The young man stepped in beside her, and a few moments later they were gliding, rather than running over a perfect road, under the trees, in a machine as noiseless as the forest. The Earl of Stranleigh had seen many beautiful regions of this world, but never any landscape just like this. Its artificiality and its lack of artificiality interested him. Nothing could be more businesslike than the construction of the stout dams, and nothing more gently rural than the limpid lakes, with the grand old forest trees marshalled round their margins like a veteran army that had marched down to drink, only to be stricken motionless at the water's edge. It seemed that the silence of the motor-car had enchanted into silence its occupants. The girl devoted her whole attention to the machine and its management. Stranleigh sat dumb, and gave himself up to the full enjoyment of the Vallombrosic tour. For more than half an hour no word had been spoken; finally the competent chauffeur brought the auto to a standstill at a view-point near the head of the valley, which offered a prospect of the brawling main stream. "We have now reached the last of the lakes in this direction," she said quietly. "I think your automobile is admirable, Lord Stranleigh." The young man indulged in a deep sigh of satisfaction. "As a landscape gardener on a marvellous scale, you are without a competitor, Miss Maturin." The girl laughed very sweetly. "That is a compliment to nature rather than to me. I have merely let the wilderness alone, so far as road-making and dam-building would allow me." "In that very moderation lies genius--the leaving alone. Will you forgive the inquisitiveness of a mere man whom you suspected at our outset of success-worship, if he asks what practical object you have in view?" "Oh, I should have thought that was self-evident to an observant person like yourself," she said airily. "These lakes conserve the water, storing it in time of flood for use in time of scarcity. By means of sluices we obtain partial control of the main stream." "You flatter me by saying I am observant. I fear that I am rather the reverse, except where my interest is aroused, as is the case this morning. Is conservation your sole object, then?" "Is not that enough?" "I suppose it is. I know little of civil engineering, absorbing craft though it is. I have seen its marvels along your own lines in America, Egypt, India, and elsewhere. As we progressed I could not help noticing that the dams built to restrain these lakes seemed unnecessarily strong." A slight shadow of annoyance flitted across the expressive countenance of Constance Maturin, but was gone before he saw it. "You are shrewder than you admit, Lord Stranleigh, but you forget what I said about freshets. The lakes are placid enough now, but you should see them after a cloud-burst back in the mountains." "Nevertheless, the dams look bulky enough to hold back the Nile."