"No, you shall not. I will answer for that. Come. Will you not trust
me?" This last phrase was said half tenderly, half with an offended
kind of remonstrance, and he was still holding out his hand.

"Go, Leam," urged her father.

"It is silly, and I shall fall," repeated Leam.

Nevertheless, she put her hand in Edgar's, and he took her on his arm
in triumph.

At first her steps were slow and timid; but as her feet grew more
accustomed to the unusual ground, as she gained more confidence in
the strong arm that held her like a bar of iron, as her youth began
to assert itself in the physical pleasure of the fresh air and the
gliding movement, she lost her shyness and timidity, and she found
herself almost laughing--she, who never laughed and only so rarely
smiled.

"You like it?" he asked, looking down on her with a man's admiration
for a pretty woman marked in every line and feature.

"Yes, so much!" she answered, her usual reserved, self-centred manner
for the moment lost.

"Now you will know how to trust me in future," he said not very
loudly.

She looked up to him, carrying her eyes right into his. "Yes, I will,"
she answered simply.

At this moment Alick joined them, and Leam suddenly lost her new-found
joy.

"I am glad you have come on at last," said her faithful dog, effacing
himself and his disappointment with an effort.

"They made me," Leam replied.

"I hope not against your will and not to your displeasure," said
Edgar, still looking down into her face with the man's admiration of a
woman's beauty so strongly marked in his own.

"No," she answered: "I have liked it."

"Let us take her between us, major, and give her a good spin," said
Alick, grasping the upper part of her arm uncomfortably.

Edgar slightly pressed the hand he held crosswise. "Would you like to
double your protectors?" he asked. "Shall I share my office?"

"No," said Leam. "I like best to be with one person only."

"And possession being the nine points, let us go on," laughed Edgar,
whirling her away. "By the by, would you have preferred my giving
you to Mr. Corfield as 'the one person only'?" he asked with affected
doubt, making pretence of wishing to know her mind. He was skating
rapidly now. It was as good as flying to Leam, and she was happy and
very grateful.

"I would rather be with you," she answered.

"Thanks!" said Edgar, and smiled.

"He is awkward, and you are not," continued Leam, anxious to explain.
"But