pale blue silk. The girl's skirt displayed small, well-shaped ankles,
yet her shoes were stout and serviceable, and there was a cheapness
about her dress and an independent air which stamped her as a girl
accustomed to earn her own living.

Both were foreigners--French, apparently, for they spoke that language
together. His clothes were English, evidently from a smart tailor, and
he wore them with that easy nonchalance of the English golfer, while his
pretty, dark-eyed companion, although her gown was of cheap material, it
was nevertheless cut well, and both in figure and in gait she had all
the _chic_ of the true Parisienne.

"Yes, dearest," the young man exclaimed in French, as he rose and looked
out into the village street, "this is a very interesting little place, I
believe. We will have a stroll along the _plage_ and see it after our
tea. How quiet, how charming it is, after London--eh?"

"Ah! I always love the country, Ralph," was her reply in English, and as
she sat composedly in her chair, after walking from Overstrand, where
they had been to see that lonely, crumbling old church tower which the
late Clement Scott has called "the Garden of Sleep," she gave him a look
which was unmistakable--a look of true, passionate affection.

Indeed, upon her finger, now that she had removed her glove, was a
diamond engagement ring, an ornament which meant so very much to her--as
it does to all girls in all stations of life who are beloved.

The man turned from the window, his big, deep-set eyes upon her, and,
bending, kissed her fondly. But the expression upon his hard, aquiline
face as he turned away was a strange, unusual one, though, perhaps
unfortunately for her, she was unable to see it. The look was not one of
love--nay, rather of world-weariness and of deep anxiety.

"I wish my holiday was not yet at an end, Ralph," she sighed, wistfully,
after a brief pause. "But father is inexorable, and says he must get
back to business, while, as you know, I am due back at the Maison
Collette on Monday morning. I've already had three days longer than the
other girls--three delightful sunny days."

"Yes," sighed the young man. "I suppose, dearest, you will be compelled
to go back for a time to your _modes_ and your hat-making and your
workroom friends. But only until November--until you become my wife." He
spoke English with only a slight trace of accent.

"Ah! What supreme happiness!" cried the girl, in ecstasy, again speak