e with, physical toil. Yet he had already
denied the truth to her. Winston, on his part, saw a very fair face
with wholesome pride in it, and felt that the eyes which were coldly
contemptuous now could, if there was a warrant for it, grow very gentle.

"Would it be of any moment if I were?" she said.

"Yes," said Winston quietly. "There are two people here it is
desirable for me to stand well with, and the first of them, your aunt,
has, I fancy, already decided to give me a fair trial. She told me it
was for my mother's sake. Now, I can deal with your uncle, I think."

The girl smiled a little. "Are you quite sure? Everybody does not
find it easy to get on with Colonel Barrington. His code is somewhat
Draconic, and he is rather determined in his ways."

Winston nodded. "He is a man, and I hope to convince him I have at
least a right to toleration. That leaves only you. The rest don't
count. They will come round by and by, you see."

The little forceful gesture, with which he concluded, pleased Maud
Barrington. It was free from vanity, but conveyed an assurance that he
knew his own value.

"No friendship that is lightly given is worth very much," she said. "I
could decide better in another six months. Now it is perhaps fortunate
that Colonel Barrington is waiting for us to make up his four at whist."

Winston allowed a faint gesture of dismay to escape him. "Must I play?"

"Yes," said the girl, smiling. "Whist is my uncle's hobby and he is
enthusiastic over a clever game."

Winston groaned inwardly. "And I am a fool at whist."

"Then it was poker you played?" and again a faint trace of anger crept
into the girl's eyes.

Winston shook his head. "No," he said. "I had few opportunities of
indulging in expensive luxuries."

"I think we had better take our places," said Maud Barrington, with
unveiled contempt.

Winston's forehead grew a trifle hot, and when he sat down Barrington
glanced at him. "I should explain that we never allow stakes of any
kind at Silverdale," he said. "Some of the lads sent out to me have
been a trifle extravagant in the old country."

He dealt out the cards, but a trace of bewildered irritation crept into
his eyes as the game proceeded, and once or twice he appeared to check
an exclamation of astonishment, while at last he glanced reproachfully
at Winston.

"My dear sir! Still, you have ridden a long way," he said, laying his
finger on a king.

Winston laugh