front door, carrying his bag.

Soon afterwards she passed into the hall, and sat dipping into the
papers and thinking over her talk with Dick.

Presently a page stepped up to her with a letter on a salver.

Her heart stood still as she saw the stamp, the post-mark, and the
writing. It was from Aubrey Treherne, forwarded from Hollymead.

Helen was sorely tempted for a moment to burn it unread. She had
suffered so much through a former letter in that handwriting. She
suddenly realised how cruelly Aubrey's words about Ronnie had, in the
light of Ronnie's subsequent behaviour, eaten into her soul.

She looked at the fire. She rose and moved towards it, the letter in her
hand.

Then better counsels prevailed.

She went slowly upstairs to her sitting-room, closed the door, sat down,
and opened Aubrey's letter.

It contained a smaller envelope sealed, on which was written: "Read
letter first."

She opened the folded sheets.

"DEAR HELEN,

"Yes, you are right about God's Word not returning void. Your own words,
I admit, only hardened me; but those at the end of your letter broke me
up. I am so very far removed from light and fellowship, love and
forgiveness. I doubt if I can ever get back into the way of peace.

"But, anyhow, before the great Feast of Peace upon earth, goodwill
toward men, I can take a first step by fully confessing the great wrong
I did to you and to your husband rather more than a month ago, on the
evening which he spent at my flat.

"Possibly you have found it out already; but possibly not, as I hear he
has been very seriously ill.

"The evening he was here, he was more or less queer and light-headed,
but he was full of you, and of his delight in going home. I suppose this
all helped to madden me. No need to explain why. You know.

"He had found a letter from you at the _Poste Restante_; but, rushing
around to his publishers, etc., had not had time to read it.

"When he remembered it and found it in his pocket-book, he stood with
his back to my stove, in great excitement, and tore it open; I sitting
by.

"As he unfolded the large sheets of foreign paper, a note flew out from
between them, and fell, unseen by him, to the floor.

"I put my foot on it. I gathered, from extracts he read me from the
letter, that this note was of importance.

"When he found in a postscript that you mentioned an enclosure, he
hunted everywhere for it; not thinking, of course, to look under my
foot.

"He