It was midsummer, and Miss Berengaria's garden was a sight. Such splendid colors, such magnificent blossoms, such triumphs of the floricultural art, had never been seen outside the walls of a flower show. The weather was exceedingly warm, and on this particular day there was not a cloud in the sky. Miss Plantagenet pottered about her garden, clipping and arranging as usual, and seemed to be in the very best of spirits. And well she might be, for this was a red-letter day with her.  
Under the shade of a large elm-tree sat Durham, in the most unprofessional tweed suit, and beside him, Alice, radiant in a white dress. She looked particularly pretty, and her face was a most becoming color. Every now and then she would glance at the watch on her wrist, and Durham laughed as he saw how frequently she referred to it.
 
"The train won't be here for another hour," he said, smiling. "You will see Bernard soon enough, Miss Malleson."
 
"Oh, dear me," sighed Alice, "can I ever see him soon enough? It seems like eleven years instead of eleven months since he went away. I wish he hadn't gone."
 
"Well," said Durham, following with his eyes the spare little figure of Miss Berengaria flitting about amongst the flowers, "I didn't approve of it at the time, and I told Conniston so. But now I think it was just as well Bernard did keep to his original intention and go to the Front. It is advisable there should be an between the new life and the old."
 
"The new life?" asked Alice, flushing.
 
"He is coming home to be married to you," said Durham.
 
"And with a bullet in his arm," sighed Alice. "I shall have to nurse him back to health before we can marry."
 
"Miss Randolph will be occupied in the same pleasing task with Conniston," replied Durham, lazily, "and I envy both my friends."
 
"You needn't," laughed Miss Malleson, opening her sunshade which cast a delicate pink on her cheeks. "Poor Bernard has been wounded and Lord Conniston has been down with enteric fever."
 
"I am glad they have got off so easily. Bernard might have been shot, you know."
 
Alice and grew pale. "Don't, Mr. Durham!"
 
"That was why I feared about his going out," said he. "I thought it would be a pity, after all he passed through, that he should be killed by a Boer bullet. But he has only temporarily lost the use of his arm; he has been mentioned for gallantry in the despatches; and he is coming home to marry the most charming girl in the world—I quote from his own letter," finished Durham, smiling.
 
"And Lord Conniston?"
 
"He is coming also to marry Miss Randolph. Both weddings will take place on the same day, and Conniston [pg 311]has escaped the dangers of the war with a slight touch of fever. But why tell you all this—you know it as well as I do."
 
"What's that?" asked Miss Berengaria, coming up to the pair.
 
"I was only discussing Miss Malleson's future life," said Durham.
 
"Ah," sighed the old lady, sitting down. "What I shall do without her I don't know."
 
"Dear aunt," said Alice, kissing the faded cheek, "I shall not be far away. The Hall is within visiting distance."
 
"That's all very well," said Miss Berengaria. "But Bernard will want you all to himself, and small blame to him. What is the time?"
 
Alice glanced at her watch. "It's nearly three, and the train arrives at half-past," she said. "Oh, I wish we could meet them."
 
"Not at all," rejoined Miss Berengaria, brusquely, "better wait here with Lucy. She will be over soon. I don't want a scene of kissing and weeping on the platform. But, I must say, I am glad both those boys are back."
 
"You will have them as near neighbors, Miss Berengaria," said the lawyer. "Bernard at Hall and Conniston at the castle."
 
"I hope he and Lucy won't live there," said the old lady, rubbing her nose. "A dreadfully damp place. I went over there the other day to tell Mrs. Moon about Jerry."
 
"Have you had good reports of him?"
 
"So, so. The reformatory he was put into seems to be a good one, and the boys are well looked after. But Jerry is a tree which will grow . He seems to have been giving a lot of trouble."
 
"Yet he was lucky to get off as he did," said Durham. "The judge might have sent him to jail instead of into a reformatory."
 
"And he'll land in jail some day," said Alice, shaking her head. "At least, Bernard seems to think so."
 
"I fancy Bernard is about right," replied Durham. "The lad is a born criminal. I wonder how he inherited such a nature."
 
Miss Berengaria sat up briskly. "I can tell you," she said. "Mrs. Moon informed me that her son—Jerry's father—was a desperate scamp, and also that several of her husband's people had come to bad ends."
 
"To rope ends, I suppose, as Jerry will come," said Durham. "However, he is safe for the next three years in his reformatory. When he comes out, we will see what will happen. What about your other protégé, Miss Berengaria."
 
"Michael Gilroy?"
 
"Yes. Has he taken that name for good?"
 
"He has. It's the only name he is entitled to. How glad I am that the poor creature was after that dreadful trial. I am sure there is good in him."
 
"So Bernard thought, and that was why he assisted him," said Alice.
 
"I think you put in a good word for him, Miss Malleson."
 
Alice . "I was sorry for the poor fellow. While I nursed him I saw much good in him. And, remember, that he had intended to tell me who he was when he arrived, only he was so ill."
 
"And when he saw that you fancied he was Bernard, he accepted the situation," said Durham, ironically. "I wonder he could have thought you so easily taken in, knowing that you knew Bernard so intimately."
 
"Well, I don't think he was quite himself during that illness," said Alice, . "Had he been better, he would certainly have doubted the fact of aunty's and my beliefs. A few questions from me, and he would have been exposed, even had I truly believed he was Bernard."
 
"And he must have wondered how you never put the questions."
 
"Perhaps. But he thought I was considering his health. However, he up well at the trial, and quite explained Bernard's ."
 
Durham his shoulders. "The serpent in the bamboo. He was forced to be honest at the trial for his own sake."
 
"Don't be hard on him," said Miss Berengaria, suddenly. "I received a letter from him yesterday. He is doing very well in America, and with the money Bernard gave him he has bought a farm. Also, he hopes to marry."
 
"I wonder will he tell his future wife anything of his past life."
 
"Not if he is wise," said Durham, looking at Alice, who had spoken. "By the way, Miss Berengaria, does he mention his mother?"
 
"No," replied the old lady, . "Drat you, Durham! why should the boy mention his mother at this ............