Nothing could have been more apposite to the subject of Mrs. Wyverne's thoughts at that moment, and she took the intrusion philosophically. Two minutes sufficed for Giles' explanation. Being in the neighbourhood, he had promised to bring a message from Mrs. Keith, and had also granted himself the pleasure of seeing his great-aunt. He had walked across the moors from the station, and had overtaken Phyllys. Mrs. Wyverne, he heard, had an engagement; but he proposed staying a night at the inn, in hopes that she would spare him an hour next morning. [Illustration: "GRANNIE, HERE IS GILES RANDOLPH."] Giles used so few words that it was remarkable how much he conveyed. Mrs. Wyverne was not glad to see him, and she refrained from saying that she was; but her charming smile served in place of that which she would have condemned as an untruth. Barbara, declining to smile, waited in glum silence. "I am sorry that we cannot offer to take you in here," observed Mrs. Wyverne; and the involuntary word "sorry" caused her some after-twinges. "The Cottage is small, and we have no spare room. But you will be comfortable at the inn." Then she weighed carefully her conflicting duties, and decided to remain at home. Barbara and Phyllys would go without her to the meeting. There was no escape for Phyllys. Her face fell; but it was evident that the old lady wished for a tête-à-tête with Giles. Barbara, curtly nodding goodbye, marched off, and Phyllys followed. She had learnt obedience in a strict school, and though inwardly rebellious she made no outward sign. Then Giles bent his faculties to the task of winning the old lady. Now that he had seen Phyllys, he was anxious for his own sake, at least as much as for the sake of gratifying Mrs. Keith, to bring about the proposed visit. He did not know that the path to success had been made smoother by Mr. Dugdale; but he did realise that it might be a difficult path. However, when Giles chose to be liked, he did not often fail in his aim. CHAPTER V THE MIDFELL ATMOSPHERE BREAKFAST over, Mrs. Wyverne sat in her usual place, darning a tablecloth and entertaining a terribly early caller. Miss Robins faced her solemnly. She was a solemn individual, impressed with the importance of directing the duties of other people. In appearance she had not much to boast of; but, as she was wont to ask, "Who cares for looks?" Some unkind critics had been known to remark that Miss Robins "had no looks." Despite her superiority, she had not cast off the shackles of a mundane curiosity about her neighbours; and she was bent on finding out what the old lady meant to do with Phyllys. "So very Important, for the sake of that poor empty-headed child, that she should act with wisdom," she observed to her devotee, Barbara. "If she does not hold that man at arm's length, who can foretell the consequences?" Miss Robins was nothing if not emphatic.