o forcibly that a spasm of pain passed, like a fused wire,
through the wound in his cheek. But the keener stress of mind and
heart dulled his senses to the pin-prick of the flesh. For in the
brief space of time since the music began, Theo Desmond--the soldier
of proven courage and self-forgetfulness--had fought the most
momentous battle of his life;--a battle in which was no flourish of
trumpets, no clash of arms, no medal or honour for the winning.

But the price of conquest had still to be paid. There were still
practical issues to be faced, and he faced them with the
straightforward simplicity that was his. He saw as in a
lightning-flash, the hidden meaning of this girl's power to stimulate
and satisfy him; saw the unnameable danger ahead; and in the same
breath decided that Honor must go. There must be no risk of disloyalty
to Evelyn, were it only in thought.

He could not as yet see how he was to retract his request for her
presence. His stunned brain refused to cope with such harassing
details. The thing must be said; and no doubt he would find strength
to say it aright. For him that was enough; and he deliberately turned
his back on the subject.

The Presto was drawing to a close now in a cascade of single notes, as
stirring to the ear as the downrush of a waterfall to the eye; and
during the silence that followed upon the last crashing chords, the
bitter thought came to him that Honor's departure would mean not only
the loss of her comradeship, but of the music, which had again become
one of the first necessities of his life.

With a sensation altogether strange to him, since it had in it an
element of fear, he heard her shut the piano and come towards the door
of his room. Closing his eyes, he lay very still, in the hope that she
might believe him to be asleep. Ordinary speech with her seemed an
impossibility just then.

He felt her come in, and pause beside his chair. His stillness clearly
deceived her, for she said nothing; neither did she move away, as he
had devoutly hoped she would do.

Remembering that his eyes were hidden, he opened them; and was
rewarded by the sight of her cream-coloured skirt, and her hands
hanging loosely clasped upon it. An intolerable longing came upon him
to push off the shade; to satisfy himself with one glimpse of her face
before banishing it out of his life. But strength was given him to
resist, and to realise his own cowardice in deceiving her thus.

Then, because he