hould be saved. Her own had been so nearly lost, she had
seen so much unspeakable bitterness arise out of one great mistake,
made once by many women at the altar, and she only waited to know if
she had lost or won.

At last the silent figure moved. At the window Carew turned and came
towards her. She watched him with all her soul in her eyes, unable to
rise from her chair for very tension.

"What are you going to do?..." she asked, hoarsely.

"Can you tell me where I can find Henry Delcombe?" he said.

XXVII

DIANA BEGINS TO GROW PERPLEXED

In the meantime the household at Hill Court was a restless, uneasy,
depressed one. No person in it, except Meryl, seemed undisturbed by
the unsatisfactory atmosphere. She by taking thought, had, contrary to
the old dictum, added to her stature; but it was the stature of her
mind. The spirit that takes a woman through the troubled waters at
hand, with all her consciousness set upon the great goal ahead, upheld
her now; and in the presence of onlookers gave her a grave serenity,
not in any way akin to joy, but baffling to those who would fain have
seen her show a stronger feeling either of gladness or regret.

It baffled even van Hert himself. To him she seemed so strangely the
same, yet different, from the woman he had loved before the Rhodesian
tour. In all his work, his plans, his schemes, she was as earnest and
interested as he could possibly wish; but that fairness his dark
strength had coveted seemed to elude him at every turn. When he kissed
her, he felt vaguely that she suffered his caress; on one or two
occasions it almost seemed as if she went further and shuddered, and
yet she never actually repulsed him. And then the dainty, light humour
that had been hers as well as Diana's!... What had become of it?... It
seemed now as if Diana had absorbed it all, for Meryl was nearly
always quiet, while the younger girl was almost boisterous. And yet
even in Diana there was a note that puzzled him. She was so jumpy and
uncertain. Childishly gay one moment, and cuttingly brilliant the
next. He was glad she was there. After the first week of the
engagement he found himself quite willing to further Meryl's obvious
wish for her company upon every occasion. So if she rose to leave them
alone they deterred her with vague requests and excuses; and when they
went in public together, Diana was always with them. And when she was
snappy, they laughed at her and did not mind. Diana