Honor suffered the more keenly in consequence.

Suddenly the darkness was irradiated by a vision of Theo, as he had
appeared on entering the drawing-room that morning, in the familiar
undress uniform that seemed a part of himself; bringing with him, as
always, his own magnetic atmosphere of alertness and vigour, of
unquestioning certainty that life was very much worth living. Every
detail of his face sprang clearly into view, and for a moment Honor
let herself go.

She deliberately held the vision, concentrating all her soul upon it,
as on a face that one sees for the last time, and wills never to
forget. It was an actual parting, and she felt it as such--a parting
with the man who could never be her friend again.

Then, chafing against her momentary weakness, she pulled herself
together, let her hands fall into her lap with a slow sigh that was
almost a sob, and wondered, dully, whether sleep would come to her
before morning. Certainly not until she had considered her position
dispassionately,--neither ignoring its terrible possibilities, nor
exaggerating her own sense of shame and disgrace,--and had settled,
once for all, what honour and duty demanded of her in the
circumstances.

One fact at least was clear. Her love for Theo Desmond was, in itself,
no sin. It was a force outside the region of will,--imperious,
irresistible. But it set her on the brink of a precipice, where only
God and the high compulsion of her soul could withhold her from a
plunge into the abyss.

"Mine own soul forbiddeth me: there, for each of us, is the eternal
right and wrong." For Honor there could be no thought, no question of
the false step, or of the abyss; and sinking on her knees she poured
out her heart in a passionate prayer for forgiveness, for light and
wisdom to choose the right path, and power to walk in it without
faltering to the end.

When at last she rose, her lips and eyes had regained something of
their wonted serenity. She knew now that her impulse to leave the
house at once had been selfish and cowardly; that Evelyn must not be
deserted in a moment of bitter need; that these ten days must be
endured for her sake--and for his. On his return, she could find a
reasonable excuse for spending a month elsewhere till John should come
to claim her. Never in all her life had she been called upon to make
so supreme an effort of self-mastery; and never had she felt so
certain of the ultimate result.

She turned up the lamp n