t off to storage.

There had been but one interruption in Honora's labours. A note had
arrived--from him--a note and a box. He would obey her! She had known he
would understand, and respect her the more. What would their love have
been, without that respect? She shuddered to think. And he sent her this
ring, as a token of that love, as undying as the fire in its stones.
Would she wear it, that in her absence she might think of him? Honora
kissed it and slipped it on her finger, where it sparkled. The letter
was beneath her gown, though she knew it by heart. Chiltern had gone at
last: he could not, he said, remain in Newport and not see her.

At midday she made but the pretence of a meal. It was not until
afterwards, in wandering through the lower rooms of this house, become
so dear to her, that agitation seized her, and a desire to weep. What
was she leaving so precipitately? and whither going? The world
indeed was wide, and these rooms had been her home. The day had grown
blue-grey, and in the dining room the gentle face seemed to look down
upon her compassionately from the portrait. The scent of the roses
overpowered her. As she listened, no sound brake the quiet of the place.

Would Howard never come? The train was in--had been in ten minutes.
Hark, the sound of wheels! Her heart beating wildly, she ran to the
windows of the drawing-room and peered through the lilacs. Yes, there he
was, ascending the steps.

"Mrs. Spence is out, I suppose," she heard him say to the butler, who
followed with his bag.

"No, sir, she's is the drawing-room."

The sight of him, with his air of satisfaction and importance, proved an
unexpected tonic to her strength. It was as though he had brought into
the room, marshalled behind him, all the horrors of her marriage, and
she marvelled and shuddered anew at the thought of the years of that
sufferance.

"Well, I'm back," he said, "and we've made a great killing, as I wrote
you. They were easier than I expected."

He came forward for the usual perfunctory kiss, but she recoiled, and it
was then that his eye seemed to grasp the significance of her travelling
suit and veil, and he glanced at her face.

"What's up? Where are you going?" he demanded. "Has anything happened?"

"Everything," she said, and it was then, suddenly, that she felt the
store of her resolution begin to ebb, and she trembled. "Howard, I am
going away."

He stopped short, and thrust his hands into the pockets of