"I was rather anxious about her," she said to Haverford, "for Dennis has told me that she gets very heavy colds at times, and she seemed really rather feverish to-night." As he remembered the interview with his mother the day before, he found himself looking every now and then with real interest at Caroline. "I can't think why you want to bother about Caroline Graniger. I gave her a fair trial," Mrs. Baynhurst had said fretfully; "but she is a fool, and I hate fools. Give me a knave any day in preference to a fool!" There seemed to be nothing foolish, or weak, or hesitating about Caroline as he saw her, but in the hours that had followed on his visit to his mother, he had been able to fill in the empty spaces that she had left, and he seemed to understand all at once why it was that Octavia Baynhurst had set herself so resolutely against Caroline, both as a little child and a growing girl. Undoubtedly there had been an old and bitter feeling rankling in her heart for Gerald Baynhurst's sister. It was inevitable that the love the man had evidently lavished on his sister had been a source of resentment and misery to such a woman as his wife. On Caroline, the helpless child, therefore, had the accumulation of this bitter anger and jealousy been poured out. He broke the silence after a long and busily filled pause. "My mother has a new secretary," he said, and as their eyes met they both smiled. Caroline found his face very attractive when he smiled. "I saw her. She is middle-aged and very alarming looking. It is my impression that my mother is going to be managed for the first time in her existence. You will be well avenged, Miss Graniger." When all the little parcels were made ready, and they filled the table, he got up. "Well, I suppose I ought to go downstairs again. You are very cosy here. I am so glad the children are not in London this dismal weather." Before going he asked permission to look at Betty and Baby as they slept. When he rejoined Caroline he said--there was a very tender look in his eyes-- "I feel quite important to-night, for now I have three wards; those two tiny souls and yourself, and if one can go by tradition, the life of a guardian is not entirely free from anxiety." "I don't require a guardian," said Caroline. But she said it shyly, not sharply. "I have always taken care of myself, and I am sure I can do it now." "I am afraid that argument does not move me," he answered, and with a smile he held out his hand and said, "Good night." When he was gone Caroline sat down and thought about him. She felt sorry for him.