"How is it that we have accepted this invitation?" he said. "I do not know Mrs. Aylmer. What sort of woman is she?"
"Oh, a very estimable person. I have known her for many years. I felt that we could not do less than give her a few days of our company, and Aylmer's Court is a beautiful place."
So it truly was—the park undulating away to the edge of the landscape, and acres and acres of forest-land being visible in every direction. There was a lake a little way to the left of the house, on which a small pleasure-boat was now being rowed. In that boat sat a girl dressed in dark blue, with a sailor hat on her head. Kitty bent forward; then she glanced at Sir John Wallis and suddenly squeezed his hand.
"Do you know who is rowing on the lake?" she said.
"Who, my dear? Why, Kitty, you have turned quite white."
"I met her before, but, do you know, I had absolutely forgotten it. She is Mrs. Aylmer's companion, and I believe her right hand."
"But who is she, dear? What is the matter? You look quite ill."
"Don't you remember Bertha Keys?"
"Miss Keys; why, that was the girl who behaved so badly at the time when I offered my scholarship, was it not?"
"The very same girl," said Kitty.