n the incident
publicity. She had done so for two reasons: first, in order that her
little afternoon At Home might have additional luster attached to it
by the presence of a young woman who had, in these days of a marriage
market overstocked with young women (and old women, for that matter),
thrown over an eligible man for conscience' sake; and secondly, in order
that her At Home might have additional luster attached to it from
the presence of the man who allowed himself to be thrown over by a
delightful girl rather than refrain from publishing what he believed to
be the truth.

Mrs. Linton achieved both the objects which, as a good hostess, she had
in view. Mr. Holland put in an appearance in one of Mrs. Linton's big
drawing rooms, and so did Phyllis Ayrton.

Everyone admitted that only a woman of the social capacity--some people
called it genius--of Mrs. Linton could accomplish such a feat as the
bringing into the same room two persons who had given unmistakable
evidence of possessing a conscience apiece--the woman who had sacrificed
the man for conscience' sake, and the man who had sacrificed the woman
under the same influence. It was a social triumph, beyond doubt.

People talked in whispers of conscience, the advantages and the
disadvantages of its possession, and the consensus of opinion was of its
being quite appropriate in regard to a clergyman, and that it was not
altogether out of place on the part of a spinster, provided that she had
counteracting virtues; but, on the whole, it was perhaps wiser to leave
the conscience with the Nonconformists.

Phyllis did not see George Holland until she had got halfway up the
first of Mrs. Linton's rooms. She did not hear her friend Ella say to
someone, in a low voice of apprehension:

"For Heaven's sake, keep them apart! They are just the sort of people
to greet each other quite cordially; and if they do, no one here will
believe that their engagement is off. People here don't understand how a
delicate conscience works."

That was what Ella murmured to a man who had been invited in order that
he might make himself generally useful. She gave him his instructions
too late, however. Before she had quite completed her greeting of
Phyllis, Mr. Holland was beside them.

He had not forced himself forward with any measure of persistency; no
one seemed to notice any movement on his part until he had shaken
hands with Phyllis, and was chatting with her and Mrs. Linton quite