"Let me see," he said hesitatingly, "Dolly's older than Jack, isn't she?"

"Oh, no. Dolly will only be twenty next Thursday."

There came over her an overwhelming impulse to tell him something--the
sort of thing she could only have told George.

"You know that pretty old church at Oakford?"

He nodded.

"Well, Mr. Runsby is dead. They've got a bachelor clergyman now, and
Janet and I think that he's becoming very fond of Dolly! He's away just
now, or you would have already seen him. He's very often over here."

"I should have thought--" He hesitated in his turn, but already he was
falling again into the way of saying exactly what he thought right out to
Betty--"that with you and Rosamund in the house, no one would look at
Dolly!"

Betty blushed, and for a fleeting moment Godfrey saw the blushing,
dimpling Betty of long ago.

"Rosamund has the utmost contempt for him. As for me, he never sees
me--I'm always in the kitchen when he comes here." She added with a touch
of the quiet humour he remembered, "I don't think Dolly's in any danger
from me!"

"_Why_ are you always in the kitchen, Betty?" he asked. "Is it really