h her mother, she had
never seriously thought that Sir Eustace could be so foolish. But since
the utterly unexpected had come to pass, it seemed to her futile to talk
about it. Dinah had secured the finest prize within reach for the moment,
and there was no disputing the fact.

"The wedding is to take place so soon too," lamented Lady Grace. "That, I
have no doubt, is the doing of that scheming mother of hers. What shall
we do about going to it, Rose? Do you want to go, dear?"

"Not in the least, but I am going all the same." Rose was still smiling,
and her eyes were fixed. "I think, you know, Mother," she said, "that we
might do worse than ask Sir Eustace and his party to stay here for the
event."

"My dear Rose!" Lady Grace gazed at her in amazement.

Rose continued to stare into space. "It would be much more convenient for
them," she said. "And really we have no reason for allowing people to
imagine that we are other than pleased over the arrangement. We shall not
be going to town before Easter, so it seems to me that it would be only
neighbourly to invite Sir Eustace to stay at the Court for the wedding.
Great Mallowes is not a particularly nice place to put up in, and this
would be far handier for him."

Lady Grace slowly veiled her astonishment. "Of course, dear; if you think
so, it might be managed. We will talk to your father about it, and if he
approves I will write to Sir Eustace--or get him to do so. I do not
myself consider that Sir Eustace has behaved at all nicely. He was most
cavalier about the Hunt Ball. But if you wish to overlook it--well, I
shall not put any difficulty in the way."

"I think it would be a good thing to do," said Rose somewhat
enigmatically.

The letter that reached Sir Eustace two days later was penned by the
Colonel's hand, and contained a brief but cordial invitation to him and
his following to stay at Perrythorpe Court for the wedding.

He read it with a careless smile and tossed it over to Scott. "Here is
magnanimity," he commented. "Shall we accept the coals of fire?"

Scott read with all gravity and laid it down. "If you want my opinion, I
should say 'No,'" he said.

"Why would you say No?" There was a lazy challenge in the question, a
provocative gleam in Sir Eustace's blue eyes.

Scott smiled a little. "For one thing I shouldn't enjoy the coals of
fire. For another, I shouldn't care to be at too close quarters with the
beautiful Miss de Vigne again, if I had your