antly.

"And left poor Maurice in the lurch. That was rather cruel of you after
all his chivalrous efforts to deliver you from bondage. And he so hard
up, too."

A flush of anger rose in the girl's face. She tilted her chin with the
old proud gesture.

"I should not have married him in any case," she said. "He made that
quite impossible by his own act. He--was not so chivalrous as I
thought."

A gleam of malice shone for a moment in Mrs. Lockyard's eyes, and just a
hint of it was perceptible in her voice as she made response.

"One has to make allowances sometimes. All men are not made after the
pattern of your chosen lord and master. He, I grant you, is hard as
granite and about as impassive. Still I mustn't depreciate your prize
since it was of your own choosing. Let me wish you instead every
happiness."

"He was not impassive that night," said Doris quickly, with a sharp
inward sense of injustice.

"No?" questioned Mrs. Lockyard.

"No. At least--Major Brandon did not find him so." Doris's blue eyes
took fire at the recollection. "He gave him his deserts," she said, with
a certain exultation. "He thrashed him."

"Oh, my dear, he would have done that in any case. That was an old, old
score paid off at last. Forgive me for depriving you of this small
gratification. But that debt was contracted many years ago when you were
scarcely out of your cradle. Your presence was a mere incident. You were
the opportunity, not the cause."

"I don't know what you mean," said Doris, looking her straight in the
face.

"No? Well, my dear, it isn't my business to enlighten you. If you really
want to know, I must refer you to your husband. Surely that is Mrs.
Fricker over there. You will not mind if she joins us?"

"I am going!" Doris announced abruptly--"I really only looked in to see
if there were any letters."

She dropped her cigarette with determination and turned to the nearest
door.

It was true that she had run into the club for her correspondence, but
having met Mrs. Lockyard she had been almost compelled to linger, albeit
unwillingly. Now from the depths of her soul she regretted the impulse
that had borne her thither. She vowed to herself that she would not
enter the club again so long as Mrs. Lockyard remained in town.

Three weeks had elapsed since her marriage; three weeks of shopping in
Paris with Caryl somewhere in the background, looking on but never
advising.

He had been very kind on the whole, sh