d Evelyn insisted that
he was much too stingy, like all lawyers, thinking of the letter and not
of the spirit, while Mrs. Paley required to be kept informed between
the courses as to what they were all saying, the luncheon passed with no
interval of silence, and Arthur congratulated himself upon the tact with
which the discussion had been smoothed over.

As they left the room it happened that Mrs. Paley's wheeled chair ran
into the Elliots, who were coming through the door, as she was going
out. Brought thus to a standstill for a moment, Arthur and Susan
congratulated Hughling Elliot upon his convalescence,--he was down,
cadaverous enough, for the first time,--and Mr. Perrott took occasion to
say a few words in private to Evelyn.

"Would there be any chance of seeing you this afternoon, about
three-thirty say? I shall be in the garden, by the fountain."

The block dissolved before Evelyn answered. But as she left them in the
hall, she looked at him brightly and said, "Half-past three, did you
say? That'll suit me."

She ran upstairs with the feeling of spiritual exaltation and quickened
life which the prospect of an emotional scene always aroused in her.
That Mr. Perrott was again about to propose to her, she had no doubt,
and she was aware that on this occasion she ought to be prepared with
a definite answer, for she was going away in three days' time. But
she could not bring her mind to bear upon the question. To come to a
decision was very difficult to her, because she had a natural dislike of
anything final and done with; she liked to go on and on--always on and
on. She was leaving, and, therefore, she occupied herself in laying her
clothes out side by side upon the bed. She observed that some were very
shabby. She took the photograph of her father and mother, and, before
she laid it away in her box, she held it for a minute in her hand.
Rachel had looked at it. Suddenly the keen feeling of some one's
personality, which things that they have owned or handled sometimes
preserves, overcame her; she felt Rachel in the room with her; it was as
if she were on a ship at sea, and the life of the day was as unreal
as the land in the distance. But by degrees the feeling of Rachel's
presence passed away, and she could no longer realise her, for she had
scarcely known her. But this momentary sensation left her depressed and
fatigued. What had she done with her life? What future was there before
her? What was make-believe,