him she had none, and the knowledge of life she
had gained in London assured her that in thus encouraging a perfect
stranger she was doing a very hazardous thing. But the evening must
somehow be spent, and is she went off in another direction it would
only be to wander about with an adventurous mind; for her conversation
with Miss Nunn had had precisely the opposite effect of that which
Rhoda doubtless intended; she felt something of the recklessness which
formerly excited her wonder when she remarked it in the other
shop-girls. She could no longer be without a male companion, and as she
had given her promise to this man--

He had seen her, and was coming forward. Today he carried a
walking-stick, and wore gloves; otherwise his appearance was the same
as at Richmond. At the distance of a few yards he raised his hat, not
very gracefully. Monica did not offer her hand, nor did Widdowson seem
to expect it. But he gave proof of an intense pleasure in the meeting;
his sallow cheeks grew warm, and in the many wrinkles about his eyes
played a singular smile, good-natured but anxious, apprehensive.

'I am so glad you were able to come,' he said in a low voice, bending
towards her.

'It has been even finer than last Sunday,' was Monica's rather vague
reply, as she glanced at some people who were passing.

'Yes, a wonderful day. But I only left home an hour ago. Shall we walk
this way?'

They went along the path by the river. Widdowson exhibited none of the
artifices of gallantry practised by men who are in the habit of picking
up an acquaintance with shop-girls. His smile did not return; an
extreme sobriety characterized his manner and speech; for the most part
he kept his eyes on the ground, and when silent he had the look of one
who inwardly debates a grave question.

'Have you been into the country?' was one of his first inquiries.

'No. I spent the morning with my sisters, and in the afternoon I had to
see a lady in Chelsea.'

'Your sisters are older than yourself?'

'Yes, some years older.'

'Is it long since you went to live apart from them?'

'We have never had a home of our own since I was quite a child.'

And, after a moment's hesitation, she went on to give a brief account
of her history. Widdowson listened with the closest attention, his lips
twitching now and then, his eyes half closed. But for cheek-bones that
were too prominent and nostrils rather too large, he was not
ill-featured. No particular fo