Two whole hours and a half to be got through before the Stoke Moreton omnibus would bear her away.

She looked round for a refuge during that weary age, and found it nearer than many poor souls do in time of need, namely, at her elbow, in the shape, the welcome shape of the shy man--almost the only remnant of the large party whose dispersion she had just been watching.

Whenever Ruth thought of that shy man afterwards, which was not often, it was with a sincere hope that he had forgotten the forwardness of her behavior on that particular morning.

She wished to see the picture-gallery.

She would of all things like a walk afterwards.