o importance at
the time of their happening. Strive as she might, she could not hide
from herself how much happier would have been her lot if she had loved
and married Windebank. It also seemed to her as if fate had done much
to bring them together. She recalled, in this connection, how she again
met this friend of her early youth at Mrs Hamilton's, of all places,
where he had not only told her of the nature of the house into which
she had been decoyed, but had set her free of the place. Then had
followed the revelation of her hitherto concealed identity, a
confession which had called into being all his old-time, boyish
infatuation for her. To prevent possible developments of this passion
for a portionless girl from interfering with his career, she had left
him, to lose herself in the fog. If her present situation were a
misfortune, it had arisen from her abnormal, and, as it had turned out,
mischievous consideration for his welfare. But scruples of the nature
which she had displayed were assuredly numbered amongst the virtues,
and to arrive at the conclusion that evil had arisen from the practice
of virtue was unthinkable. Such a sorry sequence could not be; God
would not permit it.

Mavis's head ached. Life to her seemed an inexplicable tangle, from
which one fact stood out with insistent prominence. This, that although
Windebank's thoughtless words about the safety of a woman with the man
who truly loved her had awakened considerable apprehension in her
heart, she realised how necessary it was to trust Perigal even more (if
that were possible) than she had ever done before. He was her life, her
love, her all. She trusted and believed in him implicitly. She was sure
that she would love him till the last moment of her life. With this
thought in her heart, with his name on her lips, the while she clutched
Perigal's ring, which Miss Toombs's generosity had enabled her to get
out of pawn, she fell asleep.

The first post brought two letters. One was from Miss Toombs's business
acquaintance, offering her a berth at twenty-eight shillings a week;
the other was from Montague Devitt, confirming the offer he had made
Mavis at Paddington. Devitt's letter told her that she could resume
work on the following Monday fortnight. It did not take Mavis the
fraction of a second to decide which of the two offers she would
accept. She sat down and wrote to Mr Devitt to thank him for his
letter; she said that the would be pleased to com