-house. She sat down, and leant with her head in a
corner. Here she fell asleep.

Half-awake, she hurriedly looked at the time. She had been there three
hours. At the same moment she heard the outer gate swing together, and
wheels sweep round the entrance; some prior noise from the same source
having probably been the cause of her awaking. Next her father's voice
was heard calling to Worm.

Elfride passed along a walk towards the house behind a belt of shrubs.
She heard a tongue holding converse with her father, which was not that
of either of the servants. Her father and the stranger were laughing
together. Then there was a rustling of silk, and Mr. Swancourt and his
companion, or companions, to all seeming entered the door of the
house, for nothing more of them was audible. Elfride had turned back to
meditate on what friends these could be, when she heard footsteps, and
her father exclaiming behind her:

'O Elfride, here you are! I hope you got on well?'

Elfride's heart smote her, and she did not speak.

'Come back to the summer-house a minute,' continued Mr. Swancourt; 'I
have to tell you of that I promised to.'

They entered the summer-house, and stood leaning over the knotty
woodwork of the balustrade.

'Now,' said her father radiantly, 'guess what I have to say.' He seemed
to be regarding his own existence so intently, that he took no interest
in nor even saw the complexion of hers.

'I cannot, papa,' she said sadly.

'Try, dear.'

'I would rather not, indeed.'

'You are tired. You look worn. The ride was too much for you. Well, this
is what I went away for. I went to be married!'

'Married!' she faltered, and could hardly check an involuntary 'So did
I.' A moment after and her resolve to confess perished like a bubble.

'Yes; to whom do you think? Mrs. Troyton, the new owner of the estate
over the hedge, and of the old manor-house. It was only finally settled
between us when I went to Stratleigh a few days ago.' He lowered his
voice to a sly tone of merriment. 'Now, as to your stepmother, you'll
find she is not much to look at, though a good deal to listen to. She is
twenty years older than myself, for one thing.'

'You forget that I know her. She called here once, after we had been,
and found her away from home.'

'Of course, of course. Well, whatever her looks are, she's as excellent
a woman as ever breathed. She has had lately left her as absolute
property three thousand five hundred a year