ong while under the trees beyond the
wall-garden, they were surprised to hear the gong sound for lunch before
they had finished the decoration of Plashers Mead as it should be for
their wedding-tide. Back in the sunlight, they were dazzled by the
savage color of the gladioli in the hot August noon, and found them
rather gaudy after the fronded half-light where nothing had disturbed
the outspread vision of a future triumphantly attainable.

After lunch her mother called Pauline aside and told her that now was
the moment to impress the Rector with the fact of her engagement. The
tradition was that her father went up to his library for half an hour
every day in order to rest after lunch before he sallied out into the
garden or the parish. As usual, his rest was consisting of standing on a
chair and dragging down old numbers of _The Botanical Magazine_ or heavy
volumes of _The Garden_ in order to search out a fact in connection with
some plant. When Pauline and Guy presented themselves the Rector gave
them a cordial invitation to enter, and Pauline fancied that he was
being quite exceptionally kindly in his tone towards Guy.

"Well, and what can I do for you two?" he asked, as he lit his long clay
pipe and sat upright in his old leather arm-chair to regard them.

"Father," said Pauline, coming straight to the heart of her subject,
"have you seen my engagement ring?"

She offered him the pink topaz to admire, and he bowed his head,
conveying that faint mockery with which he treated anything that was not
a flower.

"Very fine. Very fine, my dear."

"Well, aren't you going to congratulate me?" Pauline asked.

"On what?"

"Oh, Father, you are naughty. On Guy, of course."

"Bless my heart," said the Rector. "And on what am I to congratulate
him?"

"On me, of course," said Pauline.

"Now I wonder if I can honestly do that?" said the Rector, very
seriously.

"Father, you do realize, don't you, because you are being so naughty,
but you do realize that from to-day we are really engaged?"

"Only from to-day?" the Rector asked, a twinkle in his eye.

"Well, of course," Pauline explained, "we've been in love for very
nearly a year."

"And when have you decided to get married?"

Pauline looked at Guy.

"We thought in about two years, sir," said Guy. "That is, of course, as
soon as I've published my first book. Perhaps in a year, really."

"Just when you find it convenient, in fact," said the Rector, still
twinkli