And one night she told Him so to His face.
It had been a pretty crowded day, even for so busy a sinner as little Joan.

It was springtime, and they had gone into the country for her mother's health.

Maybe it was the season: a stirring of the human sap, conducing to that feeling of being "too big for one's boots," as the saying is.

A dangerous period of the year.

Indeed, on the principle that prevention is better than cure, Mrs.Munday had made it a custom during April and May to administer to Joan a cooling mixture; but on this occasion had unfortunately come away without it.