deal already, and it is evident that we cannot stay here for ever."

Alton moved abruptly, and his companion fancied she heard a stifled
sigh. "No," he said gravely. "It's a pity; but you could wait for
another month or two."

Alice Deringham smiled a little. "You and Charley will miss us, then?"

Alton nodded gravely, but there was a subdued brightness in his eyes,
and the girl wished he would open them fully. She fancied he was
putting considerable restraint upon himself. "I don't know about
Charley. He can talk better than I can for himself, but I shall miss
you all the time," he said. "This has been a revelation to me, and I
feel that it is good for me to talk to you. Then, before you came I
had a kind of bitter feeling against all my father's folks in England.
I figured they were wrapped up in their cast-iron pride, and ready to
trample on anybody who got in their way; but you have started me
thinking differently, and it seems my duty to know more of them. After
all, I am an Alton of Carnaby."

The girl smiled again. "You fancy you may have been wrong?"

The man's face flushed a little, and there was once more evidence of
the self-restraint. "Yes," he said simply. "I know I was a fool."

He might have said a good deal more, and lessened the effect, for Miss
Deringham had seen his face and read the respect in it. Its sincerity
touched her, and she felt with a vague uneasiness that it would not be
pleasant to face his contempt if he found it misplaced.