usband that she had been invited to
Italy, and he declined to believe it. Of course he declined to believe
it. Nobody had ever invited his wife to Italy before. There was no
precedent. He required proofs. The only proof was Mrs. Arbuthnot, and
Mrs. Wilkins had produced her; but after what entreaties, what
passionate persuading! Mrs. Arbuthnot had not imagined she would have
to face Mr. Wilkins and say things to him that were short of the truth,
and it brought home to her what she had for some time suspected, that
she was slipping more and more away from God.

Indeed, the whole of March was filled with unpleasant, anxious
moments. It was an uneasy month. Mrs. Arbuthnot's conscience, made
super-sensitive by years of pampering, could not reconcile what she was
doing with its own high standard of what was right. It gave her little
peace. It nudged her at her prayers. It punctuated her entreaties for
divine guidance with disconcerting questions, such as, "Are you not a
hypocrite? Do you really mean that? Would you not, frankly, be
disappointed if that prayer were granted?"

The prolonged wet, raw weather was on the side too of her
conscience, producing far more sickness than usual among the poor.
They had bronchitis; they had fevers; there was no end to the distress.
And here she was going off, spending precious money on going off,
simply and solely to be happy. One woman. One woman being happy, and
these piteous multitudes . . .

She was unable to look the vicar in the face. He did not know,
nobody knew, what she was going to do, and from the very beginning she
was unable to look anybody in the face. She excused herself from
making speeches appealing for money. How could she stand up and ask
people for money when she herself was spending so much on her own
selfish pleasure? Nor did it help her or quiet her that, having
actually told Frederick, in her desire to make up for what she was
squandering, that she would be grateful if he would let her have some
money, he instantly gave her a cheque for L100. He asked no questions.
She was scarlet. He looked at her a moment and then looked away. It
was a relief to Frederick that she should take some money. She gave it
all immediately to the organization she worked with, and found herself
more tangled in doubts than ever.

Mrs. Wilkins, on the contrary, had no doubts. She was quite
certain that it was a most proper thing to have a holiday, and
altogether