Lord Glengall laughed.
Pamela looked up startled.
"No, Pam," he said. "I don't pretend to be like a young fellow, all fire and despair. I should have liked to take care of you, little girl, and to have the right to take care of you all. But we must find another way."
They walked back together to Carrickmoyle in the old friendly fashion, and no one seeing them could have guessed that Glengall was a rejected lover; but that night Pam was thoughtful.
The next morning she was alone with her father. Mr. Graydon lay on a couch, from which he could see the mountains through the open window, and Pamela, on the rug by his side, was trying to teach Mark Antony to balance a straw on his nose.
"Let him alone, Pam," said her father. "He's too old and fat to learn tricks."
"Is it 'Yes'?" said Lord Glengall.
"Then he shan't have his bone; Pat deserves it better. Pat has learned three new tricks since you've been getting well."