had been swept towards each other; but at once
her attitude towards his marriage had been clear and pronounced, and she
might even now be bitterly regretting their meeting.

He sat down at last, and took up his work again; but his mind was
utterly unfitted for concentration on any task. Better to get back again
to his own studio, he told himself. So he stowed away his materials in a
corner, and presently slipped downstairs; telling the butler, whom he
met in the hall, that he would be there again at ten the following day.

At Tite Street men were tacking down a thick green length of Turkey
carpet on his staircase, and Alice was superintending the operation.
Here was his comfortable future in active preparation! And already he
felt the atmosphere swallowing him up, claiming him body and soul.

He stayed a moment on the landing, affecting an interest in the
proceedings. When he turned into the studio Alice came after him.

"You hardly seem well, dear," she said, observing him anxiously.

"You surprise me," he returned. "I am not conscious of any aches or
pains," he added, with an implication of gaiety.

She did not seem convinced. "This malarial air must have affected you,"
she insisted.

"I don't say I find it pleasant." He seized the poker, as if glad to
make a diversion, and stirred the fire energetically. "I'm a little bit
disgusted, too; the day wasn't as clear as I hoped--there was a good
deal of mist about."

"Better luck to-morrow!" she said.

He struck hard at a knob of coal, making a dreadful clatter. "I hope so,
indeed," he answered, thinking it curious that Alice should now be
expecting him to go to Grosvenor Place as a matter of course. "At any
rate," he added, as it struck him Alice might reasonably be hoping for
some account of his morning's visit, "they were kind to me--just as of
old. Lady Lakeden sent me refreshments, and afterwards came herself to
see how things were progressing."

"I suppose Lady Lakeden is a sister of the earl," she conjectured.

"No, his daughter--a mere girl," he explained, with the flicker of a
laugh. "It was a great surprise. It is only a few years back that I was
asked to her wedding. After that, I got out of touch with them, and I
did not know she had lost her husband very soon after the marriage. He
met with an accident on the Alps."

Alice was blanched. "How terrible!" she whispered.

There was a silence. Wyndham held his hands to the flame he had been at
such