carriage in silence. At any time he was
haughtily resentful of curiosity; but on this subject most of all he
could not endure to speak with his most intimate friends. His first
impulse was to ignore the question, but as he met Cornelia's steady eyes
that impulse underwent an extraordinary reversion. Incredible as it
might appear, he became conscious that it was not only possible that he
could tell this girl, this stranger, the hidden sorrow of his life, but
that he actually wished to tell it! He wanted to hear what she would
say; to see how she would look. Those childlike eyes would look very
beautiful, softened with the light of sympathy and consolation. He
wanted to see that light shining for his sake.

"It's a long story," he began slowly, "I don't talk of it more than I
can help, but I'll tell you, if you care to hear it. I come of a race
of soldiers: it never entered my head that I could be anything else. My
father was in the Lancers; he died before I left Sandhurst, but my
mother managed to allow me fifteen hundred a year, and I joined my
father's regiment. I was lucky as things go; went through two
engagements before I was thirty; gained distinction at Omdurman. At
home I had a nailing good time: Adjutant of the regiment. We had the
jolliest mess! I don't think a man ever lived who enjoyed his life
more. There was lots of play, but I loved the work too, and studied
hard, at every branch of the profession. I had the credit of being one
of the best all-round men in the service." He laughed; a hard, sore-
hearted laugh. "I can say that now without reproach, for it belongs to
another life. ... Then--my mother died! She had been living beyond her
income, and there were all the legal expenses to face; selling up at a
loss; giving the girls their share. She had made a special push to keep
me in the old regiment; but in the end it came down to this, that in
all, there was barely five hundred a year for me. It was a big blow,
but there was nothing for it but to send in my resignation."

"Why?"

"One can't be an officer in a crack cavalry regiment with only five
hundred a year beyond his pay, Miss Briskett. It can't be done. There
wasn't one of my subs, who had less than eight hundred."

"Don't you get any pay at all in your army then?"

"Certainly; about enough to pay the mess bills, and perhaps the changes
of kit. The uniform costs several hundreds to start with, and those
fools at the War Of