y face; I
don't think she could bear any more."

But the poor lady's concern was too pitiful to Meryl, and she threw
her veil far back, saying, "She is a wicked creature, aunty. Her face
only wants washing"; and then Aunt Emily, reassured and comforted,
joined in the general laugh.

"But soap and water won't remedy all the defects," Diana told her.
"I've acquired a violent dislike to houses and rooms and tableclothes
and clean hands, and all the absurd paraphernalia of civilised
existence. Of course, I suppose I shall become rational again in time,
but at present I thought of having a tent on the lawn and becoming a
hermit."

"How is everyone, Aunty?" Meryl asked, as the poor lady seemed again
somewhat overcome. "Have you had hosts of visitors while you were all
alone?"

"Yes, people have been very kind, and I have not had much time to be
dull; and everyone is delighted you are back again. Mr. van Hert has
called twice this week to know which day you would arrive."

Meryl's lips contracted a little, but Diana murmured, "Oho!... Dutch
Willie! ready to be on the doorstep, of course, in spite of the
hullabaloo you've been causing in the country, unrestrained by my
caustic criticisms."

"I expect he thought he would make hay while the sun shone," Meryl
told her, "and air his pet theories while they were not in danger of
being stamped on."

Then they both went upstairs, and Meryl stood awhile at the wide
window, looking over the lovely garden; and though she still answered
kindly to her aunt's flow of chatter, the good lady having followed
them to their room, her heart was far away among distant kopjes, where
mysterious grey walls basked in the sunlight with the silence and the
patience of the ages.

For the next two or three days a continuous stream of visitors passed
up and down the drive, and invitations poured in, and the girls found
themselves quickly in a very vortex of social life.

William van Hert did not come until the third day, and then he chose
as late an hour as he well could, hoping to escape the throng. This he
succeeded in doing, but Diana he could not escape. If it had been his
hope to see Meryl alone he was entirely frustrated. Diana's small,
practical head perceived the wisdom of avoiding all haste in what
these two might have to say to each other, and van Hert had to bow to
her decision. Still further, he had to undergo a small fire of chaff
with an edge to it, concerning some of his politic