g her boy as she now did, she was only
giving a further precious hostage to happiness.

For three days the mother was kept in a suspense that served to
protract the boy's illness, but, at the end of this time, largely owing
to Mrs Gowler's advice, he began to improve. The day that his
disquieting symptoms disappeared, which was also the day on which he
recovered his appetite, was signalised by the arrival of Perigal's
reply to Mavis's letter from Durley Road, announcing the birth of their
son. In this, he congratulated her on her fortitude, and assured her
that her happiness and well-being would always be his first
consideration. It also told her that she was the best and most charming
girl he had ever met; meeting with other women only the more
strengthened this conviction.

Mavis's heart leapt with a great joy. So long as she was easily first
in her lover's eyes, nothing else mattered. She had been foolish ever
to have done other than implicitly trust him. His love decorated the
one-time sparrow that she was with feathers of gorgeous hue.

Days succeeded each other within the four walls of Mrs Gowler's nursing
home much as anywhere else, although in each twenty-four hours there
usually occurred what were to Mavis's sensitive eyes and ears
unedifying sights, agonised cries of women in torment. All day and
night, with scarcely any intermission, could be heard the wailing of
one or more babies in different rooms in the house. Mrs Gowler's
nursing home attracted numberless girls from all parts of the great
city, whose condition necessitated their temporary retirement from
employment, whatever it might be. Mavis gathered that they were mostly
the mean sort of general servant, who had succumbed to the
blandishments of the men who make it a practice to prey on this class
of woman. So far as Mavis could see, they were mostly plain and
uninteresting-looking; also, that the majority of them stayed only a
few days, lack of means preventing them being at Mrs Gowler's long
enough to recover their health. They would depart, hugging their baby
and carrying their poor little parcel of luggage, to be swallowed up
and lost in London's ravening and cavernous maw. As they sadly left the
house, Mavis could not help thinking that these deserted women were
indeed human sparrows, who needed no small share of their heavenly
Father's loving kindness to prevent them from falling and being utterly
lost in the mire of London. Once or twice dur