ill mists
and pale sunlight that Althea, free of Miss Robinson, walked down
Grosvenor Street towards the park. She liked to go into the park on such
mornings, when Miss Robinson left her free, and sit on a bench and
abandon herself to remote, impersonal dreams. It was just as she entered
Berkeley Square that she met Mrs. Mallison, that aunt of Gerald's who
had struck her, some weeks ago, as so disconcerting, with her skilfully
preserved prettiness and her ethical and metaphysical aspirations. This
lady, furred to her ears, was taking out two small black pomeranians for
an airing. She wore long pearl ear-rings, and her narrow, melancholy
face was delicately rouged and powdered. Althea's colour rose painfully;
she had seen none of Gerald's relatives since the severance. Mrs.
Mallison, however, showed no embarrassment. She stopped at once and took
Althea's hand and gazed tenderly upon her. Her manner had always
afflicted Althea, with its intimations of some deep, mystical
understanding.

'My dear, I'm so glad--to meet you, you know. How nice, how right you've
been.' Mrs. Mallison murmured her words rather than spoke them and could
pronounce none of her r's. 'I'm so glad to be able to tell you so.
You're walking? Come with me, then; I'm just taking the dogs round the
square. Do you love dogs too? I am sure you must. You have the eyes of
the dog-lover. I don't know how I could live without mine; they
understand when no one else does. I didn't write, because I think
letters are such soulless things, don't you? They are the tombs of the
spirit--little tombs for failed things--too often. I've thought of you,
and felt for you--so much; but I couldn't write. And now I must tell you
that I agree with you with all my heart. Love's the _only_ thing in
life, isn't it?' Mrs. Mallison smiled, pressing Althea's arm
affectionately. Althea remembered to have heard that Mrs. Mallison had
made a most determined _mariage de convenance_ and had sought love in
other directions; but, summoning what good grace she could, she
answered that she, too, considered love the only thing.

'You didn't love him enough, and you found it out in time, and you told
him. How brave; how right. And then--am I too indiscreet? but I know you
feel we are friends--you found you loved some one else; the reality came
and showed you the unreality. That enchanting Mr. Kane--oh, I felt it
the moment I looked at him--there was an affinity between us, our souls
understoo