nd watched his wife's face,
illumined by the firelight. A healthier and more beautiful face than it
had ever been; not quite the second of those two faces that Mallard
drew, but with scarcely a record of the other. They talked in subdued
voices. Miriam repeated all that Eleanor had been able to tell.

"You must go and see her, of course," Mallard said.

"Yes; I will go to-morrow."

"Shall you ask her to come here?"

"I don't think she will wish to," answered Miriam.

"That brother of yours!" he growled.

"Isn't it too late even to feel angry with him, dear? We know what all
this means. It is absolutely impossible for them to live together, and
Reuben's behaviour is nothing but an assertion of that. Sooner or
later, it would be just as impossible, even if he preserved the
decencies."

"Perhaps true; perhaps not. Would it be possible for him to live for
long with _any_ woman?"

Miriam sighed.

"Well, well; go and talk to the poor girl, and see if you can do
anything. I wish she were an artist, of whatever kind; then it wouldn't
matter much. A woman who sings, or plays, or writes, or paints, can
live a free life. But a woman who is nothing but a woman, what the
deuce is to become of her in this position? What would become of _you_,
if I found you in my way, and bade you go about your business?"

"We are not far from the Thames," she answered, looking at him with the
fire-glow in her loving eyes.

"Oh, you!" he muttered, with show of contempt. "But other women have
more spirit. They get over their foolish love, and then find that life
in earnest is just beginning."

"I shall never get over it."

"Pooh!--How long to dinner, Miriam?"

Miriam went to see her sister-in-law, and repeated the visit at
intervals during the next few months; but Cecily would not come to
Roehampton. Neither would she accept the invitations of the Spences,
though Eleanor was with her frequently, and became her nearest friend.
She seemed quite content with the society of Irene and Mrs. Delph; her
health visibly improved, and as spring drew near there was a
brightening in her face that told of thoughts in sympathy with the
new-born hope of earth.

The Mallards were seldom in town. Excepting the house at Chelsea, their
visits were only to two or three painters, who lived much as Mallard
had done before his marriage. In these studios Miriam at first inspired
a little awe; but as her understanding of the art-world increased, she
adapte