"Quite often."

"I shall look out for you."

He bowed and smiled down at Katie. "I hope I'm forgiven for being only a man."

"It was silly of me," she said. "I ought to have known. Ducks don't visit, do they?"

"No. They just quack.'' He illustrated his remark with a little noise which did resemble that made by ducks. It greatly amused Katie. She quacked herself and went into the house quacking.

Cassie came out.

"Oh," she said. "That Drake Aldringham called."

"I know," I told her, "we saw him in the park."

"I told him you were there and would be somewhere near the water whichever park it was.''

"Well, he found us."

"He's a very nice man," said Katie. "He quacks just like a real one . . . only he isn't one, of course . . . only a man."

Cassie was beaming.

"I'm glad he found you," she said. "He was so disappointed when I told him you were out."

And the next day we saw him again.

In fact he made a habit of meeting us in the park.

Two weeks later Grand'mere and the Countess returned home. They had been away longer than usual. I thought Grand'mere looked preoccupied. I knew her so well and she was never able to hide her feelings, so I realized that something had happened- good or bad, I was not quite sure; but it certainly had made her thoughtful.

The Countess was exuberant as she always was after her visits to Paris.

"I saw just the place that would suit us," she said, "in the Rue Saint-Honore . . . quite the right spot. Small but really elegant."

"We have made up our minds that we can't take the risk," I said.

"I know," she replied sighing. "Such a pity. Chance of a lifetime really. You should see it... a lovely light workroom; and I could imagine the showroom decorated in white and gold. It would have been perfect.''

"Apart from one thing," I said, "we haven't the money and Grand'mere and I are determined not to be in debt."

The Countess shook her head mournfully but said no more.

When I was alone with Grand'mere, I said to her: "Come on. You must tell me what happened."

She looked at me in surprise.

"I know it is something," I said. "I can see it in your face. So you had better tell me."

She was silent for a few minutes, then she said: "The urge came over me. I had to go. I wanted to see it all again. I left the Countess in Paris and went to Villers-Mure."

"So that was it. And it has made you thoughtful? "

''There is something about one's birthplace ..."

"Of course. It was a long journey for you."

"I made it."

"And how did you find it there?"

"Very much as it always was. It took me back . . . years. I visited your mother's grave."

'' That was sad for you."

"In a way. But not entirely. There was a rosebush . . . someone had planted it. I had expected to find the grave neglected. That cheered me a great deal."

"Who had done it?"

She lifted her shoulders and raised her eyes. There was a sad brooding look in them.

"Perhaps it was unwise to go," I said.

"Oh no ... no ..." She dismissed the subject. "Cassie tells me that Mr. Aldringham called."

"Yes, I have met him now and then in the park. Katie's taken quite a fancy to him . . . and he has to her.''

"I liked him when we met."

"Yes, I know."

She smiled at me. "I'm glad you've been seeing him." Then she added cryptically: "You can't go on mourning forever."

It was my turn to change the subject. "The Countess I am sure thinks that in time we shall come round to her way of thinking."

"I will never agree to borrow."

"Nor I. So it seems a waste of time to look at shops in Paris."

''She was right about us in the beginning and we did have to spend a little to get things going."

"That was different. We were desperate then. Now we have a steady business. I would not want to go through that anxiety again."

"There is only one way I would agree to go into it," said Grand'mere.

"And that?"

"If we had the money. If some benefactor invested in us."

"That is quite impossible."

"Unlikely but not impossible."

She was thoughtful again and I said: "Grand'mere, what's on your mind?"

"Only that that shop in the Rue Saint-Honore" was very enticing."

"Put it out of your mind. There is plenty of work here for us."

"I can't wait to get on with it." She kissed me. "It's good to be home," she said.

We had settled down to the old routine. Katie and I met Drake frequently, and I looked forward to those meetings. They formed a certain pattern. We would often find him waiting for us. Katie would run up and give a quack to which he responded. It was the recognized greeting between them. The same joke would amuse Katie again and again.

She would play with her friends while we talked. There was much to tell each other. I found I could talk to him freely and I was sure he felt the same about me. He spent a certain amount of time at Swaddingham.

"I wish you could see the house," he said. "It's an Elizabethan manor. It was an inn at the beginning of the fifteenth century, then it became a private residence and enlarged, so that while part of it is Saxon, the lower floors are entirely Tudor. There is quite a bit of land. So I am a sort of squire. If ever I lost my seat in Parliament I should devote myself entirely to my squiral duties."

''Would you like that?'' I asked.

"It would only be second best." He looked at me seriously. "Sometimes one has to settle for that."

"That's true. At least you have a second string. In that you are fortunate."

"I wonder if you and Katie would visit me at Swaddingham?''

"It sounds exciting."

"Perhaps you and your grandmother could bring Katie."

"I am sure we should enjoy that very much."

"Well, when the House is in recess we'll go. One can never be sure when one is going to be called in for some important vote ... so that would be the best time."

"Do invite us."

I told him about our dilemma.

"The Countess is rather different from Grand'mere and me. She is full of energy . . . something of a gambler. She wants to expand and open a place in Paris."

"And you do not? You surprise me."

"I do want to ... very much, but I dare not take risks."

"Is it such a risk?"

"It's an enormous one. We should have to find the shop and it would be a very high rent in the right quarter. Then we have to stock it ... and get staff. We should have to do it in style now. When we opened here we were just beginners and we could start in a humble way. We could not do that now. The Countess wouldn't hear of it. She would say it would do us more harm than good. We have to do everything in grand style. Grand'mere and I see exactly what she means. If it worked it would be wonderful; but if it failed we could be ruined. Grand'mere and I do not take such risks."

"I think you are probably wise."

"Who shall say? The Countess thinks we are unenterprising."

"Better be that than bankrupt."

"I agree."

"So you are in a dilemma."

"Not really. Grand'mere and I are adamant."

"But regretful," he said.

"Yes, regretful."

We were talking animatedly when Julia came along. She was stylishly dressed in a costume of midnight blue edged with sable. She looked very elegant in a type of riding hat with an ostrich feather trailing over the brim. I had seen the costume and the hat before for they had both come out of our showrooms and when I saw them, my first thought was: Grand'mere has genius.

Julia opened her eyes with surprise; but I immediately thought that this did not express her true feeling, and I had a notion that she had come out here to find us. It must have been that we had been seen together by some of her friends and that our meetings were a matter of some interest. As a widow with a child I was not expected to lead such a restricted existence as a young unmarried woman and the fact that I had been seen at the same spot on several occasions with an eligible bachelor would cause some speculation.

"Well, fancy finding you here! Of course . . . you come with Katie. Children do love the parks." She sat down beside us. I felt insignificant in my simple walking costume beside her in all her glory.

"I like to take a walk now and then," she said. "Exercise is supposed to be good for you. I have the carriage waiting for me not far off. I thought, Drake, that you were in Swaddingham."

"I shall have to go down in a day or so."

''Of course. You have to get them all in a good humour before the election. When do you expect it?"

"In the not too distant future."

"I'll come and help," said Julia.

"That's kind of you."

"I find politics fascinating," she went on. "All that going among the people and kissing the babies . . . and you're half way there."

"It's not quite as easy as that," said Drake with a laugh. "Our opponents might be good baby-admirers, too."

"Poor Drake! He works so hard," said Julia, laying a hand on his arm. "He really is wonderful."

"You have too high an opinion of me."

"I am sure that would be impossible. You must come and dine tomorrow."

"Thank you," he said.

She smiled at me. "Sorry I can't invite you, Lenore. You see, it is so difficult. There is a shortage of men . . . and a woman on her own ..."

"Oh, I quite understand.''

"You ought to get married. Don't you agree, Drake?"