"Say to Miss Verney that I should be glad if she would come down and meet an old friend of mine, who has called," he said, when Richard the footman appeared.
"By George, catch me sending for any one, even if it was Miss Verney, if I was alone with a lady like that," thought the young man, as he went dutifully off upon his errand. But presently he came back, full of apologies.
"If you please, Sir Ian, I can't find Miss Verney anywheres," he said. "I made sure she was in her own sitting-room, ever since I took her up her lunch there, but she must have slipped out. I looked in the summer-house, too, Sir Ian, where she goes sometimes of an afternoon, but she isn't there, nor in the arbour by the pond. She must have gone for a walk, I'm afraid."
"Never mind. When she returns, you can give her the message."
"Yes, Sir Ian. And would you like me to serve tea, sir, or wait till her ladyship's return?"
Sir Ian hesitated, as if in doubt what to say, and before he had made up his mind, a girl who had been about to pass the window, turned, and looked from the lawn into the drawing-room.
"Oh, come in, Nora," called Sir Ian. "I have just sent and asked for you."
The girl obeyed, but with visible reluctance. She
