he was able to
leave the table.

Crowther opened the door for her, looking at her with eyes of kindly
criticism.

"You look tired," he said. "I hope you don't sit up late."

She smiled at him. "Oh no! We will make Piers play to us presently, and
then I will say good-night."

"Then we mustn't keep you waiting long," he said. "So Piers is a
musician, is he? I didn't know."

"You had better go to bed, Avery; it's late," said Piers abruptly. "I
can't play to-night. The spirit doesn't move me." He rose from the table
with a careless laugh. "Say good-night to her, Crowther, and let her go!
We will smoke in the garden."

There was finality in his tone, its lightness notwithstanding. Again
there came to Avery the impulse to rebel, and again instinctively she
caught it back. She held out her hand to Crowther.

"I am dismissed then," she said. "Good-night!"

His smile answered hers. He looked regretful, but very kindly. "I am glad
to see Piers takes care of you," he said.

She laughed a little drearily as she went away, making no other response.

Crowther turned back to the table with its shaded candles and gleaming
wine. He saw that Piers' glass was practically untouched.

Piers himself was searching a cabinet for cigars. He found what he
sought, and turned round with the box in his hand.

"I don't know what you generally smoke," he said. "Will you try one of
these? It's a hot night. We may as well have coffee in the garden."

He seemed possessed with a spirit of restlessness, just as he had been on
that night at the Casino in the spring. Crowther, massive and
self-contained, observed him silently.

They went out on to the terrace, and drank their coffee in the dewy
stillness. But even there Piers could not sit still. He prowled to and
fro eternally, till Crowther set down his cup and joined him, pushing a
quiet hand through his arm.

"It's a lovely place you've got here, sonny," he said; "a regular garden
of Paradise. I almost envy you."

"Oh, you needn't do that. There's a serpent in every Eden," said Piers,
with a mirthless laugh.

He did not seek to keep Crowther at arm's length, but neither did he
seem inclined for any closer intimacy. His attitude neither invited nor
repelled confidence. Yet Crowther knew intuitively that his very
indifference was in itself a barrier that might well prove
insurmountable.

He walked in silence while Piers talked intermittently of various
impersonal matters, drifting