wished not to have his equanimity ruffled. Such accidents with Macarthy Grice were not light things. All the same at the end of five minutes more, as Agatha did not reappear, he expressed the hope that nothing of any kind had sprung up between her and the K.C.B.
'Oh, I guess they are just conversing by the lake. I'll go and find them if you like,' said Mrs. Grice.
'Well, haven't they been conversing by the lake—and on the lake—all day?' asked the young man, without taking up her proposal.
'Yes, of course we had a great deal of bright talk while we were out. It was quite enough for me to listen to it. But he is most kind—and he knows everything, Macarthy.'
'Well, that's all right!' exclaimed the young man again. But a few moments later he returned to the charge and asked his mother if the Englishman were paying any serious attention—she knew what he meant—to Agatha. 'Italian lakes and summer evenings and glittering titles and all that sort of thing—of course you know what they may lead to.'
Mrs. Grice looked anxious and veracious, as she always did, and appeared to consider a little. 'Well, Macarthy, the truth is just this. Your sister is so attractive and so admired that it seems as if whereever she went there was a great interest taken in her. Sir Rufus certainly does like to converse with her, but so have many others—and so would any one in their place. And Agatha is full of conscience. For me that's her highest attraction.'
'I'm very much pleased with her—she's a lovely creature,' Macarthy remarked.
'Well, there's no one whose appreciation could
