trikingly handsome American girl, but her favour would not
last through any such vulgar silliness as flirtations with disgraceful
brothers-in-law. When Betty strolled about the park or the lanes, she
much too often encountered Sir Nigel strolling also, and knew that he
did not mean to allow her to rid herself of him. In public, he made a
point of keeping observably close to her, of hovering in her vicinity
and looking on at all she did with eyes she rebelled against finding
fixed on her each time she was obliged to turn in his direction. He had
a fashion of coming to her side and speaking in a dropped voice, which
excluded others, as a favoured lover might. She had seen both men and
women glance at her in half-embarrassment at their sudden sense of
finding themselves slightly de trop. She had said aloud to him on one
such occasion--and she had said it with smiling casualness for the
benefit of Lady Alanby, to whom she had been talking:

"Don't alarm me by dropping your voice, Nigel. I am easily
frightened--and Lady Alanby will think we are conspirators."

For an instant he was taken by surprise. He had been pleased to believe
that there was no way in which she could defend herself, unless she
would condescend to something stupidly like a scene. He flushed and drew
himself up.

"I beg your pardon, my dear Betty," he said, and walked away with
the manner of an offended adorer, leaving her to realise an odiously
unpleasant truth--which is that there are incidents only made more
inexplicable by an effort to explain. She saw also that he was
quite aware of this, and that his offended departure was a brilliant
inspiration, and had left her, as it were, in the lurch. To have said to
Lady Alanby: "My brother-in-law, in whose house I am merely staying for
my sister's sake, is trying to lead you to believe that I allow him to
make love to me," would have suggested either folly or insanity on her
own part. As it was--after a glance at Sir Nigel's stiffly retreating
back--Lady Alanby merely looked away with a wholly uninviting
expression.

When Betty spoke to him afterwards, haughtily and with determination, he
laughed.

"My dearest girl," he said, "if I watch you with interest and drop my
voice when I get a chance to speak to you, I only do what every other
man does, and I do it because you are an alluring young woman--which no
one is more perfectly aware of than yourself. Your pretence that you do
not know you are alluring