ing words to her.

They had been at Hanaford for about ten days when, one morning at
breakfast, Amherst uttered a sudden exclamation over a letter he was
reading.

"What is it?" she asked in a tremor.

He had grown very pale, and was pushing the hair from his forehead with
the gesture habitual to him in moments of painful indecision.

"What is it?" Justine repeated, her fear growing.

"Nothing----" he began, thrusting the letter under the pile of envelopes
by his plate; but she continued to look at him anxiously, till she drew
his eyes to hers.

"Mr. Langhope writes that they've appointed Wyant to Saint
Christopher's," he said abruptly.

"Oh, the letter--we forgot the letter!" she cried.

"Yes--we forgot the letter."

"But how dare he----?"

Amherst said nothing, but the long silence between them seemed full of
ironic answers, till she brought out, hardly above her breath: "What
shall you do?"

"Write at once--tell Mr. Langhope he's not fit for the place."

"Of course----" she murmured.

He went on tearing open his other letters, and glancing at their
contents. She leaned back in her chair, her cup of coffee untasted,
listening to the recurrent crackle of torn paper as he tossed aside one
letter after another.

Presently he rose from his seat, and as she followed him from the
dining-room she noticed that his breakfast had also remained untasted.
He gathered up his letters and walked toward the smoking-room; and after
a moment's hesitation she joined him.

"John," she said from the threshold.

He was just seating himself at his desk, but he turned to her with an
obvious effort at kindness which made the set look of his face the more
marked.

She closed the door and went up to him.

"If you write that to Mr. Langhope--Dr. Wyant will--will tell him," she
said.

"Yes--we must be prepared for that."

She was silent, and Amherst flung himself down on the leather ottoman
against the wall. She stood before him, clasping and unclasping her
hands in speechless distress.

"What would you have me do?" he asked at length, almost irritably.

"I only thought...he told me he would keep straight...if he only had a
chance," she faltered out.

Amherst lifted his head slowly, and looked at her. "You mean--I am to do
nothing? Is that it?"

She moved nearer to him with beseeching eyes. "I can't bear it.... I
can't bear that others should come between us," she broke out
passionately.

He made no answer, but