eyes. She forced them back with all her
strength.

"I would like to--always," she whispered.

"Thank you," he said. "You are kinder than I deserve. I have done nothing
to win your confidence, so it is all the more generous of you to bestow
it. On the strength of your generosity I am going to ask you a question
which only a friend could ask. Dinah, is there any understanding of any
sort--apart from friendship--between you and Scott?"

She started slightly at the question, and in a moment firmly, with a
certain authority, his hand closed upon hers.

"You needn't be afraid to speak on Scott's account," he said, with that
rather grim humility that seemed so foreign to his proud nature that
every sign of it stabbed her afresh. "I am not such a dog in the manger
as that and he knows it."

"Oh no!" Dinah said, and her words came with a rush. "But--I told you
before, didn't I?--he doesn't care for me like that. He never has--never
will."

"I wonder why you say that," Eustace said.

"Because it's true!" With a species of feverish insistence she answered
him. "How could I help knowing? Of course I know! Oh, please don't let us
talk about it! It--it hurts me."

"I want you to bear with me," he said gently, "just for a few minutes.
Dinah, what if you are making a mistake? Mistakes happen, you know. Scott
is a shy sort of chap, and immensely reserved. Doesn't it occur to you
that he may care for you and yet be afraid--just as you are afraid--to
let you know?"

"No," Dinah said. "He doesn't. I know he doesn't!"

She spoke with her eyes upon the ground, her voice sunk very low. She
felt as if she were being drawn down from the heights she desired to
tread. She did not want to contemplate the problems that she knew very
surely awaited her upon the lower level. She did not want to quit her
sanctuary before the time.

Sir Eustace received her assurance in silence, but he kept her hand in
his, and the power of his personality seemed to penetrate to the very
centre of her being.

He spoke at last almost under his breath, still closely watching her
downcast face. "Are you quite sure you still care for him--in that way?"

She made a quick, appealing gesture. "Oh, need I answer that? I feel
so--ashamed."

"No, you needn't answer," he made steady reply. "But you've nothing to be
ashamed about. Stumpy's an awful ass, you know,--always has been. He's
been head over heels in love with you ever since he met you. No, you
needn't