Lena went up softly and slowly, so that the stir of the vegetation might not betray her, till suddenly she heard voices. She stopped and listened, then went on still more cautiously till there was only a screen of green between her and the speakers. Then she dropped among the bracken and was completely hidden, though she could hear perfectly. Margaret was speaking, and her voice was indignant-- "This is my wood; it belongs to me." "Oh, come now!" "How did you know where to find me?" "Hannah told me herself; she said you spent your mornings up here instead of going to church, so I thought I'd just look in." Lena, peeping through the greenery, could see that they stood facing each other--Margaret, with her head thrown back, resting one hand against the trunk of a tree. On the gnarled roots that rose high from the ground, and had evidently formed her seat, lay an open book. Mr. Garratt, with a triumphant expression, stood a few paces off. "You must go back instantly," Margaret said. "Not I! Come, let's sit down and have a quiet little talk--we don't often get the chance." "Mr. Garratt, please--please go away," she said, "why should you try to annoy me as you do. You came here to see Hannah--" "Well I don't come now to see Hannah--" "Then you had better stay away--" "I should like to stay away if I had you with me. Look here, don't cut up rusty or be silly. I'm not a bad sort of chap, you know," and he tugged at his mustache; "lots of girls have rather fancied me, but I've never cared a bit for one of them, though I've chaffed them a little now and then, because I've liked to make them mad." "I don't care what you like, and I want you to go away." "But I mean business this time, give you my word I do. I'm awfully fond of you and I'll tell 'em so when we get back if you'll say it's all right--" "It's not all right!" Margaret cried, passionately. "Well, you needn't take on so--you're awfully pretty." He went a step nearer. "I say, give me a kiss to go on with." "I would rather die," and she drew back closer to the trunk of the tree. "Well, you needn't shudder as if I were snakes or coal-tar; you may not know it, young lady, but you are not everybody's money, in spite of your good looks. I'm not a stickler myself, still it isn't all plain sailing marrying a girl who won't go into a church, and whose family is a mystery. It would not add to the business, I assure you." "My family a mystery?" said Margaret. Lena cocked up her head like a snake and looked through the leaves; she could see them quite plainly. "How dare you--" "Oh, well, we won't say anything more about it if you're going to explode. Still, there may be all sorts of crimes covered up for what we know to the contrary, and I understand that the farm will belong to Hannah by and by--" "And that's why you thought of marrying her, I suppose?" she asked, indignantly.