ie was drawn towards
Paul. He drew close to her, moved on to the sofa, and then with one arm
about her let her head rest against his chest. Maggie could neither
move nor speak. She only felt a warm comfort, an intense desire for
rest.

Very, very gently he bent down and kissed her forehead. The clock
ticked on. The flames of the fire spurted and fell. Maggie's eyes
closed, she gave a little sigh, and soon, her cheek against his
waistcoat, like a little child, was fast asleep.

The engagement was a settled thing. Every one in the house was
relieved. Maggie herself felt as though she had found lights and
safety, running from a wood full of loneliness and terror. She was
sharp enough to see how relieved they all were that she was 'settled.'
They were true kindly people, and now they were more kind to her than
ever: that showed that they had been uneasy about her. She was 'off
their hands now.'

Maggie, when she saw this in the faces of Philip and Mr. Trenchard, and
even of Millicent, was glad that she was engaged. She was somebody's
now; she had friends and a home and work now, and she would banish all
that other world for ever. For ever? ... How curious it was that from
the moment of her engagement her aunts, their house, the Chapel, and
the people around it began to press upon her attention with a pathos
and sentiment that she had never felt before. She went to see the
aunts, of course, and sat in the old drawing-room for half-an-hour, and
they were kind and distant. They were glad that she was to be married;
they hoped that she would be happy. Aunt Anne looked very ill, and
there was a terrible air of desertion about the house as though all the
life had gone out of it. Maggie came away very miserable. Then she said
to herself: "Now, look here. You're in a new house now. You've got to
think of nothing but that--nothing, nothing, nothing ..."

She meant Martin. She might think of Martin (how indeed could she help
it?) but she was not to long for him. No, no ... not to long for him.
She did wish that she could go to sleep more quickly when she went to
bed.

Paul and Grace were very kind to her. Paul was just the big elder
brother that she loved him to be. No more sentiment than that. A kiss
morning, a kiss evening, that was all. Grace behaved to them both with
a motherly indulgence. Maggie saw that she considered that she had
arranged the whole affair. There were signs that she intended to
arrange everything for Mag