reated a different world
from the one she had always known, and that women had earned their
freedom as individuals by sharing the burden of the war side by side
with men. Nor had Roger infused any fresh ideas into her mind on his
return from serving in the Army. He had volunteered immediately war
broke out, his sense of duty and loyalty to his country being as sturdy
as his affection for every foot of her good brown earth he had
inherited. But he was not an impressionable man, and when peace
finally permitted him to return to his ancestral acres, he settled down
again quite happily into the old routine at Trenby Hall.

So it was hardly surprising that Lady Gertrude had remained unchanged,
expecting and requiring that the world should still run smoothly
on--without even a side-slip!--in the same familiar groove as that to
which she had always been accustomed. This being so, it was quite
clear to her that Nan would require a considerable amount of tutelage
before she was fit to be Roger's wife. And she was equally prepared to
give it.

In some inexplicable manner her attitude of mind conveyed itself to
Nan, and the latter was rebelliously conscious of the older woman's
efforts to dominate her. It came as an inexpressible relief when at
last their tete-a-tete was interrupted.

Through the closed door Nan could hear Roger's voice. He was evidently
engaged in cheerful conversation with someone in the hall outside--a
woman, from the light trill of laughter which came in response to some
remark of his--and a moment later the door opened and Nan could see his
head and shoulders towering above those of the woman who preceded him
into the room.

"Isobel, my dear!"

For the first time since the beginning of their interview Nan heard
Lady Gertrude's voice soften to a more human note. Turning to Nan she
continued, still in the same affectionate tone of voice:

"This is my niece, Isobel Carson--though she is really more like a
daughter to me."

"So it looks as though we shall be sisters!" put in the newcomer
lightly. "Really"--with a quick, bird-like glance, that included
everyone in the room--"our relationships will get rather mixed up,
won't they?"

She held out a rather claw-like little hand for Nan to shake, and the
unexpectedly tense and energetic grip of it was somewhat surprising.
She was a small, dark creature with bright, restless brown eyes set in
a somewhat sallow face--its sallowness the result of seve