chard and ascertain whether or not he was
really seriously incensed against his cousin, but he was not to be
found. A party of guests had arrived unexpectedly for luncheon; Mrs.
Luttrell and Brian were both busily engaged in entertaining them. Angela
glanced at Brian; it struck her that he was not in his usual good
spirits. But she had no chance of asking him if anything were amiss.

The master of the house arrived in time to take his place at the head of
the table, and from the moment of his arrival, Angela was certain that
he had been, if he were not still, seriously annoyed by some occurrence
of the day. She knew his face very well, and she knew the meaning of the
gleam of his eye underneath the lowered eyebrows, the twitching nostril,
and the grim setting of his mouth. He spoke very little, and did not
smile even when he glanced at her. These were ominous signs.

"Where is Hugo?" demanded Mrs. Luttrell as they seated themselves at the
table. "Have you seen him, Brian?"

"Yes, I saw him down by the loch this morning," said Brian, but without
raising his eyes.

"The bell had better be rung outside the house," said Mrs. Luttrell. "It
can be heard quite well on the loch."

"It is unnecessary, mother," said Richard, promptly. "Hugo is not coming
in to lunch."

There was a momentary flash of his eye as he spoke, which convinced
Angela that Hugo's disgrace was to be no transient one. Her heart sank;
she did not find that Richard's wrath was easy to appease when once
thoroughly aroused. Again she looked at Brian, and it seemed to her that
his face was paler and more sombre than she had ever seen it before.

The brothers were usually on such pleasant terms that their silence to
each other during the meal became a matter of remark to others beside
Angela and Mrs. Luttrell. Had they quarrelled? There was an evident
coolness between them; for, on the only occasion on which they addressed
each other, Richard contemptuously contradicted his brother with
insulting directness, and Brian replied with what for him was decided
warmth. But the matter dropped--perhaps each was ashamed of having
manifested his annoyance in public--and only their silence to each other
betrayed that anything was wrong.

The party separated into three portions after luncheon. Mrs. Luttrell
and a lady of her own age agreed to remain indoors, or to stroll quietly
round the garden. Angela and two or three other young people meant to
get out the boat a