out of the way anything which would hurt the girl. In the afternoon she
went down to the station in the village car, the same which had borne
Cyril Morland away that July night, for their coachman had been taken for
the army, and the horses were turned out.

Noel looked tired and white, but calm--too calm. Her face seemed to
Thirza to have fined down, and with those brooding eyes, to be more
beautiful. In the car she possessed herself of the girl's hand, and
squeezed it hard; their only allusion to the situation, except Noel's
formal:

"Thank you so much, Auntie, for having me; it's most awfully sweet of you
and Uncle Bob."

"There's no one in the house, my dear, except old Nurse. It'll be very
dull for you; but I thought I'd teach you to cook; it's rather useful."

The smile which slipped on to Noel's face gave Thirza quite a turn.

She had assigned the girl a different room, and had made it
extraordinarily cheerful with a log fire, chrysanthemums, bright copper
candlesticks, warming-pans, and such like.

She went up with her at bedtime, and standing before the fire, said:

"You know, Nollie, I absolutely refuse to regard this as any sort of
tragedy. To bring life into the worlds in these days, no matter how,
ought to make anyone happy. I only wish I could do it again, then I
should feel some use. Good night dear; and if you want anything, knock
on the wall. I'm next door. Bless you!" She saw that the girl was
greatly moved, underneath her pale mask; and went out astonished at her
niece's powers of self-control.

But she did not sleep at all well; for in imagination, she kept on seeing
Noel turning from side to side in the big bed, and those great eyes of
hers staring at the dark.

2

The meeting of the brothers Pierson took place at the dinner-hour, and
was characterised by a truly English lack of display. They were so
extremely different, and had been together so little since early days in
their old Buckinghamshire home, that they were practically strangers,
with just the potent link of far-distant memories in common. It was of
these they talked, and about the war. On this subject they agreed in the
large, and differed in the narrow. For instance, both thought they knew
about Germany and other countries, and neither of course had any real
knowledge of any country outside their own; for, though both had passed
through considerable tracts of foreign ground at one time or another,
they had