"My son Rufus he may be slow, but he's no fool.

And he's a good man, too, missus, a long sight better than that curly-topped chap.
Him and me's partners, so I ought to know." "To be sure you ought," said Mrs.Peck tolerantly.

"And it's to be hoped that Columbine knows it as well." And in the solitude of her own room Columbine bent her dainty head and kissed with reverence the little wild white roses that spoke to her of the purity of a good man's love.
* * * * * THE MAGIC CIRCLE The persistent chirping of a sparrow made it almost harder to bear.

Lady Brooke finally rose abruptly from the table, her black brows drawn close together, and swept to the window to scare the intruder away.
"I really have not the smallest idea what your objections can be," she observed, pausing with her back to the room.
"A little exercise of your imagination might be of some assistance to you," returned her husband dryly, not troubling to raise his eyes from his paper.
He was leaning back in a chair in an attitude of unstudied ease.

It was characteristic of Sir Roland Brooke to make himself physically comfortable at least, whatever his mental atmosphere.