e facts, little stories, about the past and the great dead,
from such distinguished characters as Mrs. Hilbery for the nourishment
of his diary, for whose sake he frequented tea-tables and ate yearly an
enormous quantity of buttered toast. He, therefore, welcomed Katharine
with relief, and she had merely to shake hands with Rodney and to greet
the American lady who had come to be shown the relics, before the talk
started again on the broad lines of reminiscence and discussion which
were familiar to her.

Yet, even with this thick veil between them, she could not help looking
at Rodney, as if she could detect what had happened to him since they
met. It was in vain. His clothes, even the white slip, the pearl in his
tie, seemed to intercept her quick glance, and to proclaim the futility
of such inquiries of a discreet, urbane gentleman, who balanced his cup
of tea and poised a slice of bread and butter on the edge of the saucer.
He would not meet her eye, but that could be accounted for by his
activity in serving and helping, and the polite alacrity with which he
was answering the questions of the American visitor.

It was certainly a sight to daunt any one coming in with a head full
of theories about love. The voices of the invisible questioners were
reinforced by the scene round the table, and sounded with a tremendous
self-confidence, as if they had behind them the common sense of twenty
generations, together with the immediate approval of Mr. Augustus
Pelham, Mrs. Vermont Bankes, William Rodney, and, possibly, Mrs. Hilbery
herself. Katharine set her teeth, not entirely in the metaphorical
sense, for her hand, obeying the impulse towards definite action, laid
firmly upon the table beside her an envelope which she had been grasping
all this time in complete forgetfulness. The address was uppermost, and
a moment later she saw William's eye rest upon it as he rose to fulfil
some duty with a plate. His expression instantly changed. He did what
he was on the point of doing, and then looked at Katharine with a look
which revealed enough of his confusion to show her that he was not
entirely represented by his appearance. In a minute or two he proved
himself at a loss with Mrs. Vermont Bankes, and Mrs. Hilbery, aware of
the silence with her usual quickness, suggested that, perhaps, it was
now time that Mrs. Bankes should be shown "our things."

Katharine accordingly rose, and led the way to the little inner room
with the pic