Giles was a splendid figure of a man, and looked a picture in his trim riding-dress. The old dame had an eye for a fine man, and cast an approving glance at his shapely legs and slim figure. But she frowned when her eyes rose to his face. It was thinner than she liked to see; there was not the old brave light in his eyes, and his fair moustache had lost the jaunty curl, which, to her romantic mind, had made him such a gallant lover. Giles was one of the few persons Mrs. Parry did not abuse, for his good looks and many courtesies had long since won her foolish old heart, although she would never confess to it. But then, Mrs. Parry was softer than she looked. "Who had been taking the heart out of you, Ware?" she asked in her gentlemanly way, which Giles knew and had often laughed at. "No one," he answered gloomily, "unless you call Fate some one." "I call Anne Denham some one," she replied coolly, "so you haven't found her yet, poor soul!" "No; I have looked everywhere. She has vanished like a bubble." "It is just as well. You couldn't possibly marry her and bring her back to Rickwell as your wife." "Why not? She is innocent. You said yourself that she was." "And I believe it. I have stood up for her all through. All the same, Ware, there would be a scandal if she came back as Mrs. Ware." "I don't care two straws for that," said Giles, flinging back his head. "No," she replied dryly, "I know that. You're an obstinate man, as any one can see with half an eye. Well, I'm glad to see you again. Sit down in the armchair yonder and tell me what you have been doing all these months. No good, if your face is the index of your mind." Ware laughed, and sitting down managed to stow his long legs out of the way--no easy matter in the little room. Then he accepted a cup of excellent tea from Mrs. Parry and some of her celebrated cake. He did not reply immediately, as he did not want to tell her the truth. She had too long a tongue to be told anything which it was necessary to keep secret. He put her off as he best could with a general answer. "I have just been going to and fro." "Like Satan," sniffed Mrs. Parry. "He's your model, is he? So you have been searching for Anne. Where?" "In Paris and in London. But I can't find her." "She doesn't want you to find her," replied the old lady. "If she did, you would stand face to face with her soon enough." "That goes without the speaking," retorted Ware. "However, my adventures would not amuse you, Mrs. Parry. Suppose you tell me what has been going on in these parts?" "As if I knew anything of what was going on," said Mrs. Parry. Giles laughed. It was a fiction with Mrs. Parry that she never interfered with other people's business, whereas there was not a pie within miles into which she had not thrust her finger. But he knew how to start her tongue. "The Morleys, what about them?"