Before tea was over there was a sound of horses' hoofs and carriage wheels in the court yard. And the maid-servant opened the parlour door and said, "Lady Talbot." Though he remembered well enough how kind she had been to him, Dickie wished he could creep under the table. It was too hard; she must recognise him. And now Edred and Elfrida, and Lord Arden, who was so kind and jolly, they would all know that he had once been a burglar, and that she had wanted to adopt him, and that he had been ungrateful and had run away. He trembled all over. It was too hard.
Lady Talbot shook hands with the others, and then turned to him. "And who is your little friend?" she asked Edred, and in the same breath cried out—"Why, it's my little runaway!"
Dickie only said; "I wasn't ungrateful, I wasn't—I had to go." But his eyes implored.
And Lady Talbot—Dickie will always love her for that—understood. Not a word about burglars did she say, only—
"I wanted to adopt Dickie once, Lord Arden, but he would not stay."
"I had to get back to father," said Dickie.
"Well, at any rate it's pleasant to see each other again," she said. "I always hoped we should some day. No sugar, thank you, Elfrida"—and then sat down and had tea and was as jolly as possible. The only thing which made Dickie at all uncomfortable was when she turned suddenly to the master of the house and said,
