"Come along, Miss Champion," he said; "I am so tired of doing
nothing. Let us go down to the river and find a boat or two. Dinner
is not until eight o'clock, and I am certain you can dress, even for
the ROLE of Velma, in half an hour. I have known you do it in ten
minutes, at a pinch. There is ample time for me to row you within
sight of the minster, and we can talk as we go. Ah, fancy! the grey
old minster with this sunset behind it, and a field of cowslips in
the foreground!"

But Jane did not rise.

"My dear Dal," she said, "you would not feel much enthusiasm for the
minster or the sunset, after you had pulled my twelve stone odd up
the river. You would drop exhausted among the cowslips. Surely you
might know by now that I am not the sort of person to be told off to
sit in the stern of a tiny skiff and steer. If I am in a boat, I
like to row; and if I row, I prefer rowing stroke. But I do not want
to row now, because I have been playing golf the whole afternoon.
And you know perfectly well it would be no pleasure to you to have
to gaze at me all the way up and all the way down the river; knowing
all the time, that I was mentally criticising your stroke and
marking the careless way you feathered."



Garth sat down, lay back in his chair, with his arms behind his
sleek dark head, and looked at her with his soft shining eyes, just
as he had looked at the duchess.

"How cross you are, old chap," he said, gently. "What is the