Happy-go-lucky

  III

  The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and as it was spent _a quatre_need not be described at length.

  They sped home in the gathering darkness of a frosty evening. Connie,who had relinquished the wheel to her husband, with instructions to getthe car home as speedily as possible--she had not forgotten her promiseto go and hear Mr. Rylands's evening sermon--now shared the back seatwith Tilly; and the two ladies snuggled contentedly together under thewarm rug, silently contemplating the outlines of their squires againstthe wintry sky.

  The car swung in at the lodge gates and began to run along the cracklinggravel of the drive. Presently, as they rounded a bend, the lights ofthe house sprang into view.

  "Tea--and a big fire!" murmured Connie contentedly.

  To Tilly the sight of the house suggested other thoughts. Suddenly sheremoved her gaze from Dicky's broad back and slipped a cold hand intoConnie's.

  "Will they try to take him from me?" she whispered passionately.

  One of Connie Carmyle's many gifts was her ability to catch an allusionwithout tiresome explanations. Straightway she turned and looked deepinto the appealing grey eyes beside her. Her own brown ones glowedindomitably.

  "If they do, dear," she answered--"fight for him."

  "I will," said Tilly, setting her teeth.

  The two girls gripped hands in the darkness.