at,
pushed on from behind by Mrs. Bonsor and led by Patricia, whose general
knowledge was of the greatest possible assistance to him, Mr. Bonsor
was in the elaborate process of rising at the time when Patricia
determined to have a fiance.

Mr. Bonsor was a small, fair-haired man, prematurely bald, an
indifferent speaker; but excellent in committee. Instinctively he was
gentle and kind. Mrs. Bonsor disliked Patricia and Patricia was
indifferent to Mrs. Bonsor. Mrs. Bonsor, however, recognised that in
Patricia her husband had a remarkably good secretary, one whom it would
be difficult to replace.

Mrs. Bonsor's attitude to everyone who was not in a superior position
to herself was one of patronage. Patricia she looked upon as an upper
servant, although she never dare show it. Patricia, on the other hand,
showed very clearly that she had no intention of being treated other
than as an equal by Mrs. Bonsor, and the result was a sort of armed
neutrality. They seldom met; when by chance they encountered each
other in the house Mrs. Bonsor would say, "Good morning, Miss Brent; I
hope you walked across the Park." Patricia would reply, "Yes, most
enjoyable; I invariably walk across the Park when I have time"; and
with a forced smile Mrs. Bonsor would say, "That is very wise of you."

Never did Mrs. Bonsor speak to Patricia without enquiring if she had
walked across the Park. One day Patricia anticipated Mrs. Bonsor's
inevitable question by announcing, "I walked across the Park this
morning, Mrs. Bonsor, it was most delightful," and Mrs. Bonsor had
glared at her, but, remembering Patricia's value to her husband, had
made a non-committal reply and passed on. Henceforth, Mrs. Bonsor
dropped all reference to the Park.

On the first day of Patricia's entry into the Bonsor household, Mrs.
Bonsor had remarked, "Of course you will stay to lunch," and Patricia
had thanked her and said she would. But when she found that her
luncheon was served on a tray in the library, where Mr. Bonsor did his
work, she had decided that henceforth exercise in the middle of the day
was necessary for her, and she lunched out.

Mr. Bonsor had married beneath him. His father, a land-poor squire in
the north of England, had impressed upon all his sons that money was
essential as a matrimonial asset, and Mr. Bonsor, not having sufficient
individuality to starve for love, had determined to follow the parental
decree. How he met Miss Triggs, the