t was
awfully plucky of her to have come. He took off the damp tweed cape
which she wore and led her to the fire. They had tea together in the
big cold drawing-room, and then came the time to say good-bye, and Mrs.
Avory pleaded to walk to the station for the sake of one last talk
together, and her watch--which never kept scrupulous time--deceiving
her as to the hour, she missed the last train at the little branch
station at Hulworth, and then wondered tearfully, and with an access of
nervousness which rendered her almost hysterical, what she should do.

Toffy had a Bradshaw twelve months old which he promised to consult if
Mrs. Avory would walk back with him across the fields again to the
house. He consoled her as best he could, and assured her that it would
be all right. And Mrs. Cosby, who was really a great woman at a
crisis, suggested suddenly and with brilliance that there was a train
from the main station ten miles off at eight o'clock, and that the
motor, if it did not break down, might take them there in half an hour.
She provided warm wraps for the lady, and Nigel found rugs for her; and
when all had been arranged, and she who got so little pleasure started
for a moonlight drive in the cold crisp air, with Nigel taking care of
her and wrapping her up warmly in rugs and furs, Mrs. Avory felt with a
sudden rush of that joy of which she had so little experience that all
had turned out happily and for the best.

It was not Toffy's fault upon this occasion that the motor-car came to
grief. Mr. Lawrence's big Panhard ran into them when they were seven
miles from home, and Mrs. Avory was taken back to Hulworth insensible
and with a broken arm. Mr. Lawrence was himself bruised and shaken,
but he helped to take Mrs. Avory home, where the housekeeper's greeting
convinced him, if he had required convincing, that Mrs. Avory was
staying at Hulworth. He said good-night when he had done everything
that was useful and neighbourly, and had sent his chauffeur in his own
car for the doctor, and had been helpful in getting remedies and
suggesting cures. And the following day he had the pleasure of being
first with the news of Mrs. Avory's escapade. Half his friends and
neighbours heard all about it before lunch-time; his own
bruises--rather obtrusively displayed--were proof of the truth of his
story, if proof were needed. And Mr. Lawrence finished up his
well-spent morning by lunching with Miss Abingdon, and by recount