l, you know."

"Yes, Yes; I do." And he really did; for underneath, he had true
delicacy.

Her last words: "You're very sweet, Bob," remained in his ears all the
way to Severn Junction.

She went back to the house, emptied of her husband, daughter, boys,
and maids; only the dogs left and the old nurse whom she had taken into
confidence. Even in that sheltered, wooded valley it was very cold
this winter. The birds hid themselves, not one flower bloomed, and the
red-brown river was full and swift. The sound of trees being felled for
trench props, in the wood above the house resounded all day long in the
frosty air. She meant to do the cooking herself; and for the rest of the
morning and early afternoon she concocted nice things, and thought
out how she herself would feel if she were Noel and Noel she, so as
to smooth out of the way anything which would hurt the girl. In the
afternoon she went down to the station in the village car, the same
which had borne Cyril Morland away that July night, for their coachman
had been taken for the army, and the horses were turned out.

Noel looked tired and white, but calm--too calm. Her face seemed to
Thirza to have fined down, and with those brooding eyes, to be more
beautiful. In the car she possessed herself of the girl's hand, and
squeezed it hard; their only allusion to the situation, except Noel's
formal:

"Thank you so much, Auntie, for having me; it's most awfully sweet of
you and Uncle Bob."

"There's no one in the house, my dear, except old Nurse. It'll be very
dull for you; but I thought I'd teach you to cook; it's rather useful."

The smile which slipped on to Noel's face gave Thirza quite a turn.

She had assigned the girl a different room, and had made it
extraordinarily cheerful with a log fire, chrysanthemums, bright copper
candlesticks, warming-pans, and such like.

She went up with her at bedtime, and standing before the fire, said:

"You know, Nollie, I absolutely refuse to regard this as any sort of
tragedy. To bring life into the worlds in these days, no matter how,
ought to make anyone happy. I only wish I could do it again, then I
should feel some use. Good night dear; and if you want anything, knock
on the wall. I'm next door. Bless you!" She saw that the girl was
greatly moved, underneath her pale mask; and went out astonished at her
niece's powers of self-control.

But she did not sleep at all well; for in imagination, she kept on
seeing Noel tur