gone quietly away from danger;
not because he was a coward, but because he knew it is sometimes far
more cowardly to skate on thin ice, and hope it will be all right,
than to remain in safety on the bank. For Meryl's sake as well as his
own he had chosen to remain on the bank. And yet here, for the third
time, was Fate deliberately bringing the danger zone to him, in spite
of his efforts to avoid it. But he did not stop to cogitate either one
way or the other. Sufficient for him that he knew himself in the
danger zone, and therefore it behoved him to be very wary. Not by act
or word, if he could help it, must he let Meryl see how she had
disturbed his peace. And there, again, it would seem, Fate had played
with him. A subtler man would have perceived that an added rigidity
was not entirely the safeguard he needed now. Meryl already knew him
too well for that. Had he talked and laughed a little, she might have
been puzzled and baffled. But Carew was not subtle. He was simply
sincere. And so he just stood very rigid and silent; not perceiving
that in the circumstances that it was hardly the best way to baffle
the eyes of love. Meryl knew instinctively he was putting some special
restraint on himself, and the knowledge made her quietly glad,
underneath the sudden pain of the knowledge that it was farewell.
Back, in her vantage of shadow, she looked at him. And she saw, not
for the first time, but perhaps more fully, that inner force in this
man, which told any who had eyes to see and understanding to perceive,
that nothing would turn him from a set purpose, if he were persuaded
it was a right one; and whatever woman's arts she might possess, they
would be as the waves against a granite rock. They might play round
him, and sprinkle foam on him, and soften his aspect, but they would
not _move_ him. So, with an inner strength not unlike his own, she
accepted his decree. For some reason, or set of reasons, love might
not come into being between them. He was determined that it should
not. Very well, she would hide her hurt and face her future without
it.

And if she chose to cherish his image, hidden deep down in her heart,
that was her affair. A laughing, mocking world need never know.

She broke the silence first:

"If you are going early to-morrow, we shall not meet again."

"No." He looked at her a moment, about to say something else; then
changed his mind, and looked out of the window in silence. Leaning up
against th