only time after our first walk here that we have been alone she made
Miss Dexter join us, and as the girl would not stay Rose found she must
write letters."

As soon as he had made up his mind that he would show Rose what nonsense
it all was, he could and did--not without the zest of pique--turn his
attention to Molly.

"Lady Groombridge doesn't frame well here, does she?" he said, smiling.
"Rather a shock at that date--the tweed skirt and the nailed boots and
the felt hat."

"Yes; but Lady Rose floats down between the hedges as if she had a long
train, only she hasn't," laughed Molly. "The hem of her garment never
touches the earth, as a matter of fact. I wonder how it is done."

"You are right," said Edmund; "and, do you know another thing about
Rose?--whatever she wears she seems to be in white."

"I know," answered Molly. "I see what you mean."

"It may be," said Edmund, "because she always wore white as a young
girl. I remember the day when David Bright first saw her she was in
white." Edmund had for a moment forgotten entirely why he should not
have mentioned David Bright. If Molly could have read his mind at the
next moment she would have seen that he was expressing a most fervent
wish that he had never met her. How little he had gained, or was likely
to gain, from her, and how stupid and tiresome, if not worse, was this
appearance of friendship. He felt this much more strongly on account of
the morning's discovery, and he was determined to keep on neutral
ground.

"Have you ever seen Versailles?" he asked.

"No; I have seen absolutely nothing out of England except India, when I
was a small child."

There it was again! He could not let her give him any confidences about
India or anything else.

"Well, the hedges at Versailles don't impress me half as much as these
do, and yet these are not half so well known. There's more of nature
here, and they are not so self-contained. At Versailles the Court and
its gardens were the world, and nature a tapestry hanging out for a
horizon; here it is amazing how the frame leads one's eyes to the great,
beautiful world outside. I never saw meadows and woods look fairer than
from here."

They were silent; and in the silence Grosse heard shouting and then saw
a huge dog dragging a chain, rushing along the avenue towards them,
while louder shouts came from the opposite direction.

"We must run," he said very quietly, "there's something wrong with it;"
and two men,