pt to secure herself against such danger by
the smiling, cynical acceptance of whatsoever shame. Alma had no small
gift of intuition; proved by the facility and fervour with which she
could adapt her mind to widely different conceptions of life. This
characteristic, aided by the perspicacity which is bestowed upon every
jealous woman, perchance enabled her to read the mysterious Sibyl with
some approach to exactness. Were it so, prudence should have warned her
against a struggle for mere hatred's sake with so formidable an
antagonist. But the voice of caution had never long audience with Alma,
and was not likely, at any given moment, to prevail against a transport
of her impetuous soul.

Harvey, meanwhile, fearing her inclination to brood over the dark
event, tried to behave as though he had utterly dismissed it from his
thoughts. He kept a cheerful countenance, talked much more than usual,
and seemed full of health and hope. As usual between married people,
this resolute cheerfulness had, more often than not, an irritating
effect upon Alma. Rolfe erred once more in preferring to keep silence
about difficulties rather than face the unpleasantness of frankly
discussing them. One good, long, intimate conversation about Mrs.
Carnaby, with unrestricted exchange of views, the masculine and the
feminine, with liberal acceptance of life as it is lived, and honest
contempt of leering hypocrisies, would have done more, at this
juncture, to put healthy tone into Alma's being than any change of
scene and of atmosphere, any medicament or well-meant summons to
forgetfulness. Like the majority of good and thoughtful men, he could
not weigh his female companion in the balance he found good enough for
mortals of his own sex. With a little obtuseness to the 'finer'
feelings, a little native coarseness in his habits towards women, he
would have succeeded vastly better amid the complications of his
married life.

Troubles of a grosser kind, such as heretofore they had been
wonderfully spared, began to assail them during their month in Norfolk.
One morning, about midway in the holiday, Harvey, as he came down for a
bathe before breakfast, heard loud and angry voices from the kitchen.
On his return after bathing, he found the breakfast-table very
carelessly laid, with knives unpolished, and other such neglects of
seemliness. Alma, appearing with Hughie, spoke at once of the strange
noises she had heard, and Harvey gave his account of the