snappy was better
than no Diana at all.

Aunt Emily thought otherwise, and was deeply grateful to them in her
heart whenever they took her refractory niece safely out of her way.
Her escapades were apt to be so wild nowadays, and her language so
horrifying; and whenever the poor lady remonstrated, she was always
told that it was the result of the Rhodesian trip.

"It will take me quite a year to get over it," Diana informed her.
"You can't eat rats, and sleep with a frog in your bed, and go
unwashed for weeks on end, without suffering from it in some way. God
bless my soul!... is it likely?..."

At the end of the second week, anyone watching with keen insight might
have seen a still more significant change creeping over the three most
noticeable inmates of the house; for Mr. Pym was only silent and grave
and retiring, going early to his study and feigning to be much
occupied. And Aunt Emily had acquired a habit of going to sleep after
dinner during her solitariness, which Diana wickedly called a
dispensation from Heaven to bless the household of Henry Pym.

So the lovers and Diana were left to themselves, and usually sat upon
the deep verandah. And it became apparent presently that all the
talking was done by Diana and van Hert; Meryl was merely a silent
listener. Perhaps she was not even a listener; one could not tell. She
sat so still, with wistful eyes looking out beyond the stars. But
Diana, on the other hand, exceeded herself; and in doing so she made
van Hert exceed himself also. She was brilliant, mischievous,
reckless, serious, satirical, nonsensical, all in a breath. She drove
him hither and thither; led him on one moment, and withered him with
her satire the next. It was obvious the man very soon left off
treating her with any careless levity; if he did he was outwitted in
no time; torn to shreds, and cast to the four winds on merry logic
that had ever the sting of satire behind its laughing lightness. Very
quickly he was on his guard, with thrust and parry; keen, watchful,
alert--the politician to whom South Africa listened. And finally there
came a day when, after unfolding a plan to Meryl, he added, "That is
my idea, but I thought I would consult your cousin first." It seemed
to strike him that it was a little odd, and he added, "She is
extraordinarily observant. She may see some weak point we have
overlooked."

"Yes, consult Diana," Meryl had replied at once; "she knows a lot
about statistics of tha