People passed us by with an amused smile whom we should never have dreamt of admitting to Brandon in the old days, nor indeed to-day for the matter of that. There was that horrid Miss Pettigrew, the daughter of a very disreputable attorney, who is said to have done a good deal of dirty work for Sir Rupert De Lacy, and to have made his money by very questionable means indeed. Well, I saw this great flaunting peony of a creature look at Esther's unconscious face with a toss of the head, and an impudent, jeering smile, which made me furious for a moment, till I remembered that she was only Pettigrew's daughter, and could know no better. She took occasion to pass very near to us, flaunting her silks like any peacock, so near that we had to stand back a little to let her pass. There was a gentleman with her, and for a moment I included him in my glance of haughty indignation. But only for a moment. He was quite young, and his face had a very bright expression, but just then he looked grave, almost angry, I thought, and it occurred to me that what Miss Pettigrew had whispered to him disgusted him not a little. Anyhow, as he passed quite close to us, he lifted his hat gravely, and I caught a glimpse of bright brown hair, rippled all over, despite its close cutting. Then they were gone. I turned round, to find Mag Byrne, the beggar-woman, and one of the characters of the country, at my elbow. Mag had seen the little drama, and now spat out expressively. "To think of the likes of her rubbin' her dirty skirts against rale quality like yourselves, Miss Hilda dear! Why, I remember her father thankful to get a plateful of mate at the kitchen door of your own house, my dear, that's a shoneen now, an' his daughter trapesin' about wid the officers from the barracks." I laughed at Mag's indignation, and my own somehow disappeared. So Miss Pettigrew's escort was one of the officers from the barracks. Well, he looked a gentleman, at all events, however he came to be in such strange company. All the fine folk were in the carriage enclosure, or on the grand stand. We were out on the hill among the farmers' carts and the dancing tents and Aunt Sallies; and Esther and I enjoyed the humour of it all greatly. Quite early in the day the boys had gone off to amuse themselves, but as they came back frequently to share their raptures with us, we were not anxious. Fortunately for them, the place was full of their friends, people who had lived on Brandon land for more generations than they or we could count, and to whom it was untold pride and joy to "trate" the young gentlemen to all the fun of the fair. I offered them some of the threepenny-worth of gingerbread, but my offer was received with scorn. They had been royally banqueted on ham and chicken and ginger-beer and rhubarb-tart, and had seen the bearded lady and the giant and the dwarf, and were inclined to be rather contemptuous of us.