As soon as he had made up his mind that he would show Rose what nonsense it all was, he could and did—­not without the zest of pique—­turn his attention to Molly.

“Lady Groombridge doesn’t frame well here, does she?” he said, smiling.  “Rather a shock at that date—­the tweed skirt and the nailed boots and the felt hat.”

“Yes; but Lady Rose floats down between the hedges as if she had a long train, only she hasn’t,” laughed Molly.  “The hem of her garment never touches the earth, as a matter of fact.  I wonder how it is done.”

“You are right,” said Edmund; “and, do you know another thing about Rose?—­whatever she wears she seems to be in white.”

“I know,” answered Molly.  “I see what you mean.”

“It may be,” said Edmund, “because she always wore white as a young girl.  I remember the day when David Bright first saw her she was in white.”  Edmund had for a moment forgotten entirely why he should not have mentioned David Bright.  If Molly could have read his mind at the next moment she would have seen that he was expressing a most fervent wish that he had never met her.  How little he had gained, or was likely to gain, from her, and how stupid and tiresome, if not worse, was this appearance of friendship.  He felt this much more strongly on account of the morning’s discovery, and he was determined to keep on neutral ground.

“Have you ever seen Versailles?” he asked.

“No; I have seen absolutely nothing out of England except India, when I was a small child.”

There it was again!  He could not let her give him any confidences about India or anything else.

“Well, the hedges at Versailles don’t impress me half as much as these do, and yet these are not half so well known.  There’s more of nature here, and they are not so self-contained.  At Versailles the Court and its gardens were the world, and nature a tapestry hanging out for a horizon; here it is amazing how the frame leads one’s eyes to the great, beautiful world outside.  I never saw meadows and woods look fairer than from here.”

They were silent; and in the silence Grosse heard shouting and then saw a huge dog dragging a chain, rushing along the avenue towards them, while louder shouts came from the opposite direction.

“We must run,” he said very quietly, “there’s something wrong with it;” and two men, still calling and waving their arms, appeared at the end nearest the house.  Edmund took Molly by the arm, and they ran to meet the men.

“Get the lady over the kitchen-garden wall!” shouted one who held a gun, and as they came to the end of the hedge on their left they saw a wall at right angles to it about five feet high.  Molly looked for any sort of footing in the bricks for one second, and then she felt Grosse lift her in his arms, and deposit her on the top of the wall.  She rolled over on the other side into a strawberry bed in blossom.  She heard a gun fired as she jumped to her feet, and a second shot followed.