“Thank you,” Reginald answered, and there were two red spots on either cheek, while the rest of his face was very pale, as he finished his breakfast and went out into the open air and then into the billiard-room. “He does take it infernally hard,” Tom thought again, feeling a disposition to laugh at Reginald’s abstracted manner as he knocked the balls listlessly about, seldom hitting the mark, and apparently caring little whether he did or not. The roses and lilies were gathered and sent and at the appointed time the McPherson carriage went to the station for the expected travellers. Reginald had asked Tom if he cared to go and meet the young ladies, and Tom answered: “I think not. I will wait and we will call this evening.” “Yes, certainly; I’ll call, if you think I ought,” Rex said, and Tom replied: “No ought about it that I know of. You must call some time, and may as well have it done with. You’ll find the young ladies charming.” “A-all right,” Reginald answered, and the words sounded like a groan. CHAPTER V THE BURDICKS When Rena read Tom’s letter she was very angry for a few moments, and in the height of her passion commenced her reply, cooling somewhat as she wrote, but still feeling very sore because Tom had failed her in this the greatest scheme in which she had ever embarked. “It is just for fun I’m doing it,” she said, “and the horrid old Tom calls me unwomanly and a lot more names, when I thought he liked me, and I have liked him so much. I hate him now almost as much as I do Mr. Travers—Reginald Travers,” she continued, “what a stiff, stuck-up name, just like its owner, I know, and not a bit rollicking like Tom Giles.” Then she read Tom’s letter again, noting particularly what he said about acting a lie. Rena prided herself upon being truthful to a fault, and began to waver a little with regard to the plan of her campaign. “I’ll give Irene some points,” she said, and after finishing Tom’s letter she began a second one to her cousin. She had written her very fully on the subject, telling her what she expected her to do, and Irene had replied, “I am yours to the death. Where you lead I follow, your obedient slave; and if you wish me to entice Mr. Travers to make love to me, Delilah was never more seductive than I can be. If you wish me to be simply the Miss Burdick, I can play the grand lady to perfection. Of course I must pose as the head of the Burdicks, the one to whom you defer, and as a starter let me announce our intended arrival to Mrs. Parks.”