. Halfway through
the words a sudden obstacle arose in her throat. It was all she could
do to struggle through. She hoped to goodness the footman did not
notice.

"There now! what did I tell you? You look fagged to death, and as cross
as two sticks. Five shillings wasted on taxis, and nothing for it but
getting thoroughly upset. Next time I hope you will take my advice!"
said Cecil, and took up her candle to grope her way up the dark stairway
to bed.

CHAPTER TEN.

NOWHERE TO GO.

Cecil's observance of her day of licenced grumbling was somewhat
obstructed by the fact that for several weeks after Mrs Willoughby's At
Home, Monday mornings found her in a condition of excitement and gaiety.
It was a restless gaiety, which seemed to spring rather from the head
than the heart, and Claire looking on with puzzled eyes had an instinct
that her companion was assiduously whipping up her own spirits, playing
the part of happiness with all her force, with the object of convincing
the most critical of all audiences--her own heart! Life was a lonely
thing to Claire in these days, for Cecil went out regularly every
Saturday and Sunday, returning so late that the two girls did not meet
from lunch one day until breakfast the next. She vouchsafed no
explanation of her sudden plunge into society, neither beforehand when
she sat stitching at pathetic little pieces of finery, nor afterwards
when letting herself in with her latch-key she crept slowly to bed,
never deigning to enter Claire's room for one of those "tell-all-about-
it" _seances_ dear to a girl's heart.

It was the sight of those pathetic little pieces of finery which first
suggested the idea of a man to Claire's mind. However dear and intimate
a woman friend may be, the prospect of meeting her does not inspire a
fellow-woman with sufficient energy to sit up until after midnight to
cover a shabby lace blouse with ninon, or to put a new silk collar and
cuffs on a half-worn coat. It is only the prospect of meeting the eyes
of some male creature, who in all probability will remain supremely
unconscious of the result, which stimulates such effort, and Claire,
noting Cecil's restless excitement, cast anxious thoughts towards the
particular man in this case.

Was Sophie Blake correct in her deduction as to a previous unhappy
romance? Claire had no tangible grounds to lead her to a conclusion,
but instinct induced her to agree. Something beyond the troubles of he