n a second, and by the time we got back to the
right road we knew it was too late to do anything."

Gertrude looked at the tea-table approvingly.

"I will ask you to tea, Cecil, as Denys does not. Where is Mrs.
Henchman, Denys? You don't seem very communicative to-night."

"She is lying down till Charlie comes," said Denys. "We had a bother
with the donkey and it upset her. Audrey had to come back with her
and I went on to the Landslip to find you. I have only just got back.
Audrey has gone to her concert; she was able to get a ticket for you
after all, and she said she was sorry she could not wait for you, as
she was playing, but she would come and speak to you in the interval."

Gertrude glanced at the ticket and tossed it on to the table.

"I shan't go all by myself," she said, "I shall go and hear the
Stainer. I shall like it much better; it is too utterly dull to sit by
one's self."

Denys's heart sank. She had so counted on this treat alone with
Charlie, and had secretly been much pleased when Audrey and Gertrude
had planned to go to the concert together, and now here she was
saddled with Gertrude's company. Besides, what would Audrey say?

She poured out the tea and as she put milk into the third cup, she
almost smiled.

She had forgotten Cecil! Of course, though there was but one ticket
for the concert, there were no tickets needed for the Church!

But she herself must start for the station almost immediately, and the
Service of Song was not till eight o'clock. She must leave the couple
behind her, and then if Gertrude changed her mind again and stayed
at home after all, what _would_ Mrs. Henchman think when she came
downstairs and found them amusing themselves over the drawing-room
fire?

Somehow since she came to Whitecliff, Denys had felt bewildered and
out of touch with God, and had forgotten her usual habit of praying
about the little everyday worries and perplexities; but now suddenly,
fresh from the walk under the moonlit trees which had reminded her of
Gethsemane, as she stood with the teapot in her hand, she bethought
her of the words, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help
in trouble," and with the remembrance of Him, came the suggestion of
what she had better do.

She would run up and say good-bye to Mrs. Henchman and tell her what
they were all planning for the evening, and then the responsibility
would be no longer on her shoulders.

And even as she decided this, Cecil l