mean! There's no doubt that you were right."

Carroll's smile showed that he could guess what was in his
comrade's mind.

"I shouldn't worry too much about the thing. The girl probably
understands the situation. It's not altogether pleasant, but I dare say
she's more or less resigned to it. She can't help herself."

Vane gazed at him with anger.

"Does that make it any better? Is it any comfort to me?"

"Take her out of it. If she has any liking for you, she'll thank you for
doing so."

Vane strode away, and nobody saw him again for an hour or two. In the
afternoon, however, at Mrs. Chisholm's suggestion, he and Carroll set out
with the girls for a hill beyond the tarn.

It was a perfect day of late autumn. A pale golden haze softened the
rugged outlines of crag and fell, which towered in purple masses against
a sky of stainless azure. Warm sunshine flooded the valley, glowing on
the gold and crimson that flecked the lower beech sprays and turning the
leaves of the brambles to points of ruby flame. Here and there white
limestone ridges flung back the light, and the tarn gleamed like molten
silver when a faint puff of wind traced a dark blue smear athwart its
surface. The winding road was thick with dust, and a deep stillness
brooded over everything.