went to the window and
sat there looking out for Joost; he was certain to come in soon, and
she found consolation in the thought. Joost, the model of modesty and
decorous serious propriety, would know the English girl in her true
colours now, and be justly disgusted and shocked to think that he had
ever ridden beside her on a merry-go-round.

Just then Julia passed carrying a tray of cups. "Denah," she said,
pitching her voice soft and low in the tone the Dutch girl hated most,
"I will give you a piece of advice; take care how you tell Joost about
my wickedness; you want to be ever so clever to abuse another girl to
a man; it is one of the most difficult things in the world--and you
are not very clever, you know, not even clever enough to take my
advice."

Denah was not clever enough to take the advice nor in any humour to do
so; she stared angrily at Julia, who unconcernedly put the cups on the
table and vanished into the kitchen.

Joost came in for coffee drinking, and the whole party with one accord
told him the tale; Julia heard them through the closed door as she sat
sipping her coffee in the little room. She did not hear him say
anything at all except just at first, "I won't believe it!" in a tone
which roused again, and with added strength, the regret she had felt
before for repaying belief and kindness by such disillusioning.
Afterwards he seemed to say nothing more; presumably they had
convinced him with overwhelming evidence. She wondered how he looked;
she could picture his serious blue eyes uncomfortable well; poor
Joost, who had such high opinions of her, who thought she, seeing the
low, chose the high path always in the greatness of her knowledge and
strength; who had called her a lantern, sometimes dimmed, but always a
beacon! The lantern was obscured just now, very badly obscured. She
rose and went up to her room; she would clear the table after Joost
had gone back to work.

She did so, coming down when he and Mijnheer were safely in the
office. When she had done she went to Mevrouw, who had betaken herself
to her room worn out by the morning's excitement.

"Would you prefer that I went at once?" she inquired, "or that I
waited till after dinner? I will stay till six if you wish it, or I
will go now without waiting to attend to the dinner."

Vrouw Van Heigen preferred the waiting; it would be so very much
better for the dinner, and really it hardly seemed as if propriety
could suffer much; accor