es into my case.--That's right, Brown; put my bag
in my room. And, Brown, you might put some vaseline on those golf-clubs.
I sha'n't be wanting them for some little time.--Come along,
pater.--Excuse me, Mr.--Mr.'----

'SELWYN,' cried Lady Durwent.

'Mr. Selwyn, I'll see you later, eh?'

'The old nobleman ascended the stairs with his son, and the agreeable
chatter of the younger man, with its references to 'topping sport' and
'absolutely ripping weather,' came to an end as they disappeared along
the western wing of the house. Lady Durwent, wiping her eyes, went into
the library, and Selwyn, who was not particularly enamoured of solitude
and its attending tyranny of thoughts, followed her.

Elise, who had stood in mute contemplation of her brother, neither
addressing a remark nor being addressed, hesitated momentarily, then went
into the drawing-room by herself and closed the door.

'Oh, Mr. Selwyn,' said Lady Durwent, breathing heavily, 'you have no idea
what a mother's feelings are at a time like this.'

'I can only sympathise most sincerely,' said the American gravely.

'He has been such a good boy,' she said vaguely, 'and so devoted to his
mother.'

'I can see that, Lady Durwent.'

'I shall never forget,' she went on, her own words creating a deliciously
dramatic trembling in her bosom, 'how he wept when his father insisted
upon his leaving home for school. It was all I could do to console the
child; and when he came home for the holidays he was just my shadow.'

At that satisfactory thought (though Selwyn was a little puzzled at the
picture of the diminutive Malcolm serving as a shadow for Lady Durwent's
bulk) she expanded into a smile, but immediately corrected the error with
a burst of unrestrained grief.

'THINK OF IT, MR. SELWYN,' she cried, reversing the formula--'WE ARE AT
WAR!'

He murmured assent. 'I am afraid, Lady Durwent,' he said, 'that I must
return to London this afternoon.'

'Oh, Mr. Selwyn!'

'Yes, I must. I have a great deal of work before me, and only the
cordiality of your welcome and the pleasure I have felt in being here
would have allowed me to stay so long. You have been wonderfully kind,
and perhaps the fact that I was here when war broke out will lend a
special significance to our friendship for the future.'

'Oh, I shall never forget you,' murmured his hostess, whose emotions were
so near the surface that almost any remark was sufficient to tap them.
'You have been t