"We couldn't help it," said Miss Winter; "indeed we have not had a minute to ourselves all day. I was very sorry to think that we should have brought you here for nothing this morning." "But about the Long Walk, Katie?" "Well, don't you think we have done enough for to-day? I should like to have tea and sit quietly at home, as papa suggested." "Do you feel very tired, dear?" said Mary, seating herself by her cousin on the sofa, and taking her hand. "No, dear, I only want a little quiet and a cup of tea." "Then let us stay here quietly till it is time to start. When ought we to get to the Long Walk?" "About half-past seven," said Tom; "you shouldn't be much later than that." "There you see, Katie, we shall have two hours' perfect rest. You shall lie upon the sofa, and I will read to you, and then we shall go on all fresh again." Miss Winter smiled and said, "Very well." She saw that her cousin was bent on going, and she could deny her nothing. "May I send you in anything from college?" said Tom; "you ought to have something more than tea, I'm sure." "Oh no, thank you. We dined in the middle of the day." "Then I may call you about seven o'clock," said Tom, who had come unwillingly to the conclusion that he had better leave them for the present. "Yes, and mind you come in good time; we mean to see the whole sight, remember. We are country cousins." "You must let me call you cousin then, just for the look of the thing." "Certainly, just for the look of the thing, we will be cousins till further notice." "Well, you and Tom seem to get on together, Mary," said Miss Winter, as they heard the front door close. "I'm learning a lesson from you, though I doubt whether I shall ever be able to put it in practice. What a blessing it must be not to be shy!" "Are you shy, then?" said Mary, looking at her cousin with a playful loving smile. "Yes, dreadfully. It is positive pain to me to walk into a room where there are people I do not know." "But I feel that too. I'm sure, now, you were much less embarrassed than I last night at the Vice Chancellor's. I quite envied you, you seemed so much at your ease." "Did I? I would have given anything to be back here quietly. But it is not the same thing with you. You have no real shyness, or you would never have got on so fast with my cousin." "Oh! I don't feel at all shy with him," said Mary, laughing. "How lucky it is that he found us out so soon. I like him so much. There is a sort of way about him, as if he couldn't help himself. I am sure one could turn him round one's finger. Don't you think so?" "I'm not so sure of that. But he always was soft-hearted, poor boy. But he isn't a boy any longer. You must take care, Mary. Shall we ring for tea?" CHAPTER XXVI--THE LONG WALK IN CHRISTCHURCH MEADOWS