he girl whom he wished
to avoid. Her set composure went to his heart when he recalled the
radiance of the face which had beamed at him in the same place only a
few days before. She had been so happy, poor girl, so fond, so
unsuspicious; and now...

Teresa turned towards him hastily.

"You will go in a smoker, Dane, won't you? I am tired out. I expect I
shall sleep all the way. Come for me at the Junction, in case I am
carried on."

She stepped into a carriage, and moved towards the farther side,
arranging impedimenta upon the seat, with her back turned towards him.
There was no time to wait, for he was obliged to move along quickly to
take his own seat, but though the alertness of relief showed in his
movements, his heart went out towards his _fiancee_ with a rush of
gratitude. How kind, how considerate, how singularly wise and
far-seeing! Most girls, he was convinced, would have manoeuvred for a
_tete-a-tete_, and turned the journey into a torture of tears and
reproaches, but Teresa had voluntarily sent him away, and had done so,
moreover, in a natural, commonplace fashion free from trace of offence.

Bravo, Teresa! As he took his seat in a corner of the smoker Peignton
was probably more warmly her admirer than at any previous moment in
their acquaintance. A sensible, level-headed woman, who would help, not
hinder through the hard moments of life. Mentally he took off his cap
to Teresa; but when he had lighted a cigarette he fell back into dreams
of another woman who was neither practical nor level-headed, as admirers
of sensible women are apt to do.

As for Teresa, she cursed herself a hundred times over for having thrown
away a valuable opportunity, but her resolution not to harass Dane in
this first miserable day of indecision sprang into life again at the
sight of his worn face when he came to join her at the Junction, and she
braced herself afresh to help him through the ordeal of arrival.

Mrs Mallison had been prepared by wire for her daughter's sudden
return, and her curiosity was at boiling point as to the reasons
thereof. The statement that Lady Cassandra was ill, and Mrs Beverley
engaged in nursing, was far too vague to prove satisfying. She wanted
to hear what nature of ill, how long an ill, how serious an ill, with
details of the premonitory symptoms, and the precise circumstances under
which they had developed. She waved the way towards the dining-room,
explaining that lunch had been d