... If even she
could forget Martin. What had he said to her. "Promise me whatever I
am, whatever I do, you will love me always"--and she had promised. Here
she was married to Paul and loving Martin more than ever! As she looked
at Mrs. Constantine she wondered what she would say did she know that.
Nevertheless, she had not deceived Paul ... She had told him. She would
make this right. She would force this life to give her what she needed,
work and friends and a place in the world. Her face a little white with
her struggle to keep her house standing, she turned to her guests. She
was afraid that she did not play the hostess very well. She felt as
though she were play-acting. She repeated phrases that she had heard
Katherine Mark use, and laughed at herself for doing so. She suspected
that they thought her very odd, and she fancied that Mrs. Constantine
looked at her short hair with grave suspicion.

Afterwards, when she told Paul this, he was rather uncomfortable.

"It'll soon be long again, dear, won't it?" he said.

"Don't you like it short then?" she asked.

"Of course I like it, but there's no reason to be unusual, is there? We
don't want to seem different from other people, do we, darling?"

"I don't know," said Maggie. "We want to be ourselves. I don't think I
shall ever grow my hair long again. It's so much more comfortable like
this."

"If I ask you, dear," said Paul.

"No, not even if you ask me," she answered, laughing.

She noticed then, for the first time, that he could look sulky like a
small school-boy.

"Why, Paul," she said. "If you wanted to grow a beard I shouldn't like
it, but I shouldn't dream of stopping you."

"That's quite different," he answered. "I should never dream of growing
a beard. Grace won't like it if you look odd."

"Grace isn't my teacher," said Maggie with a sudden hot hostility that
surprised herself.

She discovered, by the way, very quickly that the three ladies had no
very warm feelings for Grace. They showed undisguised pleasure at the
thought that Maggie would now be on various Committees instead of her
sister-in-law.

"It will be your place, of course, as wife of the vicar," said Mrs.
Constantine. "Hitherto Miss Trenchard--"

"Oh, but I couldn't be on a Committee," cried Maggie. "I've never been
on one in my life. I should never know what to do."

"Never been on a Committee!" cried Miss Purves, quivering with
interest. "Why, Mrs. Trenchard, where have you bee