CHAPTER VIII.
THE DIPLOMAT.
Aunt Jane was in her garden, enjoying the flowers.

This was her especial garden, surrounded by a high-box hedge, and quite distinct from the vast expanse of shrubbery and flower-beds which lent so much to the beauty of the grounds at Elmhurst.

Aunt Jane knew and loved every inch of her property.

She had watched the shrubs personally for many years, and planned all the alterations and the construction of the flower-beds which James had so successfully attended to.

Each morning, when her health permitted, she had inspected the greenhouses and issued her brief orders--brief because her slightest word to the old gardener incurred the fulfillment of her wishes.