Amaryllis was a quick walker, and had set a good pace up the slope from the stile. Suddenly she remembered her companion's nick-name, and, slackening her speed, involuntarily glanced down to see if indeed this man were lame. He came up beside her. "It's all right, Miss Caldegard," he said kindly. "My action's a blemish, not a handicap." "Oh, Mr. Bellamy!" she said. "I never even noticed it until this minute." "I thought that was how you recognised me in the road," said the man. "It wasn't that," said Amaryllis, and in fear of further questioning, whistled her dog back to the path. "Silly old thing," she said. "He won't believe that Mr. Bunny is too quick for him; he's never caught one yet except in his dreams." They were making their way towards the house when they heard the car drive up to the front door, and before they reached the windows of the dining-room, Randal Bellamy turned the corner. Amaryllis stood apart watching with a certain curiosity the meeting of the brothers. The elder's face was beaming with welcome, the younger's she could not see, but something in his bearing suggested a pleasure no less. All she heard, however, was: "Hullo, young 'un!" and "Hullo, Bill!" And, when they came towards her, the expression of the two faces was that of men who, having breakfasted together, had met again at luncheon. "Somebody's forestalled my solemn introduction, I see," said Randal. "Gorgon performed the ceremony," said Amaryllis. CHAPTER IV. COFFEE. Randal Bellamy at fifty was the most successful patent lawyer of his day. He had taken silk before he was forty, and for many years had enjoyed, not only the largest practice, but a distinction unrivalled in his own country and unsurpassed in the world. Such a man's knowledge in physics, chemistry and biology, though less precise, is often wider than that of the individual specialist. His friendship with Theophilus Caldegard, begun at Cambridge, had lasted and grown stronger with the years. On the evening of his brother's arrival he dressed
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