with a movement which startled her--"whom do you think
I've seen lately?"

His sister stared at him, amazed at the change in him--the animation, the
rush of colour in the hollow, emaciated face.

"_Rachel_!--my wife--my former--precious--wife. I thought she was in
Canada. No doubt she thought the same of me. But I've stumbled upon her
quite by chance--living close to the place where I had taken lodgings for
Anita and the babe, in September, in case there were more raids this
winter. What do you think of that?"

"It doesn't interest me at all," said Lady Winton coldly.

"Then you have no dramatic sense, my dear. Just think! I stroll out, for
want of anything better to do, with Anita, into the market-place of a
beastly little country town, to see a silly sort of show--a mixture of a
Harvest Festival and a Land Girls' beano--when without a moment's
warning--standing up in a decorated wagon--I behold--_Rachel_!--handsomer
than ever!--in a kind of khaki dress--tunic, breeches, and
leggings--enormously becoming!--and, of course, the observed of all
observers. More than that!--I perceive a young man, in an American
uniform, dancing attendance upon her--taking her orders--walking her off
to church--Oh, a perfectly clear case!--no doubt about it at all. And
there I stood--within a few yards of her--and she never saw me!"

He broke off, staring at his sister--a wild, exultant look--which struck
her uncomfortably. Her face showed her arrested, against her will.

"Are you sure she didn't see you?"

"Sure. I put the child on my shoulder, and hid behind her. Besides--my
dear--even Rachel might find it difficult to recognize her discarded
husband--in this individual!"

He tapped his chest lightly. Lady Winton could not withdraw her
own eyes from him. Yes, it was quite true. The change in him was
shocking--ghastly. He had brought it entirely on himself. But she
could not help saying, in a somewhat milder tone,--

"Have you seen that doctor again?"

"To whom you so obligingly sent me? Yes, I saw him yesterday. One lung
seems to have finally struck work--_caput_! as the Germans say. The other
will last a bit longer yet."

A fit of coughing seized him. His sister instinctively moved farther away
from him, looking at him with frightened and hostile eyes.

"Don't be alarmed," he said, as soon as he had found his voice again,
"I'm drenched in disinfectant. I take all proper precautions--for the
child's sake. Now then"--he rose