Half-past four, and already an inner voice was suggesting _tea!_ To miss five o'clock tea on a thirsty afternoon like this was not to be thought of for a moment.

She had no intention of going back to tea at Atherstone, where she was staying with her cousins, Mr.and Mrs.Danvers.Two alternatives remained.

Should she go to Slumberleigh Hall, close by, and see the Thursbys, who she knew had all returned from London yesterday, or should she go across the fields to Slumberleigh Rectory, and have tea with Uncle John and Aunt Fanny?
She knew that Sir Charles Danvers, Ralph Danvers's elder brother, was expected at Atherstone that afternoon.

His aunt, Lady Mary Cunningham, was also staying there, partly with a view of meeting him.

Ralph Danvers had not seen his brother, nor Lady Mary her nephew, for some time, and, judging by the interest they seemed to feel in his visit, Ruth had determined not to interrupt a family meeting, in which she imagined she might be _de trop_.
"My fine tact," she thought, "will enable them to have a quiet talk among themselves till nearly dinner-time.