the whole affair with this Lady Tancred in the first instance, and she, Zara, would not be required to keep up the comedy, as with the uncle and cousins.  She decided she would be quite frank with her if the occasion required, and if she should, by chance, make the same insinuation of the continuance of the Tancred race as Lady Ethelrida had innocently done, she would have plainly to say that was not in the transaction.  For her own ends she must be Lord Tancred’s wife and let her uncle have what glory he pleased from the position; if that were his reason, and as for Lord Trancred’s ends, he was to receive money.  That was all:  it was quite simple.

The two women were mutually surprised when they looked at one another.  Lady Tancred’s first impression was, “It is true she is a very disturbing type, but how well bred and how beautiful!” And Zara thought, “It is possible that, after all, I may be wrong.  She looks too proud to have stooped to plan this thing.  It may be only Lord Tancred’s doing—­men are more horrible than women.”

“This is Zara, Mother,” Tristram said.

And Lady Tancred held out her hands, and then drew her new daughter—­that was to be—­nearer and kissed her.

And over Zara there crept a thrill.  She saw that the elder lady was greatly moved, and no woman had kissed her since her mother’s death.  Why, if it were all a bargain, should she tenderly kiss her?

“I am so glad to welcome you, dear,” Lady Tancred said, determining to be very gracious.  “I am almost pleased not to have been able to go last night.  Now I can have you all to myself for this, our first little meeting.”

And they sat down on a sofa, and Zara asked about her head; and Lady Tancred told her the pain was almost gone, and this broke the ice and started a conversation.

“I want you to tell me of yourself,” Lady Tancred said.  “Do you think you will like this old England of ours, with its damp and its gloom in the autumn, and its beautiful fresh spring?  I want you to—­and to love your future home.”

“Everything is very strange to me, but I will try,” Zara answered.

“Tristram has been making great arrangements to please you at Wrayth,” Lady Tancred went on.  “But, of course, he has told you all about it.”

“I have had to be away all the time,” Zara felt she had better say—­and Tristram interrupted.

“They are all to be surprises, Mother; everything is to be new to Zara, from beginning to end.  You must not tell her anything of it.”

Then Lady Tancred spoke of gardens.  She hoped Zara liked gardens; she herself was a great gardener, and had taken much pride in her herbaceous borders and her roses at Wrayth.

And when they had got to this stage of the conversation Tristram felt he could safely leave them to one another, so, saying he wanted to talk to his sisters, he went out of the room.

“It will be such happiness to think of your living in the old home,” the proud lady said.  “It was a great grief to us all when we had to shut it up, two years ago; but you will, indeed, adorn it for its reopening.”