['He cannot!']

['About the two guineas--you stole this morning.']

[He stood, grinning in his finery, unable to say a word.]

[Lady Betty wasted no time on words. She was already in the water and wading across.]

['Why, Betty,' Sophia cried in astonishment, 'What is it?']

['Do you sit, and I'll make you a posy.']

[Her hair ... hung undressed on her neck. He touched it gently. It was the first caress he had ever given her.]

SOPHIA

CHAPTER I

[A LITTLE TOAD]