"Oh, if you're going to believe in her still, I'll stop. There's such a thing as poison coated with sugar. But you'll never see her in her true colours. Men are as blind as bats where women are concerned." Jockie gave her head a little toss and walked on. Austin looked at her. If he had not been so perturbed, he would have laughed, as Jockie on her dignity was like some saucy sparrow aping a swan. "Poor dear old Sid!" he murmured. "I didn't think she was having such a bad time! She was quite swallowed up in her father. I can't believe I shall never see him again." "No," said Jockie in a grandmotherly tone, "we never know how soon old people will be taken from us. I hope you're going to be very good to your father now you have come back. He has missed you frightfully. If I had been a man, I should have had enough grit to stop at home where I was wanted, instead of running away from my trouble." "You seem to have a remarkable knowledge of our private affairs," said Austin witheringly. "Yes; I know them all," said Jockie cheerfully. "I have been trying to be your substitute, since you have been away. Your father and I talk over lots of things together, and I went round with your horrid agent the other day to see a farmhouse which wants repairing. I reported it to your father the next day, and I told him what a sneak and bully the agent was. I've heard some stories about him in the village, and Cousin John and I can prove the truth of them. Mr. de Cressiers is almost willing to dismiss him now he takes in what kind of a man he is." "I think it is high time I was back," said Austin loftily. "It is," assented Jockie. The two young people walked on for a minute in silence, then Jockie burst forth again: "It's no good for you to defend her! She's a clever unscrupulous woman, and Sidney can't cope with her. What do you think she is saying to everyone now? She pulls down her mouth and drops her eyes and sighs forth: 'Yes, most sad; but the Admiral's sudden death must wholly be attributed to that London trip. His daughter did not realise that he was not strong enough to drag about after her. She, like most girls, wanted to have a good time, and her poor old father could not keep pace with her. He returned home a perfect wreck, and the very next day he collapsed.' Now, what do you think of that?" "I suppose she thinks it true," said Austin loyally. "Does she? Now, I'll tell you something else, for you deserve to know it. Do you know what she told everybody when you went away? That you had proposed to her, and that she had refused you, for the very idea was preposterous. She had only taken pity on you and talked to you like a mother for your good, and you had simply made a fool of yourself." "I think I'll be walking on," said Austin, in dangerously quiet tones. He was white with rage, and Jockie's audacity for once deserted her: "Oh, forgive me! What would Sidney say? I promised her I would try to control my tongue."