"So I observe! It is a pity, but I am not surprised. What can one expect from Nan, but destruction!" Mrs Rendell spoke with melancholy resignation, while the assembled sisters looked on with solemn eyes. Dainty Lilias, pensive Elsie, kindly Agatha, Christabel the immaculate, they stood gazing in a solid phalanx of disapproval, while Nan the culprit hung her head and flushed with embarrassment. A moment later Mrs Rendell had turned the conversation into another channel, unwilling to prolong the present discussion in the presence of a stranger, and Nan seized the opportunity to escape to the far end of the garden. Gervase Vanburgh stood in her path, and spied the glimmer of tears on the dark eyelashes as she passed by. Then she disappeared, and Elsie's chin dropped with amazement as she saw the elegant stranger deliberately mark a stone on the path, and kick it savagely with the toe of his patent leather shoe. "Bland of exterior, but concealing beneath the surface secret and violent impulses!" Such was the character given to Gervase Vanburgh in Miss Elsie Rendell's diary that evening; and perhaps for once the youthful author was not far wrong in her conclusions! CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. A VOW OF FRIENDSHIP. The next morning at ten o'clock the Italian servant was entrusted with a message from his master which created a wild excitement in the Rendell family. Mr Vanburgh was restored to his usual health, and wished to celebrate that fact, and provide at the same time a little entertainment for his nephew, by giving an _alfresco_ luncheon in the garden, to which he invited his friends at Thurston House. The meal would be served under the beech-tree on the lawn, and Mr Vanburgh hoped to welcome his guests at one o'clock precisely. "But not all of us! There are six of us--six women--not to mention Mr Talbot. Mr Vanburgh cannot mean to include the school-room party! The elder ones will be delighted to accept, but--" "_Mother_!" gasped Christabel. Agatha laid hold of the back of a couch, and prepared to faint on the spot, and the Italian looked from one to the other, a gleam of amusement showing in the dusky eyes. "My master would be much disappointed, madam. He wishes especially the young signorinas. I am to bear an invitation also to Mrs Maitland and to Miss Kitty." That settled the matter! If Kitty were going, it would be nothing short of cruelty to keep her companions at home, so Mrs Rendell sent a general acceptance to the invitation, and shrugged her shoulders resignedly as each of the five girls hugged her in turns, and deafened her with questions. "Mother, what shall I wear?" "Mother, my pique skirts have not come home from the wash! I wish you would leave that horrid laundry. It's the third time--" "Mother, will my pink blouse do? It's the nicest I have, and it's only a little bit soiled on the sleeves, and if I wore clean cuffs--"