country." She spoke without
looking at him. "I am sure that he is having a much better time in
London than he would have here----" She broke off. "Mr. Kettering,
will you come back and have tea with me?"

Kettering coloured; he tried to refuse; he wanted to refuse; but
somehow her brown eyes would not let him; somehow----

"I shall be delighted," he heard himself say.

He had not meant to say it; he would have given a great deal to recall
the words as soon as they were spoken, but it was too late. Another
moment and they were in the house.

He looked round him with a sense of great pleasure. It seemed a
lifetime since he had been here; it was like coming home again to be
here and with the woman he loved. He looked at little Christine with
wistful eyes.

"Gladys is out," she said, "so you will have to put up with me alone;
do you mind?"

"Do I mind!" She coloured beneath his gaze; her heart was beating fast.

He followed her across the hall. He knew he was doing the weak thing;
knew that he ought to turn on his heel and go away, but he knew that he
intended staying.

An hour with Christine alone; it was worth risking something for to
have that. Christine opened the drawing-room door.

"We'll have tea here," she said; "it's much more cosy. I----"

She stopped dead; her voice broke off into silence with a curious
little jarring sound.

A man had risen from the sofa by the window; a tall young man, with a
pale face and worried-looking eyes--Jimmy Challoner!

CHAPTER XX

LOVE LOCKED OUT

Jimmy only glanced at Christine; his eyes went past her almost
immediately to the man who was following her into the room; a streak of
red crept into his pale face.

It was Kettering who recovered himself first; he went forward with
outstretched hand.

"Well, I never! We were just talking about you."

His voice was quite steady, perfectly friendly, but his heart had given
one bitter throb of disappointment at sight of Christine's husband.
This was the end of their little half-hour together. Perhaps it was
Fate stepping in opportunely to prevent him making a fool of himself.

Jimmy and he shook hands awkwardly. Jimmy had made no attempt to greet
his wife. One would have thought that they had met only an hour or two
previously, to judge by the coolness of their meeting, though beneath
her black frock Christine's heart was racing, and for the first few
moments she hardly knew what she was doing or wh