e.

Things had gone very well of late, and as she lay on her narrow bed
resting and waiting for Theo to fetch her, she reviewed the events that
had occurred since her great quarrel with Victor, and drew a deep breath
of satisfaction at the state of affairs.

She and Joyselle, both of them remembering the horror of the quarrel,
had been exceptionally gentle to each other, and as so often happens
when a situation is apparently unbearable, it had suddenly become quite
smooth and pleasant. Restraining himself from demonstrativeness,
Joyselle had been able to keep his emotions well in hand, and the tacit
avoidance of _tetes-a-tete_ had also proved most helpful.

Felicite's innocent interpretation of their feelings had gone far, too,
towards quieting those feelings almost to her conception of them. There
were times, Brigit had seen, not without amusement, when Victor had
nearly felt for her the paternal solicitude his wife believed him to
feel, and even though she smiled at this susceptibility to impression in
him, the girl more than once caught herself semi-unconsciously playing
the _role_ of youthful hero-worshipper cast for her by the older woman.

The position should have been untenable, but it was not. As yet no
remorse had come to Brigit regarding Felicite, although she frequently
experienced a pang of self-loathing on meeting Theo's honest and
trusting eyes. Her upbringing had been such that she really believed
herself to be as yet quite guiltless of anything more than an almost
inevitable deceit, and even when she did regret the deceit, the thought
that she was going to marry Theo gave her instant comfort, as though she
were contemplating some noble act of atonement.

"Victor is very good now," she thought, turning her flat, hard pillow,
"and I am much less nervous and irritable. Things always do straighten
themselves out, I suppose--for those who know how to wait. Mere waiting
does no good, it's the knowing how that counts. And I think we are
learning now. If only Theo would fall in love with someone else. The
minute he becomes unhappy or even impatient Victor will grow paternal,
and that is horrible. Theo seems happy enough now----"

Her room was small and high, with orange-coloured stencillings on a grey
ground, and thin, dangerously movable strips of carpet on the slippery
floor. The curtains were of blue flannel and thoroughly unbeautiful.

The sitting-room was exactly like the bedroom, except that its
ste