ke me----"

He waited, as if expecting her to contradict him, but she did not, and
it was impossible for him to know that through the darkness her heart
was racing, and her cheeks crimson because--well, perhaps because she
liked him too much for complete happiness.

CHAPTER XXII

TOO LATE!

Jimmy and Christine travelled to London at opposite ends of the
carriage.

Jimmy had done his best to make his wife comfortable, he had wrapped a
rug round her though it was a mild night, he had bought more papers and
magazines than she could possibly read on a journey of twice the
length, and seeing that she was disinclined to talk, he had finally
retired to the other end of the carriage and pretended to be asleep.

He was dying for a smoke, he would have given his soul for a cigarette,
but he was afraid to ask for permission, so he sat there in durance
vile with his arms folded rightly and his eyes half closed, while the
train sped on through the night towards London.

Christine turned the pages of her magazines diligently, though it is
doubtful if she read a word or saw a single picture.

She felt very tired and dispirited, it was as if she had been forced
back against her will to look once more on the day of her wedding, when
the cold cheerlessness of the church and vestry had frightened her, and
when Jimmy had asked Sangster to lunch with them. The thought of
Sangster gave her a gleam of comfort; she liked him, and she knew that
he could be relied upon; she wondered how soon she would see him.

And then she thought of Kettering and the last words he had said to her
on the steps at Upton House, and a little sigh escaped her. She
thought Jimmy was asleep, she put down the magazine and let herself
drift. There was something about Kettering that had appealed to her as
no other man had ever done, something manly and utterly reliable which
she found restful and protecting. She wondered what he would say when
he heard that she had gone back to Jimmy, and what he would think.

She looked across at her husband, his eyes were wide open.

"Do you want anything?" he asked quickly.

"No, thank you." She seized upon the magazine again, she flushed in
confusion.

"I've been wondering," said Jimmy gently, "where you would like to stay
when we get to town. I think you'd be more comfortable in--in my rooms
if you wouldn't mind going there, but----"

She interrupted hastily, "I'd much rather go to an hotel. I don't ca