--some past of which she knew
nothing. How could there be? A man of stainless and brilliant
reputation--modest, able, foolhardily brave, of whom all men spoke
warmly; of a sensitive refinement too, which made it impossible to
think of any ordinary vulgar skeleton in the background of his life.

Yet her misgivings had grown and grown upon her, till now they were
morbidly strong. She did not satisfy him; she was not making him
happy; it would be better for her to set him free. This action of
his father's offered the opportunity. But as she thought of doing
it--_how_ she would do it, and how he might possibly accept it--she
was torn with misery.

She and her girl-friend Pamela were very different. She was the
elder by a couple of years, and much more mature. But Pamela's
undeveloped powers, the flashes of daring, of romance, in the
awkward reserved girl, the suggestion in her of a big and splendid
flowering, fascinated Beryl, and in her humility she never dreamt
that she, with her delicate pensiveness, the mingled subtlety and
purity of her nature, was no less exceptional. She had been brought
up very much alone. Her mother was no companion for her, and the
brother nearest her own age and nearest her heart had been killed at
the opening of the war. Arthur and she were very good friends, but
not altogether congenial. She was rather afraid of him--of his
critical temper, and his abrupt intolerant way, with people or
opinions he disliked. Beryl was quite aware of his effect on Pamela
Mannering, and it made her anxious. For she saw little chance for
Pamela. Before the war, Arthur in London had been very much sought
after, in a world where women are generally good-looking, and
skilled besides in all the arts of pursuit. His standards were
ridiculously high. His women friends were many and of the best. Why
should he be attracted by anything so young and immature as Pamela?

* * * * *

At last! A pony-cart coming up from the lodge, with two figures in
it--Aubrey and Pamela. So poor Pam had at last got hold of something
in the nature of an animal!

Beryl gripped the balustrading which bordered one side of the path,
and stood watching intently--a slender creature, in a broad purple
hat, shading her small, distinguished face.

Presently, as the visitors approached the house, she waved to them,
and they to her. They disappeared from view for a minute. Then a
man's figure emerged alone from a gar