"'Then,' said I, 'I suppose you were here before the wreck of the _Nerbuddha_, and knew Miss Felicia's parents?' "The man gave a start, and his hat, which he had pulled off, and with the brim of which he was fumbling, slipped from his fingers and rolled on the turf. "'Oh, yes, I forgot!' put in Dick. 'I ought to have told you that Mr. West here is the Rector of Lansulyan, and was at the time of the wreck." "'Indeed, Sir!' John Emmet had recovered his hat, and confronted me with a face for which I spared a glance before bending my eyes on the daisies at my feet. 'I--I took service here some months after that event.' "'Come, Padre'--these were the next words I heard--'if you wish to prod up all the daisies on Felicia's property, arise early to-morrow and begin. But if we're to dine at the Hall to-night it's time to be getting back to the inn and changing our clothes.' "I looked up, and my eyes fell on the retreating back of John Emmet, already half-way towards the Italian garden." "'Queer fellow, that--what's his name?--John Emmet,' said I late that night on our return to the inn, as Dick and I mixed our whiskey and prepared for a smoke before his sitting-room fire. "'Tile loose, I fancy,' answered Dick, pausing with a lighted match in his hand. 'I've an idea that he owes me a grudge for coming here and carrying off Felicia.' "'What gives you that notion?' "'Well, you see he has always been a favourite of hers. She tells me that the hours she managed to steal and spend in the garden, chatting with John Emmet while he worked, were the happiest in her childhood. He seems to have been a kind of out-of-door protector to her, and I'll bet she twisted him round her small thumb.' "'That's little enough to go upon,' was my comment. 'It struck me, on the contrary, that the man eyed you with some affection, not to say pride.' "'Well, it's a small thing, but I can't help remembering how he took the news of Felicia's--of our engagement. You see, it happened at a fancy-dress dance.' "'What happened?'