he returned quietly; "it is such a lovely
afternoon that I preferred to walk. No, I did not come to meet you; for
all I knew, you might have been at the Wood House. I only had a fancy
that I should like to see the woodlands again, and then I saw you
coming."

"It is not my usual afternoon for Rotherwood," she returned quickly,
but a faint colour had come in her face at his words; "but I am there
most days. You know, of course--Dinah will have told you--of the new
interest I have there. I think Die tells you most things," she
continued, with the same glimmer of a smile on her lips.

"Yes, she is very good," he returned gravely. They were walking side by
side now. Malcolm had hardly trusted himself to look at her, and yet
nothing had been lost on him. How changed she was! that was his first
thought. She looked years older; mourning did not suit her; the black
hat with its heavy trimming seemed to extinguish her somehow. She was
paler and thinner, he was sure of that, and had lost some of her
splendid vitality; and yet in spite of all this it was to him the
dearest face in the world.

As she made that poor little attempt at a smile, his whole heart went
out to her in profound love and pity, and he forgot his own pain in
remembering her trouble.

"Your sister told me about Mr. Carlyon," he said, as they crossed the
road; "I was very glad to hear from her how well it answered."

"He is very happy at Rotherwood," returned Elizabeth. "The people seem
to take to him, and he and the vicar are like brothers, and the work
exactly suits him. Theo is happy too, and that is a great blessing. And
we have made the cottage so pretty that I should like you to see it."
Elizabeth's manner had become more natural; she spoke now as though she
were sure of Malcolm's interest. He did not disappoint her.

"I shall certainly call there when I go to the vicarage," he returned,
and then he stopped as though to take breath. "I was very glad when I
read your sister's letter, and knew that this new work was to come to
you; it must make you so much happier."

Malcolm's words were almost magical in their effect, for Elizabeth
turned to him with her old eagerness.

"Oh, you always understand," she said gratefully; "that is why it is so
easy to talk to you. Yes, indeed, it has made me so much happier. Life
is worth living when one knows there is some one in the world who is
dependent on one for earthly comfort. Of course Mr. Carlyon has Theo,