to wish him good-bye when they left the restaurant; but,
somehow, when they went out together, she made no objection to his
accompanying her in the direction of Halverton Street, the reason being
that she felt wholly at home with him; he seemed so potent to protect
her; he was so concerned for her happiness and well-being. She revelled
in the unaccustomed security which his presence inspired.

"What are you going to buy?" he asked, as they again approached Lupus
Street.

"Odds and ends."

"You must let me carry them."

She smiled a little sadly, but otherwise made no reply to Windebank's
suggestion. She was bent on enjoying to the full her new-found
sensation of security. When they reached Lupus Street, she went into
the mean shops to order or get (in either case to pay for) the simple
things she needed. These comprised bovril, tea, bacon, sugar,
methylated spirit, bread, milk, a chop, a cauliflower, six bottles of
stout, and three pounds of potatoes. Whatever shop she entered,
Windebank insisted on accompanying her, and, in most cases, quadrupled
her order; in others, bought all kinds of things which he thought she
might want. In any other locality, the sight of a man in evening dress,
with prosperity written all over him, accompanying a shabbily-dressed
girl, as Mavis then was, in her shopping, would have excited comment;
but in Pimlico, anything of this nature was not considered at all out
of the way.

Windebank, loaded with parcels, accompanied Mavis to the door of her
lodging. Here, she opened the door, and in three or four journeys to
her room relieved Windebank of his burdens. She was loth to let him go.
Seeing that her baby was sleeping peacefully, she said to Windebank,
when she joined him outside:

"I'll walk a little way with you."

"It's very good of you."

As they walked towards Victoria, neither of them seemed eager for
speech. They were both oppressed by the realisation of the inevitable
roads to which life's travellers are bound, despite the personal
predilections of the wayfarers.

"Little Mavis! little Mavis! what is going to happen?" he presently
asked.

"I'm going to be married and live happily ever after," she answered.

"I've had shocking luck. I mean with regard to you," he continued.

Mavis making no reply to this remark, he went on:

"But what I can't understand is, why you ran away that night when I got
you out of Mrs Hamilton's."

"I escaped in the fog."

"But why? Why? Li