It was a
beautiful day, and Diana and Mrs. Colwood were probably to be found in
some corner of the garden. Mrs. Roughsedge walked round the side of the
house to reconnoitre.
As she reached the beautiful old terrace at the back of the house, on
which the drawing-room opened, suddenly a figure came flying through the
drawing-room window--the figure of a girl in a tumbled muslin dress,
with a large hat, and a profusion of feathers and streamers fluttering
about her. In her descent upon the terrace she dropped her gloves;
stooping to pick them up, she dropped her boa; in her struggle to
recapture that, she trod on and tore her dress.
_"Damn_!" said the young lady, furiously.
And at the voice, the word, the figure, Mrs. Roughsedge stood arrested
and open-mouthed, her old woman's bonnet slipping back a little on her
gray curls.
The young woman was Fanny Merton. She had evidently just arrived, and
was in search of Diana. Mrs. Roughsedge thought a moment, and then
turned and sadly walked home again. No good interfering now! Poor Diana
would have to tackle the situation for herself.
* * * * *
Diana and Mrs.
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