"Oh, I remember how the roses clambered into the room," returned Elizabeth in an interested tone. "Yes, and the birds seemed as though they wanted to get up a sort of Handel Festival, only the prima donnas and the big guns were missing. But there was plenty of twittering and bird chatter--I think they were settling the solos." Elizabeth laughed--she was always amused at Mr. Herrick's nonsense. "I have begun by enjoying myself immensely," he went on. "I have eaten a record breakfast and smoked two pipes, and now I have picked all this honeysuckle and met you"--a slight emphasis on the last word. "To tell you the truth, Miss Templeton"--and here he looked at her with a pleasant smile--"the meeting was not purely accidental, I knew it was your morning for the schools." "And you came to meet me?" Elizabeth's manner stiffened; if Malcolm had been thin-skinned he might have suspected that she was not quite pleased at this avowal. "Yes, I was anxious to meet you." Malcolm spoke with quiet assurance. "There is something I wanted to tell you--if I had waited to call at the Wood House this afternoon your sister would have been with you." "And it is something you do not wish her to hear?" and Elizabeth's slight frown vanished. "Well, I thought it would be better to talk it over with you first. I have seen the Jacobis, Miss Templeton, and I must confess that I am not favourably impressed by them." "Cedric is with them now," exclaimed Elizabeth in rather a distressed voice. "Dinah heard from him this morning; he is very happy, having a good old time, as he expresses it. He saw the Godfreys before they left for Scotland." "They have gone then--what a pity!" observed Malcolm. Then Elizabeth looked at him inquiringly. "You mean on Cedric's account. Yes, I am sorry too. Will you tell me all you can about the Jacobis?" And then Malcolm, with masculine brevity and great distinctness, retailed his impressions of the brother and sister. Elizabeth's face grew grave as she listened. "Oh, I am sorry!" she exclaimed. "What will poor Dinah say when I tell her; she is so anxious for Cedric to choose his friends well, and by your account Mr. Jacobi is certainly not a gentleman." "I thought perhaps you would keep this to yourself;" but Elizabeth shook her head. "I dare not; Cedric is her own boy, and I must hide nothing from her. There was only one thing I kept to myself, but then Cedric told it me in the strictest confidence. Mr. Herrick, it is an absurd question, for Cedric is such a boy--but is not Miss Jacobi likely to be the attraction? You say she is so handsome." "I might go farther and say she is a beautiful woman," returned Malcolm. "But tastes differ, you know; I admire Miss Jacobi as I should a picture or a statue, but I could not imagine falling in love with her." "Indeed! I am rather surprised to hear you say that; I thought you were a lover of the picturesque." Elizabeth's tone was a little teasing.