That was kind of her.--Sir John no worse?"

"Apparently not. She will write from Mavins."

"Good."

He leaned on the balustrade as before and tacitly dismissed the
subject; but Wyndham, regarding him thoughtfully, and remembering
Honor's tell-tale blush, fell to dreaming of a golden future for these
two who were dearer to him than his own soul.

Suddenly Desmond spoke again in an altered tone.

"Paul--I've been thinking----"

"Have you, indeed! You do very little else these days. What's the
outcome?"

"Nothing brilliant. Quite the reverse. I'm a coward at heart. That's
all about it."

Paul smiled as a mother might smile at the vagaries of a beloved
child.

"Can't say I've seen any symptoms of the disease myself."

"Well--you're going to, old man, plain as daylight. It's like
this----" he squared his shoulders with a jerk and thrust both hands
into his pockets. "I can't face--going back to Kohat. I've suspected
it for some time. Now I know it. There's too much--that is to
say--there _are_ reasons. Pretty big ones. But they don't bear talking
of. Think me a broken-backed cornstalk if you must. It'll hurt. But it
can't be helped."

For an instant Paul's heart stood still. Then: "Don't talk that brand
of nonsense to me, old man," he said gently. "But if you really can't
go back--what then?"

"I said--to Kohat. The reliefs will take us to Dera in the autumn.
Well--I want to work another six months on urgent private affairs----"
he tried to smile. "Do you think the Colonel will come within a
hundred miles of understanding and be persuaded to back me up?"

"I think, just at present, he would be loth to refuse you anything,
Theo. But still----"

"Well--_what?_"

His tone had a touch of defiance, almost of temper, purely refreshing
to hear.

"Well, naturally--I was thinking of the Regiment----"

"Damn the Regiment!" Desmond flashed out, and turning on his heel
strode off toward a wooded headland, whose red rocks took an almost
unearthly glow from the setting sun.

For several seconds Paul looked after him, scarcely able to believe
his ears. If Theo had arrived at damning the Regiment, Frank's fear
might not prove to be chimerical after all; and yet the flash of
temper, the renewed energy of speech and movement were symptoms of the
best.

Paul sat down on the bench, folded his arms, and proceeded to
consider, in practical fashion, how they could secure the desired
extension of leave. Theo might dub him