him and the note
in them, to stare out of window at the red roofs opposite.

'That is like her,' he murmured to himself; 'I wound and hurt her: she
guesses I shall suffer for it, and, by way of setting up the friendly
bond again, next day, without a word, she asks me to do her a kindness!
Could anything be more delicate, more gracious!'

Kendal never had greater difficulty in fixing his thoughts to his work
than that morning, and at last, in despair, he pushed his book aside, and
wrote an answer to Miss Bretherton, and, when that was accomplished, a
long letter to his sister. The first took him longer than its brevity
seemed to justify. It contained no reference to anything but her request.
He felt a compulsion upon him to treat the situation exactly as she had
done, but, given this limitation, how much cordiality and respect could
two sides of letterpaper be made to carry with due regard to decorum and
grammar?

When he next met Wallace, that hopeful, bright-tempered person had
entirely recovered his cheerfulness. Miss Bretherton, he reported, had
attacked the subject of _Elvira_ with him, but so lightly that he had no
opportunity for saying any of the skilful things he had prepared.

'She evidently did not want the question seriously opened,' he said, 'so
I followed your advice and let it alone, and since then she has been
charming both to Agnes and me. I feel myself as much of a brute as ever,
but I see that the only thing I can do is to hold my tongue about it.' To
which Kendal heartily agreed.

A few days afterwards the newspapers gave a prominent place to reports of
Miss Bretherton's farewell performance. It had been a great social event.
Half the distinguished people in London were present, led by royalty.
London, in fact, could hardly bear to part with its favourite, and
compliments, flowers, and farewells showered upon her. Kendal, who had
not meant to go at the time when tickets were to be had, tried about the
middle of the week after the Oxford Sunday to get a seat, but found it
utterly impossible. He might have managed it by applying to her through
Edward Wallace, but that he was unwilling to do, for various reasons.
He told himself that, after all, it was better to let her little note and
his answer close his relations with her for the present. Everywhere else
but in the theatre she might still regard him as her friend; but there
they could not but be antagonistic in some degree one to another, and not