've left
you to it this last week...."

"And what am I here for except to be left to it--I don't mean that
anyone's rude or pushing--but Miss Tancred _is_ so friendly, and I'm not
dignified and awe-inspiring like you, you great big Jan; and the poor
men are encouraged, directly and deliberately encouraged, by your niece.
I never knew a child with such a continual flow of conversation."

"Poor Meg," said Jan, "you won't have much more of it. Little Fay _is_ a
handful, I confess; but I always feel it must be a bit hard to be hushed
continually--and just when one feels particularly bright and sparkling,
to have all one's remarks cut short...."

"You needn't pity that child. No amount of hushing has any effect; you
might just as well hush a blackbird or a thrush. Don't look so worried,
Jan. Did Mr. Ledgard say anything about Hugo in that letter to-night?"

"Only that he was known to have left Karachi in a small steamer going
round the coast, but after that nothing more. Mr. Ledgard has a friend
in the Police, and even there they've heard nothing lately. I think
myself the Indian Government _wants_ to lose sight of Hugo. He's
inconvenient and disgraceful, and they'd like him blotted out as soon as
possible."

"What else does Mr. Ledgard say? He seems to write good long letters."

"He is coming home at the end of April for six months."

"Oh ... then we shall see him, I suppose?"

"I hope so."

Meg looked keenly at Jan, who was staring into the fire, her eyes soft
and dreamy; and almost as if she was unconsciously thinking aloud, she
said: "I do hope, if Hugo chooses to turn up, he'll wait till Mr.
Ledgard is back in England."

"You think he could manage him?"

"I know he could."

"Then let us pray for his return," said Meg.

The clock on the mantelpiece struck eleven.

"Bed-time," said Meg, "but I must have just one cigarette first. That's
what's so lovely about being with you, Jan--you don't mind. Of course
I'd never do it before the children."

"You wouldn't shock them if you did. Fay smoked constantly."

Meg lit her cigarette and clearly showed her real enjoyment. She had
taken to it first when she was about fifteen, as she found it helped her
to feel less hungry. Now it had become as much a necessity to her as to
many men, and the long abstinence of term-time had always been a
penance.

She made some good rings, and, leaning forward to look through them at
Jan, said: "By the way, I must just tell you