er, declined an
invitation to lunch, and rode off on his bicycle. The rest of the little
party gathered round the motor car, and Borrowdean asked preposterous
questions about the gears and the speeds.

"If you are really interested," Mrs. Handsell said, languidly, "I will
take you home. I have only room for one, unfortunately, with all these
clubs and things."

"I should be delighted," Borrowdean answered, "but perhaps Miss
Mannering--"

"Clara will look after me," Mannering interrupted, smiling. "Try to make
an enthusiast of him, Mrs. Handsell. He needs a hobby badly."

They started off. She leaned back in her seat and pulled her veil down.

"Do not talk to me here," she said. "We shall have a quarter of an hour
before they can arrive."

Borrowdean assented silently. He was glad of the respite, for he wanted
to think. A few minutes' swift rush through the air, and the car pulled
up before a queer, old-fashioned dwelling house in the middle of the
village. A smart maid-servant came hurrying out to assist her mistress.
Borrowdean was ushered into a long, low drawing-room, with open windows
leading out on to a trim lawn. Beyond was a walled garden bordering the
churchyard.

Mrs. Handsell came back almost immediately. Borrowdean, turning his head
as she entered, found himself studying her with a new curiosity. Yes, she
was a beautiful woman. She had lost nothing. Her complexion--a little
tanned, perhaps--was as fresh and soft as a girl's, her smile as
delightfully full of humour as ever. Not a speck of grey in her black
hair, not a shadow of embarrassment. A wonderful woman!

"The one thing which we have no time to do is to stand and look at one
another," she declared. "However, since you have tried to stare me out of
countenance, what do you find?"

"I find you unchanged," he answered, gravely.

"Naturally! I have found a panacea for all the woes of life. Now what do
you want down here?"

"Mannering!"

"Of course. But you won't get him. He declares that he has finished with
politics, and I never knew a man so thoroughly in earnest."

Borrowdean smiled.

"No man has ever finished with politics!"

"A platitude," she declared. "As for Mannering, well, for the first few
weeks I felt about him as I suppose you do now. I know him better now,
and I have changed my mind. He is unique, absolutely unique! Do you think
that I could have existed here for nearly two months without him?"

"May I inquire," Borrowdea