e was, on the
whole, satisfied with the way he chose and wore his clothes. His mother
had held a leading place in the exclusive society of a quiet cathedral
town, until her husband lost his small fortune. Mrs. Allott understood
that something might have been saved had Tom Thirlwell been less
scrupulous; but Tom had unconventional views about money, and Jim was
like his father in many ways. Mrs. Allott, having done her best to
enlighten him, hoped he would now see where his advantage lay.

"You are not very talkative, Jim," she said.

Thirlwell looked up with an apologetic smile, but his eyes rested on
the girl by Mrs. Allott's side. Evelyn Grant was young and attractive,
but there was something tame about her beauty that harmonized with her
character. Thirlwell had not always recognized this; indeed, when they
were younger, he had indulged a romantic tenderness for the girl. This,
however, was long since, and the renewal of their friendship in Canada
left him cold. Evelyn was gracious, and he sometimes thought she had not
forgotten his youthful admiration, but she did not feel things much, and
he suspected that she had acquiesced in Mrs. Allott's rather obvious
plot because she was too indolent to object. For all that, he imagined
that if he took a bold line she would not repulse him, and by comparison
with his poverty Evelyn was rich. Then he banished the thought with an
unconscious frown.

"Oh, well, I suppose it's our last evening together, and one feels
melancholy about that," he said.

"But I thought you were coming to New York with us," Mrs. Allott
objected.

Evelyn was talking animatedly to a young American, but looked round with
languid carelessness.

"Are you really not coming, Jim?" she asked.

Then, without waiting for Thirlwell's answer, she resumed her talk, and
Mrs. Allott wondered whether the girl had not overdone her part. After
all, she must have known why she had been brought.

"I think not," said Thirlwell. "Very sorry, of course, but there's only
a week of my holiday left and I have some business in South Ontario.
Then I must go back to the bush."

"That's ridiculous, Jim," Mrs. Allott rejoined. "You know you needn't
go back to the bush at all. Besides, we hoped you had decided to come to
England." She paused and touched Evelyn. "Do you hear what he says?
Can't you persuade him to be sensible?"

Evelyn turned and looked at Thirlwell with a careless smile. She was
very composed, but Mrs.