t with a straw hat down the back of his neck,
flushed and sturdy, as he came to her from some adventure.

And suddenly a gush of emotion from deep within her heart and the
heart of the spring day, a sense of being severed from him by a great,
remorseless power, came over her; and taking out a tiny embroidered
handkerchief, she wept. Round her the bees hummed carelessly, the
blossom dropped, the dappled sunlight covered her with a pattern as of
her own fine lace. From the home farm came the lowing of the cows on
their way to milking, and, strange sound in that well-ordered home, a
distant piping on a penny flute ....

"Mother, Mother, Mo-o-ther!"

Mrs. Pendyce passed her handkerchief across her eyes, and instinctively
obeying the laws of breeding, her face lost all trace of its emotion.
She waited, crumpling the tiny handkerchief in her gauntleted hand.

"Mother! Oh, there you are! Here's Gregory Vigil!"

Norah, a fox-terrier on either side, was coming down the path; behind
her, unhatted, showed Gregory's sanguine face between his wings of
grizzled hair.

"I suppose you're going to talk. I'm going over to the Rectory. Ta-to!"

And preceded by her dogs, Norah went on.

Mrs. Pendyce put out her hand.

"Well, Grig," she said, "this is a surprise."

Gregory seated himself beside her on the bench.

"I've brought you this," he said. "I want you to look at it before I
answer."

Mrs. Pendyce, who vaguely felt that he would want her to see things as
he was seeing them, took a letter from him with a sinking heart.

"Private.

"LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS,

"April 21, 1892.

"MY DEAR VIGIL,

"I have now secured such evidence as should warrant our instituting
a suit. I've written your ward to that effect, and am awaiting her
instructions. Unfortunately, we have no act of cruelty, and I've been
obliged to draw her attention to the fact that, should her husband
defend the suit, it will be very difficult to get the Court to accept
their separation in the light of desertion on his part--difficult
indeed, even if he doesn't defend the suit. In divorce cases one has to
remember that what has to be kept out is often more important than what
has to be got in, and it would be useful to know, therefore, whether
there is likelihood of opposition. I do not advise any direct
approaching of the husband, but if you are possessed of the information
you might let me know. I hate humbug, my dear Vigil, and I hate anything
underhand,