h, I hear, but I should imagine she would
make an effort to call or at least send cards. Good-by, madame."

Duplay succeeded in starting the zealous man on his homeward journey and
then went into the house, Mina remaining still outside, engaged in the
contemplation of her new surroundings, above all of Blent Hall, which
was invested with a special interest for her eyes. It was the abode of
Mrs Fitzhubert.

With a little start she turned to find a young man standing just on the
other side of the parapet; she had not noticed his approach till he had
given a low cough to attract her attention. As he raised his hat her
quick vision took him in as it were in a complete picture--the thin yet
well-made body, the slight stoop in the shoulders, the high forehead
bordered with thick dark hair growing in such a shape that the brow
seemed to rise almost to a peak, a long nose, a sensitive mouth, a
pointed chin, dark eyes with downward lids. The young man--she would
have guessed him at twenty-two or three--had a complete composure of
manner; somehow she felt herself in the presence of the lord of the
soil--an absurd thing to feel, she told herself.

"Madame Zabriska? My mother, Lady Tristram, has sent me to bid you
welcome in her name, but not to disturb you by coming in so soon after
your journey. It is our tradition to welcome guests at the moment of
their arrival."

He spoke rather slowly, in a pleasant voice, but with something in his
air that puzzled Mina. It seemed like a sort of watchfulness--not a
slyness (that would have fitted so badly with the rest of him), but
perhaps one might say a wariness--whether directed against her or
himself it was too soon for her even to conjecture.

Still rather startled, she forgot to express her thanks, and said
simply:

"You're Mr Fitzhubert Tristram?"

"Mr Tristram," he corrected her; and she noticed now for the first time
the slow-moving smile which soon became his leading characteristic in
her thoughts. It took such a time to spread, it seemed to feel its way;
but it was a success when it came. "I use my father's name only as a
Christian name now. Tristram is my surname; that also, if I may repeat
myself, is one of our traditions."

"What, to change your names? The men, I mean?" she asked, laughing a
little.

"For anybody in the direct line to take the name of Tristram--so that,
in spite of the failure of male heirs from time to time, the Tristrams
of Blent should always be T