The handsome pension which Mr. Vernon Mallory drew as a distinguished servant of the Foreign Office, added to considerable private means, enabled him to occupy one of the most important residences in the place. It had large, well-shaded tennis and croquet lawns, and here, later on that same afternoon, Mr. Mallory was sitting under a copper beech with his wife, a gentle, patient lady, who had the misfortune to be blind. At the other side of the croquet lawn Lieutenant Reginald Beauchamp and Miss Enid Mallory were leaning on their mallets with every appearance of being engaged in a violent quarrel. The girl's face was flushed, and now and again she tapped the close-cropped turf impatiently with a neat brown shoe. The young sailor, viewed from the distance, had the air and attitude of saying rude things in a provoking manner. "What are those two doing, dear?" Mrs. Mallory asked presently. "My ears tell me that they have stopped playing." "They look," replied her husband, "as if they were hurling invectives at each other over a foul stroke. Knowing them as I do, my impression is that they are occupied in coming to an understanding. Their ideas of love-making are of the kittenish order--a pat and a scratch, and a pat again. But I think that they are both in earnest." "Reggie has been suddenly recalled to his ship, has he not?" "Yes, he has to rejoin at Plymouth to-morrow morning for some sort of manoeuvres or gun practice. That may account for the affair having come to a head to-day." The blind lady sighed with contentment. "He is a brave, good lad, Vernon," she said. "You must be kind to him, and say 'Yes' nicely when he asks you for our darling. They have been fond of each other since they were babies almost." The ghost of a tender smile quivered at the corner of Mr. Mallory's stern mouth. "I shall not be rough with him, Margaret," he said gently, "but I am going to make a bargain with him for all that. He has--I believe both the young rascals have it--the key to something I want very badly." Mrs. Mallory's sightless eyes turned towards her husband, and her voice spoke the affection they could not express. "The key to a secret, dear. To some mystery that is no concern of yours? When shall I be able to persuade you that you retired from the public service years ago? But they are coming this way, I think." Her acute hearing, that blessed compensation granted to the blind, had told her truly. Reggie and Enid were crossing the lawn towards them--a picturesque whirlwind of white flannel and flapping straw hats. Mr. Mallory composed his features into an acid contemplation of the approaching couple, though he had much ado to succeed. No sentimental nonsense here, but earnest, cocksure intent, after his own heart. "We've come to ask your permission," Reggie began.