e; and she told him so. Her first
feeling sent the blood to her cheeks for pure joy; her second drove it
back to her heart again. Katherine was one of those people who can see a
thing instantly, in all its possible bearings; and at the present moment
she saw clearly, not only that Ted was a genius, but that his genius had
everything to learn, and that it would take the whole of his tiny income
to teach it, while the necessities of his board and lodging in the
meanwhile would more than double her own expenses. She saw herself
doomed to the production of an unbroken succession of pot-boilers, and
for the next few years at least Ted's career was only possible at the
sacrifice of her own. "Yes," she said at last, sitting down and tying
the strings of the portfolio tenderly, "you'll have to work hard for
four or five years or so; and then you'll have to wait. Art is long, you
know, and high art's the longest of all." And when she told him that it
would be a great help to her if they clubbed together, Ted actually
believed her, so unaware was he of the complexities of life.

Katherine understood why Ted had gone to Guy's Hospital; but when she
asked him--idiot!--why he had wasted a year at his uncle Pigott's
office, he said that he wanted to prove to his uncle Pigott's limited
capacity that he was utterly incapable of managing anybody's business
but his own. Katherine asked no more questions, for she was trying to
think. Then when she had done thinking, she took the Witch and turned
her with her face to the wall. And when she looked at Ted again it was
with a choking sensation, and for the first time for three years she was
aware that she had a heart beating under the blue overall. She had come
down from Atlas faster than she had gone up. After all, the climate
there is frightfully cold, and there are passes on that lonely mountain
which overhang the bottomless pit, where some have perished very
miserably. Katherine had escaped the abyss, and left behind her the
dreams and the golden mists and the starry peaks of ice. It was dark in
the studio, and a voice was heard inquiring whether the young gentleman
was going to stay for supper, "_Because_, if a bysin of hoatmeal
porridge yn't enuff for one----"

Mrs. Rogers was great in the argument _a fortiori_.

CHAPTER V

Audrey had never been able to enjoy the friendship of her own sex for
more than ten minutes at a time. Her own society bored her
inexpressibly, and that