back presently.
Lie quite still till I do!"

She guessed that exhaustion would come to her aid in this particular as
she drew the curtains close and turned away to face her own ordeal.

"Come back soon!" Vera called after her as she softly shut the door.

"Presently," Juliet said again.

She realized as she descended the stairs that her heart was beating
uncomfortably hard, but she did not pause on that account. She wanted to
face the squire while her spirit was still high.

She held her head up as she entered the library where he awaited her, but
she knew within herself that it was bravado rather than fearlessness that
enabled her to face him thus. And when he turned sharply from the window
to meet her she was conscious of a moment of most undignified dread.

Whether her face betrayed her or not she never knew but she was aware in
an instant of a change in his attitude. He came straight up to her, and
suddenly her hand was in his and he was looking into her eyes with the
gleam of a smile in his own.

"Come along!" he said. "Let's have it! I'm the biggest brute you ever
came across, and you never want to set eyes on me again. Isn't that it?"

It was winningly spoken, restoring her self-confidence in a second. She
shook her head in answer.

"No. I'm not in a position to judge, and I don't think I want to be. I
have no real liking for meddling in other people's affairs."

"Very wise!" he commented. "But you won't have much choice if you decide
to stay with us. Are you going to stay?"

"Are you going to keep me?" said Juliet.

"Certainly," he returned promptly. "I regard you as the most valuable
member of the household at the present moment. Miss Moore, will you tell
me something?"

"If I can," said Juliet.

"Where did you learn such a lot about men?" he said.

She coloured a little at the question. "Well, I haven't lived with my
eyes shut all this time," she said.

"You evidently haven't," he said. "Allow me to compliment you on your
tact! Ninety-nine women out of a hundred would have taken the obvious
course of siding with their own sex against the oppressor. Why didn't
you, I wonder?"

"I'm not sure that I don't," she said, smiling faintly.

He pressed her hand and released it. "No, you don't. You've too much
sense. You know as well as I do that she deserved all she got and more.
You haven't always found her exactly easy to get on with yourself, I'll
be bound."

"I don't think you are either of y