lash his hope and his
intention? Was there any truth in her sudden statement that this was the
only week she could give them? "Oh! Really," was all that he found to
say to Karen's explanations, and then, "Where is Madame von Marwitz
going when she leaves us then?"

"To the Riviera, with the Duchess of Bannister, I think it is arranged.
I may wire to her, then, Gregory, at once, and say that she is to come?"

"Of course. How long are we to have the pleasure of entertaining her?"

"She did not say; for a week at least, I hope. Perhaps, even, for a
fortnight if that will be convenient for you. It will be a great joy to
me," Karen went on, "if only"--she was speaking with that determined
steadiness, looking before her as they drove; now, suddenly, she turned
her eyes on him "if only you will try to enjoy it, too, Gregory."

It was, in a sense, a challenge, yet it was, too, almost an appeal, and
it brought them nearer than they had been for weeks.

Gregory's hand caught hers and, holding it tightly, smiling at her
rather tremulously, he said: "I enjoy anything, darling, that makes you
happy."

"Ah, but," said Karen, her voice keeping its earnest control, "I cannot
be happy with you and Tante unless you can enjoy her for yourself. Try
to know Tante, Gregory," she went on, now with a little breathlessness;
"she wants that so much. One of the first things she asked me when she
came back was that I should try to make you care for her. She felt at
once--and oh! so did I, Gregory--that something was not happy between
you."

Her hand holding his tightly, her earnest eyes on his, Gregory felt his
blood turn a little cold as he recognized once more the soft,
unremitting pressure. It had begun, then, so early. She had asked Karen
that when she first came back. "But you see, dearest," he said, trying
to keep his head between realizations of Madame von Marwitz's craft and
Karen's candour, "I've never been able to feel that Madame von Marwitz
wanted me to care for her or to come in at all, as it were. I don't mean
anything unkind; only that I imagined that what she did ask of me was to
keep outside and leave your relation and hers alone. And that's what
I've tried to do."

"Oh, you mistake Tante, Gregory, you mistake her." Karen's hand grasped
his more tightly in the urgency of her opportunity. "She cared for me
too much--yes, it is there that you do not understand--to feel what you
think. For she knows that I cannot be happy wh