rnoon, and as he brooded there came upon him a
dread which, under the circumstances, was quite irrational, but for all
that troubled his views. Perhaps Sidwell was betrothed to some one? He
knew of but one likely person--Miss Moorhouse's brother. About a month
ago the Warricombes had been on a visit at Budleigh Salterton, and
something might then have happened. Pangs of jealousy smote him, nor
could he assuage them by reminding himself that he had no concern
whatever in Sidwell's future.

'Will Mr. Warricombe be long away?' he asked, coldly.

'A day or two. I hope you didn't wish particularly to see him to-day?'

'Oh, no.'

'Do you know, Mr. Peak,' put in Fanny, 'that we are all going to London
next month, to live there for half a year?'

Godwin exhibited surprise. He looked from the speaker to her sister,
and Sidwell, as she smiled confirmation, bent very slightly towards him.

'We have made up our minds, after much uncertainty,' she said. 'My
brother Buckland seems to think that we are falling behind in
civilisation.'

'So we are,' affirmed Fanny, 'as Mr. Peak would admit, if only he could
be sincere.'

'Am I never sincere then, Miss Fanny?' Godwin asked.

'I only meant to say that nobody can be when the rules of politeness
interfere. Don't you think it's a pity? We might tell one another the
truth in a pleasant way.'

'I agree with you. But then we must be civilised indeed. How do you
think of London, Miss Warricombe? Which of its aspects most impresses
you?'

Sidwell answered rather indefinitely, and ended by mentioning that in
_Villette_, which she had just re-read, Charlotte Bronte makes a
contrast between the City and the West End, and greatly prefers the
former.

'Do you agree with her, Mr. Peak?'

'No, I can't. One understands the mood in which she wrote that; but a
little more experience would have led her to see the contrast in a
different light. That term, the West End, includes much that is
despicable, but it means also the best results of civilisation. The
City is hateful to me, and for a reason which I only understood after
many an hour of depression in walking about its streets. It represents
the ascendency of the average man.'

Sidwell waited for fuller explanation.

'A liberal mind,' Peak continued, 'is revolted by the triumphal
procession that roars perpetually through the City highways. With
myriad voices the City bellows its brutal scorn of everything but
material advantage. The