The Moon out of Reach

. Wennys. A low, two-storied house of creeper-clad stone, it stood perched upon

ly serving to enclose a sunk lawn round which ran a wide, flagged path. A low, grey stone wall, facing the sea, fenced the fourth si

tering upward trend of the downs on one side of it, tempered the violence

way from a terrace which ran the whole length of the house, meeting the gravelled drive as it curved past the house-door. Beyond lay dim sweet alleys, over-arched by trees, and

y you spend so much ti

ave this heavenly

ish cigarettes, while Kitty swung tranquilly in a hammock close by. Penelope had been invisible since lunch time. They had all been down at Mallow the

y I enjoy the country when we come here. I get the quin

a faint flavour of bitt

only to be obtained in the liqueur form. The gods don'

efuse it because you didn't like th

d whole-h

arping, discontented

the corner of the clump of trees beneath which the two girls had taken refuge,

urriedly lowered a pair of smartly-shod feet which had be

? And how are you, Miss Daven

the state of being in love, and his piercing light-grey eyes beneath their shaggy, sunburnt brows-fierce, far

That is, when people don't drop suddenly from the cl

with a crop of brown hair a trifle sunburnt at its tips as a consequence of long days spent in the open. His mouth indicated a certain amount of self-will, the inborn imperiousness of a man who has met with obedient services as a matter of course, and whose forebears,

derably. It was the smile of a man who could be both kindly and generous where his prejudices

wledged. "Please forgive me. I caught sight of you both t

e," commented Na

taying at Mallow, but she not infrequently gave utterances to remarks which, although apparently straight-forward eno

turned the conversation to a subject

xercising ho

of being one of the finest huntsmen in the county, and his heart and

t you bring them round by Mallow b

ll," he replied. "I never thou

whim of a father who had been a dare-devil rider across country and had found his joy in life-and finally his death-in the hunt

d like to hav

face bri

ennels one day? I could motor over f

ded up

e very much. Whe

ed idly in

w, Roger," she remarked. "Nan is

and petal skin, from the sturdy, thick-booted, sporting type of girl to which he was accustomed. For Roger Trenby very rarely left his ancestral acres to essay the possibilities of the great outer wor

d himself delightedly watching the adorable way her lips curled up at the corners and the faint dimpl

fficult occupation," he r

from her mind, for was it not five long, black, incomprehensible weeks since Peter had vanished from her ken? From the day of the bridge-party at the Edenhall flat, she had neither seen nor heard from him, and during those five silent weeks

t Thursday next for go

u dise

ly across her reverie. She

day would d

ll"-rising reluctantly to his feet-"I must be moving on now. I have

red well-knit figure with reflective eyes, the while irrepressibl

n burst ou

are you gigglin

to lie down with the lam

alk in p

aughter. "It was just too delicious to watch you and Roger together! You'd m

mise you one thing-it's going to be m

up suddenly, the laught

you. Leave him to some simple country maiden-Edna Langdon, for instance, who rides straight to hounds

ut-general her?

t you mustn't do. I won't allow you to play with Roger.

t he needs educating. . . . And perh

, you never mean to sugge

ed her con

ad acres of his own? Do I not find favour in his eyes? .

e a small

unsuited to each other as any man and woman could possibly be. In addition to which he has the t

either 'suitable' or otherwise. They've been giving me the cold shoulder

over between Nan and Maryon Rooke, as the latter had failed to put in an appearance at St. Wennys-and would he come down to Mallow Court? With Peter once more at hand, she felt sure

ere was this embittered, moody Nan, very surely filled with some wild notion of defying fate by marrying out of hand and so settling for ever the disappointments of the past-and whateve

ried the wrong man-far, far more wretched in the future than you've ever been

iddle of a staircase you must inevitably continue taking steps-either up or down. A

ily," replied

Surely you know me better than that! I value my creature comforts far too much to

her heart torn by the bit

, I know," she i

ushions, swinging h

commented curtly over her shoulder, and sauntered away towards the house,

of all the trouble. Then she herself had intervened to distract Nan's thoughts by asking Peter to be a pal to her. And the net result of it all was that P

g up with the frown still wrinkling her pre

nightmare, I think!" sh

dly face took on

that I can di

wrinkled old hand that reste

l, but in this case I'm afraid you can't help. In fac

then?" he s

ed rather m

n who is causing us anx

just

guessed? I'm

twisted in a w

at six-foot-odd of bon

ll

ss and because Roger is as insistent as a man with that kind of chin alway

ard one of the garden chairs and sat down. "Trenby's a very

he devil's own temper when he's roused and he's filled to the brim with good old-fashioned notions about a man being mas

stirred r

rather tired voice. "Still"-with an effort-"we must hope for the bes

ound after her fro

you mustn't assume too much from Roger's liking to be with her. I'm sure if I were one of her conte

st!" sa

claimer came quic

philosophica

ice. It isn't we who mov

owards the house. They found tea in progress on the square lawn facing the sea and every one foregathered there. Nan, apparently in wild spir

es along the coast the great cliffs were wrapt in a soft, quivering haze so that the lines and curves of their vari-coloured strat

y sandwiches here," ann

ft any. Have

rosaic and entirely uninteresting Scotsman. Red-haired and freckled, with the high cheekbones of his Celtic forebears, he was a young man o

easily. "I gave you a

sn't left any," r

What are they made of, Kitty? They'd beguile a fas

cress," replied Mr

imp paste," declared Sandy. "And it

unostentatiously t

hth," com

them," he murmured plain

and you continue to absorb sandwiches at your present rate of consumption, you'll soo

ll count,"

N

he adde

you're a

honic poem under the influence of salmon and

torted Nan promptly. "S

hindrance to the tones of the beautiful Blüthner piano. Some of the party drifted in from the terrace

tle older," whispered

tch-maker!" he

own on to the musi

arranged for four hands," he announc

on't be r

ive-four. Come along. One, two, three, four,

nally Sandy was persuaded to produce his violin-he had two, one of which, as he was wont to remark, "lodged" at Mallow. With the help of Penelope and Ralph Fenton, the aftern