s a cry wrung from his soul--the hungry cry which she had longed to
hear, and it sent a great joy through her even though it wrung her own
soul also.

She bent to him swiftly. "Dearest, we all feel that sometimes. And I
think it is the Hand of God upon us, opening our eyes."

He did not answer or make any response to her words. Only as he clasped
her to him, she heard him sigh. And she knew that, strive as he might to
silence that soul-craving with earthly things, it would beat on
unsatisfied through all. She came nearer to understanding him that night
that ever before.

CHAPTER III

THE FIRST GUEST

"I am greatly honoured to be your first guest," said Crowther.

"The honour is ours to get you," Avery declared. She sat on the terrace
whither she had conducted him, and smiled at him across the tea-table
with eyes of shining friendship.

Crowther smiled back, thinking to himself how pleasant a picture she
made. She was dressed in white, and her face was flushed and happy, even
girlish in its animation. There was a ring of laughter in her voice when
she talked that was very good to hear. She had herself just brought him
from the station in Piers' little two-seater, and her obvious pleasure at
meeting him still hung about her, making her very fair to see.

"Piers is so busy just now," she told him. "He sent all sorts of
messages. He had to go over to Wardenhurst to see Colonel Rose. The M.P.
for this division retired at the end of the Session, and Piers is to
stand for the constituency. They talk of having the election in October."

"Will he get in?" asked Crowther, still watching her with friendly
appreciation in his eyes.

"Oh, I don't know. I expect so. He gets most things that he sets his
heart on. His grandfather--you knew Sir Beverley?--was so anxious that he
should enter Parliament."

"Yes, I knew Sir Beverley," said Crowther. "He thought the world
of Piers."

"And Piers of him," said Avery.

"Ah! Was it a great blow to him when the old man died?"

"A very great blow," she answered soberly. "That was the main reason for
our marrying so suddenly. The poor boy was so lonely I couldn't bear to
think of him by himself in this great house."

"He was very lucky to get you," said Crowther gravely.

She smiled. "I was lucky too. Don't you think so? I never in my wildest
dreams pictured such a home as this for myself."

A great magnolia climbed the house behind her with creamy flowers that
shed the