t dead and shrivelled in
its pot.

"Now then, darling. Hurrah for some tea!"

She poured it out and he watched her in an ecstasy. Strangely she began
to be frightened and a little breathless, as though the walls of the
room were slowly closing in. The tea had been standing a long time, it
was very strong and chill.

The house was a firing-ground of rattle and whirs, but there were no
human sounds anywhere. There was dust all over the room.

They had said nothing for some time.

He spoke suddenly, his voice husky and awkward, as though he were
trying a new voice for the first time.

"Maggie!" he said. "Don't sit so far away. Come over here."

She crossed over to him. He, with an arm that seemed to be suddenly of
iron, pulled her on to his knee. She was rebellious. Her whole body
stiffened. She did not want this, she did not want this! Some voice
within cried out: "Take care! Take care!" ... He pressed her close to
him; he kissed her furiously, savagely, her eyes, her mouth, her cheek.
She could feel his heart pounding beneath his clothes like a savage
beast. His hands were all about her; he was crushing her so that she
was hurt, but she did not feel that at all; there was something else ...

With all her might she fought down her resistance. This was her duty.
She must obey. But something desolate and utterly, utterly lonely crept
away and cried bitterly, watching her surrender.

CHAPTER III

SKEATON-ON-SEA

She was swinging higher, higher, higher--swinging with that delightful
rhythm that one knows best in dreams, lazily, idly, and yet with
purpose and resolve. She was swinging far above the pain, the
rebellion, the surrender. That was left for ever; the time of her
tears, of her loneliness was over. Above her, yet distant, was a golden
cloud, soft, iridescent, and in the heart of this lay, she knew, the
solution of the mystery; when she reached it the puzzle would be
resolved, and in a wonderful tranquillity she could rest after her
journey. Nearer and nearer she swung; the cloud was a blaze of gold so
that she must not look, but could feel its warmth and heat already
irradiating about her. Only to know! ... to connect the two worlds, to
find the bridge, to destroy the gulf!

Then suddenly the rhythm changed. She was descending again; slowly the
cloud diminished, a globe of light, a ball of fire, a dazzling star.
The air was cold, her eyes could not penetrate the dark; with a sigh
she awoke.