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F course," said Lola, as she trifled with her teaspoon, "I ought really to have gone back to town as soon as I found that Miss Brock could not come."

"You unquestionably ought," agreed Beresford, as he indolently tossed crumbs of cake to a couple of sparrows.

She glanced at him swiftly, then dropped her eyes.

"That's not what I wanted you to say."

"I know," he said with a laugh. "Well, why didn't you go back to town?"

"I suppose because I didn't want to." She gave him a look from under her lashes.

They were sitting in the garden of an old inn having tea. Lola had expressed a wish for an excursion inland, and Beresford had hired a car.

It was an old-fashioned spot surrounded by an ivy-covered wall. The back of the house was obscured by a trellis covered with crimson-ramblers. A few fruit trees disputed with currant and rose 195