oke to her, it did not
cut so deep as the ridicule he poured on what he contemptuously termed
the idiotic creatures of her own imagination, and oddly enough, though
she would never have summoned up enough courage to justify her own
actions to him, she could not remain silent when the intelligence of her
shadowy friend was derided.

"No;" she said slowly, thoughtfully, and quite as much amazed at her own
temerity as Mr. Anstruther was; "I don't think I am ashamed, grandfather.
You see, I am very fond of Eleanor Humphreys. She has been a very great
comfort to me."

Sheer amazement held Mr. Anstruther silent. He would probably have been
less surprised if the kitchen cat had entered into conversation with him.

"When I am lonely she comes and talks to me. She is not always alone,
like me, but is one of a large family of brothers and sisters. They have
such good times together. They play tennis, and go to parties and dances,
and sometimes I go with them; but when I cannot go Eleanor comes here
afterwards and tells me all she has been doing, and then it is just as
though I had been to the parties also."

But at that point Margaret pulled herself up in a sudden breathless
manner. It was always like that she thought confusedly. Either she had
not courage to open her lips to her grandfather, or else she was led into
saying all manner of things which a moment's calm reflection would have
told her must on no account pass her lips.

But at any rate, as she realised with a queer little thrill of
excitement, she had not been disloyal enough to say that she was ashamed
of her affection for Eleanor. And she had had to derive as much comfort
from that thought as possible, for it required no great discernment to
see that her grandfather was terribly angry with her. Yet, when he spoke,
his voice was as cold and as even, his diction as precise, as usual.

"I wonder, Margaret," he said, "if you are mad, or merely pretending to
be mad. In either case, I have listened to you long enough. Kindly go
into the house, seat yourself at the piano, and practise scales for two
hours. The sound at this hour of the day will not be a pleasing one; but
hearing it I shall trust that the manual exercise is keeping your mind
from dwelling further on this folly."

Margaret required no second bidding to leave him, but retreated from the
spot at the fastest walk she could manage. To have run from his presence
would have been considered both disrespectful