Mr. Vyner, grave as a judge, held up his disgraceful hands. "They are in a case in the inside pocket of my coat," he said, calmly.
Miss Hartley drew back a pace. "Perhaps Mr. Saunders could help you," she said, hastily.
Mr. Vyner shook his head. "His hands are worse than mine," he said, mournfully.
He held up his arm so that his coat opened a little more, and Miss Hartley, after a moment’s hesitation, thrust a small hand into his pocket and drew out the case.
"To open it you press the catch," said Mr. Vyner.
Miss Hartley pressed, and the case flew open. She stood holding it before him, and Mr. Vyner, with a helpless gesture, again exhibited his hands.
"If you would complete your kindness by putting one in my mouth," he murmured.
For a few moments she stood in a state of dazed indecision; then, slowly extracting a cigarette from the case, she placed it between his lips with a little jab that made it a failure, as a smoke, from the first. Mr. Saunders, who had been watching events with a brooding eye, hastily struck a match and gave him a light, and Mr. Vyner, with an ill-concealed smile, bent down to his work again. He was pleased to notice that though the conversation between the others still proceeded, after a fitful fashion, Miss Hartley laughed no more.
He worked on steadily, and trampled ground and broken plants bore witness to his industry. He was just beginning to feel that he had done enough gardening for that day, when the return of Mr. Hartley brought welcome relief. The astonishment of the latter at finding this new and unlooked-for assistance was at first almost beyond words. When he could speak he thanked him brokenly for his trouble and, depriving him of his tools, took him indoors to wash.
"He means well," he said, slowly, after Mr. Vyner had at last taken his departure; "he means well, but I am afraid Mr. John wouldn’t like it."
Miss Hartley flushed. "We didn’t ask him to come," she said, with spirit.
"No," said her father, plucking at his beard, and regarding her with a troubled expression. "No; I’m afraid that he is one of those young men that don’t want much asking."
OWING possibly to the unaccustomed exercise, but probably to more sentimental reasons, Robert Vyner slept but poorly the night after his labours. He had explained his absence at the dinner-table by an airy reference to a long walk and a disquisition on the charms of the river by evening, an explanation which both Mr. Vyner and his wife had received with the silence it merited. It was evident that his absence had been the subject of some comment, but his father made no reference to it as they smoked a cigar together before retiring.