-topped table. Lying open upon this table
was a ponderous visitors' book. A fresh page had been recently commenced,
as yet only containing four names. The first three were dated May the
8th, and read, in crabbed precise writing:

Miss Amelia Murgatroyd, Miss Eliza Murgatroyd, Miss Susannah
Murgatroyd ..... Lawn View, Putney.

Below these, bearing date a week later, in small precise writing of
unmistakable character and clearness, the name:

Jim Airth ..... London.

Pen and ink lay ready, and, without troubling to remove her glove, Lady
Ingleby wrote beneath, in large, somewhat sprawling, handwriting:

Mrs. O'Mara ..... The Lodge, Shenstone.

A maid appeared, took her cloak and bag, and preceded her up the stairs.

As she reached the turn of the staircase, Lady Ingleby paused, and looked
back into the hall.

The door of the smoking-room opened, and a very tall man came out, taking
a pipe from the pocket of his loose Norfolk jacket. As he strolled into
the hall, his face reminded her of Ronnie's, deep-bronzed and thin; only
it was an older face--strong, rugged, purposeful. The heavy brown
moustache could not hide the massive cut of chin and jaw.

Catching sight of a fresh name in the book, he paused; then laying one
large hand upon the table, bent over and read it.

Myra stood still and watched, noting the broad shoulders, and the immense
length of limb in the leather leggings.

He appeared to study the open page longer than was necessary for the mere
reading of the name. Then, without looking round, reached up, took a cap
from the antler of a stag's head high up on the wall, stuck it on the
back of his head; swung round, and went out through the porch, whistling
like a blackbird.

"Jim Airth," said Myra to herself, as she moved slowly on; "Jim Airth of
_London_. What an address! He might just as well have put: 'of the
world!' A cross between a guardsman and a cowboy; and very likely he will
turn out to be a commercial-traveller." Then, as she reached the landing
and came in sight of the rosy-cheeked maid, holding open the door of a
large airy bedroom, she added with a whimsical smile: "All the same, I
wish I had taken the trouble to write more neatly."

CHAPTER VII

MRS. O'MARA'S CORRESPONDENCE

_Letter from Lady Ingleby to the Honourable Mrs. Dalmain._

The Moorhead Inn,
Tregarth, Co