 threshold she was conscious of a strange thrill, remembering 
 the last occasion on which she had been there, when she had 
 spoken such passionate truths to Colonel York, and had 
 received some answering confidences from him confidences 
 which she had pondered over in secret ever since, wondering 
 more and more at the marvellous patience and silent heroism 
 of the man who had partially laid bare his soul to her, that she 
 might (as she now began to understand) draw, in some measure, 
 consolation and hope from his experiences. He had lost all 
 he most valued once, but had found the secret of contentment. 
 If he, why not she ? She had been asking that question ever 
 since. She had not found the answer yet ; but she was feeling 
 
 299 
 
300 ftbe IFUece of jstber Ignite 
 
 for it in a blind, unconscious fashion ; and this visit was one 
 of the consequences of that search. 
 
 Sir Humphrey rose to greet her, a question in his eyes. 
 
 She answered it before it had been put, as the door closed 
 upon the retiring servant. 
 
 " No, nothing is the matter and yet something is. That 
 is what has brought me ; but it's nothing that you are trying 
 to guess. It is about Esther ! " 
 
 He started, and an anxious look clouded his gaze. He 
 motioned Di to be seated ; but he stood himself in a rather 
 tense attitude. 
 
 " Is anything wrong with Esther ? " 
 
 He generally spoke of her as " Miss Lynne," though to each 
 other in private they had used the familiar Christian names of 
 childhood. There was a note in his voice which betokened 
 some disturbance of mind, and his keen gaze rested upon the 
 girl's face, which showed a certain nervous excitement. 
 
 " Please, sit down," said Di, looking straight before her, and 
 not at her interlocutor, as was her fashion. " It's nothing that 
 you fancy. Esther is not ill, or anything like that. There is 
 nothing the matter with her but what you can put right." 
 
 " I ? " 
 
 " Yes, you. I'm not afraid to speak now ; because I've got 
 eyes in my head, and I've been using them to better purpose 
 lately. Sir Humphrey, you want to marry Esther Lynne ! " 
 
 He started. He looked at Diana, and then his gaze 
 travelled back to the fire, and fixed itself upon the glowing 
 coals. In a low and reverent tone he made reply. 
 
 " God knows how I have wanted that all my life ; but if it 
 is one of those things which must not be and is better for 
 her not to be I can bear it." 
 
 " And suppose it were just the thing which were wanting to 
 make her life happy and complete ? " 
 
 He rose suddenly to his feet. His tall form seemed to 
 gather height and elasticity. 
 
Hn Bet of tmmf (fatten 301 
 
 "What do you mean, Diana? Child, child, do not play 
 with me. You have been a loving and tender friend and 
 niece to her, and I have loved you for it. You warned me once, 
 and I thought you were right. And I had so little to offer I 
 have so little still. And there is another reason ; but of that 
 we need not speak. It has been the fear for Esther which 
 has held me back. See, I am not afraid to tell you so you, 
 whose quick eyes have seen so much have read my open 
 secret. Her welfare, her happiness these are the things we 
 must place first. Our friendship is very sweet. If it would 
 trouble her to have its current ruffled " 
 
 " I don't believe it would." Diana was drawing her breath 
 now in rather heavy gasps ; seldom had she been so moved in 
 spirit. Her task was to the full as hard as she had anticipated. 
 " Please will you sit down whilst I try to tell you ? I have 
 not been a loving and tender friend to her ; it has all been 
 hollow show and pretence. No, not the love don't interrupt 
 me, please. I have loved Esther as well as it has been in me 
 to love anybody, but I have always loved myself best. If you 
 have not found that out, Sir Humphrey, it is because of the 
 goodness of your own heart. Other people have known it 
 well enough. I have always known it myself." 
 
 " That is the best safeguard, my dear," he said gently. 
 
 He did not know what was coming; but he saw she was 
 greatly moved. She was doing something heroic, in spite of 
 strong distaste and repulsion. He would not interpose. She 
 should have her say out. 
 
 " It ought to have been ; but it was not. Some people are 
 self-deceived all through ; but I always know myself at the 
 bottom. I warned Esther before ever I came to her that I 
 was not as attractive as I could appear. But she would not 
 be warned. She has believed in me, and has loved me all 
 through she does so still. She will go on doing so, though 
 I may tell her all the truth, as I am going to tell it first to 
 you." 
 
Ube flfece of Estber ignite 
 
 " And you will live to thank God, my dear, as we men do, 
 for the tender blindness and trusting love of a true woman's 
 heart. But for such women as Esther Lynne in the world, I 
 often wonder what would become of us and of it." 
 
 " I begin to thank God already for Esther's love," spoke Di, 
 with an odd little catch in her voice. " It's just the sheet- 
 anchor that holds me that has held me from making a bolt 
 of it these last weeks, as I have done before when I have 
 tangled things up, and seen myself afresh in all the beauty 
 of my unadorned selfishness and heartlessness. No, Sir 
 Humphrey, just hear me out, and let me get it over and 
 done with. I can never rest till I tell you, and if you hate 
 and despise me afterwards I cannot blame you. When first 
 you came back, I did want you to marry Esther, though (idiot 
 that I was !) I thought it all rather ridiculous as though love 
 were a prerogative of youth. I know now that it's the love of 
 the old that is worth having love that has served its apprentice- 
 ship, and has been tried in the fire. As I say, I rather wanted 
 to see the end of the long courtship, and expected things to 
 be rushed in a few weeks. When that didn't happen, then I 
 began to have other views. I found out that you were a very 
 attractive man, Sir Humphrey. I had been used to monopo- 
 lising the attentions of attractive men. I began to monopolise 
 yours. It was not a great step from that to begin to contemplate 
 winning you away from Esther." 
 
 " My dear," he said gravely, " I do not like to hear you say 
 such reckless things. Of course, I have been young myself, 
 and I have had my moments of vanity and folly. I know the 
 kind of thoughts which can suggest themselves in the hey-day 
 of our youth and immaturity. But these do not represent our 
 sober selves. I think they are better forgotten buried in 
 oblivion." 
 
 "Perhaps so. I should like to forget them; but let me 
 just have it out now. I began to think I wanted to marry, 
 and you were the man out of all the ' show,' as I said, whom I 
 
Hn Bet of fwmiUatfon 303 
 
 liked the best. I liked the sound of Lady Vanborough. I 
 liked the prestige which, as your wife, I thought I should win. 
 Oh, I know you must hate to hear me; but I want you to 
 understand. It was not love, though I always liked you so 
 much. It was ambition and it was jealousy ! Yes, indeed, 
 there was that, too ! I'm not jealous like some women. I 
 never hated Esther or wished her away. In some ways I loved 
 her all the more, the more I tried to supplant her. But I 
 could not bear that she should be first with you. I wanted 
 that place for myself. And when I saw I could not get it 
 by square means, I tried what a little diplomatic fibbing 
 would do." 
 
 " My dear ! " 
 
 " It is true. Sally gave it another name like herself, square 
 and strong and downright. Odd, isn't it, that she's the one 
 person who has seen through my little game? I persuaded 
 you artfully, and without seeming to touch actually upon 
 marriage, that Esther was not fit for any change in her 
 surroundings, that any uprooting of her life would be bad for 
 her. I made the most of her little illness, I worked upon 
 your chivalry, as I worked upon your blindness in trusting me. 
 You never suspected. Sometimes I almost deceived myself, 
 and said it was sober truth, and that Esther was happier as she 
 was. But all the while, deep down in my heart, I knew I was 
 playing my own selfish game, and that what really was the 
 matter was that I could not bear for anybody to stand before 
 me. And now I cannot rest without eating my words to you, 
 Sir Humphrey. I hardly believed them when I spoke them, 
 though I tried to persuade myself that they were true. Now I 
 know they were not, and that Esther has no more changed 
 than you have. You have been her ideal through life, as 
 she has been yours. It is beautiful. I lie awake at night 
 sometimes thinking of it, and wondering how such things can 
 be. We talk of romance, when a boy and girl just out of the 
 nursery think they are in love. Pah ! any child can fancy that ! 
 
304 Ube IRiece of Estbet l#nne 
 
 But it's the love that goes on and on, and braves all 
 obstacles, separation, and trouble, which is the love of 
 true romance. Once I do not think I should ever have 
 believed in it. But I have seen it now. I cannot help 
 believing it. And to my shame I have tried to thwart and 
 oppose it." 
 
 Sir Humphrey rose, and crossing over the intervening space, 
 laid his hand lightly upon Diana's bowed head. 
 
 " My dear, if you have made a mistake, if you have acted 
 thoughtlessly, you have had the courage to make noble repara- 
 tion. I know it has been hard. I thank you from my heart for 
 your confidence in me. Believe me, Diana, no word of this 
 shall ever pass my lips. It shall be the one secret which I 
 shall keep from my wife" there was a little tremor in his 
 voice "if the day shall come when I can have the joy of 
 calling Esther Lynne by that name." 
 
 Diana looked up into his face, and saw it transfigured by a 
 light which she had not seen there before. 
 
 " I shall probably tell Esther myself," said she, with a faint 
 little flickering smile ; " but I think I knew before you spoke 
 that you never would tell." 
 
 " I am going to Esther now," he said ; " shall I find her at 
 home?" 
 
 "She said she would be in at dusk. May I stay here a 
 little while?" 
 
 " As long as you like, my dear." He paused a moment, 
 went towards the door, then paused, and turned round. 
 " I hope to have you for my niece before long, Diana ; will 
 you antedate that moment by a short time, and give me the 
 kiss of peace ? " 
 
 She sprang up with a quivering face. His trust in her, and 
 his calm affection after all he knew of her weakness and folly, 
 fell like balm upon her heart. She swept across the room 
 towards him, and held up a quivering face. 
 
 " Uncle Humphrey ! Uncle Humphrey ! " she cried ; " I 
 
Hn Bet of fmmilfation 305 
 
 never had an uncle before. You will forget all my folly and 
 vanity, and let me be a real niece to you ? " 
 
 He kissed her as a father might, and said : 
 
 " God bless you, my child. Let us put aside as forgotten 
 everything but this : that you have helped at the last to clear 
 up all doubts and misgivings, and to bring Esther and me 
 together." 
 
 He walked out into the clear cold evening, his heart beating 
 as the heart of youth. True, there was still one shadow ; but 
 if she loved him, need he think too much of that ? He would 
 use every precaution, and hoped before long to have unravelled 
 the plot and have the criminal at his mercy. At least, such a 
 woman as Esther would rather know the depth and measure 
 of his love, whatever the future might hold for him or her. 
 
 Diana remained behind, seated by the fire, lost in thought, 
 and with the rather weary feeling which succeeds a long strain. 
 
 It was done now. She had made that confession which for 
 a week she had resolved upon, but which it had needed all 
 her courage and resolution to accomplish. It was made, and 
 had been received with that kindness and gentleness which 
 she had come to associate with Sir Humphrey's nature. He 
 did not hate her. He did not even despise her. She had 
 not lost him as friend or kinsman, and as lover he had never 
 been hers. She had always known that. 
 
 The door opened, and a servant appeared, bringing in the 
 tea equipage and the lamp, and the second time he was 
 followed by York, who, upon seeing the occupant of Sir 
 Humphrey's chair, paused in surprise, and looked round the 
 room. 
 
 Diana's spirits returned to her with the rebound natural to 
 one of her temperament after a season of depression. 
 
 " No, I'm not a ghost, and Sir Humphrey isn't here. He's 
 gone off to see Esther, and as I've a sort of feeling that I 
 might be de trop> I've stayed here. Shall I do the honours of 
 the table ? I really can make tea, though I always leave it to 
 
 u 
 
Ube IFUece of JSstber OL^nne 
 
 Esther at home. Is Archie coming in? or is he away to 
 Bishop's Hall?" 
 
 " I fancy Miss Sally has him in tow somewhere," answered 
 York, smiling; "or, perhaps I should say, he has hitched 
 himself on to her. We don't see much of him here these 
 days. But I'm not sorry he's out this afternoon, as things are 
 turning out, as I rather particularly wanted a little private talk 
 with you, Miss Conquest." 
 
 Diana looked up with slightly heightened colour. She had 
 not seen York alone since the evening of the fire, when they 
 had both spoken with rather curious unreserve. What could 
 he have to say to her to-day ? 
 
 "I've got an idea that that fire was the work of an incendiary," 
 he said. 
 
 " Gracious ! " cried Diana, sitting up. " Who on earth 
 could it be?" 
 
 "The same person, I take it, that wounded Sir Humphrey, 
 and has tried to do other mischief. The creature who began 
 by playing ghost here, and who has been seen once or twice 
 lately, though he is much more wary and cunning now that we 
 are watching, and have our wits about us." 
 
 " The Hindoo ? " asked Di, who had heard something. 
 
 " I suspect so. I believe he was about that night. One or 
 two children declare that they saw something like a dark man 
 in a turban, but thought it part of the show, as you may say. 
 I believe his hand kindled the fire, and that he waited his 
 opportunity to try in the confusion to get a blow home. But 
 things went differently from what he expected. There was 
 less panic and more help. He was afraid in the end to show 
 himself except furtively lurking in dark corners. But he is 
 still about, I believe." 
 
 ''But what is he, and where does he stow himself? A man 
 in a turban and Oriental dress cannot hide in a little village, 
 and Cleeport is too far away to go backwards and forwards in 
 winter weather, one would think." 
 
Hn Hct of tramtttatton 3? 
 
 " There is never any answering for what those Hindoos will 
 accomplish when on the war-path. They are the cunningest 
 and most slippery of customers. But my impression strongly 
 is that he has an underground lair of his own, though hunt as 
 I will I cannot discover the entrance. Miss Conquest, do you 
 know if you have any cellars under Convent House ? " 
 
 " Oh, heaps ! It's a regular catacomb, I know. But you 
 don't surely think he hides there ? " 
 
 " No ; but I have been wondering whether there is not some 
 subterranean passage possibly connecting the two houses. If 
 this fellow has discovered the end here, which baffles me, and 
 has a den of his own under our very feet, we might be able to 
 hunt him out from the other end, if only we could find it. Do 
 you think Miss Lynne has any suspicions of such a sub-way ? 
 You know they were common enough in mediaeval days, and 
 it is quite probable something of the kind exists. But I 
 particularly don't want to arouse fears or anxieties by asking 
 odd questions." 
 
 "I'll find out!" cried Di, with energy. "I can do that 
 without letting the cat out of the bag. If she doesn't know 
 anything about it and I shall easily find that out then I'll 
 have a hunt through the cellars myself. If there is one, most 
 likely there'll be some sort of a door between our end and the 
 cellars. I should just love to discover the secret. And if my 
 unassisted genius isn't equal to the task, I'll smuggle you in, 
 and we'll hunt together." 
 
 " I fear I can't take much credit to my own astuteness in 
 such matters, since I'm quite baffled at this end, though I'm 
 almost certan there must be at least a couple of outlets 
 within a short radius of the house, if not within its precincts. 
 I'm convinced that a certain peculiar sound I hear not 
 infrequently, which we call rats, has another origin, and that 
 there's some living creature moving about below, sometimes 
 very close below our feet a human creature, I am almost 
 positive, and I believe Sir Humphrey begins to have his 
 
308 tTbe Iftiece of Bstber Xgnne 
 
 suspicions also. We are taking every precaution. I think the 
 lurking foe feels that. He is as slippery as all his kind are, 
 and as dangerous. But my idea is that, if we could approach 
 him from the other side from an outlet which may probably 
 be unknown to him (for you have never been disturbed in any 
 way, and he has no motive for molesting your peace) we 
 might take him by surprise, and effect his capture by strategy ; 
 and I have been wanting to speak to you of my suspicions, 
 because I know that you will not be alarmed by the idea, 
 and that you may be my most valuable ally in any further 
 investigations." 
 
 Diana's face flushed with pleasure. Nothing could have 
 come more opportunely to her at such a moment, and the 
 implied tribute to her courage which York had paid showed 
 her that he, at least, did not hold her for a coward, even though 
 she had played the coward's part upon one memorable 
 occasion. 
 
 "I will help you all I know!" she cried; "I will have a 
 real search the first moment I can get the chance, and that 
 will not be long in coming ! " 
 
 She smiled a little to herself as she thought of the pre- 
 occupation of mind which was likely to be Esther's these 
 next few days. Her thoughts would be centred round Sir 
 Humphrey. They would engross each other's time and 
 thought almost to the exclusion of all else. She would be 
 free to carry on her own investigations. Perhaps at last, at last, 
 she might have a chance of being of some use in the world. 
 
 York's eyes were upon her. She felt the scrutinising glance, 
 and turned and looked at him. The smile she met brought 
 a curious flush of colour to her face. 
 
 " I must make one condition with you, Miss Conquest." 
 
 "And that is?" 
 
 " That you carry no investigations too far alone ; that you 
 do not let your courage and high spirit lead you into possible 
 peril" 
 
Hn Hct of Dumttfatfon s9 
 
 " Are you mocking me ? " she suddenly asked. 
 
 "No; I am warning you against what is likely enough to 
 happen. If you find traces of a door, if you find any method 
 by which you think you can enter it, you must not do so 
 alone. You must send for me, and we must act in concert. 
 Will you promise me that ? " 
 
 She looked at him, and answered by another question : 
 
 " What makes you think I should be likely to wish to face 
 any danger alone ? " 
 
 " The knowledge I have of your character," he answered. 
 
 " You think I have it in me to be brave ? " 
 
 " I know you have." 
 
 " You do not despise me in your heart ? " 
 
 " God forbid ! " And the words were so earnestly spoken 
 that the girl felt almost awed. 
 
 " I I thought that you, at least, must always despise me 
 after last week." 
 
 He looked her full in the eyes. 
 
 " If I had to choose my companion for a moment of peril, 
 and that companion had to be a woman, I would choose 
 Diana Conquest before all others," he said. 
 
 She rose suddenly to her feet, and held out her hand. 
 
 " Thank you," she said simply ; " I hope I should not fail 
 you." 
 
 And before he well knew it, she had gone. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 QUESTION AND ANSWER 
 
 DIANA had scarcely given him a thought since that Christmas 
 night when, in meditating over her probable future, she had 
 come to the conclusion that perhaps her best and wisest step 
 would-be to put an end to all further uncertainty, and to marry 
 the Squire's son. 
 
 Since that day the pressure of other events, and the struggle 
 going on in her own heart, had driven this matter from her 
 thoughts. She knew that Rudolph was still in Cleethorpe ; 
 but she had not chanced to meet him. Her own mood had 
 not been sociable. For almost the first time in her life she 
 had held aloof from her kind. She had been engrossed in a 
 fight in which they seemed to have neither part nor lot, and 
 now, when she suddenly met Rudolf Hastings face to face in 
 the grounds of Convent House, she started as at an apparition, 
 for she realised that just at that moment she had been thinking 
 of him, and wondering vaguely whether he were keeping away 
 from her, or whether she should see him again before he left 
 for London, as he was shortly to do. 
 
 They stopped short and looked at one another. It was a 
 mild January day, with sunshine and soft skies, and the 
 faintest first promise of spring in the air, although none 
 doubted but that winter's grip must tighten again before 
 any real advance were made. But for the moment there was 
 hope and joy in the sense that the turn of the year had come ; 
 skylarks were mounting into the blue, carolling in their 
 wild exuberance of exultation, and the waterfowl upon the 
 
 310 
 
(Juestfon anfc Hnswer 3^ 
 
 chain of fish-ponds were noisy and busy, disporting themselves 
 with gay abandonment. Diana had been watching them with 
 amusement as she paced to and fro, pondering many things in 
 her heart. Now she stood still, and Rudolf before her, each 
 scanning the other with rather significant intensity. 
 
 " Miss Conquest Diana," he began, " a few months ago I 
 asked you a question, and you put me off then, promising me 
 an answer later on. Have I waited long enough yet? Is 
 your answer ready ? " 
 
 Diana's face had been of late something more pale than of 
 old, but at this moment it wore a brilliant colour, and her eyes 
 began to glow and sparkle. 
 
 11 1 fancy," she said, speaking slowly, and after a brief pause, 
 "that it was more than one question you asked me; that, 
 in fact, it was a good many kindred questions. Shall I 
 recapitulate them ? " 
 
 " If you will," he answered, his glance searching her face 
 rather keenly. 
 
 " I think you asked me whether I were not ambitious ; 
 whether I did not love power, and would like in my future 
 life to exercise power and influence in the world of 
 politics. I think you asked me whether it would not be 
 pleasant to me to feel myself a person of importance in that 
 world. You told me of your own ambitions, and asked me 
 whether I could share them. You asked me many kindred 
 questions, and finally asked me whether I would be your 
 wife ? " 
 
 "That is true," answered Rudolph ; "and you told me to 
 come again for my answer when you had had more time to 
 consider the matter." 
 
 " That is true," echoed Diana, who was still standing before 
 him, tall and straight. " But there was something you also 
 told me then. You told me that you loved me, and would 
 make me happy if it lay within the power of man to do 
 so," 
 
312 Ube Iftiece of JEstber 
 
 For the fraction of a second Rudolf was silent. Then he 
 answered steadily : " I said that also." 
 
 She looked him squarely in the eyes. There was a curious 
 glint in her own. 
 
 " Could you say the same to me to-day, Rudolf Hastings ? " 
 
 He was silent, regarding her as keenly as she regarded him. 
 They wore the look less of lovers than of fencers, taking each 
 the other's measure before engaging in some combat, whether 
 for jest or earnest. 
 
 Diana spoke first, and her lips curved to a curious smile as 
 she asked, with almost merciless frankness : 
 
 " Do you wish to marry me to-day as much as you did when 
 last we spoke together upon that subject ? " 
 
 His silence was answer sufficient. She asked no more. 
 
 " That is enough," she said ; " 1 do not blame you. You, 
 too, have taken my measure. I have taken it myself. I have 
 no cause of complaint. I give you your answer. I will not 
 marry you. You had better go to Stella, and settle things 
 with her." 
 
 He flushed suddenly. His eyes sought hers proudly. 
 
 " Do you think I have been paying court to two women at 
 once ? " 
 
 " If you had been," answered Diana, with most unwonted 
 gentleness, "it would not have been for me to blame you. 
 Those who live in glass houses must not throw stones. But I 
 exonerate you from that. She was your boyhood's love, I 
 know. But you were fairly ' off' with her before you came to 
 me. Only I think upon the night of the fire your eyes were 
 opened. When you saw her in danger endangering herself 
 for others you knew what she was to you. We were all tried 
 as by fire that night. We went through our ordeal some to 
 honour, some to dishonour." 
 
 " How do you know ? " he asked, somewhat confounded, 
 scarcely noting her last low-toned phrase. "I did not see 
 you. I did not know what had become of you," 
 
CSluestion anfc Hnswer 3*3 
 
 " I took care of myself," answered Di, with a slight curl of 
 the lip; "from a safe coign of vantage I watched all. My 
 eyes were opened to a good many things that night. I think 
 your eyes were opened too." 
 
 For a brief while he made no reply, and then he held out 
 his hand. 
 
 "But we may still be friends, I hope. You never loved 
 me." 
 
 "No; I sometimes think I have never loved anybody 
 except myself. But I once thought I liked you well enough 
 to marry you and make a splash in your world. It is a good 
 thing you did not happen to return for your answer just then." 
 
 There was a curious light in her eyes, half of mockery 
 self-mockery perhaps half of good fellowship. He was man 
 of the world enough not to be disconcerted. Yet, all the same, 
 he looked full at her as he began : 
 
 " Do you mean ? " 
 
 She interrupted him with a wave of the hand and a rippling 
 laugh. 
 
 " I mean nothing ; but you had better go to Stella. Tell 
 her all tell her everything, and see what happens. Then 
 come to me to be congratulated ! " 
 
 With that she gave him a nod, turned, and walked rapidly 
 towards the house, whilst Rudolf looked after her so long as 
 she was in sight, and then turned and made his way towards 
 the Rectory. 
 
 Diana found Sir Humphrey with Esther in the boudoir, 
 sitting opposite to her in a big easy-chair, with the air of a man 
 who has the right to be there. The look upon his face was 
 good to see. Each time that Diana's glance met the deep 
 contentment and friendly kindliness of his own, her heart 
 bounded within her. He rose at her entrance, and kissed her 
 on the brow. This was the privilege he had taken from the 
 day upon which he and Esther Lynne had plighted their 
 troth. To her it still seemed like the seal of forgiveness, 
 
Ube IRfece ot JEstber 
 
 She was passionately attached to Sir Humphrey, and the 
 thought of his becoming her kinsman indeed was a source of 
 pure happiness. 
 
 As for Esther, she looked ten years younger already. The 
 face had always been serene, and had preserved its delicate 
 contours and colouring. Sometimes a look of sadness and 
 wistfulness had appeared to age it for a while, but with the 
 sudden dawn of a new era of peace and happiness the shadows 
 seemed all to flee away, and some of the radiance of youth to 
 return. Diana, noting all this, with her quick eyes and senses 
 alert for observation, often felt a keen pang of remorse run 
 through her as she realised that she had, by her insensate 
 longing after the first place, delayed for a while the con- 
 summation of this well-earned happiness. But when she 
 sought to speak to Esther about it, she was gently hushed 
 and checked. 
 
 "Dearest, it was natural that you should be attracted by 
 him. And how could he help being attracted by you ? He 
 loves and admires you almost as much as I do. It was better 
 for us all that we should wait and see how things developed of 
 themselves. Time was when I almost thought myself that it 
 would go that way ; and had it been for your happiness and 
 his I should have been happy myself. Do not speak hard 
 words about yourself, dear child. Some of your very faults 
 and failings have been dear to me, for your mother's sake. I 
 am glad and thankful, dearest Di, that you recognise them 
 yourself now. You will fight against them, and be safeguarded 
 in the future. But you must not let thoughts of the past 
 trouble you. Perhaps had my happiness come to me too 
 quickly too immediately I might have known some faint 
 misgivings. I might have wondered whether perhaps you 
 might have made him happier. But now we all understand 
 each other so well. I could not ask for greater happiness. I 
 would not have had things different had the choice been 
 mine." 
 
Question anfc Hnswer 315 
 
 " You are quite too utterly sweet, Esther ! " Diana had cried, 
 her arms fast round Esther's neck ; and in her immense love 
 and admiration for these two lovers, who had shown such 
 unswerving love and loyalty, such quiet devotion and life-long 
 unselfishness, the girl was helped to a wider and deeper under- 
 standing of the true nature of love, and began at last, with 
 prayer and earnest resolve, to seek to cut loose from the bonds 
 of self-love and passion for power which had been her peril and 
 her bane through life. 
 
 " I am like Undine," she once said to herself, " if I could 
 love I should find my soul. I do love Esther I love Sir 
 Humphrey. But I know she would say there is another love 
 that must come first, and that the story of Undine is an 
 allegory. I think I do begin to understand in measure what 
 she means. One feels the power of it in others but, ah me ! 
 it seems so far away from one's own ken. One thing I have 
 learned, however : I will never marry any but a good man 
 good in the downright, old-fashioned sense of the word. 
 There are some old fashions that are worth all the new-fangled 
 ones put together. I may be as modern as they make 'em 
 myself, but I'll not have an up-to-date husband not if I 
 know it. I'll marry one of the good sort, or I'll live and die a 
 maid, like old Queen Bess ! " 
 
 Stella sought out Esther a day or two later, and sat at her 
 feet, quivering and blushing, whilst she told her tale, and asked 
 advice. 
 
 " What have you said to Rudolf, my dear ?" asked Esther. 
 
 " I had to tell him that I cared for him that I had always 
 cared, really. Only there seemed so many things in the way 
 once. And now I have said that we must not be engaged 
 unless his parents give their consent." 
 
 " I think that was a right stipulation to make, Stella ; but 
 will there be any difficulty there ? " 
 
 " Rudolf thinks not I mean, in the long run ; and the 
 
316 Ubc mtece of Bstber Ignite 
 
 Squire came this morning to my studio, and kissed me, and 
 said he would like me for a daughter as well as anybody, after 
 all ; for I understood the old-fashioned ways, and should not 
 turn the place upside down when I came to be the Lady of 
 the Manor, as he called it. He said that we must give ' her 
 ladyship ' time to get used to the idea, as she has been rather 
 ambitious for Rudolf, and had got the notion that he would 
 marry Diana. Miss Lynne tell me truly I know she would 
 be a much better match for him" 
 
 " Not unless she loved him, dear." 
 
 " Ah ! but suppose she does ? " 
 
 " I am quite certain she does not." 
 
 Stella looked up eagerly. 
 
 " Oh, are you really ? I was half afraid. And she is so 
 beautiful I could never blame him. I couldn't bear for him 
 to come back to me, and then find out he had made a 
 mistake." 
 
 "You need not be afraid of that, Stellanot on Di's 
 account. I am beginning to understand Di, as it took me a 
 long time to do. She has liked Rudolf as a friend. She has 
 admired him as a rising man, likely to make a mark in the 
 world. But she has never loved him ; and though he has 
 been attracted by her, I do not think that feeling is one which 
 can truly bear the sacred name of love." 
 
 " That is what he says," spoke Stella. " He has told me 
 every single thing about it, and how it was Di who sent him 
 back to me at the last, when he felt himself half bound to her. 
 I feel ashamed now of some of the things I said and thought 
 about Di. Miss Lynne, I have been very narrow and 
 uncharitable, and I have been very foolish, too. Even now I 
 am sometimes half afraid to take my happiness when it has 
 come. But you do not think it is always the lower road, the 
 happy one, do you ? as I used once to think and to teach." 
 
 " Need you ask me, my dear, when I am taking my own 
 great and wonderful happiness so gladly and gratefully ? " 
 
Question an& answer 317 
 
 " Ah ! but you waited so long for yours ! You served such 
 a long, hard probation ! " 
 
 " Long, perhaps ; but not hard. I have been a very happy 
 woman all my life. And, Stella dear, my probation, as 
 you call it, was not my choice. I would have married 
 Humphrey in my youth, and been a proud and happy 
 woman in doing it, but a definite and God-given duty 
 intervened ; one that we both fully recognised, though we 
 did not expect it to divide us so long. Nevertheless, it may 
 all have worked out for our greater happiness now. We 
 might have had to suffer more trying separation and greater 
 anxieties had we married young than we have done now. 
 And the happiness of the present seems to make up for all. 
 Your happiness in this thing comes to you young. But 
 if no obstacle separates you, why should you think to 
 please God by inventing one for yourself? Do you not see 
 how He has opened your way, and opened your eyes, too ? 
 Are you still desirous to make Him out a harsh taskmaster, 
 rather than a wise and loving Father? He may see fit to 
 send us troubles and sorrows for our good, and for our right 
 training ; but I can never see that it can be pleasing to Him 
 when we reject the good gifts of His sending, or neglect the 
 exercise of the talents with which He has entrusted us, on the 
 ground that whatever we enjoy doing ourselves must on 
 that account be wrong, and our happiness a snare. To me 
 that shows a faithless and unloving spirit. We are not afraid 
 to take good gifts from the hands of our earthly fathers, how 
 much less from the hand of the heavenly Father, who cannot 
 err, and who has doubtless some wise and beneficent reason for 
 entrusting us with such gifts, whether in the matter of this 
 world's goods, or of talents bestowed." 
 
 "I know; I am trying to live into that faith. Uncle 
 Donald says just the same. And, Miss Lynne, Rudolf wants 
 me to go on with my drawing and painting. There is a sort 
 of studio place in the garden of his house. He will have it 
 
iFltece of Estbev 
 
 fitted up for me. He is proud of what he thinks my talent. 
 I shall have lessons, and he is going to let me paint and 
 exhibit, too, if I like. When he is an M.P. I shall do his 
 portrait ! Perhaps I shall get just a little bit famous myself 
 some day ! I don't mean that I think I am going to do 
 wonders ; but I may have my little success Rudolf thinks I 
 shall, and t he likes the idea. He says that women who have 
 talent are thought more of in society than just the ones who 
 talk and ' pose,' as he calls it. I hope I shall not grow 
 conceited; but I see how easily I can be spared from the 
 parish now, and that has taken a good deal of the vanity out 
 of me. I don't mean to get puffed up ; but I do feel as though 
 I shall have such a happy life, and Rudolf declares it can be 
 a useful one too." 
 
 " I am very sure of that, my dear. No life is without its 
 accompanying sphere of usefulness for those who walk with 
 open eyes. You need never be afraid of not rinding duties 
 rising up before you, and I am sure that you will not lack 
 either the needful self-denial, or the needful energy, for 
 grappling with these when they come." 
 
 " It is nice of you to say so, Miss Lynne, and I hope it may 
 come true of me ; but I sometimes feel as though I had been 
 very silly and priggish and conceited in the past, and that 
 makes me half afraid of the mistakes I may make in the 
 future." 
 
 " We all make mistakes, dear ; and your mistakes came 
 from over-conscientiousness, or what I might perhaps call 
 morbid conscientiousness, and not from selfishness or 
 carelessness." 
 
 " Still, I was very obstinate and self-willed," insisted Stella, 
 " and I was quite certain that my own way was the right one, 
 and I did rather look down upon others, though I didn't know 
 that I did. I thought their standards low " 
 
 " Perhaps they gave you some cause, dear ; and we always 
 have to guard against the danger of letting love and charity 
 
(SSiuestfon ant) Hnswer 319 
 
 blind us to the faults and failings of those about us. We can 
 love them with all their faults ; but it does not do to be blind 
 to them, else we may unconsciously sink our own standards 
 instead of raising theirs." 
 
 " I don't think that sort of blindness was my danger," 
 answered Stella, with a little smile. " I don't think I was at 
 all blind in that way, except to my own faults and failings. 
 And now I am so happy that I feel I want to love everybody, 
 and for everybody to love me, and if I've been unjust and 
 uncharitable to Di I must tell her of it. For I do want us 
 all to be friends." 
 
 " Well, dear, there she is to speak for herself/' said Esther, 
 smiling ; and Stella, starting up, saw a tall figure outlined in 
 the doorway, and next minute Di was in the room, and had 
 swooped down upon her, and pulled her to her feet, giving her 
 a warm embrace. 
 
 " There, then, little Stella ! We've been rather cat and dog 
 all these months you and I haven't we? But we'll bury 
 the hatchet now in a general amnesty. Sometimes I wonder 
 how you all came to treat an interloper so nobly as you did, 
 especially one who was so eager to boss the show over all of 
 your heads. But I've done with that sort of thing now " 
 
 " Oh, no ; but, indeed, you mustn't say that. You must go 
 on bossing it more than ever; Sally is going to be married 
 quite soon " 
 
 " Oh, yes ; I've been hearing talk of that. It's perfectly 
 rich ! Sally is all for a quiet wedding, with no ' tomfoolery,' 
 by which she means a wedding-dress and veil, bridesmaids, 
 and a feast, and so forth. Lady Caroline, of course, wants 
 the thing done in style, in the good old-fashioned way ; whilst 
 the Squire is deliciously divided in mind, and they both play 
 upon him according to his mood." 
 
 " How do you mean ? " asked Esther, smiling. 
 
 " Oh, don't you see ? Lady Caroline says that a white 
 wedding is the right thing, and is backed by all the traditions 
 
320 Ube Biece of JEstbev 
 
 of generations ; but Sally deftly works him up on the other 
 side (I didn't know the little puss had so much diplomacy in 
 her), reminding him of how, when the butcher's and baker's 
 daughters are married nowadays, the bells ring and arches go 
 up, and the very carts and tumble-down flys have white favours 
 and whip-knots ; and then the old lion rouses up, and he 
 marches up and down the room, declaring that it's disgusting 
 how every good old custom is being vulgarised, and how the 
 people are vulgarising themselves by an absurd aping of their 
 betters ; and that if every petty tradesman's girl is to have her 
 trail of bridesmaids, her white gown and veil, her arches and 
 ringers, then the sooner the gentry take to be married at eight 
 in the morning, in travelling dress, the better for the country. 
 And Sally joins in eagerly, and stirs him up with a long pole, 
 and Archie sits and roars, and how it will all end I'm sure I 
 don't know. But I believe Sally will get her way, and that we 
 shall get up some fine morning and find that they've stolen a 
 march upon us, and are off and away ; and really, after all, I 
 don't know whether that wouldn't be the best way of settling 
 the matter ; though I had rather set my heart upon being her 
 bridesmaid." Diana paused, looked round her with a laugh, 
 and then going up to Esther, dropped a kiss upon her brow. 
 " Never mind, though ; if I'm done out of that, there is one 
 thing I am not going to be done out of. I'm going to be 
 your bridesmaid, Esther, whether you have the grandest or the 
 quietest wedding in creation so you may make up your mind 
 to that ! " 
 
CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 THE SECRET WAY 
 
 "CAN you come? I think I have found something. D. C." 
 A little twisted note bearing these words was put into 
 York's hands by his servant soon after lunch, as he sat alone 
 in the library. Archie was away in town for a few days, and 
 Sir Humphrey was driving Esther out, a very favourite 
 afternoon recreation of his when the sun shone and the air 
 was not too keen. 
 
 York was already busy making some plans of his own for 
 the future. Hitherto Sir Humphrey had declined to discuss 
 the question of his leaving him. Month after month had 
 slipped away ; but the friendship between the two men had 
 only deepened with time, and York had been able to 
 appreciate his host's assertion that he would find solitary 
 existence at Nun's Bower but a sorry experience. Archie 
 was backwards and forwards, but was not to be depended 
 upon even when resident. He was for ever across at Bishop's 
 Hall, or joining in Sally's pursuits elsewhere. Sir Humphrey 
 was the last man to wish it otherwise ; but all the same, York 
 felt that he depended upon him for companionship, which it 
 had been his great pleasure to give. 
 
 Now, however, some speedy change was imminent. It was 
 probable that Convent House would be the future home of 
 Sir Humphrey and Lady Vanborough, and the former had 
 said something vague and genial about York's remaining on 
 at Nun's Bower " keeping it from rats and ghosts and other 
 pests " ; but the soldier did not exactly see how he could do that 
 
 321 x 
 
322 Ube Iftfece of Estber Zgnne 
 
 permanently, unless by insisting upon paying a rental which 
 would be beyond his slender means. He was seriously 
 contemplating taking lodgings somewhere in Cleethorpe for 
 himself and his servant, and settling himself within easy 
 reach of his friends, and then, if his health continued to 
 improve, trying if he could obtain some light employment, for 
 which his previous life might have been a training, though 
 his career as a soldier was at an end. 
 
 His first and chiefest object, however, was to get at the 
 heart of the mystery still shadowing his friend. The detective 
 had made out a fairly complete case with respect to a 
 Hindoo who had arrived in Cleeport some weeks prior to 
 Sir Humphrey's coming, and had since been seen there at 
 intervals, disappearing in the meantime utterly and completely. 
 He had also closely cross-questioned every person in the 
 village who professed to have seen the ghost lurking in the 
 neighbourhood of Nun's Bower; and he had elicited from 
 each in turn a description that might very well apply 
 to the same turbaned Hindoo, surmising that the man was 
 wrapped in some dark cloak, as most likely would be the case, 
 from which the turban gleamed white and spectral. It was 
 natural that this white head-covering should suggest the idea 
 of a coifed nun ; but the man believed as York did, that save 
 on the occasion when Diana scared the village in her phantom 
 boat, it was the Oriental who had each time been seen, though 
 of late all trace of the man seemed to have disappeared. 
 Either he had made off for a while, in fear at possible discovery, 
 learning, perhaps, in the inscrutable fashion of his race, that 
 some special effort was being made for his apprehension, or 
 else lying in such close concealment that all efforts to track 
 him down had so far failed. 
 
 The detective had now returned to town, being in demand 
 for another case ; but York was on the watch, and was to keep 
 him informed if any discovery were made, and meantime both 
 he and Sir Humphrey were very much on the alert, and as 
 
TTbe Secret TOttag 323 
 
 both of them were well used to the slippery ways of the wily 
 Hindoo, and had eyes of peculiar keenness, they were in hopes 
 that the miscreant would either be caught or scared away 
 before any further ill had been wrought by him. 
 
 But until this consummation had been brought about, York 
 felt indisposed to make any move from his friend's house ; and 
 no one was less anxious for this move to be made than Sir 
 Humphrey himself. 
 
 It was, perhaps, a rather strange combination of circumstances 
 which had caused Diana to be York's confidante and co- 
 conspirator in this matter. She knew more than any other 
 person, save those immediately concerned, what had already 
 taken place, and what was believed probable in the future. 
 And now, with her note in his hands, York lost not a moment 
 in acting upon it. Five minutes later he was in the yew 
 avenue, and was not surprised to see Diana flitting towards 
 him, her face aglow with excitement. 
 
 " I believe I have found it the secret door ! " she said, as 
 their hands met, but speaking with curious, low-toned caution, 
 as though afraid of eavesdroppers even in this quiet spot ; " I 
 have been hunting for long. The cellars are so extensive and 
 so strange like catacombs almost. I found that the best 
 thing was to make a plan of them, taking the compass to be 
 sure of getting the lie of the thing right. 
 
 "When I had done that, drawing them to scale, as my 
 father once taught me, I compared them with a plan of the 
 house that Esther has, and then I located the spot nearest to 
 this yew avenue ; for I had a feeling that if a secret way exists, 
 it runs under the avenue. All that has taken time \ but to-day 
 I have been rewarded, I think. I have found a little door, 
 hidden away behind some crumbling brickwork. I declare it 
 gave me a turn when I got to it. I thought of all the horrid 
 stories I had heard (I don't know whether true or false, some 
 say one, and some another thing about it) about nuns being 
 walled up alive, and I declare I half expected to see a 
 
324 TOe iFUece of Estber I#nne 
 
 gruesome skeleton grinning out at me as I pulled down 
 fragments of brickwork. 
 
 " I suppose the mortar was bad, or the work hastily done ; 
 for I soon got a lot of it away. And then I saw that it had 
 hidden a little door, and there was a great rusty key in the 
 lock too ; but I could not turn it. I have some oil now ; but 
 I remembered what you had made me promise about not 
 going into any mysterious place alone. So I sent that line to 
 you. I knew Sir Humphrey and Esther were safely out of the 
 way for the afternoon, and that we had time before us ; and I 
 think you and I will be a match for that wily Hindoo, even if 
 we do chance to find the fox in his earth ! " 
 
 Even as she spoke Diana put her hand into the breast- 
 pocket of her thick pilot coat, and drew forth a little revolver, 
 which she handled with the air of one who could use it at 
 need. 
 
 " You know I can shoot ! " she said, glancing at him with 
 her old half-defiant smile ; for she had never felt quite certain 
 that York had approved of her exploits with fire-arms. 
 
 " I have been glad to remember that and that you 
 promised me not to work even in your aunt's cellars without 
 some defensive weapon upon you," he said ; " and now, Miss 
 Conquest, if we are really about to try and run this fox to 
 earth, as you call it, I think I will post my man somewhere 
 over yonder, where we have reason to suppose his outlet must 
 be ; for if he elude us and he will, I imagine, sooner fly than 
 fight we had better be ready for him at the other end. 
 Might I suggest that you should remain above ground with 
 Dennis, leaving me to explore the passage, if we find it ? " 
 
 " I cannot veto your suggestions," answered Diana, with 
 sparkling eyes, " but where you go, I go. The secret passage, 
 if we find it, is my treasure trove. I claim the right to be of 
 the exploring party, and I don't see that we want anybody 
 else. That is, if you are not afraid of what I may do. Of 
 course, if you think that I should fail you at a pinch " 
 
Secret Was 325 
 
 Diana's face had suddenly changed; some of the colour 
 lent by excitement and animation died out of it ; a curious ring 
 of pain was audible in her voice. York spoke with quiet 
 emphasis : 
 
 "My fear is that you would endanger yourself too rashly, 
 and my own lack of fleet movement renders me but an 
 inefficient protector. It is the thought of the possible peril 
 you may encounter, and your own intrepid spirit, which 
 causes me to fear for you." 
 
 " My intrepid spirit ! " repeated Diana slowly, " do you speak 
 those words to me ? " 
 
 " I certainly do." 
 
 " After what you know of me ? " 
 
 "After what I know and after what you have spoken of 
 yourself two very different things, let me tell you." 
 
 She looked at him with wide, wondering eyes. A curious 
 magnetic flash seemed to pass from soul to soul, rendering 
 explanation superfluous. 
 
 " Let us go together," said Diana, after a brief, pregnant 
 pause. " Let your man be posted where you will ; but you 
 and I together will be enough for the unravelling of the 
 mystery of the secret way. You are armed ? " 
 
 "Yes; and I do not think we shall get to close quarters; 
 the quarry will run sooner than fight, you will see. And 
 yet" 
 
 " I must come ! " cried Di, with a touch of her old 
 imperiousness ; and in the end her will prevailed. 
 
 York laid his plans with precision and skill. It did not 
 seem to him that if the wily plotter were anywhere in his lair, 
 and if his lair were to be discovered now, he could well escape 
 them. He would fain have insisted upon Diana's absence; 
 but something in the girl's attitude overcame his scruples. If 
 she were left behind now, she would never believe that he 
 regarded her other than as stained by cowardice that fear of 
 personal peril, which had been rankling within her ever since 
 
326 trbe iFUece of Eatbet X#nne 
 
 her self-betrayal and headlong flight upon the night of the fire. 
 He understood her too well to combat her will now, though 
 his instinct as a soldier was strongly averse to permitting a 
 woman to face personal peril. Still, he believed himself fully 
 able to protect her. He was a dead shot, and his presence of 
 mind had never yet deserted him in any crisis of his life. He 
 felt certain that only one man was concerned in this plot 
 against Sir Humphrey, and he felt himself equal to tackle this 
 one foe single-handed. So together he and Diana descended 
 the long flight of cellar stairs, threaded their way through a 
 curious network of undergound cellars and passages, lighted 
 by the lamps Diana had kindled in readiness, and finally they 
 were brought up short before a narrow doorway, which almost 
 defied detection, so cunningly was it set, and might never have 
 been discovered, even when the brickwork had crumbled and 
 fallen, had it not been for the rather curious fact that the 
 ponderous key was still in the lock. 
 
 " I imagine the door was closed for some object ; but it was 
 intended to be used again," spoke York, as he carefully oiled 
 and examined the wards. " Perhaps the key was thought safer 
 in its own lock than anywhere else. Is that a bolt you are 
 working at, Miss Conquest ? " 
 
 " Yes ; it is pretty rusty, but I think I am getting it to move. 
 What good work they used to put into everything in old days. 
 I declare I don't wonder the Squire rages at modern scamping 
 and modern scrimping ; and yet I don't know that I want to 
 go back altogether to mediaeval times. The world can be a 
 very pleasant place, after all, and not altogether destitute of 
 romance even now ! I wonder what some of my friends 
 would think if they could see me now, penetrating into the 
 heart of the earth, through secret passages which hold some 
 deadly secret mystery." 
 
 Diana's eyes were bright ; her heart was bounding ; she felt 
 unaccountably gay and joyous. York was silently fitting 
 the oiled key into the door, and after a certain amount of 
 
Ube Secret Mas 327 
 
 manipulation the bolts shot back with a curious grating sound. 
 Diana had by this time got her bolt to move, and the door 
 swung open before their united pressure, revealing the mouth 
 of what appeared to be a long, dark tunnel, which smelt 
 strongly of bats and must. 
 
 " Whew ! " whispered the girl, " it's like a charnel house. 
 I should think we would release a whole army of boggarts ! " 
 
 Yet she was not in the least afraid, but burning with 
 curiosity; and at a sign from York she handed him the light, 
 and pressed eagerly in his wake. 
 
 " Where bats can breathe, I think we can breathe," he said, 
 in a low voice ; " and there must be an opening to the outer 
 air somewhere, or they could not get in. We shall see how 
 our light burns as we move. Set another lamp in the opening, 
 please, before we begin our march." 
 
 It was a long, long tramp they had ; but by looking back 
 they could see the wonderfully straight course they kept, for 
 the glimmer of light they had left behind them still shone like 
 a point of fire. 
 
 " It is so, then," whispered Di, in keen excitement ; " there 
 is a subterranean way corresponding with the yew walk, and 
 that is why tradition tells of footsteps up and down, heard 
 there when nothing is seen. The old folks of the place talk 
 of that, though they don't profess to have heard it themselves. 
 I suppose that was in the days of seminary priests or the Civil 
 War, when subterranean passages and hiding-places were in 
 demand." 
 
 York laid his finger upon his lips, and Diana's whispers 
 died away. The quick senses of the soldier told him that 
 they were approaching the termination of the passage, and 
 that if they were to surprise the quarry at all, they should 
 be likely soon to do so. The mustiness of the long dank 
 passage was changing in character; another odour was 
 gradually asserting itself. It was a flavour familiar enough to 
 York it took him back in memory to his days of wandering 
 
328 abe fltece of Estber Xsntte 
 
 upon the frontier, when he had often partaken of the 
 hospitality of the natives. It was a smell of the East. He 
 would have recognised it anywhere. They were not on a 
 false track after all. 
 
 This was the lair of the wily Hindoo, who was on the track 
 of Sir Humphrey Vanborough patiently and stealthily awaiting 
 the chance to spring upon him unawares like a murderous 
 beast. The wonder was that, having such a lair, he had been 
 so slow to strike ; but York knew the caution and patience of 
 the Oriental. Time with him was a secondary object; the 
 first was to make sure of his victim, and hitherto they had 
 taken considerable care that Sir Humphrey should not be 
 alone. The precautions, though unostentatious, had been very 
 real, and the unseen lier-in-wait had probably been aware of 
 them, and had been stealthily biding his time. 
 
 Hushing their footsteps to almost perfect stillness they had 
 foot-gear which lent itself to silent treading the pair crept 
 onwards through the darkness, till their eyes were greeted by a 
 faint gleam of light in the distance, which caused them to 
 pause, and York, who was carrying the electric lamp, prepared 
 to switch off the light. 
 
 "Give it to me," whispered Diana, "you may want your 
 hands free at any moment. When we have gone a little 
 farther I will extinguish it. But there may be pitfalls in the 
 path." 
 
 He surrendered the light to her, and they crept onwards, 
 recognising that they were nearing the end of the passage, and 
 that there was some living human presence at hand. A little 
 later and the gleam of light was bright enough to enable them 
 to put out their own, and to advance towards the opening with 
 hushed steps and beating hearts. It was evident that the 
 opening was a sort of doorless doorway, which had been 
 covered by a curtain or mat, which, however, let in a certain 
 amount of light to guide them. The silence, however, was 
 deep and unbroken, and they felt as though the slight sound 
 
Ube Secret Mag 329 
 
 they made themselves must surely be heard, and would bring 
 the lurking foe out upon them, like a tiger springing from its 
 lair. York held his revolver in his hand, prepared for sudden 
 attack, although he was still of opinion that flight would be 
 more probably the line of action taken. 
 
 Then came the moment of tense expectancy, when they stood 
 just on the other side of the hanging mat, listening, with senses 
 strained to the highest point of tension, for what might be heard 
 upon the other side. But only deep silence prevailed, and 
 after a brief pause York slowly worked his shoulder through 
 the narrow orifice, and looked within, Diana craning her head 
 to see also, without too much displacing the hanging. 
 
 Then the silence was explained ; for the Hindoo lay in a 
 deep sleep before the little fire of wood and charcoal which 
 was burning, the fumes of which must have been carried off 
 by some cunningly devised chimney, for there was no smoke 
 to dim the air. They instantly recognised the man as the 
 juggler of the regatta day, and the girl could now quite believe 
 that it was his white turban she had seen on both occasions 
 when she had been startled by the apparition which she had 
 dubbed the phantom nun. She gazed upon him as he lay 
 with a curious mixture of interest and of horror. But York, 
 bidding her by a gesture remain where she was, stepped 
 forward with a catlike noiselessness and quietude, and in 
 another moment he would have had the sleeping prey at his 
 mercy. 
 
 But just at that very moment the sleeper's eyes unclosed, 
 and it seemed to Diana's astonished gaze that he almost 
 possessed the power of making himself invisible, so astonish- 
 ingly rapid was his movement. One instant he was upon the 
 floor, to all appearances a helpless, sleeping man, the very 
 next moment he was crouching for a deadly spring not in 
 front of York, but behind him. With an inconceivable 
 swiftness he had sprung into darkness, and before York had 
 time so much as to turn, the gleaming blade was whistling 
 
330 ube fRiece of Estbet Xsnne 
 
 through the air, the creature who held it was himself hurtling 
 through the dim darkness, ready to bury the shining blade in 
 his very heart or vitals from behind. 
 
 Assuredly York had been a dead man had it not been for 
 the act of Diana. With a cry like that of a tiger, the girl 
 sprang upon the lithe Hindoo. She had his arm imprisoned 
 in her vicelike clasp, the knife was wrenched away and flung 
 far into the darkness, where it fell with a shivering sound 
 against the stones. But she could not hold her prey. 
 Instantly he had twisted himself loose, and they saw him 
 bound away in the blackness of the vaulted place they stood 
 in, and seem to spring upwards towards the very roof in a 
 series of goatlike bounds. Then suddenly a shot rang out, 
 awakening every echo in the place. The man gave a curious 
 yell, but it was one not of pain, but of triumph at having 
 missed injury. Diana, who had fired in the heat of the 
 moment, uttered a fierce exclamation of rage and disappoint- 
 ment ; but the next moment another curious muffled cry 
 smote upon their ears a strange scuffling $9und and a heavy 
 fall followed. In the dim light they saw the fluttering 
 garments and the white turban, as the man, missing his 
 slippery footing, came headlong to the ground, where he lay 
 for a moment a quivering heap, and then all motion ceased. 
 
 " Stand back, Diana," spoke York, using her name uncon- 
 sciously, though the girl realised it with a curious thrill. 
 " It may be a ruse, though I do not think it. Anyway, it is 
 not a sight for you. Wait where you are. I will see what 
 has happened. Let me have the light." 
 
 The white glare of the electric lamp gave a more brilliant 
 illumination to the place. Diana, with a wildly beating heart, 
 stood watching whilst York bent over the prostrate man. She 
 had her revolver still in her hand, and her eyes were glued to 
 the Hindoo, as though she still suspected him of the power 
 to make another inconceivably rapid attack. He lay like a 
 tumbled heap upon the stone floor, and York, after a brief 
 
Ube Secret Way 331 
 
 examination, straightened out the bent and twisted limbs, and 
 taking a piece of drapery which might have been a cloak, 
 laid it over the stiffening frame. 
 
 "He has broken his neck," he said briefly; "he is quite 
 
 dead." 
 Diana's breath caught up in her throat. "I did not kill 
 
 him ? " she asked. 
 
 At the moment she had fired she had not cared whether 
 she maimed or whether she killed. She was fiercely 
 determined that the man should not escape; but now she 
 felt a sudden horror in the thought that she might have taken 
 a human life, however degraded a criminal's that life might 
 
 have been. 
 
 " No, you did not touch him. I heard the bullet strike t 
 rock. It is probable that your shot frightened him into 
 missing his footsteps ; but there is no wound upon him. He 
 died from the fall." 
 
 Diana was silent. She wanted to get out of this place, wit! 
 its still and silent inmate. There was relief in the thought 
 that their unseen, lurking foe, with murder in his heart, would 
 menace them no more; but she had never been in the 
 presence of death before, and she wished to escape from it now. 
 
 "I wonder where he was going," she said; "see, there are 
 some rough, slippery steps. Colonel York, will you hold the 
 light whilst I climb carefully up? You need not be afraid. 
 I shall not get into any danger. I want to see where they 
 lead to. I believe we are under Nun's Bower ! " 
 
 He held the light, and she climbed upwards with great 
 agility, calling out sometimes that it was quite safe, only 
 rather slippery in places. Then she vanished from his ken 
 for a few moments, after which an excited voice came down 
 to him, crying out : 
 
 "I'm getting at the heart of the mystery at last. 1m 
 looking through two eye-holes in the drawing-room panelling 
 straight into the room itself -just behind that hideous old idol ! 
 
CHAPTER XXX 
 
 LOVE THE CONQUEROR 
 
 IT was in effect a secret hiding-place which they had found 
 one of those " priest's holes," as they were so frequently called 
 in bygone ages; a cleverly-contrived aperture little more 
 than a closet behind the panelling of the drawing-room, 
 with a masked door, by which flight could be made into the 
 outer corridor, as well as the trap-door descending to the cellar 
 beneath. A piece of the panelling had also been fashioned 
 into a narrow doorway which could be removed by the hider 
 at will ; but they guessed that this, as also the cunningly-made 
 eye-holes in the ornamental work of the beaded panels, had 
 been the result of patient toil and artifice on the part of the 
 wily Hindoo, since the aperture which could be made was too 
 small to admit the passage of any but a lithe, slim, crawling 
 creature like himself, and was set low, where the heavy double 
 console-table placed against the wall divided in the centre, 
 leaving a gap near to the floor by which, when the panelling 
 was removed, a catlike creeper could stealthily worm its way 
 into the room. The eye-holes were on a higher level, and 
 gave the spy a fair command of the room. It was an uncanny 
 thought that some unseen and unsuspected watcher might 
 often have been prying upon them from behind the weird- 
 looking idol set upon the marble-topped table. Diana had 
 felt the creepy sensation of watching eyes, and so had others, 
 in that room, but had attributed it to the wide white and red 
 orbs of the heathen deity. But now it seemed that there 
 might well have been another cause at work. 
 
 33 2 
 
%ot>e tbe Conqueror 333 
 
 The cave contained another outlet along a winding tunnel, 
 emerging in the little gully close to the pool where Sir 
 Humphrey had been wont to bathe. The entrance was so 
 well concealed that it had defied the closest search, although 
 the searchers had felt convinced that it must lie within a short 
 radius of that spot. 
 
 The inquest and inquiry were conducted as quietly as 
 possible. It was abundantly evident that the Hindoo, scared 
 most likely by the search and close watching to which he had 
 felt himself subjected, had been lying for some while in closest 
 concealment, biding his time with the curious persistence and 
 patience of his race. It was almost a miracle that he had not 
 found his opportunity before, in spite of all precautions ; but 
 there were evidences that he had changed his tactics, and was 
 about to abandon his Eastern methods for those of the West. 
 For upon the cave's being searched, it was found that a 
 quantity of gunpowder had been collected, bought evidently 
 in small quantities at a time, to avoid exciting suspicion. It 
 seemed abundantly evident that the man, having failed in his 
 various attempts at assassination, was about to see what could 
 be done by some blasting operations from underneath. No 
 doubt, when he had secured sufficient powder, he intended to 
 try and blow up the house and its inmates some night; 
 whether purposing himself to escape, or to share the common 
 doom, none could say. 
 
 He was dead, and the authorities deemed it well to keep 
 the matter out of the papers, and as much of a secret as 
 possible. All that the public ever knew was that a Hindoo 
 juggler, who had been seen about the place once or twice, and 
 had given some of the village people a fright, had been 
 found dead in a cellar beneath Nun's Bower, where he had 
 apparently been living secretly for a while. The village people 
 gaped with wonder over the tale, but asked no further explana- 
 tion, the ways of " blackamoors " being beyond their ken, so that 
 no habits, however strange, need excite wonder or speculation. 
 
334 Ebe IFUece of Estbec 
 
 Even Esther Lynne knew little more. Sir Humphrey did 
 not desire that she should do so. He himself fully believed 
 that with the death of this man particularly if the matter was 
 kept out of the papers the peril to himself from the vengeance 
 of some family, or tribe, would cease ; but of this he could not 
 be absolutely certain, and he therefore had no wish to arouse 
 any insidious fears in her mind. 
 
 " When we have been married a year," he said, with a smile, 
 to Diana, "then, perhaps, I will tell her. By that time, I 
 think, we shall all be convinced that the death of yonder poor 
 fellow closed the matter. We shall be able to smile together 
 over it then. Now, whilst it is all recent, she would be anxious 
 and afraid. My dear, do you know that we owe a great debt 
 of gratitude to you ? It was you who found out the entrance 
 to the cave " 
 
 " Ah ! but it was Colonel York who set me on. It was he 
 who thought out everything." 
 
 " I know ; and it was you that saved his life by your own 
 strength and daring at a most critical moment. Do you know, 
 Diana, that knife of his was poisoned ? One scratch, and I 
 should have lost the truest friend man ever had." 
 
 Diana went very white. " Poisoned ! " she exclaimed, and 
 drew her breath sharply. 
 
 " Yes ; we had it tested. It was poisoned. My dear, when 
 I think what you two risked that day in my service, I feel that 
 I have no words strong enough to express what I feel. But 
 it was too much it was too much ! " 
 
 Diana still looked white and shaken. Sir Humphrey, 
 regarding her, saw a change in her since the events of the past 
 twelve days. 
 
 "My dear," he said, very gently, "tell me, what is the 
 matter ? " 
 
 Suddenly she put her hands before her face, and the tears 
 gushed forth. Strangling her sobs, she cried : 
 
 " He won't die ! Oh, say he won't die ! Tell me that it 
 
tbe Conqueror 335 
 
 isn't a scratch from that knife which has made him 
 ill ! " 
 
 For at this moment York was lying ill in his room. He 
 had gone through the formalities succeeding their discovery, 
 and had given his evidence at the inquest, and so forth. But 
 either he had taken a chill in the cave, or something had 
 happened later; for almost immediately afterwards he had 
 been sharply attacked by pneumonia, and for a few days his 
 case had been critical. Even now there was a little anxiety 
 respecting his condition, although he had taken a turn for the 
 better, and was considered to be progressing favourably. But 
 it had not occurred to Sir Humphrey till this moment to 
 connect York's illness with Diana's pale cheeks and air of 
 anxious restlessness. He had fancied her unnerved by the 
 experiences through which she had passed ; but now a new 
 and sudden illumination came to him, and instantly his hand 
 was stretched out and laid upon hers, which trembled in his 
 grasp. 
 
 " My dear, you need have no fear on that score. The 
 knife never touched York, thanks to your wonderful prompti- 
 tude and unusual physical strength. This illness is simply 
 pueumonia, and as you may perhaps know, he had a bullet 
 through one lung that time he so nearly lost his life, which, of 
 course, makes things a little more critical. But the danger is 
 now considered over, and we have every reason to hope and 
 believe he will make a good recovery. I hope soon to be able 
 to let you see him. When he can get up and move into the 
 next room wrapped in his dressing-gown, it will do him good 
 to see a few bright faces. Stella is to be the first visitor ; but I 
 think that you must be the second. For when he was delirious 
 he spoke your name once or twice. It was the only one I 
 heard pass his lips. Even in delirium he retains much of his 
 reticence." 
 
 The colour had come back to Diana's face. Her eyes 
 began to glow. She looked into Sir Humphrey's, and asked : 
 
336 TTbe iftfece of Estber 
 
 " What did he call me when he did speak of me ? " 
 
 "He called you Diana, my dear. I think I am not 
 betraying trust in telling so much." 
 
 The light in her eyes grew brighter. 
 
 " Oh, I am so glad, I am glad. Then he must think of me 
 as Diana, not as Miss Conquest ! " 
 
 He had both her hands in his own. He drew her gently 
 towards himself, and looked earnestly into her glowing, trans- 
 figured face. Diana knew that she was giving herself away 
 letting herself go but she did so willingly, with a proud, glad 
 certainty that she would not be misunderstood or despised. 
 
 "My dear," he said, with exceeding gentleness, "is it 
 indeed so with you both?" 
 
 " Oh, Uncle Humphrey, Uncle Humphrey, it is so with 
 me. I am not ashamed to say it ! I am not afraid to tell 
 you. You will not despise me for it. I never knew what it 
 was before. I have played at it ; I have seen others feeling it 
 really ; but I thought I should never, never know it myself. 
 And now it has come ! it has come I don't know how or 
 why ! " 
 
 " Do we ever know how or why God's best gifts come to us, 
 my dear ? " asked Sir Humphrey, very gently. " Is it not 
 enough that they do come from Him, and that we take them 
 from His hand as the pledges of His fatherly love for us ? " 
 
 The rare, rare tears sprang into Diana's eyes, and hung upon 
 her long lashes like sparkling dew-drops. 
 
 " Oh, Uncle Humphrey, I should love to think of it like 
 that ! But, oh ! if you could only know how unworthy I feel ! " 
 
 "And it is when we feel our own unworthiness the most 
 deeply, that our Father finds the way of bringing us nearer 
 to Himself." 
 
 The tears dropped slowly one by one ; but the girl would 
 not free her hands to wipe them away; she held Sir 
 Humphrey's closer and more close, as though that warm, 
 fatherly clasp gave her a hold upon life and hope. 
 
3Lot>e tbe Conqueror 337 
 
 " Uncle Humphrey I will try indeed, indeed I will. But 
 why did you speak of both of us ? He cannot care ; it is 
 impossible. He has seen me all these months so careless, 
 so selfish playing fast and loose, as the phrase is, with 
 everything and everybody. He must despise me in his 
 heart" 
 
 "No, Di, my dear; never that. I think that York is too 
 brave a man, too true a man, ever to despise a woman, He 
 reverences them all ; but he only loves one." 
 
 Her head drooped towards him ; her face was glowing. 
 
 " Uncle Humphrey, Uncle Humphrey ! do you really mean 
 it ? Oh, I do not know how to believe it ! " 
 
 " Yet I think, my dear, that it is so ; though I scarcely know 
 if I should have told you. It is not my secret, and he has 
 not spoken one word ; but " 
 
 " That is just it ! " cried Diana breathlessly ; " that is what 
 I fear all along. He will not speak. You know how he feels 
 about himself ; that he is only the wreck of a man ; that his 
 career is gone ; that he is a sort of useless hulk " 
 
 " I know, my dear and you must think of these things, too. 
 You are young, and an exceedingly beautiful and attractive 
 woman, and the world will have much to offer you. You 
 have some ambitions j nor do I criticise you for that." 
 
 " Yes, I have been ambitious ! " cried Di, almost fiercely, 
 "and what have my ambitions led me to? I have made 
 success my fetich, and here I stand a failure confessed ! If 
 you people here had not been so true so good so old- 
 fashioned, as I used to call it, you would have treated me as 
 others have done, and I should be a wanderer again, seeking 
 for fresh amusement, fresh ambitions. Oh, I have had enough 
 of that I wash my hands of it ! " She made an expressive 
 gesture as she spoke. " I want to learn the old ways. I 
 want a home I want love the love of a true, good man's 
 heart. Everything else may go ! I don't know how it began ; 
 I don't know when I first began to know. I think I fought it 
 
Iftiece of Estber 
 
 down, or ignored it for a while ; but it has been too strong 
 for me, and now I can't fight any longer ; I don't want to. 
 Only, sometimes I have been in despair about it ; for you 
 know what he is, and what he thinks of himself, and that he 
 is poor and I am rich. But if he had not a penny, and if I 
 knew he had not a year to live, I would beg for his love on 
 my bended knees, if women were allowed to do such things 
 just that I might be with him always to the last, and have the 
 right to call myself by his name, and mourn for htm when he 
 was taken away. But he won't understand ; he can only think 
 of me as an accomplished flirt. Oh ! I have brought it on 
 myself; I deserve it. But sometimes I think my heart will 
 break." 
 
 Sir Humphrey's face was very thoughtful, and he stood 
 stroking his moustache in meditative fashion. 
 
 " I appreciate the difficulty of the position ; yet I do not 
 think it need be quite insurmountable. For one thing, my 
 dear, though you will not consider it of much importance, 
 Colonel York is going to be a somewhat richer man than he 
 thought." 
 
 " For his sake I am glad ! " cried Diana eagerly. " How is 
 that ? " 
 
 " For one thing, he is to have a pension not a very large 
 one, but every little helps. Then I am almost certain of 
 getting him some work of a light kind, which can be done 
 mainly in his own house, with visits to London from time to 
 time, and that will add something to his income. Thirdly, I 
 have just signed the papers for making over to him for life this 
 little house of mine. 
 
 "You know that I am soon to take up my quarters in 
 Convent House, and I do not want either for this house to 
 stand empty, or for it to be occupied by strangers. I owe my 
 life to York, pooh-pooh it as he may. It was he who first 
 warned me, though I was slow to believe the peril ; and it was 
 he who, step by step, unravelled the plot. I wish to make him 
 
%o\>e tbe Conqueror 339 
 
 some small return for all he has done for me, and I know that 
 he is attached to this place, and that the life and climate suit 
 him. I am securing at the same time for myself the close 
 proximity of a congenial friend and comrade killing two 
 birds with one stone. York will not be a wealthy man when 
 all is said and done, but he will have a sufficiency, and " 
 
 " And he must be made to understand how unfair it would 
 be to me if he let my horrid money stand between us ! " cried 
 Di. " Oh, Uncle Humphrey, can't you help us a little ? If 
 you think that he cares, and would ask me to marry him if I 
 were poor, can't you make him see how cruel it would be to 
 spoil my life just because I am rich ? I would rather throw 
 all I have into the bottom of the sea ! " 
 
 Sir Humphrey was smiling now. He answered in fatherly 
 fashion : 
 
 " I think no such drastic measure will have to be adopted. 
 If you will make me your ambassador in this matter, my dear, 
 I will see what can be done. But give me time ; we must not 
 rush things. Be patient just for a few days longer, and be 
 ready to come when you are sent for." 
 
 Diana flung her arms about his neck in a transport of 
 gratitude. 
 
 " I will be ready any hour of the day or night ! " 
 
 The summons did not come as quickly as her impatience 
 desired ; but during that period of waiting she and Esther 
 drew closer together than ever they had done before ; and 
 when the message came for her to pay her visit to the soldier, 
 now released from his room, she dashed breathlessly to Esther 
 with the missive, flinging herself down at her feet with a 
 quivering face and dewy eyes. 
 
 "Give me your blessing before I go, my darling, my 
 darling ! " she cried. " Oh, Esther tell me once more that 
 you forgive me ! for indeed, indeed, when I did it, I did not 
 know what love was like." 
 
 They clung together, those two loving women the old and 
 
340 ttbe Iftfece of JEstber %snne 
 
 the young, and there was no need for words on either side. 
 Then Diana sprang to her feet, and was speeding across to 
 Nun's Bower with the fleetness of a mountain roe. 
 
 Sir Humphrey met her on the threshold with a smile, but 
 he spoke no word, and the questions she would have asked 
 died away upon her tongue. He took her hand, led her 
 upstairs, and threw open the door of a room where the breath 
 of spring flowers prevailed, and which was flooded by the 
 golden light of an exquisite late February sunset. But she 
 heeded nothing of the surroundings ; her eyes leaped forward 
 to the tall figure, fully and scrupulously dressed, lying back in 
 the great arm-chair beside the fire. She heard the click of the 
 closing door, she saw the movement which indicated the 
 attempt to rise, and the next instant she had traversed the 
 intervening space in a few rapid steps, and was kneeling before 
 him, with his hands fast in her own. 
 
 " Oh, Donald, Donald, Donald ! " she cried and then her 
 voice failed her. But she knew that her head was resting 
 against his shoulder and she was content. 
 
 It was as from a great distance that she presently heard his 
 voice speaking. 
 
 " Is it really true, Di ? Can it be true ? " 
 
 " I do not wonder that you ask," she answered, her face still 
 hidden ; " I sometimes wonder that you, or anybody else, can 
 ever believe that anything about me can be true ! " 
 
 She felt his clasp tighten about her, and thrilled through 
 every nerve and fibre. 
 
 " You did not think I meant that, Di," he said ; and the 
 curious quiet note of authority in his voice soothed her 
 tremors and brought with it a sense of rapturous joy which 
 was a revelation to her even now. 
 
 Presently she moved a little farther away that she might 
 look at him. He showed traces of illness yet, and was very 
 gaunt and thin ; but the air of returning health was present, 
 too, and her heart bounded. 
 
tbe Conqueror 341 
 
 " You have made a bad choice, my Di," he said, with a 
 smile, as she studied him with eager, passionate eyes. " You 
 have a sorry specimen of an ugly fellow for your husband. It 
 will be beauty and the beast over again when the good people 
 see us together " 
 
 " Yes, I have frequently called myself a beast," spoke Di, 
 with a kindling smile, " and more than that, our frank friend 
 Sally has bestowed that name upon me before this as I 
 richly deserved. It will all fit in excellently well ! " 
 
 He devoured her with his eyes, holding her hands fast. If 
 he had changed somewhat, so had she ; but if her beauty were 
 less brilliant and glowing and insistive in character, it had 
 gained immeasurably in sweetness and depth. 
 
 " Di, I cannot understand it yet. When was it how did it 
 begin ? " Question so dear to her lover's heart ! 
 
 " I don't know when it began. Sometimes I think it must 
 have been there in fits and starts always. When I really 
 knew knew without any doubt was down in the cave, when 
 I saw that shining knife aimed at you. I knew then that if it 
 struck life would be over for me too ! " 
 
 " And you saved me at your own risk ! Yet you have 
 called yourself a coward ! " 
 
 " I have been a coward gloss it over as you will, that is 
 what I was, and I know the reason why now. I was a coward 
 because I only thought of myself. I did not understand then 
 what love could do. I suppose it is a terribly old-fashioned 
 idea ; but there seems no getting out of it. It is love in one 
 form or another that is the mainspring and essence of life." 
 
 " God is love." 
 
 Did York speak those words, or was it some voice in her 
 own heart ? Diana did not know, nor did she ask. She 
 looked into his eyes, and he looked into hers, and they were 
 silent and content. 
 
 Just as the last of the daylight was paling in the saffron 
 sky, Diana, speeding away from Nun's Bower with glowing face 
 
342 Ube Iftiece of Estber %snne 
 
 and eyes that shone like stars in the gathering twilight, ran 
 almost headlong into Sally and Stella as they were coming 
 towards the house in search of news. 
 
 " Hullo ! " cried Stella, waving her hockey-stick, "and pray, 
 where have you been, and where are you scudding off to 
 now?" 
 
 " I have been with with Colonel York," answered Di, 
 with an odd little quiver in her voice, " and now I am going 
 back to Esther." 
 
 " Why, I was to have been his first visitor ! " spoke Stella, 
 with a quick, wondering glance at Di. 
 
 The girl turned swiftly upon her, and flung her arms about 
 her neck. 
 
 " Don t be jealous, dear, and don't mind if you can help 
 it ! " Then she broke into a happy little laugh, and cried, " Oh, 
 Stella I can't insist, seeing the example I have set you ! but 
 how would you like to call me Auntie Di ? " 
 
 Then, without waiting for an answer, she fled away into the 
 dusk, leaving the other pair regarding one another with wide, 
 wondering eyes. 
 
 Sally was the first to recover herself, and uttered a whoop of 
 joy. 
 
 " Oh, my ! " she cried, brandishing her stick about her 
 head, " if Di hasn't just gone and got hooked after all, just 
 in the same old-fashioned way as the rest of us ! " 
 
 THE END 
 
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