had followed the maid out to
the garden. Had Eleanor delayed only a moment or two longer, Lady
Strangways would probably have come upon them both in the arbour.

"You were so long in coming to me, my dear Margaret," said the unseen
voice, in clear, well-bred tones that struck pleasantly on the real
Margaret's ear, "that I decided to come into the garden and look for you.
Let me introduce myself. I am your Aunt Helen, your father's sister. I am
sorry to have been a stranger to you until now, but that is not my fault.
I have only just returned to England after an absence of many years, and
strange though it may appear to you, I really did not know of your
existence until the other day. My brother was many years older than I,
and I never saw him after I was a child. In fact I was to all intents and
purposes a stranger to all my brothers and sisters. They were all grown
up while I was in the schoolroom still, and were very little at home. But
I knew that my brother John had married a distant cousin of the same
surname as our own, whose Christian name was Margaret, and that was all
I ever heard of him; and when I heard that a girl, called Margaret
Anstruther, was staying here, I felt sure that you must be my niece. And,
you see, I was right. I am very pleased to see you, my dear, and to have
an opportunity of coming to know you at last."

The pleasant, clear voice, the graciously uttered words, held
Margaret--the real Margaret, that is--spellbound; then, jumping to her
feet, she climbed on to the rockery that supported the bank above her and
peeped through the tall-growing herbaceous plants that grew thickly on
the border at the edge of the lawn. It never occurred to her that she was
eaves-dropping, and even if it had, she would not have felt greatly
ashamed. After all, this was her aunt, and she believed she was speaking
to her niece. Surely, therefore, her niece had every right to listen to
what she was saying.

Lady Strangways stood on the grass just at the top of the flight of
steps, up which Eleanor had had barely time to scramble before she got
there, and Margaret, parting the leaves and stems of the intervening
plants, was able to take a good long look at her unknown aunt.

Lady Strangways was tall, and carried her head and shoulders in a stately
way that gave her grace and distinction. She had a broad, low brow, and a
mouth and chin which showed decision of character as well as sweetness of
disposition. But it was