Juliet's eyes contemplated him without a hint of dismay. There was even behind their serenity the faint glint of a smile. "I think that is putting it rather strongly," she said. "But I really don't know you yet. I am not in a position to judge--even if I wished to do so." Fielding sat for a moment or two quite rigid, as if on the verge of springing to his feet and leaving her. Then with amazing suddenness he broke into a laugh, and the tension was past. "By Jove, I like you for that!" he said. "You did it jolly well. You've got pluck, and you know how to keep your temper. You'll have to forgive me, Miss Moore. We're going to be friends after this." There was something very winning about this overture, and Juliet was not proof against it. He was evidently of those who consider that an apology condones any offence, and, though she was far from agreeing with him on this point, it was not in her to be churlish. She smiled at him without speaking. "Sure you're not angry with me?" urged the Squire. She nodded. "Yes, quite sure. Won't you go on where you left off?" "Where did I leave off?" He frowned. "Oh yes, you asked for details. Well, what do you want to know? My wife always breakfasts in bed, so she wouldn't want you before ten. But you'd live with us of course. I'd see that they made you comfortable." "If my duties did not begin before ten, there would be no need for that," pointed out Juliet. He looked at her in surprise. "Of course you'd live with us! You can't want to stay here!" "But why not?" said Juliet. "They are very kind to me. I am very happy here." "Oh, nonsense!" said the squire. "You couldn't do that. I believe you're afraid I want to make a slave of you." "No, I am not afraid of that," said Juliet. "But go on, if you don't mind! What happens after ten o'clock?" "Well, she opens her letters," said the squire. "Tells you what wants answering and how to answer it. P'raps you read the papers to her for a bit before she gets up, and so on." "Does that take the whole morning?" asked Juliet. "No. She's down about twelve. Sometimes she goes for a ride then, if she feels like it. Or she walks about the grounds, or drives out in the dog-cart. She's very keen on horses. Then either she goes out to lunch or someone lunches with us. And after that she's off in the car for a fifty-mile run--or a hundred if the mood takes her. She's never quiet--except when she's in bed. That's what I want you for. I want you to keep her quiet." "Oh!" said Juliet. This was shedding a new light upon the matter. She looked at him somewhat dubiously.