her energies together to meet
it. What it might be she could not guess, but she was sure that this
declared enmity between the man she loved and the woman who was her
friend preluded some menace to her happiness.

Her eyes sought Garth's in horror-stricken interrogation.

"What is it? What does she mean?" she demanded swiftly, in a breathless
undertone, instinctively drawing aside from the rest of the party.

He laughed shortly.

"She means mischief, probably," he replied. "Mrs. Durward is no friend
of mine."

Sara's eyes blazed.

"She shall explain," she exclaimed impetuously, and she swung aside,
meaning to follow Elisabeth and demand an explanation of the insult. But
Garth checked her.

"No," he said decidedly. "Please do nothing--say nothing. For Audrey's
sake we can't have a scene--here."

"But it's unpardonable----"

"Do as I say," he insisted. "Believe me, you will only make things worse
if you interfere. I will make my apologies to Audrey and go. For my
sake, Sara"--he looked at her intently--"go back and face it out. Behave
as if nothing had happened."

Compelled, in spite of herself, by his insistence, Sara reluctantly
assented and, leaving him, made her way slowly back to the others.

A disjointed buzz of talk sprayed up against her ears. Every one rushed
into conversation, making valiant, if quite fruitless efforts to behave
as though nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, while, a little
apart from the main group, Elisabeth stood alone.

Meanwhile Trent sought out his hostess, and together they moved away,
pausing at last beneath the canopy of trees.

"No words can quite meet what has just occurred," he said formally. "I
can only express my regret that my presence here should have occasioned
such a _contretemps_."

Although the whole brief scene had been utterly incomprehensible to her,
Audrey intuitively sensed the bitter hurt underlying the harshly spoken
words, and the outraged hostess was instantly submerged in the friend.

"I am so sorry about it, Garth," she said gently, "although, of course,
I don't understand Mrs. Durward's behaviour."

"That is very kind of you!" he replied, his voice softening. "But please
do not visit your very natural indignation upon Mrs. Durward. I alone
am to blame, I ought never to have renounced my role of hermit.
Unfortunately"--with a brief smile of such sadness that Audrey felt her
heart go out to him in a sudden rush of sympathy--"my mere presence