o---- ' began Marjorie.

'That it isn't, miss, nor nobody else. He wants some news of the man
what done him the mischief. Dick's that soft. And--and, well, he is an
angel. His father don't understand it, but Dick has really forgiven that
man. He's downright anxious to hear how that rascal's been getting on.'

'Why should he care about that?' said Alan, who knew very little of
Dick's story.

'He's afraid that the man thinks he's killed him, and that perhaps he's
made wickeder than he was before,' answered Mrs. Peet, shaking her head.
'He said he'd die satisfied if he could hear that the fellow had
repented.'

'Perhaps he will some day,' said Estelle, looking with pity at Dick's
face.

''Tisn't likely, Miss. We shall never be likely to meet Dick's enemy;
don't you believe it! But it pleases him to think he will, so I don't
gainsay him.'

'I shall hope he will,' returned Estelle, as her cousins made a move to
go back to the gardens.

The children were to have tea on the lawn with Lady Coke, and they could
see preparations even now being made for it. They did not often have
such a treat: Lady Coke, sweet and loving as she always was to her
great-nephews and nieces, was too old and delicate to indulge in their
companionship for very long at a time. The children were on their
quietest behaviour with her, but the little voices tired her
unconsciously, and she would not spare herself while they were with her.

Lord Lynwood, Estelle's father, and Colonel De Bohun were brothers and
nephews to Lady Coke, while Mrs. De Bohun was the niece of Sir Horace
Coke, Lady Coke's husband, who had died many years ago. This close
relationship on both sides, and the nearness of the two properties, made
the two households almost like one. Colonel and Mrs. De Bohun were
deeply attached to their aunt, and glad to take counsel with her in the
bringing up of their children. Lady Coke, in her turn, was very
dependent upon them for companionship, her own sons being away on
foreign service.

A merry party the children made. The laughter and chatter were as free
and happy as Aunt Betty loved to hear it. The adventure in the tower
appeared to interest them more than anything else, and very wild were
the guesses as to what the man could have wanted. But when Aunt Betty
ventured to express some admiration for Thomas' bravery, to her
astonishment she was met by silence on the part of the two greatest
talkers, Alan and Marjorie. The latter almost