Miss Champion, after dinner to-night, when all the games and amusements are in full swing, and we can escape unobserved, will you come out onto the terrace with me, where I shall be able to speak to you without fear of interruption?
The moonlight on the lake is worth seeing from the terrace.

I spent an hour out there last night--ah, no; you are wrong for once--I spent it alone, when the boating was over, and thought of--how--to-night--we might be talking there together." "Certainly I will come," said Jane; "and you must feel free to tell me anything you wish, and promise to let me advise or help in any way I can." "I will tell you everything," said Garth very low, "and you shall advise and help as ONLY you can." * * * * * Jane sat on her window-sill, enjoying the sunset and the exquisite view, and glad of a quiet half-hour before she need think of summoning her maid.

Immediately below her ran the terrace, wide and gravelled, bounded by a broad stone parapet, behind which was a drop of eight or ten feet to the old-fashioned garden, with quaint box-bordered flower-beds, winding walks, and stone fountains.

Beyond, a stretch of smooth lawn sloping down to the lake, which now lay, a silver mirror, in the soft evening light.

The stillness was so perfect; the sense of peace, so all-pervading.