ir, and not in the bond. She had no longer the
power to retaliate, for her mistress had fallen into the way of going
into the Stores herself. Mrs. Otway enjoyed rubbing up her German with
Mr. Hegner, and the really intelligent zeal with which he always treated
her, and her comparatively small orders, was very pleasant. Twice he
had taken great trouble to procure for her a local Weimar delicacy which
she remembered enjoying as a girl.

But when Anna, following her mistress's example, walked along to the
Stores to enjoy a little chat in her native language, Mr. Hegner would
be short with her, very short indeed! In fact it was now a long time
since the old woman had cared to set foot there. For another thing she
did not like Mrs. Hegner, the pretty English girl Manfred Hegner had
married five years before; she thought her a very frivolous, silly
little woman, not at all what the wife of a big commercial man should
be. Anna's Louisa would have been a perfect helpmate for Manfred Hegner,
and there had been a time, a certain three months, when Anna had thought
the already prosperous widower was considering Louisa. His marriage to
pretty Polly Brown had been a disappointment.

But now this politely-worded card of invitation certainly made a
difference. Old Anna, who was not lacking in a certain simple
shrewdness, had not expected Manfred Hegner to show any kindness to his
ex-compatriots. She was touched to find him a better man than she
expected. Most certainly would she attend this meeting!

As soon as her mistress had gone out to lunch, Anna telephoned to Mr.
Froehling and explained why she could not come to him that evening.

"We too asked to Hegner's have been. As you are going, we your example
will follow," shouted the barber.

CHAPTER V

Rose Otway sat in the garden of the Trellis House, under the
wide-branched cedar of Lebanon which was, to the thinking of most people
in the Close, that garden's only beauty. For it was just a wide lawn,
surrounded on three sides by a very high old brick wall, under which ran
an herbaceous border to which Rose devoted some thought and a good deal
of time.

The great cedar rose majestically far above its surroundings; and when
you stood at one of the windows of the Trellis House, and saw how wide
the branches of the tree spread, you realised that the garden was a good
deal bigger than it appeared at first sight.

Rose sat near a low wicker table on which in an hour or so