ant too, concealed a deeper
joy. The smoke from Cairns' cigar, half hiding his face, floating in
wreaths between them, entered her nostrils, aromatic, narcotic.

'What are you thinking of doing now?' she asked.

'I don't know quite,' said Cairns. 'You see I broke my good resolution.
After my job at Perim, they offered me some surveying work near Ormuz;
they call it surveying, but it's spying really or it would be if there
were anything to spy. I took it and rather enjoyed it.'

'Did you have any adventures?' asked Victoria.

'Nothing to speak of except expeditions into the hinterland trying to
get fresh meat. The East is overrated, I assure you. A butr landed off
our station once, probably intending to turn us into able-bodied slaves.
There were only seven of us to their thirty but we killed ten with two
volleys and they made off, parting with their anchor in their hurry.'

Cairns looked at Victoria. The flush had not died from her cheeks. She
was good to look upon.

'No,' he went on more slowly, 'I don't quite know what I shall do. I
meant to retire anyhow, you know, and the sudden death of my uncle, old
Marmaduke Cairns, settled it. I never expected to get a look in, but
there was hardly anybody else to leave anything to, except his sisters
whom he hated like poison, so I'm the heir. I don't yet know what I'm
worth quite, but the old man always seemed to do himself pretty well.'

'I'm glad,' said Victoria. She was not. The monstrous stupidity of a
system which suddenly places a man in a position enabling him to live on
the labour of a thousand was obvious to her.

'I'm rather at a loose end,' said Cairns musing, 'you see I've had
enough knocking about. But it's rather dull here, you know. I'm not a
marrying man either.'

Victoria was disturbed. She looked at Cairns and met his eyes. There was
forming in them a question. As she looked at him the expression faded
and he signed to the waiter to bring the coffee.

As they sipped it they spoke little but inspected one another narrowly.
Victoria told herself that if Cairns offered her marriage she would
accept him. She was not sure that ideal happiness would be hers if she
did; his limitations were more apparent to her than they had been when
she first knew him. Yet the alternative was the P.R.R. and all that must
follow.

Cairns was turning over in his mind the question Victoria had surprised.
Though he was by no means cautious or shy, being a bold and good liv