"There, you hear. That's how she serves her father," said Mr Chester, chuckling, and pulling her hair again. "No, thank you, we'll not come in, Henderson's waiting to speak to me about his farm. Where's Mannering?" "He's driven over to dine at the Hunters'." "What a man he is for society." "Yes, he likes it, and it does him good," said Mr Robert quietly. "That's what people always say about things that please them. I tried it for a good bit upon salmon, but it didn't do. Had to give it up. Well, girls, now you've had your say, I hope you're satisfied, and will let me go home in peace. You're a lucky man, Mannering, to have your own way without being plagued for it. Here's Bessie, now: a fellow will have a pretty handful that gets her,--bless you, she'll not let him say his soul's his own," added the Squire, in high good-humour, making signs behind his youngest daughter's back. "How is the Farleyense, Mr Mannering?" asked Winifred, lingering. "I really think that, if possible, it is in more perfect condition than when you did it the honour to come to look at it." "And Stokes has not tried any experiments?" "He knows that if he did it would cost him his place. No, Miss Winifred, there is a point behind which even the easiest master must intrench himself." The girl sighed a little. Her father and sister were strolling along the lane outside the gates, and the Squire's loud laugh came to them scarcely softened by the short distance. The rich fulness of August seemed to weigh somewhat heavily in the air; the hedge-row elms stood in thick unenlightened masses against the sky; the garden was a little parched and exhausted by its very profusion of flowers, the scent of the jessamine was almost oppressive in its richness; it was one of those days in which, without any perceptible change, the knowledge forces itself upon us that the change is there, and that something is gone from us. "And do you still carry the key in your pocket?" said Winifred, with a faint smile. "No, no, the house is open. Will you come and see it again?" "Winifred!" called the Squire from the other side of the wall. "Not now, thank you. I mustn't keep my father."