window as if in expectation of
some one's arrival.

The house stood in a row of small new dwellings on the outskirts of
Clapham Common; there was little traffic along the road at any time,
and in this hour of twilight even a passing footstep became a thing to
notice. Some one approached on her side of the way she listened, but
with disappointment; it was not the step for which she waited. None the
less it paused at this house, and she was startled to perceive a
telegraph messenger on the point of knocking. At once she hastened to
the front door.

"Mrs. Quarrier?" inquired the boy, holding out his missive.

Lilian drew back with it into the passage. But there was not light
enough to read by; she had to enter the sitting-room and hold the sheet
of paper close to the kettle-lamp.

"Very sorry that I cannot get home before ten. Unexpected business."

She read it carefully, then turned with a sigh and dismissed the
messenger.

In a quarter of an hour she had made tea, and sat down to take a cup.
The cat, refreshed after slumber, jumped on to her lap and lay there
pawing playfully at the trimming of her sleeves. Lilian at first
rewarded this friendliness only with absent stroking, but when she had
drunk her tea and eaten a slice of bread and butter the melancholy mood
dispersed; pussy's sportiveness was then abundantly indulged, and for
awhile Lilian seemed no less merry than her companion.

The game was interrupted by another knock at the house-door; this time
it was but the delivery of the evening paper. Lilian settled herself in
a chair by the fireside, and addressed herself with a serious
countenance to the study of the freshly-printed columns. Beginning with
the leading-article, she read page after page in the most conscientious
way, often pausing to reflect, and once even to pencil a note on the
margin. The paper finished, she found it necessary for the clear
understanding of a certain subject to consult a book of reference, and
for this purpose she went to a room in the rear--a small study,
comfortably but plainly furnished, smelling of tobacco. It was very
chilly, and she did not spend much time over her researches.

A sound from the lower part of the house checked her returning steps;
some one was rapping at the door down in the area. It happened that she
was to-day without a servant; she must needs descend into the kitchen
herself and answer the summons. When the nether regions were illumined
and the door