ery often, and to be my friend as well as
Mollie's,' with soft insistence.

'Yes; yours and Mollie's and Kester's,' replied Audrey in an amused
voice.

'And not Cyril's? My dear Miss Ross, I hope you do not mean to exclude
Cyril.'

'Oh, of course not,' rather hurriedly. 'But, Mrs. Blake, you must really
let me go, or Geraldine will be waiting tea; as it is, I shall have to
walk very fast, to make up for lost time.'

Audrey's thoughts were very busy as she walked swiftly up the Hill.

'I like her--I like her exceedingly,' she said to herself; 'I have never
met a more interesting person: she is so naive and winning in her
manner. I feel I shall soon love her; and yet all the time I see her
faults so plainly. She is terribly unpractical, and manages as badly as
possible. Edith Bryce was right when she said that. And she is foolish
with regard to her eldest son--no mother ought to be so partial. I am
afraid Kester must feel it; all his interests are secondary to his
brother's. It is hardly fair. And Mollie, too--the child seems a
perfect drudge. No, my dear woman, I admire you more than I can say,
and I know I shall very soon get fond of you; but you are not
blameless.'

And then a curious doubt crept into Audrey's mind: with all her
impulsiveness, was not Mrs. Blake rather a clever woman, to tell that
Forester story in her own way? Audrey had already heard a very different
version. She knew Agatha Forester had lived in deadly terror of the
charming widow. It was true that she had declined to believe the story,
and that her sympathies were enlisted on Mrs. Blake's side; but, still,
was it not rather a clever stratagem on Mrs. Blake's part to secure her
as an ally? But Audrey dismissed this thought as quickly as it passed
through her mind.

'Why, what nonsense!' she argued. 'I am accusing Mrs. Blake of being a
little deep, when she herself owned frankly that she was anxious to
prejudice me in her favour. Of course she knew Edith Bryce would talk to
Gage, and it was only wise of her to tell me the truth. People must have
treated her very badly at Headingly, or her son would not have taken her
part. He seems to have plenty of common-sense, although he dotes on her.
They are a wonderfully interesting family, and I seem to know them all
so well already.' And this last reflection brought her to Hillside.

CHAPTER XII

MOLLIE GOES TO DEEP-WATER CHINE

'Well I know what they feel.
They gaze, and the ev