A Damsel in Distress

The only time in the day when he ceased to be the horny-handed

toiler and became the aristocrat was in the evening after dinner,

when, egged on by Lady Caroline, who gave him no rest in the

matter--he would retire to his private study and work on his

History of the Family, assisted by his able secretary, Alice

Faraday. His progress on that massive work was, however, slow. Ten

hours in the open air made a man drowsy, and too often Lord

Marshmoreton would fall asleep in mid-sentence to the annoyance of

Miss Faraday, who was a conscientious girl and liked to earn her

salary.

The couple on the terrace had turned. Reggie Byng's face, as he

bent over Maud, was earnest and animated, and even from a distance

it was possible to see how the girl's eyes lit up at what he was

saying. She was hanging on his words. Lady Caroline's smile became

more and more benevolent.

"They make a charming pair," she murmured. "I wonder what dear

Reggie is saying. Perhaps at this very moment--"

She broke off with a sigh of content. She had had her troubles over

this affair. Dear Reggie, usually so plastic in her hands, had

displayed an unaccountable reluctance to offer his agreeable self

to Maud--in spite of the fact that never, not even on the public

platform which she adorned so well, had his step-mother reasoned

more clearly than she did when pointing out to him the advantages

of the match. It was not that Reggie disliked Maud. He admitted

that she was a "topper", on several occasions going so far as to

describe her as "absolutely priceless". But he seemed reluctant to

ask her to marry him. How could Lady Caroline know that Reggie's

entire world--or such of it as was not occupied by racing cars and

golf--was filled by Alice Faraday? Reggie had never told her. He

had not even told Miss Faraday.

"Perhaps at this very moment," went on Lady Caroline, "the dear boy

is proposing to her."

Lord Marshmoreton grunted, and continued to peer with a questioning

eye in the awesome brew which he had prepared for the thrips.

"One thing is very satisfactory," said Lady Caroline. "I mean that

Maud seems entirely to have got over that ridiculous infatuation of

hers for that man she met in Wales last summer. She could not be so

cheerful if she were still brooding on that. I hope you will admit

now, John, that I was right in keeping her practically a prisoner

here and never allowing her a chance of meeting the man again

either by accident or design. They say absence makes the heart grow

fonder. Stuff! A girl of Maud's age falls in and out of love half a

dozen times a year. I feel sure she has almost forgotten the man by

now."