g
after morning I awoke only to remember, and with the same dull, hopeless
heartache and longing.

July passed, August was half gone. Still we remained at the rectory. Our
lease was up on the first of October. The Coles would return then and we
should be obliged to go elsewhere, whether we wished to or not. Hephzy,
although she did not say much about it, was willing to go, I think. Her
"presentiment" had remained only a presentiment so far; no word came
from Little Frank. We had heard or learned nothing concerning her or her
whereabouts.

Our neighbors and friends in Mayberry were as kind and neighborly as
ever. For the first few days after our interview with Doctor Bayliss,
Senior, Hephzy and I saw nothing of him or his family. Then the doctor
called again. He seemed in better spirits. His son had yielded to his
parents' entreaties and had departed for a walking tour through the
Black Forest with some friends.

"The invitation came at exactly the right time," said the old gentleman.
"Herbert was ready to go anywhere or do anything. The poor boy was in
the depths and when his mother and I urged him to accept he did so. We
are hoping that when he returns he will have forgotten, or, if not that,
at least be more reconciled."

Heathcroft came and went at various times during the summer. I met him
on the golf course and he was condescendingly friendly as ever. Our talk
concerning Frances, which had brought such momentous consequences to
her and to Hephzy and to me, had, apparently, not disturbed him in the
least. He greeted me blandly and cheerfully, asked how we all were, said
he had been given to understand that "my charming little niece" was no
longer with us, and proceeded to beat me two down in eighteen holes.
I played several times with him afterward and, under different
circumstances, should have enjoyed doing so, for we were pretty evenly
matched.

His aunt, the Lady of the Manor, I also met. She went out of her way to
be as sweetly gracious as possible. I presume she inferred from Frances'
departure that I had taken her hint and had removed the disturbing
influence from her nephew's primrose-bordered path. At each of our
meetings she spoke of the "invitation golf tournament," several times
postponed and now to be played within a fortnight. She insisted that
I must take part in it. At last, having done everything except decline
absolutely, I finally consented to enter the tournament. It is not
easy to refuse