that she destroyed, and rewrote, till her dainty waste-basket was half-
full of torn sheets of notepaper. When quite satisfied, she copied out
the last sheet afresh, and then carefully burned all the spoiled
fragments. She put the copied note in an emblazoned envelope, and
directed it to Edgar Caswall at Castra Regis. This she sent off by one
of her grooms. The letter ran:

"DEAR MR. CASWALL,

"I want to have a chat with you on a subject in which I believe you
are interested. Will you kindly call for me one day after lunch--say
at three or four o'clock, and we can walk a little way together. Only
as far as Mercy Farm, where I want to see Lilla and Mimi Watford. We
can take a cup of tea at the Farm. Do not bring your African servant
with you, as I am afraid his face frightens the girls. After all, he
is not pretty, is he? I have an idea you will be pleased with your
visit this time.

"Yours sincerely,

"ARABELLA MARCH."

At half-past three next day, Edgar Caswall called at Diana's Grove. Lady
Arabella met him on the roadway outside the gate. She wished to take the
servants into her confidence as little as possible. She turned when she
saw him coming, and walked beside him towards Mercy Farm, keeping step
with him as they walked. When they got near Mercy, she turned and looked
around her, expecting to see Oolanga or some sign of him. He was,
however, not visible. He had received from his master peremptory orders
to keep out of sight--an order for which the African scored a new offence