'Sir, you will excuse me, I would rather not,' said Gladys, curtseying again, and hastening on.
Colonel Vaughan called to a boy who was near, and told him to pick up the money and give it to him.
'How often does that young lady come here?' he asked.
'Almost every day, sir,' was the reply.
'At what time?'
'In the afternoon, sir, from three to five, or thereabouts.'
'Goes back in time to help Miss Gwynne dress for dinner,' thought the colonel; 'what a lovely face it is! And what grace of movement.'
He watched Gladys cross the farm-yard, and disappear in the plantations, through which there was a private path to the house.
Mr Gwynne and he passed her again as they rode on, and she curtseyed once more, Mr Gwynne nodding to her kindly as she looked at him.
'Who is that girl, Mr Gwynne?'