to him next day of a round robin of collective gratitude
on his departure; but he should not be thanked like this, in the
moonlight, in the garden, by the lady he was so manifestly infatuated
with.

Mr. Wilkins therefore, desiring to assist Lady Caroline out of
this situation by swiftly applied tact, said with much heartiness: "It
is most proper, Briggs, that you should be thanked. You will please
allow me to add my expressions of indebtedness, and those of my wife,
to Lady Caroline's. We ought to have proposed a vote of thanks to you
at dinner. You should have been toasted. There certainly ought to have
been some--"

But Briggs took no notice of him whatever; he simply continued to
look at Lady Caroline as though she were the first woman he had ever
seen. Neither, Mr. Wilkins observed, did Lady Caroline take any notice
of him; she too continued to look at Briggs, and with that odd air of
almost appeal. Most unwise. Most.

Lotty, on the other hand, took too much notice of him, choosing
this moment when Lady Caroline needed special support and protection to
get up off the wall and put her arm through his and draw him away.

"I want to tell you something, Mellersh," said Lotty at this
juncture, getting up.

"Presently," said Mr. Wilkins, waving her aside.

"No--now," said Lotty; and she drew him away.

He went with extreme reluctance. Briggs should be given no rope
at all--not an inch.

"Well--what is it?" he asked impatiently, as she led him towards
the house. Lady Caroline ought not to be left like that, exposed to
annoyance.

"Oh, but she isn't," Lotty assured him, just as if he had said
this aloud, which he certainly had not. "Caroline is perfectly all
right."

"Not at all all right. That young Briggs is--"

"Of course he is. What did you expect? Let's go indoors to the
fire and Mrs. Fisher. She's all by herself."

"I cannot," said Mr. Wilkins, trying to draw back, "leave Lady
Caroline alone in the garden."

"Don't be silly, Mellersh--she isn't alone. Besides, I want to
tell you something."

"Well tell me, then."

"Indoors."

With reluctance that increased at every step Mr. Wilkins was
taken farther and farther away from Lady Caroline. He believed in his
wife now and trusted her, but on this occasion he thought she was
making a terrible mistake. In the drawing-room sat Mrs. Fisher by the
fire, and it certainly was to Mr. Wilkins, who preferred rooms and
fires after dark to ga