r the Lord to look at it--for I must say, miss, if I was
struck down for it, though I s'pose it's only my sinful ignorance--that
there's times when the Lord seems to think no more of sweepin' away a
steady eighteen-shillin' a week, and p'raps seven in family, an' one at
the breast, an' another on the way--than if it was nothin'. But likely
enough, eighteen shillin' a week an' confinements does seem paltry to
the Maker of 'eaven an' earth."

But, to the girl walking over the marshland, the humanness of the things
she heard gave to her the sense of nearness--of being almost within
sight and sound--which Mount Dunstan himself had felt, when each day
was filled with the result of her thought of the needs of the poor souls
thrown by fate into his hands. In these days, after listening to old
Mrs. Welden's anecdotes, through which she gathered the simpler truth
of things, Betty was able to construct for herself a less Scriptural
version of what she had heard. She was glad--glad in his sitting by
a bedside and holding a hand which lay in his hot or cold, but always
trusting to something which his strong body and strong soul gave without
stint. There would be no restraint there. Yes, he was kind--kind--kind
--with the kindness a woman loves, and which she, of all women, loved
most. Sometimes she would sit upon some mound, and, while her eyes
seemed to rest on the yellowing marsh and its birds and pools, they saw
other things, and their colour grew deep and dark as the marsh water
between the rushes.

The time was pressing when a change in her life must come. She
frequently asked herself if what she saw in Nigel Anstruthers' face was
the normal thinking of a sane man, which he himself could control. There
had been moments when she had seriously doubted it. He was haggard,
aging and restless. Sometimes he--always as if by chance--followed her
as she went from one room to another, and would seat himself and fix
his miserable eyes upon her for so long a time that it seemed he must
be unconscious of what he was doing. Then he would appear suddenly to
recollect himself and would start up with a muttered exclamation, and
stalk out of the room. He spent long hours riding or driving alone about
the country or wandering wretchedly through the Park and gardens. Once
he went up to town, and, after a few days' absence, came back looking
more haggard than before, and wearing a hunted look in his eyes. He had
gone to see a physician, and, aft