“Yes, I think I will,” said Marmaduke, seriously.  “That plot near the gate wants a trimming badly.”

“What a silly old chap you are, Bob!” she said, stopping to kiss him on each cheek as she left the room.

Marmaduke had become attached to the pursuit of gardening since his domestication.  He put on his hat; went out; and set to work on the plot near the gate.  The sun was shining brightly; and when he had taken a few turns with the machine he stopped, raising his face to the breeze, and saw Conolly standing so close to him that he started backward, and made a vague movement as if to ward off a blow.  Conolly, who seemed amused by the mowing, said quietly:  “That machine wants oiling:  the clatter prevented you from hearing me come.  I have just returned from Carbury Towers.  Miss Lind is staying there; and she has asked me to give you a message.”

This speech perplexed Marmaduke.  He inferred from it that Conolly was ignorant of Susanna’s proceedings, but he had not sufficient effrontery to welcome him unconcernedly at once.  So he stood still and stared at him.

“I am afraid I have startled you,” Conolly went on, politely.  “I found the gate unlocked, and thought it would be an unnecessary waste of time to ring the bell.  You have a charming little place here.”

“Yes, it’s a pretty little place, isnt it?” said Marmaduke.  “A—­wont you come in and have a—­excuse my bringing you round this way, will you?  My snuggery is at the back of the house.”

“Thank you; but I had rather not go in.  I have a great deal of business to do in town to-day; so I shall just discharge my commission and go.”

“At any rate, come into the shade,” said Marmaduke, glancing uneasily toward the windows of the house.  “This open place is enough to give us sunstroke.”

Conolly followed him to a secluded part of the shrubbery, where they sat down on a bench.

“Is there anything up?” said Marmaduke, much oppressed.

“Will you excuse my speaking without ceremony?”

“Oh, certainly.  Fire away!”

“Thank you.  I must then tell you that the relations between you and Lady Constance are a source of anxiety to her brother.  You know the way men feel bound to look after their sisters.  You have, I believe, sisters of your own?”

Marmaduke nodded, and stole a doubtful glance at Conolly’s face.

“It appears that Lord Carbury has all along considered your courtship too cool to be genuine.  In this view he was quite unsupported, the Countess being strongly in your favor, and the young lady devoted to you.”

“Well, I knew all that.  At least, I suspected it.  What is up now?”

“This.  The fact of your having taken a villa here has reached the ears of the family at Carbury.  They are, not unnaturally, curious to know what use a bachelor can have for such an establishment.”

“But I have my rooms in Clarges Street still.  This is not my house.  It was taken for another person.”