The tea, when it came, caused little unbending, but it provided a legitimate excuse for moving from Miss Agatha's side, and it gave him an opportunity for a few minutes' talk with Prudence, a disjointed, embarrassed talk under the close observation of the rest. Steele was conscious of those watchful eyes, of the listening hang in the conversation when he approached the girl. Prudence also was conscious of this silent manifestation of vigilant criticism on the part of her family; but she had reached a stage of recklessness which moved her to openly disregard the condemnation in Agatha's eyes when Steele, having handed the cake to her, remained beside her for a few minutes, and held her in conversation. "I have been reconsidering what you said in the wood," he observed, "about the influence of others in regard to the enjoyment of life. You were entirely right." "Given the opportunity, I knew I could prove my case," she answered with the same amount of caution in her tones as he had used. "But you mustn't talk to me now, please; I'm in disgrace." "So am I," he replied. "I wonder if you will be looking out of a window to-night?" "I expect so." "I prowl about most nights," he said, and scrutinised her face intently to observe the effect of his words. "I know. I've seen you." "It is regrettable," he remarked, "that the upper story of a private house is usually inaccessible. Won't you have another piece of cake? No! Miss Matilda, may I fetch you some tea?" The maidenly breasts of the four Miss Graynors, who were pale reflections of their eldest sister, were pleasantly stirred by Steele's punctilious courtesy. They were envious of their young half-sister, whose temerity had led her into the indiscretion of spending an entire morning in the society of a member of the opposite sex. It does not follow that a life which has known no romance is innocent of romantic aspirations. Miss Matilda, spare and prim and slightly grey, experienced a vague sense of loss and of resentment against her single state when she met Steele's smiling, youthful eyes, and reflected that no man's glance had ever rested upon herself with that look of pleased interest which she observed in Steele's face whenever it was turned in Prudence's direction. Prudence, of course, was pretty and young. Miss Matilda's girlhood lay behind her, but it had known none of the delights that her virgin heart longed for in the secret chamber which she seldom unlocked even for her own inspection. The emotions that lay concealed there were unbecoming in a modest woman whose function it was to be pious and dutiful in the acceptance of her lot.