nked him again. "You have made me feel quite
broken-hearted for our dear soldier-policeman. Think what his memories
must have been all these years! But perhaps his dark day is finished.
I am very hopeful now. God bless you for remaining so staunch a friend
to him and giving me your confidence!"

And in Johannesburg that night Meryl said simply and quietly to van
Hert, "I will marry you as soon as you wish. As you say, there is
nothing to wait for, and, afterwards, there is much that we can do
together."

"In a fortnight?" he urged, and she assented.

But Diana insisted otherwise. "It is simply indecent haste," she
exclaimed, "and nothing in this world will persuade me to decide upon
my bridesmaid's frock and have it ready in less than three weeks, and
it may be a month."

And Meryl--a quiet, white-faced Meryl nowadays, with little enough
enthusiasm for frocks and wedding-presents--let her have her way.

XXVI

"HOW CAN I GO TO HER!..."

The first meeting between Ailsa and Carew was a very difficult one for
the woman. Directly she saw him she realised that he had drawn back
into his shell further than ever, and the increased greyness on his
temples spoke for itself of anxious, troubled hours. At first he had
been difficult to entrap. In reply to her note came just a vague
regret that he was exceptionally busy, and often out on the veldt,
with a hope that he would see her before she left. One or two other
attempts failed entirely to procure the interview, and she was almost
at her wits' end. Finally, she had to resort to strong measures, and
gain her end by subterfuge. Carew went to the house of a man friend by
invitation, and was shown into his friend's den to find Ailsa awaiting
him alone. The expression on his face told her instantly that he felt
himself trapped, and resented it. But she could be very disarming when
she liked, and she had tact enough to follow the straight course most
likely to appeal to him now that she had gained her interview.

"You must not be angry with me," she said, with engaging frankness. "I
simply had to see you."

He stood very upright, with a cold, unresponsive face, and waited for
her to proceed.

"Won't you sit down? You make it difficult for me when you are ... so
... so ... distant and unbending."

He moved away to the window, and stood looking out, with his back to
the room. "Will you tell me what it is you have to say?" he asked very
quietly. He knew perfectly we