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but of Ralph.”
    “Meddling again, my dear?”
    “You might call it that. He may, if all goes well, approach you with a scheme for purchasing the Drew farm.”
    “Whatever would interest him in such a thing?”
    “He and Benjamin Karst have recently developed a desire to breed horses, you know.”
    “I didn’t know. You put a flea in their ears?”
    “Yes, for it seems to me the best way to get Ralph interested in the land is for him to have something to do with it. He is a good judge of horses when he keeps his mind on business. If he and Benjamin were to start an endeavor, you would be in a position to lead them through it successfully,” Kate pointed out.
    “It could be a condition of a loan that he farm the property profitably while he is getting into the breeding of horses,” Mr. Montgomery said thoughtfully. “Is the Drew acreage worth the endeavor?”
    “I doubt it shows much of a profit now, for though it is well-maintained, I cannot see that the latest developments are being employed. There is definitely potential there. If Ralph does not wish it . . . well, never mind. I hope he will come to you. He does not realize Susan and I plotted his downfall from the gentleman of leisure, you understand.”
    “Susan has taken to meddling, too, now?” her father sighed.
    “Susan must needs learn that the inequities of the law with regard to women can only be equalized by the use of a little strategy where men are concerned,” Kate protested. “It will do her no harm, for there is no malice in her.”
    “You spent too long in Daventry, Kate.”
     

Chapter 5
     
    A week later there was a heavy snow and a great freeze. The Hall park was mounded with drifts, the trees covered with the white lace and hanging icicles of the season. Kate had been excluded from any discussions on the Drew farm, if there had been any. She knew her father had ridden over to see it some days before, but he was close-mouthed with Kate.
    “I have no doubt he is annoyed with me for interfering,” Kate told Susan, as they were enjoying tea that afternoon. “He likes my knowing about the estate, but he takes exception to my meddling, as he calls it.”
    “If he’s miffed, he’ll soon get over it. You know he cannot be displeased with you for long.”
    “So I hope.”
    They were interrupted by Sampson bearing a letter on a silver platter which he offered to Kate. When he had left, Kate broke the seal and exclaimed, “It’s from Charity! You won’t mind if I read it now, will you, Susan?” After a moment she continued, “She’s in Bath with her mother and sister. Famous! I shall ask Mama right away if I may have her to visit for a spell. She is the most delightful person, Susan, and quite beautiful.”
    “We should have a party while she’s here,” Susan contributed helpfully.
    “With this weather, it should be a skating party,” Kate replied.
    “We haven’t done that for years! Let’s. I love gliding around with a huge muff and sitting by the fire drinking steaming chocolate. Do you suppose we could?”
    “I see no reason not to, if Mama is agreeable. I shall speak with her.”
    Within the hour Kate had dispatched a letter to her friend offering to meet the coach from Bath five days hence in Bristol at noon. The skating party became an established plan, and invitations were sent out to most of the young people in the neighborhood, including four of Kate’s erstwhile suitors, as Wayne had returned to Cambridge.
    “That’s one nice thing about a skating party,” Susan giggled, as she dipped her pen in the standish. “There are so few of our elders around to spoil the fun.”
    “And there are no limits to the time you spend with one person as there are at a ball, Susan. Whom do you plan to spend so much time with, puss?” Kate quizzed her.
    “It is just that I have seen so little of Charles these days. He seems to be taking an unusual interest in his estate of a sudden. Kate, did you meddle there, too?” Susan