Nunn, returning sooner than Miss Barfoot had expected. She saw the
pair, regarded them with a moment's keen attentiveness, and went on,
out into the street.

In the first-class carriage which they entered there was no other
passenger as far as Barfoot's station. He could not resist the
temptation to use rather an intimate tone, though one that was quite
conventional, in the hope that he might discover something of Mrs.
Widdowson's mind. He began by asking whether she thought it a good
Academy this year. She had not yet visited it, but hoped to do so on
Monday. Did she herself do any kind of artistic work? Oh, nothing
whatever; she was a very useless and idle person. He believed she had
been a pupil of Miss Barfoot's at one time? Yes, for a very short time
indeed, just before her marriage. Was she not an intimate friend of
Miss Nunn? Hardly intimate. They knew each other a few years ago, but
Miss Nunn did not care much about her now.

'Probably because I married,' she added with a smile.

'Is Miss Nunn really such a determined enemy of marriage?'

'She thinks it pardonable in very weak people. In my case she was
indulgent enough to come to the wedding.'

This piece of news surprised Barfoot.

'She came to your wedding? And wore a wedding garment?'

'Oh yes. And looked very nice.'

'Do describe it to me. Can you remember?'

Seeing that no woman ever forgot the details of another's dress, on
however trivial an occasion, and at whatever distance of time, Monica
was of course able to satisfy the inquirer. Her curiosity excited, she
ventured in turn upon one or two insidious questions.

'You couldn't imagine Miss Nunn in such a costume?'

'I should very much like to have seen her.'

'She has a very striking face--don't you think so?'

'Indeed I do. A wonderful face.'

Their eyes met. Barfoot bent forward from his place opposite Monica.

'To me the most interesting of all faces,' he said softly.

His companion blushed with surprise and pleasure.

'Does it seem strange to you, Mrs. Widdowson?'

'Oh--why? Not at all.'

All at once she had brightened astonishingly. This subject was not
pursued, but for the rest of the time they talked with a new appearance
of mutual confidence and interest, Monica retaining her pretty,
half-bashful smile. And when Barfoot alighted at Bayswater they shook
hands with an especial friendliness, both seeming to suggest a wish
that they might soon meet again.

They did so not