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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Independence of Claire, by 
+Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Independence of Claire
+
+Author: Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey
+
+Release Date: April 16, 2007 [EBook #21098]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INDEPENDENCE OF CLAIRE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+The Independence of Claire
+
+By Mrs George de Horne Vaizey
+________________________________________________________________________
+This is a rather typical Horne Vaizey book, about the life led by young
+well-brought-up women in Edwardian times.  Worries about money, about
+who to marry, whether to go or not to parties to be given by elderly
+hostesses, about clothes, about hair-styles, and even, as so often in
+this author's books, with a bit of illness thrown in as well.
+
+There's a time when Claire seems on the way to making a big mistake, but
+it all gets sorted out in the end.  Make an audiobook of this book -
+that is probably the best way to enjoy it.
+________________________________________________________________________
+THE INDEPENDENCE OF CLAIRE
+
+BY MRS. GEORGE DE HORNE VAIZEY
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+"I'LL HAVE TO DO IT."
+
+Claire Gifford stood in the salon of the Brussels pension which had been
+her home for the last three years, and bent her brows in consideration
+of an all-absorbing problem.  "Can I marry him?" she asked herself once
+and again, with the baffling result that every single time her brain
+answered instantly, "_You must_!" the while her heart rose up in
+rebellion, and cried, "I won't!"  Many girls have found themselves in
+the same predicament before and since, but few have had stronger reasons
+for sacrificing personal inclination on the altar of filial duty than
+Claire knew at this minute.
+
+To begin with, the relationship between herself and her mother was more
+intimate than is usually the case, for Claire was an only child, and
+Mrs Gifford a widow only eighteen years older than herself.  Briefly
+stated, the family history was as follows--Eleanor Guyther had been the
+only child of stern, old-world parents, and at seventeen had run away
+from the house which had been more like a prison than a home, to marry a
+handsome young artist who had been painting in the neighbourhood during
+the summer months; a handsome merry-faced boy of twenty-one, whose
+portrait Claire treasured in an old-fashioned gold locket, long since
+discarded by her mother, who followed the fashion in jewellery as well
+as in dress.  It was strange to look at the face of a father who was no
+older than oneself, and Claire had spent many hours gazing at the
+pictured face, and trying to gain from it some idea of the personality
+of the man of whom her mother persistently refused to speak.
+
+Mrs Gifford shrank from all disagreeables, great and small, and
+systematically turned her back on anything which was disturbing or
+painful, so that it was only from chance remarks that her daughter had
+gained any information about the past.  She knew that her father had
+been a successful artist, although not in the highest sense of the term.
+He had a trick of turning out pretty domestic pictures which appealed
+to the taste of the million, and which, being purchased by enterprising
+dealers, were reproduced in cheap prints to deck the walls of suburban
+parlours.  While he lived he made a sufficient income, and before his
+death a formal reconciliation had taken place between the runaway
+daughter and her north-country parents, from whom she later inherited
+the money which had supported herself and her daughter throughout the
+years of her widowhood.
+
+Claire had the vaguest idea as to the amount of her mother's means, for
+until the last few years the question of money had never arisen, they
+had simply decided what they wished to do, without considering the cost,
+but of late there had been seasons of financial tightness, and the
+morning on which this history begins had brought a most disagreeable
+awakening.
+
+Mrs Gifford was seated in the salon staring disconsolately at a note
+which had just arrived by the afternoon post.  It was a very
+disagreeable note, for it stated in brief and callous terms that her
+account at the bank was overdrawn to the extent of three hundred francs,
+and politely requested that the deficit should be made good.  Claire
+looked flushed and angry; Mrs Gifford looked pathetic and pale.
+
+It seemed, in the first place, quite ludicrous that such a relationship
+as that of mother and daughter should exist between two women who looked
+so nearly of an age, and Mrs Gifford's youthful appearance was a
+standing joke in the Pension.  Every new visitor was questioned by
+Madame as to the relationship between the two English ladies, and never
+had one of the number failed to reply "sisters," and to be convulsed
+with astonishment when corrected; and in good truth Mrs Gifford was a
+wonderful specimen of the prolonged youth which is a phenomenon of the
+present day.
+
+She was slight, she was graceful, her waving brown hair was as naturally
+luxuriant as that of a girl, her complexion was smooth and fair, her
+pretty features were unchanged, she dressed with good taste, and, though
+secretly proud of her youthful looks, was never so foolish as to adopt
+kittenish airs to match.  Her manner was quiet, gracious, appealing; a
+little air of pathos enveloped her like a mist; on strangers she made
+the impression of a lovely creature who had known suffering.  Everybody
+was kind to Mrs Gifford, and she in return had never been known to
+utter an unkind word.  She had been born with the faculty of loving
+everybody a little, and no one very much, which--if one comes to think
+of it--is the most powerful of all factors towards securing an easy
+life, since it secures the owner from the possibility of keen personal
+suffering.
+
+At the present moment Mrs Gifford did, however, look really perturbed,
+for, after shutting her eyes to a disagreeable fact, and keeping them
+shut with much resolution and--it must be added--ease, for many years
+past, she was now driven to face the truth, and to break it to her
+daughter into the bargain.
+
+"But I don't understand!"  Claire repeated blankly.  "How _can_ the
+money be gone?  We have spent no more this year than for years past.  I
+should think we have spent less.  I haven't been extravagant a bit.  You
+offered me a new hat only last week, and I said I could do without--"
+
+"Yes, yes, of course.  It's quite true, _cherie_, you have been most
+good.  But, you see, ours has not been a case of an income that goes on
+year after year--it never was, even from the beginning.  There was not
+enough.  And you _did_ have a good education, didn't you?  I spared
+nothing on it.  It's folly to stint on a girl's education.--It was one
+of the best schools in Paris."
+
+"It was, mother; but we are not talking about schools.  Do let us get to
+the bottom of this horrid muddle!  If it isn't a case of `income,' what
+can it be?  I'm ignorant about money, for you have always managed
+business matters, but I can't see what else we can have been living
+upon?"
+
+Mrs Gifford crinkled her delicate brows, and adopted an air of
+plaintive self-defence.
+
+"I'm sure it's as great a shock to me as it is to you; but, under the
+circumstances, I do think I managed very well.  It was only nine
+thousand pounds at the beginning, and I've made it last over thirteen
+years, _with_ your education!  And since we've been here, for the last
+three years, I've given you a good time, and taken you to everything
+that was going on.  Naturally it all costs.  Naturally money can't last
+for ever..."
+
+The blood flooded the girl's face.  Now at last she _did_ understand,
+and the knowledge filled her with awe.
+
+"Mother!  Do you mean that we have been living all this time on
+_capital_?"
+
+Mrs Gifford shrugged her shoulders, and extended her hands in an
+attitude typically French.
+
+"What would you, _ma chere_?  Interest is so ridiculously low.  They
+offered me three per cent.  Four was considered high.  How could we have
+lived on less than three hundred a year?  Your school bills came to
+nearly as much, and I had to live, too, and keep you in the holidays.  I
+did what I thought was the best.  We should both have been miserable in
+cheap pensions, stinting ourselves of everything we liked.  The money
+has made us happy for thirteen years."
+
+Claire rose from her seat and walked over to the window.  The road into
+which she looked was wide and handsome, lined with a double row of
+trees.  The sun shone on the high white houses with the green
+_jalousies_, which stood _vis-a-vis_ with the Pension.  Along the
+cobble-stoned path a dog was dragging a milk-cart, the gleaming brass
+cans clanking from side to side; through the open window came the faint
+indescribable scent which distinguishes a continental from a British
+city.  Claire stared with unseeing eyes, her heart beating with heavy
+thuds.  She conjured up the image of a man's face--a strong kindly
+face--a face which might well make the sunshine of some woman's life,
+but which made no appeal to her own heart.  She set her lips, and two
+bright spots of colour showed suddenly in her cheeks.  So smooth and
+uneventful had been her life that this was the first time that she had
+found herself face to face with serious difficulty, and, after the first
+shock of realisation, her spirit rose to meet it.  She straightened her
+shoulders as if throwing off a weight, and her heart cried valiantly,
+"It's my own life, and I will _not_ be forced!  There must be some other
+way.  It's for me to find it!"
+
+Suddenly she whirled round, and walked back to her mother.
+
+"Mother, if you knew how little money was left, why wouldn't you let me
+accept Miss Farnborough's offer at Christmas!"
+
+For a moment Mrs Gifford's face expressed nothing but bewilderment.
+Then comprehension dawned.
+
+"You mean the school-mistress from London?  What was it she suggested?
+That you should go to her as a teacher?  It was only a suggestion, so
+far as I remember.  She made no definite offer."
+
+"Oh, yes, she did.  She said that she had everlasting difficulty with
+her French mistresses, and that I was the very person for whom she'd
+been looking.  Virtually French, yet really English in temperament.  She
+made me a definite offer of a hundred and ten pounds a year."
+
+Mrs Gifford laughed, and shrugged her graceful shoulders.  She appeared
+to find the proposal supremely ridiculous, yet when people were without
+money, the only sane course seemed to be to take what one could get.
+Claire felt that she had not yet mastered the situation.  There must be
+something behind which she had still to grasp.
+
+"Well, never mind the school for a moment, mother dear.  Tell me what
+_you_ thought of doing.  You must have had some plan in your head all
+these years while the money was dwindling away.  Tell me your scheme,
+then we can compare the two and see which is better."
+
+Mrs Gifford bent her head over the table, and scribbled aimlessly with
+a pen in which there was no ink.  She made no answer in words, yet as
+she waited the blood flamed suddenly over Claire's face, for it seemed
+to her that she divined what was in her mother's mind.  "I expected that
+you would marry.  I have done my best to educate you and give you a
+happy youth.  I expected that you would accept your first good offer,
+and look after _me_!"
+
+That was what a French mother would naturally say to her daughter; that
+was what Claire Gifford believed that her own mother was saying to her
+at that moment, and the accusation brought little of the revolt which an
+English girl would have experienced.  Claire had been educated at a
+Parisian boarding school, and during the last three years had associated
+almost entirely with French-speaking Andrees and Maries and Celestes,
+who took for granted that their husbands should be chosen for them by
+their parents.  Claire had assisted at betrothal feasts, and played
+_demoiselle d'honneur_ at subsequent weddings, and had witnessed an
+astonishing degree of happiness as an outcome of these business-like
+unions.  At this moment she felt no anger against her own mother for
+having tried to follow a similar course.  Her prevailing sensation was
+annoyance with herself for having been so difficult to lead.
+
+"It must be my English blood.  Somehow, when it came to the point, I
+never _could_.  But Mr Judge is different from most men.  He is so good
+and generous and unmercenary.  He'd be kind to mother, and let her live
+with us, and make no fuss.  He is as charming to her as he is to me.
+Oh, dear, I _am_ selfish!  I _am_ a wretch!  It isn't as if I were in
+love with anyone else.  I'm not.  Perhaps I never shall be.  I'll never
+have the chance if I live in lodgings and spend my life teaching
+irregular verbs.  Why can't I be sensible and French, and marry him and
+live happily ever after?  _Pauvre petite mere_!  Why can't I think of
+_her_?"
+
+Suddenly Claire swooped down upon her mother's drooping figure, wrapped
+her in loving arms, and swung her gently to and fro.  She was a tall,
+strikingly graceful girl, with a face less regularly beautiful than her
+mother's, but infinitely more piquant and attractive.  She was more
+plump and rounded than the modern English girl, and her complexion less
+pink and white, but she was very neat and dainty and smart, possessed
+deep-set, heavily-lashed grey eyes, red lips which curled mischievously
+upward at the corner, and a pair of dimples on her soft left cheek.
+
+The dimples were in full play at this moment; the large one was just on
+the level with the upward curl of the lips, the smaller one nestled
+close to its side.  In repose they were almost unnoticed, but at the
+slightest lighting of expression, at the first dawn of a smile, they
+danced into sight and became the most noticeable feature of her face.
+Claire without her dimples would have been another and far less
+fascinating personality.
+
+"Mother darling, forgive me!  Kiss me, _cherie_--don't look sad!  I
+_have_ had a good time, and we'll have a good time yet, if it is in my
+power to get it for you.  Cheer up!  Things won't be as bad as you fear.
+We won't allow them to be bad. ...  How much does the horrid old bank
+say that we owe?  Three hundred francs.  I can pay it out of my own
+little savings.  Does it mean literally that there is nothing more,
+nothing at all--not a single sou?"
+
+"Oh no.  I have some shares.  They have been worthless for years, but
+just lately they have gone up.  I was asking Mr Judge about them
+yesterday.  He says I might get between two and three hundred pounds.
+They were worth a thousand, years ago."
+
+Claire brightened with the quick relief of youth.  Two or three hundred
+English pounds were a considerable improvement on a debit account.  With
+two or three hundred pounds much might yet be done.  Thousands of people
+had built up great fortunes on smaller foundations.  In a vague,
+indefinite fashion she determined to devote these last pounds to
+settling herself in some business, which would ensure a speedy and
+generous return.  School teaching was plainly out of the question, since
+two gentlewomen could not exist on a hundred and ten pounds a year.  She
+must think of something quicker, more lucrative.
+
+All through dinner that evening Claire debated her future vocation as
+she sat by her mother's side, halfway down the long dining-table which
+to English eyes appeared so bare and unattractive, but which was yet
+supplied with the most appetising of food.  Claire's eyes were
+accustomed to the lack of pretty detail; she had quite an affection for
+the Pension which stood for home in her migratory life, and a real love
+for Madame Dupre, the cheery, kindly, most capable proprietor.  Such of
+the _pensionnaires_ as were not purely birds of passage she regarded as
+friends rather than acquaintances; the only person in the room to whom
+she felt any antagonism was Mr Judge himself, but unfortunately he was
+the one of all others whom she was expected to like best.
+
+As she ate her salad and broke fragments of delicious crusty roll,
+Claire threw furtive glances across the table at the man who for the
+last weeks had exercised so disturbing an element in her life.  Was it
+six weeks or two months, since she and her mother had first made his
+acquaintance at the tennis club at which they spent so many of their
+afternoons?  Claire had noticed that a new man had been present on that
+occasion, had bestowed on him one critical glance, decided with youthful
+arrogance: "Oh, quite old!" and promptly forgotten his existence, until
+an hour later, when, as she was sitting in the pavilion enjoying the
+luxury of a real English tea, the strange man and her mother had entered
+side by side.  Claire summoned in imagination the picture of her mother
+as she had looked at that moment, slim and graceful in the simplest of
+white dresses, an untrimmed linen hat shading her charming face.  She
+looked about twenty-five, and Claire was convinced that she knew as
+much, and that it was a mischievous curiosity to see her companion's
+surprise which prompted her to lead the way across the floor, and
+formally introduce "My daughter!"
+
+Mr Judge exhibited all the expected signs of bewilderment, but he made
+himself exceedingly amiable to the daughter, and it was not until a week
+later that it was discovered that he had concluded that the relationship
+must surely be "step," when fresh explanations were made, and all the
+bewilderment came over again.
+
+Since then, oh, since then, Claire told herself, there had been no
+getting away from the man!  He was, it appeared, an Indian merchant
+spending a few months on the Continent, at the conclusion of a year's
+leave.  He had come to Brussels because of the presence of an old school
+friend--the same friend who was responsible for the introduction at the
+tennis club--but week after week passed by, and he showed no disposition
+to move on.
+
+Now Brussels is a very gay and interesting little city, but when Paris
+looms ahead, and Berlin, Vienna, to say nothing of the beauties of
+Switzerland and the Tyrol, and the artistic treasures of Italy--well! it
+_did_ seem out of proportion to waste six whole weeks in that one spot!
+
+At the end of the last fortnight, too, Mr Judge declared that he was
+sick to death of hotels and lonely evenings in smoking rooms, and
+approached Madame Dupre with a view to joining the party at Villa Beau
+Sejour.  Madame was delighted to receive him, but Claire Gifford told
+her mother resentfully that she considered Mr Judge's behaviour "very
+cool."  How did he know that it would be pleasant for them to have him
+poking about morning, noon, and night?
+
+"It isn't _our_ Pension, darling, and he is very nice to you," Mrs
+Gifford had said in return, and as it was impossible to contradict
+either statement, Claire had tossed her head, and relapsed into silence.
+
+For the first weeks of her acquaintance with Mr Judge, Claire had
+thoroughly enjoyed his attentions.  It was agreeable to know a man who
+had a habit of noting your wishes, and then setting to work to bring
+them about forthwith, and who was also delightfully extravagant as
+regards flowers, and seemed to grow chocolates in his coat pockets.  It
+was only when he spoke of moving to the Pension, and her girl friends at
+the tennis club began to tease, roll meaning eyes, and ask when she was
+to be congratulated, that she took fright.
+
+Did people really think that she was going to _marry_ Mr Judge?
+
+Lately things had moved on apace, and as a result of the unwelcome
+revelations of the morning's post, Claire was to-day asking herself a
+different question.  She was no longer occupied with other people; she
+was thinking of herself...  "Am I going to marry Mr Judge?  Oh, good
+gracious, is that _My Husband_ sitting over there, and have I got to
+live with him every day, as long as we both shall live?"
+
+She shuddered at the thought, but in truth there was nothing to shudder
+at in Robert Judge's appearance.  He was a man of forty, bronzed, and
+wiry, with agreeable if not regular features.  Round his eyes the skin
+was deeply furrowed, but the eyes themselves were bright and youthful,
+and the prevailing expression was one of sincerity and kindliness.  He
+wore a loose grey tweed suit, with a soft-coloured shirt which showed a
+length of brown neck.  The fingers of his right band were deeply stained
+with tobacco.  During _dejeuner_ he carried on a conversation with his
+right-hand companion, in exceedingly bad French, but ever and anon he
+glanced across the table as though his thoughts were not on his words.
+Once, on looking up suddenly, Claire found his eyes fixed upon herself,
+with a strained, anxious look, and her heart quickened as she looked,
+then sank down heavy as lead.
+
+"It's coming!" she said to herself.  "It's coming!  There's no running
+away.  I'll have to stay, and see it out.  Oh, why can't I be French,
+and sensible?  I ought to be thankful to marry such a kind, good man,
+and be able to give mother a comfortable home!"
+
+But as a matter of fact she was neither glad nor thankful.  Despite her
+French training, the English instinct survived and clamoured for
+liberty, for independence.  "It's my own life.  If I marry at all, I
+want to choose the man for no other reason than that I love him; not as
+a duty, and to please somebody else!"  Then she glanced at her mother
+sitting by her side, slim, and graceful, with the little air of pathos
+and helplessness which even strangers found so appealing, and as she did
+so, a shiver passed through Claire's veins.
+
+"But I'll have to do it!" she said to herself helplessly.  "I'll have to
+do it!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+TOO SUCCESSFUL!
+
+The next few days passed by slowly enough.  It is a great trial for a
+young creature to realise that a change is inevitable and, at the same
+time, that one must be cautious about making it.  The impulse is always
+to rush into action, and it is difficult to sit still and agree with the
+elderly precept in favour of consideration and delay.  If matters had
+been left to Claire she would have started out forthwith to search for a
+cheap Pension, and would have also despatched a letter to Miss
+Farnborough by the first post, to inquire if the school post were still
+open, but her mother vetoed both proposals, and pleaded so urgently for
+delay, that there was nothing left but to agree, and compose herself as
+best she might.
+
+The weather was too hot for tennis, and in truth Claire was not in the
+mood for games.  With every hour she realised more keenly that she had
+come to the parting of the ways, and in the prospect of a new life old
+interests lost their savour.  Her mother seemed to share her
+restlessness, but while Claire preferred to stay indoors, in the privacy
+of her own room, Mrs Gifford seemed to find relief in action, and was
+often out for hours at a time, without vouchsafing any explanation of
+her absence.
+
+Claire was not curious.  She was content to close the green shutters of
+her windows, slip into a muslin wrapper, and employ herself at some
+simple piece of needlework, which kept her hands busy while leaving her
+thoughts free.
+
+Where would she be this time next year?  It was a question which no
+mortal can answer with certainty, but many of us are happy in the
+probability that we shall be still living in the same dear home,
+surrounded by the people and the objects which we love, whereas Claire's
+one certainty was that she must move on to fresh scenes.  Bombay or
+London--that seemed the choice ahead!  Matrimony or teaching.  On the
+one hand a luxurious home, carriages and horses, a staff of servants,
+and apparently as much society as one desired, with the incubus of a
+husband whom she did not love, and who was twenty years her senior.  On
+the other hand, work and poverty, with the advantages of freedom and
+independence.
+
+Claire's eyes brightened at the sound of those two words, for dear as
+liberty is to the heart of an Englishwoman, it was in prospect dearer
+still to this girl who had been educated in a country still enslaved by
+chaperonage, and had never known a taste of real freedom of action.
+Mrs Gifford had been as strict as or stricter than any Belgian mother,
+being rightly determined that no breath of scandal should touch her
+daughter's name; therefore wherever Claire went, some responsible female
+went with her.  She was chaperoned to church, chaperoned on her morning
+constitutional, a chaperon sat on guard during the period of music and
+drawing lessons, and at their conclusion escorted her back to the
+Pension.  What wonder that the thought of life as a bachelor girl in
+London seemed full of a thrilling excitement!
+
+Suppose for one minute that she decided on London--what would become of
+mother?  Again and again Claire asked herself this question, again and
+again she recalled the interview between herself and the headmistress,
+Miss Farnborough, when the subject of teaching had been discussed.  It
+had happened one morning in the salon of the Pension, when Claire had
+been coaching an English visitor in preparation for a French interview
+which lay ahead, and Miss Farnborough, laying down her book, had
+listened with smiling interest.  Then the Englishwoman left the room,
+and Miss Farnborough had said, "You did that very cleverly; very
+cleverly indeed!  You have a very happy knack of putting things simply
+and forcibly.  I've noticed it more than once.  Have you ever done any
+teaching?"
+
+"None professionally," Claire had replied with a laugh, "but a great
+deal by chance.  I seem to drift into the position of coach to most of
+the English visitors here.  It pleases them, and it interests me.  And I
+used to help the French girls with their English at school."
+
+Then Miss Farnborough had inquired with interest as to the details of
+Claire's education, the schools she had attended, the examinations she
+had passed, and finally had come the critical question, "Have you ever
+thought of taking up teaching as a profession?"
+
+Claire had never thought of taking up work of any kind, but the
+suggestion roused a keen interest, as one of the temporary "tight" times
+was in process, so that the prospect of money-making seemed particularly
+agreeable.  She discussed the subject carefully, and out of that
+discussion had arisen the final offer of a post.
+
+The junior French mistress in the High School of which Miss Farnborough
+was head was leaving at midsummer.  If Claire wished she could take her
+place, at a salary beginning at a hundred and ten pounds a year.  In
+Trust Schools, of which Saint Cuthbert's was one, there was no fixed
+scale of advancement, but a successful teacher could reach a salary of,
+say, two hundred a year by the time she was thirty-eight or forty, as
+against the permanent sixty or seventy offered to mistresses in
+residential schools of a higher grade.  Miss Farnborough's mistresses
+were women trained at the various universities; the school itself was
+situated in a fashionable neighbourhood, and its pupils were for the
+most part daughters of professional men, and gentlefolk of moderate
+incomes.  There was no pension scheme, and mistresses had to live out,
+but with care and economy they could take out some insurance to provide
+for old age.
+
+Claire took little interest in her own old age, which seemed too far
+away to count, but she was intensely interested in the immediate future,
+and had been hurt and annoyed when her mother had waved aside the
+proposal as unworthy of serious consideration.  And now, only three
+months after Miss Farnborough's departure, the crisis had arisen, and
+that hundred and ten pounds assumed a vastly increased value.  Supposing
+that the post was accepted, and mother and daughter started life in
+London with a capital of between two and three hundred pounds, and a
+salary of one hundred and ten, as regular income--how long would the
+nest-egg last out?
+
+Judging from the experience of past years, a very short time indeed, and
+what would happen after that?  Claire had read gruesome tales of the
+struggles of women in like positions, overtaken by illness, losing the
+salaries which represented their all, brought face to face with actual
+starvation, and in the midst of the midsummer heat, little shivers of
+fear trickled up and down her spine as she realised how easily she and
+her mother might drift into a like position.
+
+Then, on the other hand, Bombay!  Indian houses were large; mother could
+have her own rooms.  In the hot weather they would go together to the
+hills, leaving Mr Judge behind.  How long did the hot season last, four
+or five months?  Nearly half the year, perhaps.  It would be only half
+as bad as marrying a man for money in Europe, for you would get rid of
+him all that time!  Claire shrugged her shoulders and laughed, and two
+minutes later whisked away a tear, dedicated to the memory of girlish
+dreams.  Useless to dream any longer, she was awake now, and must face
+life in a sensible manner.  Her duty was to marry Robert Judge, and to
+make a home for her mother.
+
+Another girl might have cherished anger against the recklessness which
+had landed her in such a trap, but after the first shock of discovery
+there had been no resentment in Claire's heart.  She implicitly believed
+her mother's assurance that according to her light she had acted for the
+best, and echoed with heartiness the assertion that the money had
+provided a good time for thirteen long years.
+
+They had not been rich, but there had been a feeling of sufficiency.
+They had had comfortable quarters, pretty clothes, delightful holiday
+journeys, a reasonable amount of gaiety, and, over and beyond all, the
+advantages of an excellent education.  Claire's happy nature remembered
+her benefits, and made short work of the rest.  Poor, beautiful mother!
+who could expect her to be prudent and careful, like any ordinary,
+prosaic, middle-aged woman?
+
+Even as the thought passed through the girl's mind the door of the
+bedroom opened, and Mrs Gifford appeared on the threshold.  She wore a
+large shady hat, and in the dim light of the room her face was not
+clearly visible, but there was a tone in her voice which aroused
+Claire's instant curiosity.  Mother was trying to speak in her ordinary
+voice, but she was nervous, she was agitated.  She was not feeling
+ordinary at all.
+
+"Claire, _cherie_, we are going to the forest to have tea.  It is
+impossibly hot indoors, but it will be delightful under the trees.  Mr
+Judge has sent for a _fiacre_, and Miss Benson has asked to come too.
+Put on your blue muslin and your big hat.  Be quick, darling!  I'll
+fasten you up."
+
+"I'd rather not go, thank you, mother.  I'm quite happy here.  Don't
+trouble about me!"
+
+Mrs Gifford was obviously discomposed.  She hesitated, frowned, walked
+restlessly up and down, then spoke again with an added note of
+insistence--
+
+"But I want you to come, Claire.  I've not troubled you before, because
+I saw you wanted to be alone, but--it can't go on.  Mr Judge wants you
+to come.  He suggested the drive because he thought it would tempt you.
+If you refuse to-day, he will ask you again to-morrow.  I think, dear,
+you ought to come."
+
+Claire was silent.  She felt sick and faint; all over her body little
+pulses seemed to be whizzing like so many alarm clocks, all crying in
+insistent voices, "Time's up!  Time's up!  No more lazing.  Up with you,
+and do your duty!"  Her forehead felt very damp and her throat felt very
+dry, and she heard a sharp disagreeable voice saying curtly--
+
+"Oh, certainly, I will come.  No need to make a fuss.  I can dress
+myself, thank you.  I'll come down when I'm ready!"
+
+Mrs Gifford turned without a word and went out of the room, but Claire
+was too busy being sorry for herself to have sympathy to spare for
+anyone else.  She threw off her wrapper and slipped into the cool muslin
+dress which was at once so simple, and so essentially French and up-to-
+date, and then, throwing open the door of a cupboard, stared at a long
+row of hats ranged on a top shelf, and deliberately selected the one
+which she considered the least becoming.
+
+"I will _not_ be decked up for the sacrifice!" she muttered
+rebelliously, then bent forward, so that her face approached close to
+the flushed, frowning reflection in the glass.  "You are going to be
+proposed to, my dear!" she said scornfully.  "You are going to be good
+and sensible, and say `Yes, please!'  When you see yourself next, you
+will be Engaged!  It won't be dear little Claire Gifford any more, it
+will be the horrible future Mrs Robert Judge!"
+
+She stuck hat-pins through the straw hat with savage energy; for once in
+her life noticed with distinct satisfaction that it was secured at an
+unbecoming angle, then, hearing through the _jalousies_ the sound of
+approaching wheels, marched resolutely forth to meet her fate...
+
+In the _fiacre_ Mrs Gifford and Miss Benson took the seats of honour,
+leaving Claire and Mr Judge to sit side by side, and the one furtive
+glance which she cast in his direction showed him looking confident and
+unperturbed.  Just like a French _pretendu_, already assured by Maman
+that Mademoiselle was meekly waiting to assent to his suit!
+
+"He might at least pay me the compliment of _pretending_!  It is
+dreadfully dull to be taken for granted," reflected Claire in disgust.
+
+The next hour was a horrible experience.  Everything happened exactly as
+Claire had known it would, from the moment the quartette set forth.
+Arrived at the forest, they took possession of one of the little tables
+beneath the trees, and made fitful conversation the while they consumed
+delicious cakes and execrable tea.  Then the meal being finished, Mrs
+Gifford and her companion announced a wish to sit still and rest, while
+Mr Judge nervously invited Miss Claire to accompany him in a walk.  She
+assented, of course; what was the use of putting it off? and as soon as
+they were well started, he spied another seat, and insisted upon sitting
+down once more.
+
+"Now he'll begin," thought Claire desperately.  "He'll talk about India,
+and being lonely, and say how happy he has felt since he's been here,"
+and even as the thought passed through her mind, Mr Judge began to
+speak.
+
+"Awfully jolly old forest this is--awfully nice place Brussels,
+altogether.  Nicest place in the world.  Never been so happy in my life
+as I've been the last month.  Of course, naturally, you must realise
+that, when a fellow hangs on week after week, there--er, there must be
+some special attraction.  Not that it isn't a rattling old city, and all
+that!"  Mr Judge was growing a little mixed: his voice sounded flurried
+and nervous, but Claire was not in the least inclined to help him.  She
+sat rigid as a poker, staring stolidly ahead.  There was not the ghost
+of a dimple in her soft pink cheeks.
+
+"I--er, your mother tells me that she has said nothing to you, but she
+is sure, all the same, that you suspect.  I asked her to let me speak to
+you to-day.  Naturally she feels the difficulty.  She is devoted to you.
+You know that, of course.  I have told her that I will make your
+happiness my special charge.  There is nothing in the world I would not
+do to ensure it.  You know that too, don't you, Claire?"
+
+He stretched out his hand and touched her tentatively on the arm, but
+Claire drew herself back with a prickly dignity.  If he wanted to
+propose at all, he must propose properly; she was not going to commit
+herself in response to an insinuation.
+
+"You are very kind.  I am quite happy as I am."
+
+"Er--yes--yes, of course, but--but things don't go on, you know, can't
+go on always without a change!"
+
+Mr Judge took off his straw hat, twirled it nervously to and fro, and
+laid it down on the bench by his side.  Claire, casting a quick glance,
+noticed that his hair was growing noticeably thin on the temples, and
+felt an additional sinking of spirits.
+
+"Claire!" cried the man desperately, "don't let us beat about the bush.
+I'm not used to this sort of thing--don't make it harder than you need!
+You _have_ noticed, haven't you?  You know what I want to tell you?"
+
+Claire nodded dumbly.  In the case of previous Belgian admirers affairs
+had been checked before they reached the extreme stage, and she found
+this, her first spoken proposal much less exciting than she had
+expected.  As a friend pure and simple, she had thoroughly liked Mr
+Judge, and at the bottom of her heart there lived a lingering hope that
+perhaps if he loved her very much, and expressed his devotion in very
+eloquent words, her heart might soften in response.  But so far he had
+not even mentioned love!  She was silent for several minutes, and when
+she did speak it was to ask a side question.
+
+"Is mother willing to go to India?"
+
+She was looking at the man as she spoke, and the change which passed
+over his face, startled her by its intensity.  His eyes shone, the
+rugged features were transfigured by a very radiance of joy.  He looked
+young at that moment, young and handsome, and blissfully content.
+Claire stared at him in amazement, not unmingled with irritation.  Even
+if mother _were_ willing, her own consent had still to be obtained.  It
+was tactless to make so sure!
+
+Her own face looked decidedly sulky as she twitched round on her seat,
+and resumed her stolid staring into space.  Again there was silence,
+till a hand stretched out to clasp her arm, and a voice spoke in deep
+appealing accents--
+
+"Claire, dear child, you are young; you have never known loneliness or
+disappointment.  We have!  Happiness is fifty times more precious, when
+it comes to those who have suffered.  You would not be cruel enough to
+damp our happiness!  You _can_ do it, you know, if you persist in an
+attitude of coldness and disapproval.  I don't say you can destroy it.
+Thank God! it goes too deep for anyone to be able to do that.  But you
+can rub off the bloom.  Don't do it, Claire!  Be generous.  Be yourself.
+Wish us good luck!"
+
+"Wish _who_ good luck?  What, oh, what are you talking about?"  Claire
+was gasping now, quivering with a frenzy of excitement.  Robert Judge
+stared in return, his face full of an honest bewilderment.
+
+"Of our engagement, of course.  Your mother's engagement to me.  I have
+been talking about it all the time!"
+
+Then Claire threw up both her hands, and burst into a wild peal of
+laughter.  Peal after peal rang out into the air, she rocked to and fro
+on her seat, her eyes disappeared from view, her teeth shone, her little
+feet in their dainty French shoes danced upon the ground; she laughed
+till the tears poured down her cheeks, and her gloved hands pressed
+against her side where a "stitch" was uncomfortably making itself felt.
+Stout Belgian couples passing past the end of the avenue, looked on with
+indulgent smiles, a little shocked at so much demonstration in public,
+but relieved to perceive that _une Anglaise_ could laugh with such
+_abandon_.  Monsieur they observed looked not sympathetic.  Monsieur had
+an air injured, annoyed, on his dignity.  On his cheeks was a flush, as
+of wounded pride.  When at length the paroxysm showed signs of
+lessening, he spoke in cold stilted tones.
+
+"You appear to find it ridiculous.  It seems to amuse you very much.  I
+may say that to us it is a serious matter!"
+
+"Oh no!  You don't understand--you _don't_ understand!" gasped Claire
+feebly.  "I am not laughing at you.  I'm laughing at myself.  Oh, Mr
+Judge, you'll never guess, it's too screamingly funny for words.  I
+thought all this time, from the very beginning I thought, it was _me_!"
+
+"You thought it was--you thought I wanted--that I was talking of--that I
+meant to propose to--"
+
+"Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  Me!  Me!  Me!  Of course I did.  I've been thinking
+it for weeks.  Everyone thought so.  They've teased me to death.  You
+were attentive to me, you know you were.  You were always giving me
+things ..."
+
+"Well, of course!"  Poor Mr Judge defended himself with honest
+indignation.  "What else could I do?  I could not give them to _her_!
+And I wanted--naturally I wanted, to get you on my side.  You were the
+difficulty.  I knew that if she had only herself to consider I could win
+her round, but if you ranged yourself against me, it would be a hard
+fight.  Naturally I tried to ingratiate myself.  It appears that I have
+rather overdone the part, but I can't flatter myself," his eyes twinkled
+mischievously, "that I've been too successful!  You don't appear exactly
+overcome with disappointment!"
+
+They laughed together, but only for a moment.  Then he was serious
+again, appealing to her in earnest tones.
+
+"You won't range yourself against me, Claire?  You won't dissuade her.--
+I love her very dearly, and I know I can make her happy.  You won't make
+it hard for us?"
+
+"Indeed, I won't!  Why should I?"  Claire cried heartily.  "I'm only too
+thankful.  Mother needs someone to look after her, and I'd sooner you
+did it than anyone else.  I like you awfully--always did, until I began
+to be afraid--I didn't want to marry you myself, but if mother does, I
+think it's a splendid thing."
+
+"Thank you, dear, thank you a thousand times.  That's a _great_ relief."
+Robert Judge stretched himself with a deep breath of satisfaction.
+Then he grew confidential, reviewing the past with true lover-like
+enjoyment.
+
+"I fell in love with her that first afternoon at the tennis club.
+Thought Bridges introduced her as Miss Gifford, put her down at twenty-
+five, and hoped she wouldn't think me a hopeless old fogey.  Never had
+such a surprise in my life as when she introduced you.  Thought for a
+time I should have to give it up.  Then she asked my advice on one or
+two business matters, and I discovered--" He hesitated, flushing
+uncomfortably, and Claire finished the sentence.
+
+"That we are coming to the end of our resources?"
+
+Mr Judge nodded.
+
+"And so, of course," he continued simply, "that settled it.  I couldn't
+go away and leave her to face a struggle.  I was jolly thankful to feel
+that I had met her in time."
+
+"I think you are a dear, good man.  I think mother is very lucky.  Thank
+you so much for being my step-papa!" cried Claire, her grey eyes
+softening with a charming friendliness as they dwelt on the man's honest
+face, and he took her hand in his, and squeezed it with affectionate
+ardour.
+
+"Thank you, my dear.  Thank _you_!  I shall be jolly proud of having
+such a pretty daughter.  I'm not a rich man, but I am comfortably well-
+off, and I'll do my best to give you a good time.  Your mother feels
+sure she will enjoy the Indian life.  Most girls think it great fun.
+And of course I have lots of friends."
+
+Claire stared at him, a new seriousness dawning in her eyes.  She looked
+very pretty and very young, and not a little pathetic into the bargain.
+For the first time since the realisation of her mistake the personal
+application of the situation burst upon her, and a chill crept through
+her veins.  If she herself had married Robert Judge, her mother would
+have made her home with them as a matter of course; but it was by no
+means a matter of course that she should make her home with her mother.
+She stared into the honest face of the man before her--the man who was
+not rich, the man who was in love for the first time in his life, and a
+smile twisted the corner of her lips.
+
+"Mr Judge, if I ask you a question, will you promise to give me an
+absolutely honest answer?"
+
+"Yes, I will."
+
+"Well, then, will you _like_ having a third person living with you all
+the time?"
+
+Up to the man's forehead rushed the treacherous blood.  He frowned, he
+scowled, he opened his lips to protest; but that flush had answered for
+him, and Claire refused to listen.  "No, no--don't!  Of course you
+wouldn't.  Who would, in your place?  Poor darlings--I quite understand.
+You _are_ middle-aged, you know, though you feel about nineteen, and
+mother is prettier and more charming than half the girl brides.  And you
+will want to be just as young and foolish as you like, not to be
+_obliged_ to be sensible because a grown-up daughter is there all the
+time, staring at you with big eyes?  I should be in the way, and I
+should _feel_ in the way, and--"
+
+Mr Judge interrupted in an urgent voice:
+
+"Look here, Claire, I don't think you ought to corner me like this.
+It's not fair.  I've told you that I am prepared to do everything for
+your happiness.  You ought surely to realise that I--"
+
+"And _you_ ought to realise that I--" Claire broke off suddenly, and
+held out her hand with a charming smile.  "Oh, but there's plenty of
+time--we can arrange all that later on.  Let's go and find mother and
+put her out of her misery.  She will be longing to see us come back."
+
+They walked down the avenue together, and, as they went, Claire turned
+her head from side to side, taking in the well-known scene with wistful
+intensity.  How many times would she see it again?  As she had said,
+many discussions would certainly take place as to her future
+destination, but she knew in her heart that the result was sure.
+Providence had decided or her.  The future was London and work!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+MRS. GIFFORD IS MARRIED.
+
+Claire lost no time in writing to Miss Farnborough to apply for the post
+of French mistress if it were still vacant, and by return of post
+received a cordial reply.  Several applications had been received, but
+no appointment had been made, and the Head was pleased to confirm her
+previous offer of a commencing salary of a hundred and ten pounds, and
+would expect Miss Gifford to take up her duties at the beginning of the
+autumn term.  She congratulated her on her decision, and felt sure she
+would never regret devoting her life to so interesting and valuable a
+work, instead of being content to waste it in the pursuit of idle
+pleasure.
+
+Poor Claire looked a little dubious as she read those last words.  The
+pursuit of pleasure does not as a rule begin to pall at twenty-one; and
+the old life looked very sweet and pleasant viewed from the new
+standpoint of change.  She put on a bright face, however, and sternly
+repressed all signs of depression in discussing the matter with her
+mother and Mr Judge.  Her determination evoked the expected opposition,
+but slowly and surely the opposition decreased, and her arguments were
+listened to with increasing respect.  The lovers were sincerely desirous
+of securing the girl's happiness, but middle-aged though they were, they
+were deeply in love, and felt a natural desire to begin their married
+life without the presence of a third person, however dear that person
+might be.
+
+Mr Judge applauded Claire's spirit, and prophesied her rapid success as
+a teacher.  Mrs Gifford murmured sweetly, "And if you _don't_ like it,
+dear, you can always come out by the next boat.  Try it for a year.  It
+will be quite an amusing experience to live the life of a bachelor girl.
+And, of course, in a year or two we'll be coming home.  Then you must
+spend the whole leave with us.  We'll see, won't we?  We won't make any
+plans, but just be guided by circumstances.  If you want somewhere to go
+in the holidays, there's my old Aunt Mary in Preston, but you'd be bored
+to sobs, darling.  No doubt Miss Farnborough will introduce you to lots
+of nice people in London, and you will have all the fifteen other
+mistresses to take you about.  I expect you'll be quite gay! ...
+Claire, darling, _would_ you have gold tissue under this ninon, or just
+a handsome lace?"
+
+For the next few weeks things moved quickly.  In answer to inquiries
+about lodgings, Miss Farnborough wrote a second time to say that Miss
+Rhodes, the English mistress, had comfortable rooms which she was
+sharing with the present French teacher.  She was willing to continue
+the arrangement, and, as a stranger in town, Claire would doubtless find
+it agreeable as well as economical.  The letter was entirely business-
+like and formal, and, as such, a trifle chilling to Claire, for Miss
+Farnborough had been so warm in her spoken invitation that Claire had
+expected a more cordial welcome.  Could it be that the shadow of
+officialdom was already making itself felt?
+
+The next few weeks were given up to trousseau-hunting and farewell
+visits, and no girl could have shown a livelier interest in the
+selection of pretty things than did this bride of thirty-nine.  Claire
+came in for a charming costume to wear at the wedding, and for the rest,
+what fitted her mother fitted herself, and as Mrs Gifford said sweetly,
+"It would be a sin to waste all my nice things, but they're quite
+unsuitable for India.  Just use them out, darling, for a month or two,
+and then get what you need," an arrangement which seemed sensible
+enough, if one could only be sure of money to supply that need when it
+arose!
+
+The day before her marriage Mrs Gifford thrust an envelope into her
+daughter's hand, blushing the while with an expression of real distress.
+
+"I'm so sorry, darling, that it's so little.  I've tried to be careful,
+but the money has flown.  Going out to India one needs so many clothes,
+and there were quite a number of bills.  I'll send more by and by, and
+remember always to say if you run short.  I want you to have plenty for
+all you need.  With what you have, this will see you nicely through your
+first term, and after that you'll be quite rich."
+
+Claire kissed her, and was careful not to look at the cheque until she
+was alone.  She had counted on at least a hundred to put in the bank as
+a refuge against a rainy day.  Surely at this parting of the ways mother
+would wish her to have this security; but when she looked at her cheque,
+it was to discover that it was made out for fifty pounds--only half that
+sum.  Claire felt sore at that moment, and for the first time a chill of
+fear entered into her anticipations.  Fifty pounds seemed a dreadfully
+small sum to stand between herself and want.  A hundred might be only
+twice its value, but its three figures sounded so much more substantial.
+She struggled hard to allow no signs of resentment to be seen, and felt
+that virtue was rewarded, when late that evening Mr Judge presented her
+with yet another envelope, saying awkwardly--
+
+"That's--er--that's the bridesmaid's present.  Thought you'd like to
+choose for yourself.  Something to do, you know, some fine half-holiday,
+to go out and look in the shops.  I've no views--don't get jewellery
+unless you wish.  Just--er--`blew it' your own way!"
+
+Claire kissed him, and remarked that he was a sweet old dear; and this
+time the opening of the envelope brought a surprise of an agreeable
+nature, for this cheque also was for fifty pounds, so that the desired
+hundred was really in her possession.  No jewellery for her!  Into the
+bank the money should go--every penny of it, and her bridesmaid present
+should be represented by peace of mind, which, after the financial shock
+of the last month, seemed more precious than many rubies.
+
+Mr and Mrs Judge were married at the Embassy, and afterwards at an
+English church, the bride looking her most charming self in a costume of
+diaphanous chiffon and lace and the most fascinating of French hats, and
+the bridegroom his worst in his stiff conventional garments.  They were
+a very radiant couple, however, and the _dejeuner_ held after the
+ceremony at the "Hotel Britannique" was a cheerful occasion, despite the
+parting which lay ahead.
+
+The gathering was quite a large one, for Mr Judge had insisted upon
+inviting all the friends who had been kind to his _fiancee_ and her
+daughter during their three years' sojourn in the city, while the
+_pensionnaires_ at "Villa Beau Sejour" came _en masse_, headed by Madame
+herself, in a new black silk costume, her white transformation
+elaborately waved and curled for the occasion.
+
+There were speeches, and there were toasts.  There were kindly words of
+farewell and cheerful anticipations of future meetings, there were good
+wishes for the bride and bridegroom, and more good wishes for the
+bridesmaid, and many protestations that it was "her turn next."
+
+Then the bride retired to change her dress.  Claire went with her, and
+tried valiantly not to cry as she fastened buttons and hooks, and
+realised how long it might be before she next waited on her mother.
+Mrs Judge was tearful, too, and the two knew a bitter moment as they
+clung together for the real farewell before rejoining the guests.
+
+"I've been careless; I've made a mess of things.  I've not been half as
+thoughtful as I should have been," sobbed the bride, "but I _have_ loved
+you, Claire, and this will make no difference!  I shall love you just
+the same."
+
+Claire flushed and nodded, but could not trust herself to speak.  The
+love of a mother in far-off India could never be the same as the love of
+the dear companion of every day.  But she was too generous to add to her
+mother's distress by refusing to be comforted, and the bride nervously
+powdered her eyes, and re-arranged her veil before descending to the
+hall, anxious as ever to shelve a painful subject, and turn her face to
+the sun.
+
+Five minutes later Mr and Mrs Judge drove away from the door, and the
+girl who was left behind turned slowly to re-enter the hotel.  It was
+very big, and fine, and spacious, but at that moment it was a type of
+desolation in Claire's eyes.  With a sickening wave of loneliness she
+realised that she was motherless and alone!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+A FELLOW TRAVELLER INTRODUCES HERSELF.
+
+The next afternoon Claire started on her journey to London.  She had
+spent the night with friends, and been seen off at the station by quite
+a crowd of well-wishers.  Little souvenirs had been showered upon her
+all the morning, and everyone had a kindly word, and a hopeful prophecy
+of the future.  There were invitations also, and promises to look her up
+in her London home, and a perfect shower of violets thrown into the
+carriage as the train steamed out of the station, and Claire laughed and
+waved her hand, and looked so complacent and beaming that no one looking
+on could have guessed the real nature of her journey.  She was not
+pretending to be cheerful, she _was_ cheerful, for, the dreaded parting
+once over, her optimistic nature had asserted itself, and painted the
+life ahead in its old rosy colours.  Mother was happy and secured from
+want; she herself was about to enjoy a longed-for taste for
+independence; then why grumble? asked Claire sensibly of herself, and
+anything less grumbling than her appearance at that moment it would be
+hard to imagine.
+
+She was beautifully dressed, in the simplest but most becoming of
+travelling costumes, she was agreeably conscious that the onlookers to
+her send-off had been unanimously admiring in their regard, and, as she
+stood arranging her bags on the rack overhead, she saw her own face in
+the strip of mirror and whole-heartedly agreed in their verdict.
+
+"I'm glad I'm pretty!  It's a comfort to be pretty.  I should grow so
+tired of being with myself if I were plain!" she reflected complacently
+as she settled herself in her corner, and flicked a few grains of dust
+from the front of her skirt.
+
+She had taken a through first-class ticket from sheer force of habit,
+for Mrs Gifford had always travelled first, and the ways of economy
+take some time to acquire.  In the opposite corner of the carriage sat
+an elderly woman, obviously English, obviously also of the _grande dame_
+species, with aquiline features, white hair dressed pompadour fashion,
+and an expression compounded of indifference and quizzical good humour.
+The good humour was in the ascendant as she watched the kindly Belgians
+crowd round her fellow-passenger, envelop her in their arms, murmur
+tearful farewells, and kiss her soundly on either cheek.  The finely
+marked eyebrows lifted themselves as if in commiseration for the victim,
+and as the door closed on the last farewell she heaved an involuntary
+sigh of relief.  It was evident that the scene appealed to her entirely
+from the one standpoint; she saw nothing touching about it, nothing
+pathetic; she was simply amused, and carelessly scornful of
+eccentricities in manner or appearance.
+
+On the seat beside this imposing personage sat a young woman in black,
+bearing the hall mark of lady's maid written all over her in capital
+letters.  She sat stiffly in her seat, one gloved hand on her knee, the
+other clasped tightly round the handle of a crocodile dressing-bag.
+
+Claire felt a passing interest in the pair; reflected that if it were
+her lot in life to be a maid, she would choose to live on the Continent,
+where an affectionate intimacy takes the place of this frigid
+separation, and then, being young and self-engrossed, promptly forgot
+all about them, and fell to building castles in the air, in which she
+herself lived in every circumstance of affluence and plenty, beloved and
+admired of all.  There was naturally a prince in the story, a veritable
+Prince Charming, who was all that the most exacting mind could desire,
+but the image was vague.  Claire's heart had not yet been touched.  She
+was still in ignorance as to what manner of man she desired.
+
+Engaged in these pleasant day-dreams Antwerp was reached before Claire
+realised that half the distance was covered.  On the quay the wind blew
+chill; on the boat itself it blew chillier still.  Claire became aware
+that she was in for a stormy crossing, but was little perturbed by the
+fact, since she knew herself to be an unusually good sailor.  She tipped
+the stewardess to fill a hot bottle, put on a cosy dressing-jacket, and
+lay down in her berth, quite ready for sleep after the fatigue and
+excitement of the past week.
+
+In five minutes the ship and all that was in it was lost in dreams, and,
+so far as Claire was concerned, it might have been but another five
+minutes before the stewardess aroused her to announce the arrival at
+Parkeston Pier.  The first glance around proved, however, that the other
+passengers had found the time all too long.  The signs of a bad crossing
+were written large on the faces of her companions, and there was a trace
+of resentment in the manner in which they surveyed her active movements.
+An old lady in a bunk immediately opposite her own seemed especially
+injured, and did not hesitate to put her feelings into words, "_You_
+have had a good enough night!  I believe you slept right through...  Are
+you aware that the rest of us have been more ill than we've ever been in
+our lives?" she asked in accusing tones.  And Claire laughed her happy,
+gurgling little laugh, and said--
+
+"I'm _so_ sorry, but it's all over, isn't it?  And people always say
+that they feel better afterwards!"
+
+The old lady grunted.  She certainly looked thoroughly ill and wretched
+at the moment, her face drawn and yellow beneath her scanty locks, and
+her whole appearance expressive of an extremity of fatigue.  It seemed
+to her that it was years since she had left the quay at Antwerp, and
+here was this young thing as blooming as though she had spent the night
+in her own bed!  She hitched a shawl more closely over her shoulders,
+and called aloud in a high imperious tone--
+
+"Mason!  Mason!  You must really rouse yourself and attend to me.  We
+shall have to land in a few minutes.  Get up at once and bring me my
+things!"
+
+The covering of another bunk stirred feebly, and two feet encased in
+black merino stockings descended slowly to the floor.  A moment later a
+ghastly figure was tottering across the floor, lifting from a box a
+beautifully waved white wig, and dropping it carefully over the head of
+the aggrieved old lady of the straggly locks.
+
+It was all that Claire could do to keep from exclaiming aloud, as it
+burst upon her astonished senses that this poor, huddled creature was
+none other than the _grande dame_ of the railway carriage, the haughtily
+indifferent, cynically amused personage who had seemed so supremely
+superior to the agitations of the common ruck!  Strange what changes a
+few hours' conflict with the forces of Nature could bring about!
+
+Ill as the mistress was, the maid was even worse, and it was pitiful to
+see the poor creature's efforts to obey the exigent demands of her
+employer.  In the end faintness overcame her, and if Claire had not
+rushed to the rescue, she would have fallen on the floor.
+
+"It's no use struggling against it!  You must keep still until the boat
+stops.  You'll feel better at once when we land, and you get into the
+air."  Claire laid the poor soul in her bunk, and turned back to the old
+lady who was momentarily growing younger and more formidable, as she
+continued the stages of her toilette.
+
+"Can I help you?" she asked smilingly, and the offer was accepted with
+gracious composure.
+
+"Please do.  I should be grateful.  Thank you.  That hook fastens over
+here, and the band crosses to this side.  The brooch is in my bag--a
+gold band with some diamonds--and the hat-pins, and a clean
+handkerchief.  Can you manage? ...  The clasp slides back."
+
+Claire opened the bag and gazed with admiration at a brown _moire_
+antique lining, and fittings of tortoiseshell, bearing raised monograms
+in gold.  "I shall have one exactly to match, when I marry my duke!" was
+the mental reflection, as she selected the articles mentioned and put
+the final touches to the good lady's costume.
+
+Later on there was Mason to be dressed; later on still, Claire found
+herself carrying the precious dressing-bag in one hand, and supporting
+one invalid with the other, while Mason tottered in the wake, unable for
+the moment to support any other burden than that of her own body.
+
+Mrs Fanshawe--Claire had discovered the name on a printed card let into
+the lining of the bag--had no sympathy to spare for poor Mason.  She
+plainly considered it the height of bad manners for a maid to dare to be
+sea-sick; but being unused to do anything for herself, gratefully
+allowed Claire to lead the way, reply to the queries of custom-house
+officials, secure a corner of a first-class compartment of the waiting
+train, and bid an attendant bring a cup of tea before the ordinary
+breakfast began.
+
+Mason refused any refreshment, but Mrs Fanshawe momentarily regained
+her vigour, and was all that was gracious in her acknowledgment of
+Claire's help.  The quizzical eyes roved over the girl's face and
+figure, and evidently approved what they saw, and Claire, smiling back,
+was conscious of an answering attraction.  Thoughtless and domineering
+as was her behaviour to her inferior, there was yet something in the old
+lady's personality which struck an answering chord in the girl's heart.
+She was enough of a physiognomist to divine the presence of humour and
+generosity, combined with a persistent cheerfulness of outlook.  The
+signs of physical age were unmistakable, but the spirit within was
+young, young as her own!
+
+The mutual scrutiny ended in a mutual laugh, which was the last breaking
+of the ice.
+
+"My dear," cried Mrs Fanshawe, "you must excuse my bad manners!  You
+are so refreshing to look at after all those horrors on the boat that I
+can't help staring.  And you've been so kind!  Positively I don't know
+how I should have survived without you.  Will you tell me your name?  I
+should like to know to whom I am indebted for so much help."
+
+"My name is Claire Gifford."
+
+"Er--yes?"  Plainly Mrs Fanshawe felt the information insufficient.
+"Gifford!  I knew some Giffords.  Do you belong to the Worcestershire
+branch?"
+
+Claire hitched her shoulders in the true French shrug.
+
+"_Sais pas_!  I have no English relations nearer than second cousins,
+and we have lived abroad so much that we are practically strangers.  My
+father died when I was a child.  I went to school in Paris, and for the
+last few years my mother and I have made our headquarters in Brussels.
+She married again, only yesterday, and is going to live in Bombay."
+
+Mrs Fanshawe arched surprised brows.
+
+"And you are staying behind?"
+
+"Yes.  They asked me to go.  Mr Judge is very kind.  He is my--er--
+stepfather!"  Claire shrugged again at the strangeness of that word.
+"He gave me the warmest of invitations, but I refused.  I preferred to
+be left."
+
+Mrs Fanshawe hitched herself into her corner, planted her feet more
+firmly on the provisionary footstool, and folded her hands on her knee.
+She had the air of a person settling down to the enjoyment of a
+favourite amusement, and indeed her curiosity was a quality well-known
+to all her acquaintances.
+
+"Why?" she asked boldly, and such was the force of her personality that
+Claire never dreamt for a moment of refusing to reply.
+
+"Because I want to be independent."
+
+Mrs Fanshawe rolled her eyes to the hat-rail.
+
+"My dear, nonsense!  You're far too pretty.  Leave that to the poor
+creatures who have no chance of finding other people to work for them.
+You should change your mind, you know, you really should.  India's quite
+an agreeable place to put in a few years.  The English girl is a trifle
+overdone, but with your complexion you would be bound to have a success.
+Think it over!  Don't be in a hurry to let the chance slip!"
+
+"It _has_ slipped.  They sail from Marseilles a week from to-day, and
+besides I don't want to change.  I like the prospect of independence
+better even than being admired."
+
+"Though you like that, too?"
+
+"Of course.  Who doesn't?  I'm hoping--with good luck--to be admired in
+England instead!"
+
+"Then you mustn't be independent!"  Mrs Fanshawe said, laughing.  "It
+was the rage a year or two ago; girls had a craze for joining
+Settlements, and running about in the slums, but it's quite out of date.
+Hobble skirts killed it.  It's impossible to be utilitarian in a hobble
+skirt...  And how do you propose to show your independence, may I ask?"
+
+"I am going to be French mistress in a High School," Claire said
+sturdily, and hated herself because she winced before the eloquent
+change of expression which passed over her companion's face.
+
+Mrs Fanshawe said, "Oh, really!  How _very_ interesting!" and looked
+about as uninterested the while as a human creature could be.  In the
+pause which followed it was obvious that she was readjusting the first
+impression of a young gentlewoman belonging to her own leisured class,
+and preparing herself to cross-question an entirely different person--an
+ordinary teacher in a High School!  There was a touch of patronage in
+her manner, but it was still quite agreeable Mrs Fanshawe was always
+agreeable for choice: she found it the best policy, and her indolent
+nature shrank from disagreeables of every kind.  This pretty girl had
+made herself quite useful, and a chat with her would enliven a dull hour
+in the train.  Curiosity shifted its point, but remained actively in
+force.
+
+"Tell me all about it!" she said suavely.  "I know nothing about
+teachers.  Shocking, isn't it?  They alarm me too much.  I have a horror
+of clever women.  You don't look at all clever.  I mean that as a
+compliment--far too pretty and smart, but I suppose you are dreadfully
+learned, all the same.  What are you going to teach?"
+
+"French.  I am almost as good as a Frenchwoman, for I've talked little
+else for sixteen years.  Mother and I spoke English together, or I
+should have forgotten my own language.  It seems, from a scholastic
+point of view, that it's a useful blend to possess--perfect French and
+an English temperament.  `Mademoiselle' is not always a model of
+patience!"
+
+"And you think you will be?  I prophesy differently.  You'll throw the
+whole thing up in six months, and fly off to mamma in India.  You
+haven't the least idea what you are in for, but you'll find out, you'll
+find out!  Where is this precious school?  In town, did you say?  Shall
+you live in the house or with friends?"
+
+"I have no friends in London except Miss Farnborough, the head mistress,
+but there are fifteen other mistresses besides myself.  That will be
+fifteen friends ready-made.  I am going to share lodgings with one of
+them, and be a bachelor girl on my own account.  I'm so excited about
+it.  After living in countries where a girl can't go to the pillar-box
+alone, it will be thrilling to be free to do just as I like.  Please
+don't pity me!  I'm going to have great fun."
+
+Mrs Fanshawe hitched herself still further into her corner and smiled a
+lazy, quizzical smile.
+
+"Oh, I don't pity you--not one bit!  All young people nowadays think
+they are so much wiser than their parents; it's a wholesome lesson to
+learn their mistake.  You're a silly, blind, ridiculous little girl, and
+if I'd been your mother, I should have insisted upon taking you with me,
+whether you liked it or not.  I always wanted a daughter like you--sons
+are so dull; but perhaps it's just as well that she never appeared.  She
+might have wanted to be independent, too, in which case we should have
+quarrelled.--So those fifteen school-mistresses make up your whole
+social circle, do they?  I wouldn't mind prophesying that you'll never
+want to speak a word to them out of school hours!  I have a friend
+living in town, quite a nice woman, with a daughter about your age.
+Shall I ask her to send you a card?  It would be somewhere for you to go
+on free afternoons, and she entertains a good deal, and has a craze for
+the feminist movement, and for girls who work for themselves.  You might
+come in for some fun."
+
+Claire's flush of gratification made her look prettier than ever, and
+Mrs Fanshawe felt an agreeable glow of self-satisfaction.  Nothing she
+liked better than to play the part of Lady Bountiful, especially when
+any effort involved was shifted onto the shoulders of another, and in
+her careless fashion she was really anxious to do this nice girl a good
+turn.  She made a note of Claire's address in a dainty gold-edged
+pocket-book, expressed pleasure in the belief that through her friend
+she would hear reports of the girl's progress, and presently shut her
+eyes, and dozed peacefully for the rest of the ride.
+
+Round London a fine rain was falling, and the terminus looked bleak and
+cheerless as the train slowed down the long platform.  Mason, still
+haggard, roused herself to step to the platform and look around as if
+expecting to see a familiar face, and in the midst of collecting her own
+impedimenta Claire was conscious that Mrs Fanshawe was distinctly
+ruffled, when the familiar figure failed to appear.  Once more she found
+herself coming to the rescue, marshalling the combined baggage to the
+screened portion of the platform where the custom-house officials went
+through the formalities incidental to the occasion, while the tired
+passengers stood shiveringly on guard, looking bleached and grey after
+their night's journey.  The bright-haired, bright-faced girl stood out
+in pleasant contrast to the rest, trim and smart and dainty as though
+such a thing as fatigue did not exist.  Mrs Fanshawe, looking at her,
+stopped short in the middle of a mental grumble, and turned it round, so
+that it ended in being a thanksgiving instead.
+
+"Most neglectful of Erskine to fail me after promising he would come...
+Perhaps, after all, it's just as well he did not."
+
+And at that moment, with the usual contrariety of fate, Erskine
+appeared!  He came striding along the platform, a big, loosely-built
+man, with a clean-shaven face, glancing to right and left over the
+upstanding collar of a tweed coat.  He looked at once plain and
+distinguished, and in the quizzical eyes and beetling eyebrows there was
+an unmistakable likeness to the _grande dame_ standing by Claire's side.
+Just for a moment he paused, as he came in sight of the group of
+passengers, and Claire, meeting his glance, knew who he was, even before
+he came forward and made his greeting.
+
+"Holla, Mater!  Sorry to be late.  Not my fault this time.  I was ready
+all right, but the car did not come round.  Had a good crossing?"
+
+"My dear, appalling!  Don't talk of it.  I was prostrate all night, and
+Mason too ill to do anything but moan.  She's been no use."
+
+"Poor beggar!  She looks pretty green.  But-- er--" The plain face
+lighted with an expectant smile as he turned towards the girl who stood
+by his mother's side, still holding the precious bag.  "You seem to have
+met a friend..."
+
+"Oh--er--yes!"  With a gesture of regal graciousness Mrs Fanshawe
+turned towards the girl, and held out her gloved hand.  "Thank you _so_
+much, Miss Gifford!  You've been quite too kind.  I'm really horribly in
+your debt.  I hope you will find everything as you like, and have a very
+good time.  Thank you again.  _Good-bye_.  I'm really dropping with
+fatigue.  What a relief it will be to get to bed!"  She turned aside,
+and laid her hand on her son's arm.  "Erskine, where _is_ the car?"
+
+Mother and son turned away, and made their way down the platform,
+leaving Claire with crimson cheeks and fast-beating heart.  The little
+scene which had just happened had been all too easy to understand.  The
+nice son had wished for an introduction to the nice girl who a moment
+before had seemed on such intimate terms with his mother: the mother had
+been quite determined that such an introduction should not take place.
+Claire knew enough of the world to realise how different would have been
+the proceedings if she had announced herself as a member of the "idle
+rich," bound for a course of visits to well-known houses in the country.
+"May I introduce my son, Miss Gifford?  Miss Gifford has been an angel
+of goodness to me, Erskine.  Positively I don't know what I should have
+done without her!  Do look after her now, and see her into a taxi.  Such
+a mercy to have a man to help!"  That was what would have happened to
+the Claire Gifford of a week before, but now for the first time Claire
+experienced a taste of the disagreeables attendant on her changed
+circumstances, and it was bitter to her mouth.  All very well to remind
+herself that work was honourable, that anyone who looked down on her for
+choosing to be independent was not worth a moment's thought, the fact
+remained that for the first, the very first time in her life she had
+been made to feel that there was a barrier between herself and a member
+of her own class, and that, however willing Mrs Fanshawe might be to
+introduce her to a casual friend, she was unwilling to make her known to
+her own son!
+
+Claire stood stiff and poker-like at her post, determined to make no
+movement until Mrs Fanshawe and her attendants had taken their
+departure.  The storm of indignation and wounded pride which was surging
+through her veins distracted her mind from her surroundings; she was
+dimly conscious that one after another, her fellow-passengers had taken
+their departure, preceded by a porter trundling a truck of luggage;
+conscious that where there had been a crowd, there was now a space,
+until eventually with a shock of surprise she discovered that she was
+standing alone, by her own little pile of boxes.  At that she shook
+herself impatiently, beckoned to a porter and was about to walk ahead,
+when an uneasy suspicion made itself felt.  The luggage!  Something was
+wrong.  The pile looked smaller than it had done ten minutes before.
+She made a rapid circuit, and made a horrible discovery.  A box was
+missing!  The dress-box containing the skirts of all her best frocks,
+spread at full length and carefully padded with tissue paper.  It had
+been there ten minutes ago; the custom-house officer had given it a
+special rap.  She distinctly remembered noticing a new scratch on the
+leather.  Where in the name of everything that was inexplicable could it
+have disappeared?  Appealed to for information the porter was not
+illuminating.  "If it had been there before, why wasn't it there now?
+Was the lady _sure_ she had seen it?  Might have been left behind at
+Antwerp or Parkeston.  Better telegraph and see!  If it had been there
+before, why wasn't it there now?  Mistakes did happen.  Boxes were much
+alike.  P'raps it was left in the van.  If it was there ten minutes
+before, why wasn't it--"
+
+Claire stopped him with an imperious hand.
+
+"That's enough!  It _was_ there: I saw it.  I counted the pieces before
+the custom-house officer came along.  I noticed it especially.  Someone
+must have taken it by mistake."
+
+The porter shook his head darkly.
+
+"On purpose, more like!  Funny people crosses by this route.  Funny
+thing that you didn't notice--"
+
+Claire found nothing funny in the reflection.  She was furious with
+herself for her carelessness, and still more furious with Mrs Fanshawe
+as the cause thereof.  Down the platform she stalked, a picture of vivid
+impetuous youth, head thrown back, cheeks aflame, grey eyes sending out
+flashes of indignation.  Every porter who came in her way was stopped
+and imperiously questioned as to his late load, every porter was in his
+turn waved impatiently away.  Claire was growing seriously alarmed.
+Suppose the box was lost!  It would be as bad as losing _two_ boxes, for
+of what use were bodices minus skirts to match?  Never again would she
+be guilty of the folly of packing bits of the same costumes in different
+boxes.  How awful--how awful beyond words to arrive in London without a
+decent dress to wear!
+
+Whirling suddenly round to pursue yet another porter, Claire became
+aware of a figure in a long tweed coat standing on the space beside the
+taxi-stand, intently watching her movements.  She recognised him in a
+moment as none other than "Erskine" himself, who, having seen his mother
+into her car, was presumably bound for another destination.  But why was
+he standing there?  Why had he been so long in moving away?  Claire
+hastily averted her eyes, but as she cross-questioned porter number
+four, she was aware that the tall figure was drawing nearer, and
+presently he was standing by her side, taking off his hat, and saying in
+the most courteous and deferential of tones--
+
+"Excuse me--I'm afraid something is wrong!  Can I be of any assistance?"
+
+Claire's glance was frigid in its coldness; but it was difficult to
+remain frigid in face of the man's obvious sincerity and kindliness.
+
+"Thank you," she said quietly.  "Please don't trouble.  I can manage
+quite well.  It's only a trunk..."
+
+"Is it lost?  I say--what a fag!  Do let me help.  I know this station
+by heart!  If it is to be found, I am sure I can get it for you."
+
+This time there was a distinct air of appeal in his deep voice.  Claire
+divined that the nice man was anxious to atone for his mother's cavalier
+behaviour, and her heart softened towards him.  After all, why should
+she punish herself by refusing?  Five minutes more or less on the
+station platform could make no difference one way or another, for at the
+end they would wish each other a polite adieu, and part never to meet
+again.  And she _did_ want that box!
+
+She smiled, and sighed, and looked delightfully pretty and appealing, as
+she said frankly--
+
+"Thank you, I _should_ be grateful for suggestions.  It's the most
+extraordinary and provoking thing--"
+
+They walked slowly down the platform while she explained the situation,
+and reiterated the fact that she had seen the box ten minutes before.
+Erskine Fanshawe did not dispute the statement as each porter had done
+before him; he contented himself with asking if there was any
+distinctive feature in the appearance of the box itself.
+
+Claire shook her head.
+
+"The ordinary brown leather, with strappings and C.G. on one side.  Just
+like a thousand other boxes, but it had a label, beside the initials.  I
+don't see how anyone can have taken it by mistake."  She set her teeth,
+and her head took a defiant tilt.  "There's one comfort; if it _is_
+stolen, whoever has taken it will not get much for her pains!  There's
+nothing in it but skirts.  Skirts won't be much good without the bodices
+to match!"
+
+The man looked down at her, his expression comically compounded of
+sympathy and humour.  At that moment, despite the irregularity of his
+features, he looked wonderfully like his handsome mother.
+
+"Er--just so!  Unfortunately, however, from the opposite point of view,
+you find yourself in the same position!  Bodices, I presume, without
+skirts--"
+
+Claire groaned, and held up a protesting hand.
+
+"Don't!  I can't bear it.  It's really devastating.  My whole outfit--at
+one fell sweep!"
+
+"Isn't it--excuse my suggesting it--rather a mistake to--er--divide
+pieces of the same garment, _so_ that if one trunk should be lost, the
+loss practically extends to two?"
+
+"No, it isn't.  It's the only sensible thing to do," Claire said
+obstinately.  "Skirts must be packed at full length, and a dress-box is
+made for that very purpose.  All the same, I shall never do it again.
+It's no use being sensible if you have to contend with--_thieves_!"
+
+"I don't think we need leap to that conclusion just yet.  You have only
+spoken to two or three porters.  We'd better wait about a few minutes
+longer until the other men come back.  Very likely the box was put on a
+truck by accident, and if the mistake was discovered before it was put
+on the taxi, it would be sent back to see if its owner were waiting
+here.  If it doesn't turn up at once, you mustn't be discouraged.  The
+odds are ten to one that it's only a mistake, and in that case when the
+taxi is unloaded, the box will be sent back to the lost luggage office,
+or forwarded to your address.  Was the full address on the box, by the
+way?"
+
+Claire nodded assent.
+
+"Oh, yes; I have that poor satisfaction at least.  I was most methodical
+and prudent, but I don't know that that's going to be much consolation
+if I lose my nice frocks, and am too poor to buy any more."
+
+The last phrase was prompted by a proud determination to sail under no
+false colours in the eyes of Mrs Fanshawe's son; but the picture evoked
+thereby was sufficiently tragic to bring a cloud over her face.  The
+memory of each separate gown rose before her, looking distractingly
+dainty and becoming; she saw a vision of herself as she might have been,
+and faced a future bounded by eternal blue serge.  All the tragedy of
+the thought was in her air, and her companion cried quickly--
+
+"You won't need to buy them!  They'll turn up all right, I am quite sure
+of that.  The worst that can happen is a day or two's delay.  After all,
+you know, there are thousands of honest folk to a single thief, and even
+a thief would probably prefer a small money reward to useless halves of
+dresses!  If you hear nothing by to-morrow, you might offer a reward."
+
+"Oh, I will!"  Claire said gratefully.  "Thank you for thinking of it."
+
+No more porters having for the moment appeared in sight, they now
+turned, and slowly retraced their steps.  Claire, covertly regarding her
+companion, wondered why she felt convinced that he was a soldier;
+Erskine Fanshawe in his turn covertly regarded Claire, and wondered why
+it was that she seemed different from any girl he had seen before.  Then
+tentatively he put a personal question.
+
+"Do you know London well, Miss Gifford?  My mother told me you were--
+er--coming to settle--"
+
+"Not at all well, as a whole.  I know the little bit around Regent
+Street, and the Park, and the places one sees in a week's visit, but
+that's all.  We never stayed long in town when we came to England.  I
+shall enjoy exploring on half holidays when I am free from work.  I am a
+school-mistress!" said Claire with an air, and gathered from her
+companion's face that he knew as much already, and considered it a
+subject for commiseration.  He looked at her with sympathetic eyes, and
+asked deeply--
+
+"Hate it very much?"
+
+"Not at all.  Quite the contrary.  I adore it.  At least, that's to say,
+I haven't begun yet, but I feel sure I _shall_!"  Claire cried ardently;
+and at that they both laughed with a delightful sense of understanding
+and _camaraderie_.  At that moment Claire felt a distinct pang at the
+thought that never again would she have the opportunity of speaking and
+laughing with this attractive, eminently companionable man; then her
+attention was distracted by the appearance of two more porters, who had
+each to be interviewed in his turn.
+
+They had no good news to give, however, so the searchers left the
+platform in disgust, and repaired to the office for lost luggage, where
+the story of the missing box was recounted to an unsympathetic clerk.
+When a man spends his whole life listening to complaints of missing
+property, he can hardly be expected to show a vehement distress at the
+loss of yet another passenger, but to Claire at this moment there was
+something quite brutal in his callous indifference.  The one suggestion
+which he had to make was that she could leave her name, and the manner
+in which it was given was a death-blow to hope.
+
+At this very moment, however, just as Claire was bending forward to
+dictate the desired information she felt a touch on her arm, and looking
+in the direction of Mr Fanshawe's outstretched hand, beheld a porter
+approaching the office, trundling before him a truck on which reposed in
+solitary splendour, a long brown dress-box, and oh, joy of joys! even at
+the present distance the white letters C.G. could be plainly
+distinguished on the nearer side!  Claire's dignity went to the winds at
+that sight, and she dashed forward to meet her property with the joyous
+impetuosity of a child.
+
+The explanation was simple to a degree, and precisely agreed with Mr
+Fanshawe's surmise as to what had really happened.  During Claire's
+trance of forgetfulness, the box had been wheeled away, with a large
+consignment of luggage, and the mistake discovered only when the various
+items were in process of being packed into a company's omnibus, when,
+there being no one at hand to claim it, it had been conveyed--by very
+leisurely stages--to the lost luggage office.
+
+All's well that ends well!  Claire gleefully collected her possessions,
+feeling a glow of delight in the safety which an hour before she would
+have taken as a matter of course, and stood at attention while each
+separate item was placed on the roof of the taxi.  The little addresses
+of which she had boasted were duly inserted in leather framings on each
+box, the delicate writing too small to be deciphered, except near at
+hand.  Claire saw her companion's eyes contract in an evident effort to
+distinguish the words, and immediately moved her position so as to
+frustrate his purpose.  She did not intend Mr Fanshawe to know her
+address!  When she was seated in the taxi, however, there came an
+awkward moment, for her companion waved the chauffeur to his seat, and
+stood by the window looking in at her, with a face which seemed unduly
+serious and earnest, considering the extremely slight nature of their
+acquaintance.
+
+"Well!  I am thankful the box turned up.  I shall think of you enjoying
+your re-united frocks...  Sure you've got everything all right?  Where
+shall I tell the man to drive?"
+
+For the fraction of a second Claire's eyes flickered, then she spoke in
+decided tones.
+
+"`The Grand Hotel.'"
+
+Mr Fanshawe's eyes flickered too, and turned involuntarily towards the
+boxes on the roof.  What exactly were the words on the labels he could
+not see, but at least it was certain that they were not "The Grand
+Hotel!"  He turned from the inspection to confront a flushed, obstinate
+face.
+
+"Do you wish me to give the man that address?"
+
+"I do."
+
+Very deliberately and quietly Mr Fanshawe stepped back a pace, opened
+his long coat, and fumbled in an inner pocket for a leather pocket-book;
+very quietly and deliberately he drew from one bulging division a
+visiting card, and held it towards her.  Claire caught the word
+"Captain" and saw that an address was printed in the corner, but she
+covered it hastily with her hand, refusing a second glance.  Captain
+Fanshawe leant his arm on the window sash and said hesitatingly--
+
+"Will you allow me to give you my card!  As you are a stranger in town
+and your people away, there may possibly be--er--occasions, when it
+would be convenient to know some man whom you could make of use.  Please
+remember me if they do come along!  It would be a privilege to repay
+your kindness to my mother...  Send me a wire at any time, and I am at
+your service.  I hope you _will_ send.  Good morning!"
+
+"Good-bye!" said Claire.  Red as a rose was she at that moment, but very
+dignified and stately, bending towards him in a sweeping bow, as the
+taxi rolled away.  The last glimpse of Captain Fanshawe showed him
+standing with uplifted hat, the keen eyes staring after her, with not a
+glint of humour in their grey depths.  Quite evidently he meant what he
+said.  Quite evidently he was as keen to pursue her acquaintance as his
+mother had been to drop it.
+
+Claire Gifford sat bolt upright on her seat, the slip of cardboard
+clasped within her palms, and as she sat she thought many thoughts.  A
+physiognomist would have been interested to trace the progress of those
+thoughts on the eloquent young face.  There was surprise written there,
+and obvious gratification, and a demure, very feminine content; later on
+came pride, and a general stiffening of determination.  The spoiled
+child of liberty and the High School-Mistress of the future had fought a
+heated battle, and the High School-Mistress had won.
+
+Deliberately turning aside her eyes, so that no word of that printed
+address should obtrude itself on her notice, Claire tore the card
+sharply across and across, and threw the fragments out of the window.
+
+A moment later she whistled through the tube, and instructed the
+chauffeur as to her change of address.
+
+Adieu to the Fanshawes, and all such luxuries of the past.  Heigh-ho for
+hard work, and lodgings at fifteen shillings a week!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+MISS RHODES, POISONER.
+
+It is a somewhat dreary feeling to arrive even at a friend's house
+before seven o'clock in the morning, and be received by sleepy-looking
+people who have obviously been torn unwillingly from their beds in
+deference to the precepts of hospitality, but it is infinitely worse to
+arrive at a lodging-house at the same hour, ring several times at the
+bell before a dingy servant can be induced to appear, and to realise a
+moment later that in a tireless parlour you perceive your journey's
+goal!
+
+Claire Gifford felt a creep of the blood at the sight of that parlour,
+though if her first introduction had been at night, when the curtains
+were drawn and the lamps lit, she would have found it cosy enough.
+There was no sign of her room-mate; perhaps it was too much to expect
+her to get up at so early an hour to welcome a stranger, but Claire
+_had_ expected it, felt perfectly sure that--had positions been
+reversed--she herself would have taken pains to deck both herself and
+her room in honour of the occasion, and so felt correspondingly
+downcast.
+
+Presently she found herself following the dingy maid up three separate
+nights of stairs, and arriving at a tiny box of a bedroom on the top
+floor.  There was a bed, a washstand, a chest of drawers doing service
+as a dressing-table, two chairs and a sloping roof.  Claire would have
+been quite disappointed if that last item had been missing, for whoever
+heard of a girl who set out to make her own living who had not slept in
+a room with a sloping roof?  On the whole, despite its tiny proportions,
+the little room made a pleasant impression.  It was clean, it was
+bright, walls and furniture were alike of a plain unrelieved white, and
+through the open casement window could be seen a distant slope of green
+overtopping the intervening chimney tops.  Claire's eyes roved here and
+there with the instinct of a born home-maker, saw what was lacking here,
+what was superfluous there, grasped neglected possibilities, and
+mentally re-arranged and decorated the premises before a slower person
+would have crossed the floor.
+
+Then she took up her stand before the small mirror, and devoted a whole
+minute to studying her own reflection from the point of view of Captain
+Erskine Fanshawe of unknown address.  By her own deliberate choice she
+had cut herself off from future chance of meeting this acquaintance of
+an hour; nevertheless it was distinctly reviving to discern that her hat
+was set at precisely the right angle, and that for an all-night voyager
+her whole appearance was remarkably fresh and dainty.
+
+Claire first smiled, and then sighed, and pulled out the hat-pins with
+impatient tugs.  To be prudent and self-denying is not always an
+exhilarating process for sweet and twenty.
+
+Presently the maid came staggering upstairs with the smaller boxes, and
+Claire busied herself in her room until the clock had struck eight, when
+she again descended to the joint sitting-room.  This time the fire was
+lighted, and the table laid for breakfast, and behind the tea-tray sat
+Miss Rhodes, the English mistress, already halfway through her meal.
+She rose, half smiling, half frowning, and held out a thin hand in
+welcome.
+
+"Morning.  Hope you've had a good crossing.  Didn't know when you'd be
+down.  Do you take coffee?"
+
+"Please!"  Claire felt that a cup of coffee would be just what she
+needed, but missed the familiar fragrant scent.  She seated herself at
+the table, and while Miss Rhodes went on with her preparation, studied
+her with curious eyes.
+
+She saw a woman of thirty-two or three, with well-cut features, dark
+eyes, and abundant dark hair--a woman who ought to have been distinctly
+good-looking but who succeeded in being plain and commonplace.  She was
+badly-dressed, in a utility blouse of grey flannel, her expression was
+tired and listless, and her hair, though neat, showed obvious lack of
+care, having none of the silky sheen which rewards regular systematic
+brushing.  So far bad, but, in spite of all drawbacks, it was an
+interesting face, and Claire felt attracted, despite the preliminary
+disappointment.
+
+"There's some bacon in that dish.  It will be cold, I'm afraid.  You can
+ring, if you like, and ask them to warm it up, but they'll keep you
+waiting a quarter of an hour out of spite.  I've given it up myself."
+
+"Oh, I'm accustomed to French breakfasts.  I really want nothing but
+some bread and coffee."  Claire sipped at her cup as she finished
+speaking, and the sudden grimace of astonishment which followed roused
+her companion to laughter.
+
+"You don't like it?  It isn't equal to your French coffee."
+
+"It isn't coffee at all.  It's undrinkable!"  Claire pushed away her cup
+in disgust.  "Is it always as bad as that?"
+
+"Worse!" said Miss Rhodes composedly.  "They put in more this morning
+because of you.  Sometimes it's barely coloured, and it's always
+chicory."  She shrugged resignedly.  "No English landlady can make
+coffee.  It's no use worrying.  Have to make the best of what comes."
+
+"Indeed I shan't.  Why should I?  I shan't try.  There's no virtue in
+drinking such stuff.  We provide the coffee--what's to hinder us making
+it for ourselves?"
+
+"No fire, as a rule.  Can't afford one when you are going out
+immediately after breakfast."
+
+Claire stared in dismay.  It had never occurred to her that she might
+have to be economical to this extent.
+
+"But when it's very cold?  What do you do then?"
+
+"Put on a jersey, and nurse the hot-water jug!"
+
+Claire grimaced, then nodded with an air of determination.
+
+"I'll buy a machine!  There can be no objection to that.  You would
+prefer good coffee, wouldn't you, if you could get it without any more
+trouble?"
+
+"Oh, certainly.  I'll enjoy it--while it lasts!"
+
+"Why shouldn't it last?"
+
+Miss Rhodes stared across at the eager young face.  She looked tired,
+and a trifle impatient.
+
+"Oh, my dear girl, you're _New_.  We are all the same at first--bubbling
+over with energy, and determined to arrange everything exactly as we
+like.  It's a phase which we all live through.  Afterwards you don't
+care.  You are too tired to worry.  All your energy goes on your day's
+work, and you are too thankful for peace and quietness to bother about
+details.  You take what comes, and are thankful it's not worse."
+
+Claire's smile showed an elaborate forbearance.
+
+"Rather a poor-spirited attitude, don't you think?"
+
+"Wait and see!" said the English mistress.
+
+She rose and threw herself in a chair by the window, and Claire left the
+despised coffee and followed her example.  Through the half-opened panes
+she looked out on a row of brick houses depressingly dingy, depressingly
+alike.  About every second house showed a small black card on which the
+word "Apartments" was printed in gilt letters.  Down the middle of the
+street came a fruiterer's cart, piled high with wicker baskets.  The cry
+of "Bananas, cheap bananas," floated raucously on the air.  Claire
+swiftly averted her eyes and turned back to her companion.
+
+"It is very good of you to let me share your _appartement_.  Miss
+Farnborough said she had arranged it with you, but it must be horrid
+taking in a stranger.  I will try not to be too great a bore!"
+
+But Miss Rhodes refused to be thanked.
+
+"I'm bound to have somebody," said she ungraciously.  "Couldn't afford
+them alone.  You know the terms?  Thirty-five shillings a week for the
+three rooms.  That's cheap in this neighbourhood.  We only get them at
+that price because we are out all day, and need so little catering."
+She looked round the room with her tired, mocking smile.  "Hope you
+admire the scheme of decoration!  I've been in dozens of lodgings, but I
+don't think I've ever struck an uglier room; but the people are clean
+and honest, and one has to put that before beauty, in our
+circumstances."
+
+"There's a great _deal_ of pattern about.  It hasn't what one could call
+a restful effect!" said Claire, looking across at an ochre wall
+bespattered with golden scrawls, a red satin mantel-border painted with
+lustre roses, a suite of furniture covered in green stamped plush, a
+collection of inartistic pictures, and unornamental ornaments.  Even her
+spirit quailed before the hopelessness of beautifying a room in which
+all the essentials were so hopelessly wrong.  She gave it up in despair,
+and returned to the question of finance.
+
+"Then my share will be seventeen and six!  That seems very cheap.  I am
+to begin at a hundred and ten pounds.  How much extra must I allow for
+food?"
+
+"That depends upon your requirements.  We have dinner at school; quite a
+good meal for ninepence, including a penny for coffee afterwards."
+
+"The same sort of coffee we have had this morning?"
+
+"Practically.  A trifle better perhaps.  Not much."
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Claire gaily.  "That's a penny to the good!  Eightpence
+for me--a clear saving of fivepence a week!"
+
+Miss Rhodes resolutely refused to smile.  She had the air of thinking it
+ribald to be cheerful on the serious question of pounds, shillings and
+pence.
+
+"Even so, it's three-and-four, and you can't do breakfast and supper and
+full board on Saturday and Sunday under seven shillings.  It's tight
+enough to manage on that.  Altogether it often mounts up to twelve."
+
+"Seventeen and twelve."  Claire pondered deeply before she arrived at a
+solution.  "Twenty-nine.  Call it thirty, to make it even, and I am to
+begin at a hundred and ten.  Over two pounds a week.  I ought to do it
+comfortably, and have quite a lot over."
+
+Miss Rhodes laughed darkly.
+
+"What about extras?" she demanded.  "What about laundry, and fires, and
+stationery and stamps?  What about boot-mending, and Tubes on wet days,
+and soap and candles, and dentist and medicines, and subs, at school,
+and collections in church, and travelling expenses on Saturdays and
+Sundays, when you invariably want to go to the very other side of the
+city?  London is not like a provincial town.  You can't stir out of the
+house under fourpence or sixpence at the very least.  What about
+illness, and amusement, and holidays?  What about--"
+
+Claire thrust her fingers in her ears with an air of desperation.
+
+"Stop!  Stop!  For pity's sake don't swamp me any more.  I feel in the
+bankruptcy court already, and I had imagined that I was rich!  A hundred
+and ten pounds seemed quite a big salary.  Everybody was surprised at my
+getting so much, and I suppose you have even more?"
+
+"A hundred and fifty.  Yes!  You must remember that we don't belong to
+the ordinary rut of worker--we are experts.  Our education has been a
+long costly business.  No untrained worker could take our place; we are
+entitled to expert's pay.  Oh, yes, they are quite good salaries if you
+happen to have a home behind you, and people who are ready to help over
+rough times, instead of needing to be helped themselves.  The pity of it
+is that most High School-mistresses come from families who are _not_
+rich.  The parents have made a big effort to pay for the girls'
+education, and when they are fairly launched, they expect to be helped
+in return.  Some girls have been educated by relations, or have
+practically paid for themselves by scholarships.  Three out of four of
+us have people who are more in need of help than able to give it.  I
+give my own mother thirty pounds a year, so we are practically on the
+same salary.  Have _you_ a home where you can spend your holiday?
+Holidays run away terribly with your money.  They come to nearly four
+months in the year."
+
+For the first time those prolonged holidays appeared to Claire as a
+privilege which had its reverse side.  Friends in Brussels might
+possibly house her for two or three weeks; she could not expect, she
+would not wish them to do more; and at the end there would still remain
+over three months!  It was a new and disagreeable experience to look
+forward to holidays with _dread_!  For a whole two minutes she looked
+thoroughly depressed, then her invincible optimism came to the top, and
+she cried triumphantly--
+
+"I'll take a holiday engagement!"
+
+The English mistress shook her head.
+
+"That's fatal!  I tried it myself one summer.  Went with a family to the
+seaside, and was expected to play games with the children all day long,
+and coach them in the evening.  I began the term tired out, and nearly
+collapsed before the end.  Teaching is nerve-racking work, and if you
+don't get a good spell off, it's as bad for the pupils as yourself.  You
+snap their heads off for the smallest trifle.  Besides, it's folly to
+wear oneself out any sooner than one need.  It's bad enough to think of
+the time when one has to retire.  That's the nightmare which haunts us
+more and more every year."
+
+"Don't you think when the time comes you will be _glad_ to rest?" asked
+innocent Claire, whereupon Miss Rhodes glared at her with indignant
+eyes.
+
+"We should be glad to rest, no doubt, but we don't exactly appreciate
+the prospect of resting in the workhouse, and it's difficult to see
+where else some of us are to go!  There is no pension for High School-
+mistresses, and we are bound to retire at fifty-five--if we can manage
+to stick it out so long.  Fifty-five seems a long way off to you--not
+quite so long to me; when you reach forty it becomes to feel quite near.
+Women are horribly long-lived, so the probability is that we'll live on
+to eighty or more.  Twenty-five years after leaving off work,
+and--_where is the money to come from to keep us_?  That's the question
+which haunts us all when we look into our bank-books and find that, with
+all our pains, we have only been able to save at the utmost two or three
+hundred pounds."
+
+Claire looked scared, but she recovered her composure with a swiftness
+which her companion had no difficulty in understanding.  She pounced
+upon her with lightning swiftness.
+
+"Ah, you think you'll get married, and escape that way!  We all do when
+we're new, and pretty, and ignorant of the life.  But it's fifty to one,
+my dear, that you _won't_?  You won't meet many men, for one thing; and
+if you do, they don't like school-mistresses."
+
+"Doesn't that depend a good deal on the kind of school-mistress?"
+
+"Absolutely; but after a few years we are all more or less alike.  We
+don't _begin_ by being dowdy and angular, and dogmatic and prudish; we
+begin by being pretty and cheerful like you.  I used to change my blouse
+every evening, and put on silk stockings."
+
+"Don't you now?"
+
+"I do _not_!  Why should I, to sit over a lodging-house table correcting
+exercises till ten o'clock?  It's not worth the trouble.  Besides, I'm
+too tired, and it wears out another blouse."
+
+Claire's attention was diverted from clothes by the shock of the
+reference to evening work.  She had looked forward to coming home to
+read an interesting book, or be lazy in whatever fashion appealed to her
+most, and the corrections of exercises seemed of all things the most
+dull.
+
+"Shall I have evening work, too?" she inquired blankly, and Miss Rhodes
+laughed with brutal enjoyment.
+
+"Rather!  French compositions on the attributes of a true woman, or,
+`How did you spend your summer holiday?' with all the tenses wrong, and
+the idioms translated word for word.  And every essay a practical
+repetition of the one before.  It's not once in a blue moon that one
+comes across a girl with any originality of thought.  Oh, yes! that's
+the way we shall spend five evenings a week.  You will sit at that side
+of the table, I will sit at this, and we'll correct and yawn, and yawn
+and correct, and drink a cup of cocoa and go to bed at ten.  Lively,
+isn't it?"
+
+"Awful!  I never thought of homework.  But if Saturday is a whole
+holiday there will still be one night off.  I shall make a point of
+doing something exciting every Saturday evening."
+
+"Exciting things cost money, and, as a rule, when you have paid up the
+various extras, there's no money to spare.  I stay in bed till ten
+o'clock on Saturday, and then get up and wash blouses, and do my
+mending, and have a nap after lunch, and if it's summer, go and sit on a
+penny chair in the park, or take a walk over Hampstead Heath.  In the
+evening I read a novel and have a hot bath.  Once in a blue moon I have
+an extravagant bout, and lunch in a restaurant, and go to an
+entertainment--but I'm sorry afterwards when I count the cost.  On
+Sunday I go to church, and wish some one would ask me to tea.  They
+don't, you know.  They may do once or twice, when you first come up, but
+you can never ask them back, and your clothes get shabby, and you know
+nothing about their interests, so they think you a bore, and quietly let
+you drop."
+
+A smothered exclamation burst from Claire's lips; with a sudden,
+swirling movement she leapt up, and fell on her knees before Miss
+Rhodes's chair, her hands clasping its arms, her flushed face upturned
+with a desperate eagerness.
+
+"Miss Rhodes! we are going to live together here, we are going to share
+the same room, and the same meals.  Would you--if any one offered you a
+million pounds, would you agree to poison me slowly, day by day,
+dropping little drops of poison into everything I ate and everything I
+drank, while you sat by and watched me grow weaker and weaker till I
+_died_?"
+
+"Good heavens, girl--are you mad!  What in the world are you raving
+about?"
+
+Miss Rhodes had grown quite red.  She was indignant; she was also more
+than a little scared.  The girl's sudden change of mood was startling in
+itself, and she looked so tense, so overwhelmingly in earnest.  What
+could she mean?  Was it possible that she was a little--_touched_?
+
+"I suppose you don't realise it, but it's insulting even to put such a
+question."
+
+"But you _are_ doing it!  It's just exactly what you are beginning
+already.  Ever since I arrived you've been poisoning me drop by drop.
+Poisoning my _mind_!  I am at the beginning of my work, and you've been
+discouraging me, frightening me, painting it all black.  Every word that
+you've said has been a drop of poison to kill hope and courage and
+confidence--and oh, don't do it! don't go on!  I may be young and
+foolish, and full of ridiculous ideas, but let me keep them as long as I
+can!  If all that you say is true, they will be knocked out of me soon
+enough, and I--I've never had to work before, or been alone, and--and
+it's only two days since my mother left me to go to India--all that long
+way--and left me behind!  It's hard enough to go on being alone, and
+believing it's all going to be _couleur de rose_, but it will be fifty
+times harder if I don't.  Please--please don't make it any worse!"
+
+With the last words tears came with a rush, the tears that had been
+resolutely restrained throughout the strain of the last week.  Claire
+dropped her head on the nearest resting-place she could find, which
+happened to be Miss Rhodes's blue serge lap, and felt the quick pressure
+of a hand over the glossy coils.
+
+"Poor little girl!" said the English mistress softly.  "Poor little
+girl!  I'm sorry!  I'm a beast!  Take no notice of me.  I'm a sour,
+disagreeable old thing.  It was more than half jealousy, dear, because
+you looked so pretty and spry, so like what I used to look myself.  The
+life's all right, if you keep well, and don't worry too much ahead.
+There, don't cry!  I loathe tears!  You will yourself, when you have to
+deal with silly, hysterical girls.  Come, I'll promise I won't poison
+you any more--at least, I'll do my best; but I've a grumbling nature,
+and you'd better realise it, once for all, and take no notice.  We'll
+get on all right.  I like you.  I'm glad you came.  My good girl, if you
+don't stop, I'll shake you till you do!"
+
+Claire sat back on her heels, mopped her eyes, and gave a strangled
+laugh.
+
+"I hate crying myself, but I'll begin again on the faintest provocation.
+It's always like that with me.  I hardly ever cry, but when I once
+begin--"
+
+Miss Rhodes rose with an air of determination.
+
+"We'd better go out.  I am free till lunch-time.  I'll take you round
+and show you the neighbourhood, and the usual places of call.  It will
+save time another day.  Anything you want to buy?"
+
+Claire mopped away another tear.
+
+"C-certainly," she said feebly.  "A c-offee machine."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX.
+
+THE INVITATION.
+
+The next morning Claire was introduced to the scene of her new labours,
+and was agreeably impressed with its outside appearance.  Saint
+Cuthbert's High School was situated in a handsome thoroughfare, and had
+originally been a large private house, to which long wings had been
+added to right and left.  On each side and across the road were handsome
+private houses standing in their own grounds, owned by tenants who
+regarded the High School with lively detestation, and would have borne
+up with equanimity had an earthquake swallowed it root and branch.
+
+Viewed from inside, the building was less attractive, passages and
+class-rooms alike having the air of bleak austerity which seems
+inseparable from such buildings; but when nine o'clock struck, and the
+flood of young life went trooping up the stairways and flowed into the
+separate rooms, the sense of bareness was replaced by one of tingling
+vitality.
+
+As is usual on an opening day, every girl was at her best and brightest,
+decked in a new blouse, with pigtails fastened by crisp new ribbons, and
+good resolutions wound up to fever point.  To find a new French mistress
+in the shape of a pretty well-dressed girl, who was English at one
+moment, and at the next even Frenchier than Mademoiselle, was an
+unexpected joy, and Claire found the battery of admiring young eyes an
+embarrassing if stimulating experience.
+
+Following Miss Farnborough's advice, she spent the first day's lessons
+in questioning the different classes as to their past work, and so
+turned the hour into an impromptu conversation class.  The ugly English
+accents made her wince, and she winced a second time as she realised the
+unpleasant fact that just as her pupils would have to prepare for her,
+so would she be obliged to prepare for them!  Forgotten rules of grammar
+must be looked up and memorised, for French was so much her mother
+tongue that she would find it difficult to explain distinctions which
+came as a matter of course.  That meant more work at night, more
+infringement of holiday hours.
+
+The girls themselves were for the most part agreeable and well-mannered.
+The majority were the daughters of professional men, and of gentle-
+folks of limited means; but there was also a sprinkling of the daughters
+of better-class artisans, who paid High School fees at a cost of much
+self-denial in order to train their girls for teachers' posts in the
+future.  Here and there an awkward, badly-dressed child was plainly of a
+still lower class.  These were the free "places"--clever children who
+had obtained scholarships from primary schools, and were undergoing the
+ordeal of being snubbed by their new school-mates as a consequence of
+their success.
+
+From the teacher's point of view these clever children were a welcome
+stimulus, but class feeling is still too strong in England to make them
+acceptable to their companions.
+
+At lunch-time the fifteen mistresses assembled in the Staff-Room, a dull
+apartment far too small for the purpose, a common fault in High Schools,
+where the different governing bodies are apt to spare no expense in
+providing for the comfort of the scholar, but grudge the slightest
+expenditure for the benefit of those who teach.
+
+Fifteen mistresses sat round the table eating roast lamb and boiled
+cabbage, followed by rhubarb pie and rice pudding, and Claire, looking
+from one to the other, acknowledged the truth of Miss Rhodes's assertion
+that they were all of a type.  She herself was the only one of the
+number who had any pretensions to roundness of outline, all the rest
+were thin to angularity, half the number wore pince-nez or spectacles,
+and all had the same strained pucker round the eyes.  Each one wore a
+blue serge skirt and a white blouse, and carried herself with an air of
+dogmatic assurance, as who should say: "I know better than any one else,
+and when I speak let no dog bark!"  The German mistress was the veteran
+of the party and was probably a good forty-five.  Miss Bryce, the
+Froebel mistress, paired with Claire herself for the place of junior.
+Miss Blake, the Gym. mistress, was a graceful girl with an air of
+delicacy which did not seem in accord with her profession.  Miss Rose,
+the Art mistress, was plain with a squat, awkward figure.
+
+Rising from the table, Claire caught a glimpse of her own reflection in
+the strip of mirror over the chimney-piece, and at the sight a little
+thrill, half-painful, half-pleasant, passed through her veins.  The soft
+bloom of her complexion, the dainty finish of her dress, differentiated
+her almost painfully from her companions, and she felt a pang of dread
+lest that difference should ever grow less.  While she affected to read
+one of the magazines which lay on a side table, she was really occupied
+making a number of vehement resolutions: Never to slack in her care of
+her personal appearance; never to give up brushing her hair at night;
+never to wear a flannel blouse; never to give up manicuring her hands;
+never, no, never to allow herself to grow short-sighted, and be obliged
+to submit to specs!
+
+The different mistresses seemed to be on friendly terms, but there was
+an absence of the camaraderie which comes from living under the same
+roof.  School was a common possession, but home hours were spent apart,
+except when, as in Claire's own case, two mistresses shared the same
+rooms, and it followed as a matter of course that personal interests
+were divided.  To-day the conversation was less scholastic than usual,
+the intervening holidays forming a topic of interest.  The Art mistress
+had been on a bicycle sketching tour with a friend; the German mistress
+had taken a cheap trip home; Miss Blake announced that all her money had
+gone on "hateful massage," and the faces of her listeners sobered as
+they listened, for Sophy Blake, who led the exercises with such verve
+and go, had of late complained of rheumatic pains, and her companions
+heard of her symptoms with dread.  What would become of Sophy if those
+pains increased?  One after another the mistresses drifted over to where
+Claire sat turning the pages of her magazine, and exchanged a few
+fragments of conversation, and then the great bell clanged again, and
+afternoon school began.
+
+The first half-hour of afternoon school proved the most trying of the
+day.  Claire was tired after the exertions of the morning, and a very
+passion for sleep consumed her being.  She fought against it with all
+her might, but the yawns would come; she fought against the yawns, and
+the tears flowed.  To her horror the infection spread, and the girls
+began to yawn in their turn, with long, uncontrolled gapes.  It was a
+junior class, and the new mistress shrewdly suspected that the infection
+was welcomed as an agreeable interlude.  It was obvious that she could
+not afford to reject that cup of coffee.  Good or bad it must be drunk!
+Rich or poor that penny must be dedicated to the task of vitalising that
+first hour of sleepiness.
+
+At the end of six weeks Claire felt as though she had been a High
+School-mistress all her life.  The regular methodical days, in which
+every hour was mapped out, had a deadening effect on one who had been
+used to constant variety, and except for a difference in the arrangement
+of classes there seemed no distinction between one and the other.  She
+was a machine wound up to work steadily from Monday morning until Friday
+night, and absurdly ready to run down when the time was over.
+
+Every morning after breakfast she started forth with Miss Rhodes, by
+foot if the weather were fine, by Tube if wet; every mid-day she dined
+in the Staff-Room with the fifteen other mistresses, and gulped down a
+cup of chicory coffee.  At four o'clock the mistresses met once more for
+tea, a free meal this time, supplemented by an occasional cake which one
+of the fifteen provided for the general good.  At five she and her table
+companion returned to their rooms, and rested an hour before taking the
+evening meal.
+
+Claire was sufficiently French to be intolerant of badly cooked food,
+and instead of resigning herself to eat and grumble, after the usual
+habit of lodging-house dwellers, resolutely set to work to improve the
+situation.  The coffee machine had now a chafing-dish as companion, and
+it was a delightful change of work to set the two machines to work to
+provide a dainty meal.
+
+"High Tea" consisted as a rule of coffee and some light dish, the
+materials for which were purchased on the way home.  On hungry days,
+when work had been unusually trying, the butcher supplied cutlets, which
+were grilled with tomatoes, or an occasional quarter of a pound of
+mushrooms: on economical days the humble kipper--legendary food of all
+spinsters in lodgings!--was transformed into quite a smart and
+restaurant-ey dish, separated from its bones, pounded with butter and
+flavouring, and served in neat little mounds on the top of hot buttered
+toast.  Moreover, Claire was a proficient in the making of omelettes,
+and it was astonishing how large and tempting a dish could be compounded
+of two eggs, and the minutest scrap of ham left over from the morning's
+breakfast!
+
+"Every luxury of the season, with the smell thrown in!  In _nice_
+cooking the smell is almost the best part.  All the cedars in Lebanon
+wouldn't smell as good at this moment as this nice ham-ey coffee-y
+frizzle," Claire declared one Friday evening as she served the meal on
+red-hot plates, and glowed with delight at her own sleight of hand.
+"Don't you admire eggs for looking so small, when they possess such
+powers of expansion?  All the result of beating.  Might make a simile
+out of that, mightn't you?"
+
+"Might, but won't," the English teacher replied, sipping luxuriously at
+her coffee.  "I'm not a teacher any more at this moment.  I'm a
+gourmand, pure and simple, and I'll stay a gourmand straight on till
+this omelette is finished.  When all trades fail, you might go out as a
+missioner to women living in diggings, and teach them how to prepare
+their meals, and sell chafing-dishes by instalment payments at the door,
+as the touts sell sewing machines to the maids.  It would be a noble
+vocation!"
+
+Claire smirked complacently.  "I flatter myself I _have_ made a
+difference to your material comfort!  Poor we may be, but we do have
+nice, dainty little meals, and there's no reason why every able-bodied
+woman shouldn't have them at the same cost.  I've just remembered
+another nice dish.  We'll have it to-morrow night."  She paused, and a
+wistful look came into her eyes, for the next day was Saturday, and it
+was on holiday afternoons that the feeling of loneliness grew most
+acute.  School life was monotonous, but it was never lonely; from
+morning to night one lived in a crowd, and already each class had
+furnished youthful adorers eager to sit at the feet of the pretty new
+mistress, and bring her offerings of chocolates and flowers; for five
+long days there was always a crowd, always a hum and babble of voices,
+but at the end of the week came a dead calm.
+
+On the first Saturday of the term Miss Farnborough had invited the new
+French mistress to tea, and had been all that was friendly and
+encouraging; but since that time no word had passed between them that
+was not strictly concerned with the work in hand, and Claire realised
+that as one out of sixteen mistresses she could not hope for frequent
+invitations.
+
+On one Sunday the Gym. mistress had offered her company for a walk, and
+there the list of hospitalities ceased.  No invitations came from that
+friend of Mrs Fanshawe's who was so fond of girls who were working for
+themselves.  Claire had hardly expected it, but she was disappointed all
+the same.  A longing was growing within her to sit again in a pretty,
+daintily-appointed room, and talk about something else than time-tables,
+and irregular verbs, and the Association of Assistant Mistresses which,
+amalgamated with the Association of Assistant Masters and the Teachers'
+Guild, were labouring to obtain a settled scale of salaries, and that
+great safeguard, desired above all others, a pension on retirement!
+
+On this particular Friday evening the longing was so strong that she had
+deliberately gone out of her way to try to gain an invitation by walking
+home with a certain Flora Ross in the sixth form, who was the most
+ardent of her admirers.  Flora lived in a cheerful-looking house about a
+quarter of a mile from the school, and every morning hung over the gate
+waiting for the chance occasions when her beloved Miss Gifford
+approached alone, and she could have the felicity of accompanying her
+for the rest of the way.  On these occasions she invariably turned to
+wave her hand to a plump, smiling mother who stood at a bay window
+waving in return.  An upper window was barred with brass rods, against
+which two little flaxen heads bobbed up and down.  Both the house and
+its inmates had a cheerful wholesome air, which made a strong appeal to
+the heart of the lonely girl, and this Friday afternoon, meeting Flora
+waiting in the corridor, she had accepted her companionship on the way
+home with a lurking hope that when the green gate was reached, she would
+be invited to come inside.
+
+Alas! no such thought seemed to enter Flora's brain.  She gazed
+adoringly into Claire's face and hung breathlessly on her words, but for
+all her adoration there was a gulf between.  Claire was the sweetest and
+duckiest of mistresses, but she _was_ a mistress, a being shut off from
+the ordinary interests of life.  When Flora said, "Isn't it jolly, we
+are going to have a musical party to-morrow!  We have such lovely
+parties, and mother always lets me sit up!" she might have been speaking
+to a creature without ears, for all the consciousness she exhibited that
+Claire might possibly wish to take part in the fray.  When the green
+gate was reached, the plump mamma was seen standing outside the drawing-
+room window and recognising the identity of her daughter's companion,
+she bent her head in a courteous bow, but she made no attempt to
+approach the gate.
+
+"See you on Monday!" cried Flora fondly, then the gate clicked, and
+Claire walked along the road with her head held high, and two red spots
+burning on either cheek.  That evening for the first time she felt a
+disinclination to change into the pretty summer frock which she had
+chosen as a compromise for evening dress; that evening for the first
+time the inner voice whispered to her as it had done to so many before
+her: "What's the good?  Nobody sees you!  Nobody cares."
+
+Miss Rhodes finished her share of the omelette, turned on to bread and
+jam, and cast a glance of inquiry at her companion, who had relapsed
+into unusual silence.
+
+"Anything wrong?"
+
+"Yes, I think so.  Usual symptoms, I suppose.  I want to wear all my
+best clothes and go out to do something gay and exciting, Cecil!"  The
+English teacher's name being Rhodes, it was obvious that she should be
+addressed as Cecil, especially as her parents had been misguided enough
+to give her the unsuitably gentle name of Mary.  "Cecil, do none of the
+parents _ever_ ask us out?"
+
+"Why should they?"
+
+"Why shouldn't they?  If we are good enough to teach their children, we
+are good enough for them.  If they are interested in their children's
+welfare, they ought to make a point of knowing us to see what kind of
+influence we use."
+
+"Quite so."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well, my dear, there's only one thing to be said--they _don't_!  As I
+told you before, there's a prejudice against mistresses.  They give us
+credit for being clever, and cultivated, and hard-working; but they
+never grasp the fact that we are human girls, who would very much enjoy
+being frivolous for a change.  I _have_ been asked out to tea at rare
+intervals, and the mothers have apologised for the ordinary
+conversation, and laboriously switched it on to books.  I didn't want to
+talk books.  I wanted to discuss hats and dresses, and fashionable
+intelligence, and sing comic songs, and play puss-in-the-corner, and be
+generally giddy and riotous; but my presence cast a wet blanket over the
+whole party, and we discussed Science and Art.  Now I'm old and
+resigned, but it's hard on the new hands.  I think it was rather brutal
+of your mother to let you come to London without taking the trouble of
+getting _some_ introductions.  Don't mind me saying so, do you?"
+
+Claire smiled feebly.
+
+"You have said it, anyhow!  I know it must seem unkind to anyone who
+does not know mother.  She's really the kindest person in the world, but
+she's very easy-going, and apt to believe that everything will happen
+just as she wishes.  She felt quite sure that Miss Farnborough and the
+staff would supply me with a whirl of gaiety.  There _was_ one lady, who
+said she would write to a friend--"
+
+Cecil groaned deeply.
+
+"I know that friend.  She comes from Sheffield.  A dear kind friend who
+would love to have you out on holidays.  A friend who takes a special
+interest in school-mistresses.  A friend who gives such nice inter-est-
+ing parties, and would certainly send you a card if she knew your
+address.  Was that it, my dear--was that the kind of friend?"
+
+Cecil chuckled with triumph at the sight of Claire's lengthening jaw.
+In truth there seemed something uncanny in so accurate a reproduction of
+Mrs Fanshawe's description.  Was there, indeed, no such person?  Did
+she exist purely as a dummy figure, to be dangled before the eyes of
+credulous beginners?  Claire sighed, and buried her last lingering hope;
+and at that very moment the postman's rap sounded at the door, and a
+square white envelope was handed in, addressed in feminine handwriting
+to Miss Claire Gifford.
+
+Claire tore it open, pulled forth a white card, gasped and flushed, and
+tossed it across the table with a whoop of triumph.
+
+"Raven, look at that!  What do you think now of your melancholy croaks?"
+
+Cecil picked up the card, inscribed with the orthodox printed lines,
+beneath which a few words had been written.
+
+  Mrs Willoughby,
+  At Home
+  May 26th, 9 p.m.
+  Music.
+
+"Have just received your address from Mrs Fanshawe.  Shall hope to see
+you to-morrow.--E.B.W."
+
+Cecil screwed up her face in disparagement.
+
+"Nine o'clock.  Mayfair.  That means a taxi both ways.  Can't arrive at
+a house like that in a mackintosh, with your shoes in a bag.  Much wiser
+to refuse.  It will only unsettle you, and make you unfit for work.
+She's done the polite thing for once, because she was asked, but she'll
+never do it again.  I've been through it myself, and I know the ropes.
+A woman like that has hundreds of friends; why should she bother about
+you?  You'll never be asked again."
+
+But at that Claire laughed, and beat her hand on the table.
+
+"But I say I shall!  I say I'll be asked _often_!  I don't care if
+you've had a hundred experiences, mine shall be different.  She has
+asked me once; now, as the Yankees say, `it's up to me' to do the rest.
+I'll make up my mind to make her _want_ to ask me!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN.
+
+TRANSFORMATION OF CECIL.
+
+In the days to come when Claire looked back and reviewed the course of
+events which followed, she realised that Mrs Willoughby's invitation
+had been a starting-point from which to date happenings to others as
+well as herself.  It was, for instance, on the morning after its arrival
+that Cecil's chronic discontent reached an acute stage.  She appeared at
+breakfast with a clouded face, grumbled incessantly throughout the meal,
+and snapped at everything Claire said, until the latter was provoked
+into snapping in return.  In the old days of idleness Claire had been
+noted for the sunny sweetness of her disposition, but she was already
+discovering that teaching lays a severe strain on the nerves, and at the
+end of a week's work endurance seemed at its lowest ebb.  So, when her
+soft answers met rebuff after rebuff, she began to grumble in her turn,
+and to give back as good as she got.
+
+"Really, Cecil, I am exceedingly sorry that your form is so stupid, and
+your work so hard, but I am neither a pupil nor a chief, so I fail to
+see where my responsibility comes in.  Wouldn't it be better if you
+interviewed Miss Farnborough instead of me?"
+
+It was the first time that Claire had answered sharply, and for the
+moment surprise held Cecil dumb.  Then the colour flamed into her
+cheeks, and her eyes sparkled with anger.  Though forbearance had failed
+to soothe her, opposition evidently added fuel to the fire.
+
+"Miss Farnborough!" she repeated jeeringly.  "What does Miss Farnborough
+care for the welfare of her mistresses, so long as they grind through
+their daily tasks?  It is the pupils she thinks about, not us.  The
+pupils who are to be pampered and considered, and studied, and amused in
+school and out.  They have to have games in summer, and a mistress has
+to give up her spare time to watch the pretty dears to see that they
+don't get into trouble; and they must have parties, and concerts, and
+silly entertainments in winter, with some poor wretch of a mistress to
+do all the work so that they may enjoy the fun.  Miss Farnborough is an
+exemplary Head so far as her scholars are concerned, but what does she
+do for her mistresses?  I ask you, does she do anything at all?"
+
+Claire considered, and was silent.  Her first term was nearly over, and
+she could not truthfully say that the Head had taken any concern for her
+as an individual who might be expected to feel some interest in life
+beyond the school door.  It is true that almost every day brought the
+two in contact for the exchange of a few words which, if strictly on
+business, were always pleasant and kindly, but except for the one
+invitation to tea on the day before work began, they had never met out
+of school hours.  Claire was a stranger in London, yet the Head had
+never inquired as to her leisure hours, never invited her to her house,
+or offered, her an introduction to friends, never even engaged the
+sympathies of other mistresses on her behalf.  Claire had expected a
+very different treatment, and had struggled against a sense of injury,
+but she would not acknowledge as much in words.
+
+"I suppose Miss Farnborough is even more tired than we are.  She has a
+tremendous amount of responsibility.  And she has a brother and sister
+at home.  Perhaps they object to an incursion of school in free hours."
+
+"Then she ought to leave them, and live where she can do her duty
+without interference.  After all mistresses are girls, too, not very
+much older than some of the pupils when we begin work; it's inhuman to
+take _no_ interest in our welfare.  It wouldn't kill a Head to give up a
+night a month to ask us to meet possible friends, or to write a few
+letters of introduction.  You agree with me in your heart, so it's no
+use pretending.  It's a moral obligation, if it isn't legal, and I say
+part of the responsibility is hers if things go wrong.  It's inhuman to
+leave a young girl alone in lodgings without even troubling to inquire
+if she has anywhere to go in her leisure hours.  But it's the same tale
+all round.  Nobody thinks.  Nobody cares.  I've gone to the same church
+for three years, and not a soul has spoken to me all that time.  I've no
+time to give to Church work, and the seats are free, so there's no way
+of getting into touch.  I don't suppose any one has ever noticed the
+shabby school-mistress in her shabby blue serge."
+
+Suddenly Mary Rhodes thrust back her chair, and rising impetuously began
+to storm up and down the room.
+
+"Oh, I'm tired, I'm tired of this second-hand life.  Living in other
+people's houses, teaching other people's children, obeying other
+people's orders.  I'm sick of it.  I can't stand it a moment longer.
+I'd rather take any risk to be out of it.  After all, what could be
+worse?  Any sort of life lived on one's own must be better than this.
+Nearly twelve years of it--and if I have twenty more, what's the end?
+What is there to look forward to?  Slow starvation in a bed-sitting-
+room, for perhaps thirty years.  I won't do it, I won't!  I've had
+enough.  Now I shall choose for myself!"
+
+Like a whirlwind she dashed out of the room, and Claire put her elbow on
+the table and leant her head on her hands, feeling shaken, and
+discouraged, and oppressed.  For the first time a doubt entered her mind
+as to whether she could continue to live with Mary Rhodes.  In her
+brighter modes there was much that was attractive in her personality,
+but to live with a chronic grumbler sapped one's own powers of
+resistance.  Claire felt that for the sake of her own happiness and
+efficiency it would be wiser to make a change, but her heart sank at the
+thought of making a fresh start, of perhaps having to live alone with no
+one to speak to in the long evenings.  The life of a bachelor girl made
+little appeal at that moment.  Liberty seemed dearly bought at the price
+of companionship.
+
+Claire spent the morning writing to her mother and reading over the
+series of happy letters which had reached her week after week.  Mrs
+Judge was in radiant spirits, delighted with the conditions of her new
+life, full of praise of her husband and the many friends to whom she had
+been introduced.  Three-fourths of the letter were taken up with
+descriptions of her own gay doings, the remaining fourth with optimistic
+remarks on her daughter's life.  How delightful to share rooms with
+another girl!  What a nice break to have every Saturday and Sunday free!
+What economical rooms!  Claire must feel quite rich.  What fun to have
+the girls so devoted!
+
+Claire made an expressive grimace as she read that "quite rich."  This
+last week she had been obliged to buy new gloves, and to have her boots
+mended.  A new umbrella had been torn by the carelessness with which
+another teacher had thrust her own into the crowded stand, and one night
+she had been seized with a longing for a dainty well-cooked meal, and
+had recklessly stood treat at a restaurant.  She did not feel at all
+"rich" as she made up the week's account, and reflected that next week
+the expense of driving to Mrs Willoughby's "At Home" would again swell
+up the total of these exasperating "extras" which made such havoc of
+advance calculations.
+
+Cecil did not appear until lunch was on the table, when she flung the
+door wide open and marched in with an air of bravado, as if wanting her
+companion to stare at once and get over it.  It would have been
+impossible not to stare, for the change in her appearance was positively
+startling to behold.  Her dark hair was waved and fashionably coiffed.
+Her best coat and skirt had been embellished with frills of lace at neck
+and sleeves, a pretty little waistcoat had been manufactured out of a
+length of blue ribbon and a few paste buttons, while a blue feather
+necklet had been promoted a step higher, and encircled an old straw hat.
+The ribbon bow at the end of the boa exactly matched the shade of the
+waistcoat, and was cocked up at a daring angle, while a becoming new
+veil and a pair of immaculate new gloves added still further to the
+effect.
+
+Claire had always suspected that Cecil could be pretty if she chose to
+take the trouble, and now she knew it for a fact.  It was difficult to
+realise that this well-groomed-looking girl, with the bright eyes and
+softly-flushed cheeks, could really be the same person as the frumpy-
+looking individual who every morning hurried along the street.
+
+Involuntarily Claire threw up her hands; involuntarily she cried aloud
+in delight "Cheers!  Cheers!  How do you do, Cecil?  Welcome home,
+Cecil!--the real Cecil!  How pretty you are, Cecil!  How well that blue
+suits you!  Don't dare to go back to your dull navy and black.  I shall
+insist that you always wear blue.  I feel quite proud of having such a
+fine lady to lunch.  You are going to have lunch, aren't you?  Why those
+gloves and veil?"
+
+"Oh, well--I'm not hungry.  I'll have some coffee.  I may have lunch in
+town."  Cecil was plainly embarrassed under her companion's scrutiny.
+She pushed up her veil, so that it rested in a little ridge across her
+nose, craned forward her head, sipping her coffee with exaggerated care,
+so that no drop should fall on her lacy frills.
+
+Claire longed to ask a dozen questions, but something in Cecil's manner
+held her at bay, and she contented herself with one inquiry--
+
+"What time will you be home?"
+
+Cecil shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"Don't know.  Perhaps not till late."  She was silent for a moment, then
+added with sudden bitterness, "You are not the _only_ person who has
+invitations.  If I chose, I could go out every Saturday."
+
+"Then why on earth are you always grumbling about your loneliness?"
+thought Claire swiftly, but she did not put the thought into words.
+After the warmth of her own welcome, a kinder response was surely her
+due; she was angry, and would not condescend to reply.
+
+The meal was finished in silence, but when Cecil rose to depart, the
+usual compunction seized her in its grip.  She stood arranging her veil
+before the mirror over the mantelpiece, uttering the usual interjectory
+expressions of regret.
+
+"Sorry, Claire.  I'm a wretch.  You must hate me.  I ought to be shot.
+Nice Saturday morning I've given you!  What are you going to do this
+afternoon?"
+
+Claire's eyes turned towards the window with an expression sad to see on
+so young a face--an imprisoned look.  Her voice seemed to lose all its
+timbre as she replied in one flat dreary word--
+
+"Nothing!"
+
+A spasm of irresolution passed across Cecil's face.  For a moment she
+looked as if she were about to throw aside her own project and cast in
+her lot with her friend's.  Then her face hardened, and she turned
+towards the door.
+
+"Why not call for Sophie Blake, and see if she will go a walk?  She
+asked you once before."
+
+With that she was gone, and Claire was left to consider the proposition.
+Sophie Blake, the Games mistress, was the single member of the staff
+who had shown any disposition towards real friendship, though the
+intimacy was so far confined to one afternoon's walk, and an occasional
+chat in the dinner hour, but this afternoon the thought of her merry
+smile acted as an irresistible magnet.  Claire ran upstairs to get
+ready, in a panic lest she might arrive at Sophie's lodgings to find she
+had already gone out for the afternoon.  Cecil had hinted that she might
+not return until late, and suddenly it seemed unbearable to spend the
+rest of the day in solitude.  Restlessness was in the air, first the
+pleasurable restlessness caused by the receipt of Mrs Willoughby's
+invitation, then the disagreeable restlessness caused by Cecil's erratic
+behaviour.  As she hurried through the streets towards Sophie Blake's
+lodgings, Claire pondered over the mystery of this sudden development on
+Cecil's part.  Where was she going?  Whom was she going to see?  Why
+declare with one breath that she was without a friend, and with the next
+that if she chose she might accept invitations every week?  What special
+reason had to-day inspired such unusual care in her appearance?
+
+Sophie was at home.  Lonely Claire felt quite a throb of relief as she
+heard the welcome words.  She entered the oil-clothed passage and was
+shown into a small, very warm, very untidy front parlour wherein stood
+Sophie herself, staring with widened eyes at the opening door.
+
+"Oh, it's _you_!" she cried.  "What a fright you gave me!  I couldn't
+think _who_ it could be.  Come in!  Sit down!  Can you find a free
+chair?  Saturday is my work day.  I've been darning stockings, and
+trimming a hat, and ironing a blouse, and washing lace, and writing
+letters all in a rush.  I love a muddle on Saturdays.  It's such a
+change after routine all the week.  What do you think of the hat?  Seven
+and sixpence, all told.  I flatter myself it looks worth every penny of
+ten.  Don't pull down that cloth.  The iron's underneath.  Be careful of
+that table!  The ink-pot's somewhere about.  How sweet of you to call!
+I'll clear this muddle away and then we can talk ...  Oh, my arm!"
+
+"What's the matter with the arm?"
+
+Sophie shrugged carelessly.
+
+"Rheumatism, my dear.  Cheerful, isn't it, for a gym. mistress?  It's
+been giving me fits all the week."
+
+"The east winds, I suppose.  I know they make rheumatism worse."
+
+"They do.  So does damp.  So does snow.  So does fog.  So does cold.  So
+does heat.  If you could tell me of anything that makes it _better_, I'd
+be obliged.  Bother rheumatism!  Don't let's talk of it...  It's
+Saturday, my dear.  I never think of disagreeables on Saturday.  Where's
+Miss Rhodes this afternoon?"
+
+"I don't know.  She made herself look very nice and smart--she can be
+very nice-looking when she likes!--and went out for the day."
+
+"Humph!"  Sophie pursed her lips and contracted her brows as if in
+consideration of a knotty point.  "She was awfully pretty when I came to
+the school ten years ago.  And quite jolly and bright.  You wouldn't
+know her for the same girl.  She's a worrier, of course, but it's more
+than that.  Something happened about six years ago, which took the
+starch out of her once for all.  A love affair, I expect.  Perhaps she's
+told you...  I'm not fishing, and it's not my business, but I'm sorry
+for the poor thing, and I was sorry for you when I heard you were going
+to share her room.  She can't be the most cheerful companion in the
+world!"
+
+"Oh, she's quite lively at times," Claire said loyally, "and very
+appreciative.  I'm fond of her, you know, but I wish she didn't grumble
+quite so much."  She looked round the parlour, which was at once bigger
+and better furnished than the joint apartment in Laburnum Crescent, and
+seized upon an opportunity of changing the subject.  "You have a very
+nice room."
+
+Sophie Blake looked round with an air half proud, half guilty.
+
+"Y-es.  Too nice.  I've no business to spend so much, but I simply can't
+stand those dreadful cheap houses.  People are always fussing and
+telling one to save up for old age.  I think it matters far more to have
+things nice in one's youth.  I get a hundred and thirty a year, and have
+to keep myself all the year round and help to educate a young sister.
+We are orphans, and the grown-ups have to keep her between us.  I
+couldn't save if I wanted to, so what's the use of worrying?  I don't
+care very much what happens after fifty-five.  Perhaps I shall be
+married.  Perhaps I shall be dead.  Perhaps some nice kind millionaire
+will have taken a fancy to me, and left me a fortune.  If the worst
+comes to the worst, I'll go into a home for decayed gentlewomen and knit
+stockings--no, not stockings, I should never be able to turn the heels--
+long armlet things, like mittens, without the thumbs.  Look here.  Where
+shall we go?  Isn't it a shame that all the nice shops close early on
+Saturday?  We might have had such sport walking along Knightsbridge,
+choosing what we'd like best from every window.  Have you ever done
+that?  It's ripping fun.  What about Museums?  Do you like Museums?
+Rather cold for the feet, don't you think?  What can we do that's warm
+and interesting, and exciting, and doesn't cost more than
+eighteenpence?"
+
+Claire laughed gleefully, not at the thought of the eighteenpenny
+restriction, but from pure joy at finding a companion who could face
+life with a smile, and find enjoyment from such simple means as
+imaginary purchases from shop windows.  Oh, the blessed effect of a
+cheerful spirit!  How inspiriting it was after the constant douche of
+discouragement from which she had suffered for the last nine weeks!
+
+"Oh, bother eighteenpence!  This is my treat, and we are going to enjoy
+ourselves, or know the reason why.  I've got a lot of money in the bank,
+and I'm just in the mood to spend.  We'll go to the Queen's Hall, and
+then on to have tea in a restaurant.  You would like to hear some
+music?"
+
+"So long as it is not a chorus of female voices--I _should_!  I'm a
+trifle fed up with female voices," cried Sophie gaily.  She picked up
+her newly-trimmed hat from the table and caressed it fondly.  "Come
+along, darling.  You're going to make your _debut_!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+THE RECEPTION.
+
+It was almost worth while leading a life of all work and no play for six
+weeks on end, for the sheer delight of being frivolous once more; of
+dressing oneself in one's prettiest frock, drawing on filmy silk
+stockings and golden shoes, clasping a pearl necklace round a white
+throat and cocking a feathery aigrette at just the right angle among
+coppery swathes of hair.  No single detail was wanting to complete the
+whole, for in the old careless days Claire's garments had been purchased
+with a lavish hand, the only anxiety being to secure the most becoming
+specimen of its kind.  There were long crinkly gloves, and a lace
+handkerchief, and a fan composed of curling feathers and mother-of-pearl
+sticks, and a dainty bag hanging by golden cords, and a cloak of the
+newest shape, composed of layers of different-tinted chiffons, which
+looked more like a cloud at sunset than a garment manufactured by human
+hands and supposed to be of use!
+
+Claire tilted her little mirror to an acute angle, gave a little skip of
+delight as she surveyed the completed whole, and then whirled down the
+narrow staircase, a flying mist of draperies, through which the little
+gold-clad feet gleamed in and out.  She whirled into the sitting-room,
+where the solitary lamp stood on the table, and Cecil lay on the humpy
+green plush sofa reading a novel from the Free Library.  She put down
+the book and stared with wide eyes as Claire gave an extra whirl for her
+benefit, and cried jubilantly--
+
+"Admire me!  Admire me!  I'm dying to be admired!  Don't I look fine,
+and smart, and unsuitable!  Will any one in the world mistake me for a
+High School-mistress!"
+
+Cecil rose from the sofa, and made a solemn tour of inspection.
+Obviously she was impressed, obviously she admired, obviously also she
+found something startling in her inspection.  There was pure feminine
+interest in the manner in which she fingered each delicate fabric in
+turn, there was pure feminine kindness in the little pat on the arm
+which announced the close of the inspection.
+
+"My dear, it's ripping!  Rich and rare isn't in it.  You look a dream.
+Poor kiddie!  If this is the sort of thing you've been used to, it's
+been harder for you than I thought!  Yes, horribly unsuitable, and when
+it's worn-out, you'll never be able to have another like it.  White
+ponge will be your next effort."
+
+"Bless your heart, I've three others just as fine, and these skimpy
+skirts last for an age.  No chance of any one planting a great foot on
+the folds and tearing them to ribbons as in the old days.  There _are_
+no folds to tread on."
+
+But Cecil as usual was ready with her croak.
+
+"Next year," she said darkly, "there will be flounces.  Before you have
+a chance of wearing your four dresses, everybody will be fussy and
+frilly, and they'll be hopelessly out of date."
+
+"Then I'll cut up two and turn them into flounces to fuss out the
+others!" cried Claire, the optimist, and gave another caper from sheer
+lightness of heart.  "How do you like my feet?"
+
+"I suppose you mean shoes.  A pretty price you paid for those.  I'm sure
+they're too tight!"
+
+"Boats, my dear, boats!  I've had to put in a sole.  Didn't you know my
+feet were so small?  How do you like my cloak?  It's meant to look like
+a cloud.  Layers of blue, pink and grey, `superimposed,' as the fashion
+papers have it.  Or should you say it was more like an opal?"
+
+"No, I should not.  Neither one nor the other.  Considered as a cloak
+for a foggy November evening, I should call it a delusion and a fraud.
+You'll get a chill.  I've a Shetland shawl.  I'll lend it to you to wrap
+round your shoulders."
+
+"No, you won't!"  Claire cried defiantly.  "Shetland shawl indeed!  Who
+ever heard of a girl of twenty-one in a Shetland shawl?  I'm going to a
+party, my dear.  The joy of that thought would keep me warm through a
+dozen fogs."
+
+"You'll have to come back from the party, however, and you mayn't feel
+so jubilant then.  It's not too exciting when you don't know a soul, and
+sit on one seat all evening.  I knew a girl who went to a big crush and
+didn't even get a cup of coffee.  Nobody asked her to go down."
+
+Claire swept her cloak to one side, and sat down on a chair facing the
+sofa, her white gloves clasped on her knee, the embroidered bag hanging
+by its golden cords to the tip of the golden slippers.  She fixed her
+eyes steadily on her companion, and there was in them a spark of anger,
+before which Cecil had the grace to flush.
+
+"Sorry!  Really I am sorry--"
+
+  "`Repentance is to _leave_
+  The sins we loved before,
+  And show that we in earnest grieve
+  By doing so No More!'"
+
+quoted Claire sternly.  "Really, Cecil, you are the champion wet blanket
+of your age.  It is too bad.  I have to do all the perking up, and you
+can't even let me go to a party without damping my ardour.  I was
+thinking it over the other night, and I've hit on a promising plan.  I'm
+going to allow you a grumble day a week--but only one.  On that day you
+can grumble as much as ever you like, from the moment you get up till
+the moment you go to bed.  You'll be within your rights, and I shall not
+complain.  I'll have my own day, too, when you can find out what it
+feels like to listen, but won't be allowed to say a word in return.  For
+the rest of the week you'll just have to grin and bear it.  You won't be
+allowed a single growl."
+
+Cecil knitted her brows, and looked ashamed and uncomfortable, as she
+invariably did when taxed with her besetting sin.  Claire's charge on
+mental poisoning had struck home, and she had honestly determined to
+turn over a new leaf; but the habit had been indulged too long to be
+easily abandoned.  Unconsciously, as it were, disparaging remarks flowed
+from her lips, combined with a steady string of objections, adverse
+criticisms, and presentiments of darkness and gloom.  At the present
+moment she felt a little startled to realise how firmly the habit was
+established, and the proposal of a licenced grumble day held out some
+promise of a cure.
+
+"Then I'll have Monday!" she cried briskly.  "I am always in a bad
+temper on Mondays, so I shall be able to make the most of my chance."
+She was silent for a moment considering the prospect, then was struck
+with a sudden thought.  "But now and then I _do_ have a nice week-end,
+and then I shouldn't want to grumble at all.  I suppose I could change
+the day?"
+
+There was a ring of triumph in Claire's laugh.
+
+"Not you!  My dear girl, that's just what I am counting upon!  Sometimes
+the sun will shine, sometimes you'll get a nice letter, sometimes the
+girls will be intelligent and interesting, and then, my dear, you'll
+forget, and the day will skip past, and before you know where you are it
+will be Tuesday morning and your chance will have gone.  Cecil, fancy
+it!  A whole fortnight without a grumble.  It seems almost too good to
+be true!"
+
+"It does!" said the English mistress eloquently.  She sat upright on the
+green plush sofa, her shabby slippers well in evidence beneath the edge
+of her shabby skirt, staring with curious eyes at the radiant figure of
+the girl in the opposite chair.  "I don't think you need a day at all!"
+
+"Because I'm going to a solitary party?  Only two minutes ago, my love,
+you were sympathising with my hard lot!  I shall have Fridays.  I'm
+tired on Fridays, and it's getting near the time for making up accounts.
+I can be quite a creditable grumbler on Fridays."
+
+"Well, just as you like!  You _are_ going to the party, I suppose?
+Haven't changed your mind by any chance, and determined to spend the
+evening hectoring me!  If you are going, you'd better go.  I'll sit up
+for you and keep some cocoa--"
+
+Claire rose with a smile.
+
+"I appreciate the inference!  Starved and disillusioned, I am to creep
+home and weep on your bosom.  Well, we'll see!  Good-bye for the
+present.  I'll tell you all about it when I get back..."
+
+A minute's whistling at the front door produced a taxi, in which Claire
+seated herself and was whirled westward through brightly lighted
+streets.  In the less fashionable neighbourhoods the usual Saturday
+crowd thronged round the shops and booths, making their purchases at an
+hour when perishable goods could be obtained at bargain prices.  Claire
+and Cecil had themselves made such expeditions before now, coming home
+triumphant with some savoury morsel for supper, and with quite a lavish
+supply of flowers to deck the little room.  At the time the expeditions
+had been pleasant enough, and there had seemed nothing in the least
+_infra dig_ in taking advantage of the opportunity; but to-night the
+girl in the cloudy cloak looked through the windows of her chariot with
+an ineffable condescension, and found it difficult to believe that she
+herself had ever made one of so insignificant a throng!
+
+"How I do love luxury!  It's the breath of my nostrils," she said to
+herself with a little sigh of content, as she straightened herself in
+her seat, and smiled back at her own reflection in the strip of mirror
+opposite.  Her hair had "gone" just right.  What a comfort that was!
+Sometimes it took a stupid turn and could not be induced to obey.  She
+opened the cloak at the top and peeped at the dainty whiteness within,
+with the daring, thoroughly French touch of vivid emerald green which
+gave a _cachet_ to the whole.  Yes, it was quite as pretty as she had
+believed.  Every whit as becoming.  "I don't look a bit like a school-
+mistress!" smiled Claire, and snoodled back again against the cushions
+with a deep breath of content.
+
+She was not in the least shy.  Many a girl about to make her _entree_
+into a strange house would have been suffering qualms of misgiving by
+this time, but Claire had spent her life more or less in public, and was
+accustomed to meet strangers as a matter of course, so there was no
+dread to take the edge off her enjoyment.
+
+Even when the taxi slowed down to take its place in the stream of
+vehicles which were drawn up before Mrs Willoughby's house, she knew
+only a heightened enjoyment in the realisation that it was not a party
+at all, but a real big fashionable At Home.
+
+The usual crowd of onlookers stood on either side of the door, and as
+Claire descended from the taxi, the sight of her golden slippers and
+floating clouds of gauze evoked a gratifying murmur of admiration.  She
+passed on with her head in the air, looking neither to right nor left,
+but close against the rails stood a couple of working girls whose
+wistful eyes drew her own as with a magnet.  In their expression was a
+whole world of awe, of admiration; they looked at her as at a denizen of
+another sphere, hardly presuming even to be envious, so infinitely was
+she removed from their grey-hued life.  As Claire met their eyes, an
+impulse seized her to stop and tell them that she was just a working
+girl like themselves, but convention being too strong to allow of such
+familiarities, she smiled instead, with such a frank and friendly
+acknowledgment of their admiration as brought a flash of pleasure to
+their faces.
+
+"She's a real laidy, she is!" said Gladys to Maud; and Maud sniffed in
+assent, and answered strongly, "You bet your life!"
+
+The inside of the house seemed out of all proportion with the outside
+appearance.  This is a special peculiarity of the West End, which has
+puzzled many a visitor besides Claire Gifford.  What _is_ the magic
+which transforms narrow slips of buildings into spacious halls and
+imposing flights of stairways?  Viewed from the street, the town houses
+of well-known personages seem quite inadequate for their purpose; viewed
+from within, they are all that is stately and appropriate.  Those of us
+who live in less favoured neighbourhoods would fain solve the riddle.
+
+Mrs Willoughby stood at the top of her own staircase, shaking hands
+with the stream of ascending guests, and motioning them forward to the
+suite of entertaining rooms from which came a steady murmur of voices.
+She was a stout woman, with a vast expanse of white shoulders which
+seemed to join right on to her head without any preliminary in the shape
+of a neck.  Her hair was dark, and a plain face was lightened by a pair
+of exceedingly pleasant, exceedingly alert brown eyes.  As soon as she
+met those eyes Claire felt assured that the kindness of which she had
+heard was a real thing, and that this woman could be counted upon as a
+friend.  There was, it is true, a slight vagueness in the manner in
+which she made her greeting, but a murmur of "Mrs Fanshawe" instantly
+revived recollections.
+
+"Of course--of course!" she cried heartily.  "So glad you could come, my
+dear.  I must see you later on.  Reginald!"--she beckoned to a lad in an
+Eton suit--"I want you to take charge of Miss Gifford.  Take her to have
+some coffee, and introduce her to some one nice."
+
+A nod and a smile, and Mrs Willoughby had turned back to welcome the
+next guest in order, while the Eton boy offered his arm with the air of
+a prince of the blood, and led the way to a refreshment buffet around
+which the guests were swarming with an eagerness astonishing to behold
+when one realised how lately they must have risen from the dinner-table.
+Claire found her young cavalier very efficient in his attentions.  He
+settled her in a comfortable corner, brought her a cup of coffee heaped
+with foaming cream, and gave it as his opinion that it was going to be
+"a beastly crush."  Claire wondered if it would be tactful to inquire
+how he happened to be at home in the middle of a term; but while she
+hesitated he supplied the information himself.
+
+"I'm home on leave.  Appendicitis.  Left the nursing home three weeks
+ago.  Been at the sea, and came back yesterday in time for this show.
+Getting a bit tired of slacking!"
+
+"You must be.  Dear me!  I _am_ sorry.  Too bad to begin so soon,"
+murmured Claire pitifully; but Master Reginald disdained sympathy.
+
+"Oh, I dunno," he said calmly.  "It's quite the correct thing, don't you
+know?  Everybody's doing it.  Just as well to get it through.  It
+might"--he opened his pale eyes with a startled look--"it might have
+come on in the hols!  Pretty fool I should have looked if I'd been done
+out of winter sports."
+
+"There's that way of looking at it!"  Claire said demurely.  For a
+moment she debated whether she should break the fact that she herself
+was a school-mistress, but decided that it would be wiser to refrain
+since the boy would certainly feel more at ease with her in her private
+capacity.  So for the next half-hour they sat happily together in their
+corner, while the boy discoursed on the subjects nearest his heart, and
+the girl deftly switched him back to the subjects more congenial.
+
+"Yes, I love cricket.  At least I'm sure I should do, if I understood it
+better...  _Do_ tell me who is the big old lady with the eyeglass and
+the diamond tiara?"
+
+"Couldn't tell you to save my life.  Rather an out-size, isn't she?
+Towers over the men.  I say! you ought to go to Lord's Will you turn up
+at Lord's next year to see our match?  We might meet somewhere and I'd
+give you tea.  Harrow won't have a chance.  We've got a bowler who--"
+
+"Can he really?  How nice!  Oh, that _is_ a curious-looking man with the
+long hair!  I'm sure he is something, or does something different from
+other people.  Is he a musician, do you think?  Do you ever have music
+on these evenings?"
+
+"Rather!  Sometimes the mater hires a big swell, sometimes she lets
+loose the amateurs.  She knows lots of amateurs, y'know.  People who are
+trying to be big-wigs, and want the chance to show off.  The mater
+encourages them.  Great mistake if you ask me, but you needn't listen if
+you don't want.  She has one of these crushes once a month.  Beastly
+dull, I call them.  Can't think why the people come.  But she gives them
+a rattling good feed.  Supper comes on at twelve, in the dining-room
+downstairs."
+
+But Claire was not interested in supper.  All her attention was taken up
+in watching the stream of people passing by, and for a time the youth of
+her companion had seemed an advantage, since it made it easy to indulge
+her curiosity concerning her fellow-guests by a succession of questions
+which might have been boring to an adult.  As time passed on, however,
+and she became conscious that more than one pair of masculine eyes
+turned in her direction, she wished frankly Master Reginald would
+remember his mother's instructions and proceed without further delay to
+introduce her to "someone nice."  To return home and confess to Cecil
+that she had spent the evening in company with a schoolboy would be
+almost as humiliating as sitting alone in a corner.
+
+It was at this point that Claire became aware of the presence of a very
+small, very wizened old woman sitting alone at the opposite side of the
+room, her mittened hands clawing each other restlessly in her lap, her
+sunken eyes glancing to right and left with a glance distinctly hostile.
+The passing of guests frequently hid her from view, but when a gap came
+again, there she sat, still alone, still twisting her mittened hands,
+still coldly staring around.  Claire thought she looked a very
+disagreeable old lady, but she was sorry for her all the same.  Horrid
+to be old and cross, and to be alone in a crowd!  She put yet another
+question to the boy by her side.
+
+"That," said Master Willoughby seriously, "is Great-aunt Jane.  Great-
+aunt Jane is the skeleton in our cupboard.  The mater says so, and she
+ought to know.  Every time the mater has a show, the moment the door is
+opened, in comes Great-aunt Jane, and sits it out until every one has
+gone.  If any one dares speak to her she snaps his head off, and if they
+let her alone, she's furious, and gives it to the mater after they're
+gone.  Most of the crowd know her by now, and pretend they don't see,
+... and she gets waxier and waxier.  Would you like to be introduced?"
+
+"Yes, please!" said Claire unexpectedly.  She was tired of sitting in
+one corner, and wanted to move her position, but she was also quite
+genuinely anxious to try her hand at cheering poor cross Great-aunt
+Jane.  The old lady _pensionnaires_ in the "Villa Beau Sejour" had made
+a point of petting and flattering the pretty English girl, and Claire
+was complacently assured that this old lady would follow their example.
+But she was mistaken.
+
+"Aunt Jane, Miss Gifford asks to be introduced to you.  Miss Gifford--
+Lady Jane Willoughby."
+
+Reginald beat a hurried retreat, and Claire seated herself at the end of
+the sofa and smilingly awaited her companion's lead.  It did not come.
+After one automatic nod of the head, Lady Jane resumed her former
+position, taking no more notice of the new-comer than if she had
+remained at the far end of the room.  Claire felt her cheeks begin to
+burn.  Her complacence had suffered a shock, but pride came to her
+rescue, and she made a determined effort at conversation.
+
+"That nice boy has been telling me that he has had appendicitis."
+
+Lady Jane favoured her with a frosty glance.
+
+"Yes, he has.  Perhaps you will excuse me from talking about it.  I
+object to the discussion of diseases at social gatherings."
+
+Claire's cheeks grew hotter still.  A quick retort came to her lips.
+
+"I wasn't going to discuss it!  I only mentioned it for--for something
+to say.  I couldn't think how else to begin!"
+
+The droop of Lady Jane's eyelids inferred that it was really quite
+superfluous to begin at all.  Claire waited a whole two minutes by the
+clock, and then made another effort.
+
+"I hear we are to have some music later on."
+
+"Sorry to hear it," said Great-aunt Jane.
+
+"Really!  I was so glad.  Aren't you fond of music, then?"
+
+"I am very fond of music," said Aunt Jane, and there was a world of
+insinuation in her voice.  Without a definite word being spoken, the
+hearer was informed that good music, real music, music worthy the name,
+was a thing that no sane person would expect to hear at Mrs
+Willoughby's "At Homes."  She was really the most terrifying and
+disconcerting of old ladies, and Claire heartily repented the impulse
+which had brought her to her side.  A pretty thing it would be if she
+were left alone on this sofa for the rest of the evening!
+
+But fortune was kind, and from across the room came a good angel who was
+so exactly a reproduction of Mrs Willoughby herself, minus half her
+age, that it must obviously be her daughter.  Janet Willoughby was not a
+pretty girl, but she looked gay, and bright, and beaming with good
+humour, and at this moment with a spice of mischief into the bargain.
+The manner in which she held out her hand to Claire was as friendly as
+though the two girls had been friends for years.
+
+"Miss Gifford?  I was sure it must be you.  Mother told me to look for
+you.  Aunt Jane, will you excuse my running away with Miss Gifford?
+Several people are asking to be introduced.  Will you come with me, Miss
+Gifford?  I want to take you into the music room."
+
+Claire rose with a very leap of eagerness, and as soon as they had
+gained a safe distance, Miss Willoughby turned to her with twinkling
+eyes.
+
+"I am afraid you were having a bad time!  I caught sight of you across
+the room and was so sorry.  Who took you over there?  Was it that
+naughty Reginald?"
+
+"He did, but I asked him.  I thought she looked lonely.  I thought
+perhaps she would be pleased."
+
+Janet Willoughby's smile showed a quick approval.
+
+"That was kind!  Thanks for the good intention, but I can't let you be
+victimised any more.  I want to talk to you myself, and half-a-dozen men
+have been asking for introductions to the girl with the green sash.  You
+know Mrs Fanshawe, don't you?  Isn't she charming?  She and I are the
+greatest of chums.  I always say she has never succeeded in growing
+older than seventeen.  She is so delightfully irresponsible and
+impulsive.  She wrote mother a charming letter about you.  It made us
+quite anxious to meet you, but you know what town life is--a continual
+rush!  Everything gets put off."
+
+"It was awfully good of you to ask me at all, and very kind of Mrs
+Fanshawe to write.  I only know her in the most casual way.  We crossed
+over from Antwerp together, and her maid was ill, and I was able to be
+of some use, and when she heard that I was coming to work in London and
+that I knew nobody here--she--"
+
+Jane Willoughby stared in frank amazement.
+
+"Do you really mean that that was all?  You met her only that one time?
+You know nothing of her home or her people?"
+
+"Only that time.  I hope--I hope you don't think--"
+
+Claire suffered an anxious moment before she realised that for some
+unexplained reason Miss Willoughby was more pleased than annoyed by the
+intelligence.  An air of something extraordinarily like relief passed
+over her features.  She laughed gaily and said--
+
+"I don't think anything at all except that it is delightfully like Mrs
+Fanshawe.  She wrote as if she had known you for ages.  As a matter of
+fact she probably _does_ know you quite well.  She is so extraordinarily
+quick and clever, that she crowds as much life into an hour as an
+ordinary person does into a week.  She told us that you had chosen to
+come to London to work, rather than go to India and have a good time.
+How plucky of you!  And you teach at one of the big High Schools...  You
+don't look in the least like a school-mistress."
+
+"Ah!  I'm off duty to-night!  You should see me in the morning, in my
+working clothes.  You should see me at night, correcting exercises on
+the dining-table in a lodging-house parlour, and cooking sausages in a
+chafing-dish for our evening meal.  I `dig' with the English mistress,
+and do most of our cooking myself, as the landlady's tastes and ours
+don't agree.  I'm getting to be quite an expert at manufacturing
+sixpenny dainties."
+
+Janet Willoughby breathed a deep sigh; the diamond star on her neck sent
+out vivid gleams of light.
+
+"What fun!" she sighed enviously.  "What fun!" and as she spoke there
+flashed suddenly before the eyes of her listener a picture of the
+English mistress lying on the green plush sofa, her shabby slippers
+showing beneath the hem of her shabby skirt, spending the holiday
+Saturday evening at home because she had no invitations to go out, and
+no money to spare for an entertainment.  "Oh, I _do_ envy you!" sighed
+Janet deeply.  "It's one of my greatest ambitions to share rooms with a
+nice girl, and live the simple life, and be free to do whatever one
+liked.  Mother loves independence in other girls, but her principles
+don't extend to me.  She says an only daughter's place is at home.  But
+you are an only daughter, too."
+
+"I am; but other circumstances were different.  It was a case of being
+dependent on a stepfather or of working for myself--so I chose to work,
+and--"
+
+"And I'm sure you never regret it!"
+
+Claire extended her hands in the expressive French shrug.
+
+"Ah, but I do!  Horribly, at times.  Even now, after three months' work
+I have a conviction that I shall regret it more and more as time goes
+on; but if I had to decide again, I'd do just the same.  It's a question
+of principle versus so many things--laziness and self-indulgence, and
+wanting to have a good time, and the habits of a lifetime, and
+irritation with stupid girls who won't work."
+
+Janet Willoughby gave a soft murmur of understanding.
+
+"Yes, of course.  Stupid of me to say that!  Of course, you must get
+tired when you've never taught before.  Does it bore you very much?"
+
+"Teaching?  Oh, no.  As a rule I love it, and take a pride in inventing
+new ways to help the girls.  It's the all work and no play that gets on
+one's nerves, and the feeling of being cut off from the world by an
+impassable barrier of something that really doesn't exist.  People have
+a prejudice against school-mistresses.  They think they are dull, and
+proper, and pedantic.  If they want to be complimentary they say, `You
+don't look like a school-mistress.'  You did yourself, not two minutes
+ago.  But really and truly they are just natural, everyday girls,
+wanting to have a good time in their leisure hours like other girls.
+You can't think how happy I was to come here to-night and have the
+chance of putting on pretty things again."
+
+Janet Willoughby put her hand on Claire's arm and piloted her deftly
+through the crowd.
+
+"Now," she said firmly, "you just stay here, and I'll bring up all the
+nicest men in the room, and introduce them in turns.  You _shall_ have a
+good time, and you are wearing the very prettiest things in the room--if
+it's any comfort to you to hear it.  We won't talk about school any
+more.  To-night is for fun!"
+
+The next hour passed on flying feet, while Claire sat the queen of a
+little court, and Janet Willoughby flitted to and fro, bringing up fresh
+arrivals to be introduced, and drafting off the last batch to other
+parts of the crowded rooms.  All the men were agreeable and amusing, and
+showed a flattering appreciation of their position.  Claire felt no more
+interest in one than in another, but she liked them all, and felt a
+distinct pleasure in talking to men again after the convent-like
+existence of the last months.  She was pleased to welcome a new-comer,
+smiled unconcerned at a farewell.
+
+From time to time the buzz of voices was temporarily broken by the crash
+of the piano, but always before the end of each performance it rose
+again, and steadily swelled in volume.  In truth, the excellence of the
+performance was no great inducement to listen, and Mrs Willoughby's
+forehead showed a pucker of anxiety.  She drifted across to Claire's
+corner, and spoke a few kindly words of welcome, which ended in a half
+apology.
+
+"I am sorry the music is so poor.  It varies so much on different
+nights.  Sometimes we have quite a number of good singers, but to-night
+there are none.  I am afraid so much piano grows a little boring."
+
+She looked in the girl's face with a quick inquiry.
+
+"Do _you_ sing?"
+
+"No-o."  The word seemed final, yet there was an unmistakable hesitation
+in Claire's voice.  Mrs Willoughby's glance sharpened.
+
+"But you do something?  Play?  Recite?  What is it?  My dear, I should
+be so grateful!"
+
+"I--whistle!" confessed Claire with a blush, and a little babble of
+delight greeted the words.  Every one who heard hailed the chance of a
+variety in the monotonous programme.  Mrs Willoughby beamed with all
+the relief of a hostess unexpectedly relieved of anxiety.
+
+"Delightful!  Charming!  My dear, it will be such a help!  You would
+like an accompaniment?  I'll introduce you to Mr Helder.  He can play
+anything you like.  Will you come now!  I am sure every one will be
+charmed."
+
+There was no time for a second thought.  The next moment the long-haired
+Mr Helder was bowing over Claire's hand, and professing his delight.
+The little group in the corner were pressing forward to obtain a point
+of vantage, and throughout the company in general was passing a wordless
+hum of excitement.  Mr Helder was seating himself at the piano, a girl
+in a white dress had ascended the impromptu platform and now stood by
+his side, a pretty girl, a very pretty girl, a girl who acknowledged the
+scattered applause with a smile which showed two dimples on one cheek, a
+girl who looked neither shy nor conceited, but simply as if she were
+enjoying herself very much, and expected everybody to do the same.  She
+was going to sing.  It would be a relief to listen to singing after the
+continued performances upon the piano.  They hoped sincerely that she
+could sing well.  Why didn't the accompaniment begin?
+
+Then suddenly a white-gloved hand gave a signal, Mr Helder's hands
+descended on the keys, and at the same instant from between Claire's
+pursed-up lips there flowed a stream of high, flute-like notes,
+repeating the air with a bird-like fluency and ease.  She had chosen the
+old-world ballad, "Cherry Ripe," the quaint turns and trills of which
+lent themselves peculiarly well to this method of interpretation, and
+the swing and gaiety of the measure carried the audience by storm.
+Looking down from her platform Claire could see the indifferent faces
+suddenly lighten into interest, into smiles, into positive beams of
+approval.  At the second verse heads began to wag; unconsciously to
+their owners lips began to purse.  It was inspiring to watch those
+faces, to know that it was she herself who had wrought the magic change.
+
+Those moments for Claire were pure undiluted joy.  Whistling had come to
+her as a natural gift, compensating to some extent for the lack of a
+singing voice; later on she had taken lessons, and practised seriously
+to perfect her facility.  At school in Paris, later on in attending
+social gatherings with her mother, she had had abundant opportunities of
+overcoming the initial shyness; but indeed shyness was never a serious
+trouble with Claire Gifford, who was gifted with that very agreeable
+combination of qualities,--an amiable desire to please other people, and
+a comfortable assurance of her own powers.
+
+At the end of the third verse the applause burst out with a roar.
+"Bravos" sounded from every side, and "Encores" persisted so strenuously
+that Claire was not permitted even to descend from her platform.  Mrs
+Willoughby rustled forward full of gratitude and thanks.  Mr Helder
+rubbed his hands, and beamingly awaited further commands...  What would
+Cecil have to say to a success like this?
+
+Claire's second choice was one of Mendelssohn's "Songs without Words," a
+quieter measure this time, sweet and flowing, and giving opportunity for
+a world of delicate phrasing.  It was one of the pieces which she had
+practised with a master, and with which she felt most completely at
+home; and if the audience found it agreeable to hear, they also, to
+judge from their faces, found it equally agreeable to watch.  Claire's
+cheeks were flushed to a soft rose-pink, her head moved to and fro,
+unconsciously keeping time with the air; one little golden shoe softly
+tapped the floor.  Her unconsciousness of self added to the charm of the
+performance.  But once the audience noticed, with sympathetic amusement,
+her composure was seriously threatened, so that the bird-like notes
+quavered ominously, and the twin dimples deepened into veritable holes.
+Claire had caught sight of Great-aunt Jane standing in solitary state at
+the rear of the throng of listeners, her mittened fingers still
+plucking, her eyes frosty with disapproval.
+
+After that Claire safeguarded her composure by looking steadily downward
+at the points of her shoes until the end of the song approached, when it
+seemed courteous, once more, to face her audience.  She raised her eyes,
+and as she did so her heart leapt within her with a startling force.
+She was thankful that it _was_ the end, that the long final note was
+already on her lips, for there, standing in the doorway, his face
+upraised to hers, stood her knight of the railway station, the rescuer
+of the lost box--Erskine Fanshawe himself!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE.
+
+THE SUPPER.
+
+Claire stepped down from the platform to be surrounded by a throng of
+guests all eager to express their admiration of her interesting
+performance, to marvel how she could "do it," and to congratulate her
+upon so unusual an accomplishment; and she smiled and bowed, declared
+that it was quite easy, and perjured herself by maintaining that anyone
+could do as well, acutely conscious all the time that Captain Fanshawe
+was drawing nearer with determined steps, edging his way towards the
+front of the crowd.  The next moment her hand was in his, and he was
+greeting her with the assurance of a lifelong friend.
+
+"Good evening, Miss Gifford.  Hadn't we better make straight for supper
+now?  I am sure you must need it."
+
+It was practically the ordinary invitation.  There was nothing to find
+fault with in the words themselves, yet the impression of a previous
+arrangement was obviously left with the hearers, who fell back, giving
+way as to a superior right.  As for Claire, she laid her hand on the
+extended arm, with all the good will in the world, and made a triumphant
+passage through the crowd, which smiled upon her as though agreeing that
+it was now her turn to be amused.
+
+"This table, I think!"  Captain Fanshawe said, leading the way to the
+furthest corner of the dining-room, and Claire found herself sipping a
+hot cup of soup, and realising that the world was an agreeable place,
+and that it was folly ever to allow oneself to be downhearted, since
+such delightful surprises awaited round corners ready to transform the
+grey into gold!
+
+Captain Fanshawe looked exactly as memory had pictured him--plain of
+feature, distinguished in bearing, grave, self-contained, yet with that
+lurking light in his eyes which showed that humour lay beneath.  Claire
+smiled at him across the table, and asked an obvious question--
+
+"Rather a different meeting-place from our last!  Did you know me at
+once?"
+
+"I did," he said, and added deliberately, "Just as you knew me."
+
+"Oh, well!"  Claire tried to look unconcerned.  "Men are always pretty
+much the same.  Evening dress does not make the same difference to
+them."
+
+She knew a momentary fear lest he should believe she was fishing for a
+compliment, and give the ordinary banal reply; but he looked at her with
+a grave scrutiny, and asked quietly--
+
+"Was that one of the frocks which went astray?"
+
+"Yes!  All of it.  It wasn't even divided in half."
+
+"It was a good thing the box turned up!" he said; and there, after all,
+was the compliment, but so delicately inferred that the most fastidious
+taste could not object.
+
+With the finishing of the soup came the first reference to Claire's
+work, for the Captain's casual "Do you care for anything solid, or would
+you prefer a sweet?" evoked a round-eyed stare of dismay.
+
+"Oh, _please_!" cried Claire deeply.  "I want to go straight through.
+I've been living on mutton and cabbage for over two months, and cooking
+suppers on a chafing-dish.  I looked forward to supper as part of the
+treat!"
+
+The plain face lightened into a delightful smile.
+
+"That's all right!" he cried.  "Now we know where we are.  I hadn't much
+dinner myself, so I'm quite game.  Let us study the book of the words."
+
+A _menu_ lay on the table, a square white card emblazoned with many
+golden words.  Captain Fanshawe drew his chair nearer, and ran his
+finger down the list, while Claire bent forward to signify a yea or nay.
+Every delicacy in season and out of season seemed to find its place on
+that list, which certainly justified Master Reginald's eulogy of his
+mother's "good feeds."  Claire found it quite a serious matter to decide
+between so many good things, and even with various curtailments, made
+rather out of pride than inclination, the meal threatened to last some
+considerable time.
+
+Well! there was obvious satisfaction in the manner in which Captain
+Fanshawe delivered his orders, and for herself, she had been dignified
+and self-denying; she had resolutely shut the door between this man and
+herself, and devoted herself to work, and now, since fate had thrown him
+in her way for a chance hour, she could enjoy herself with a light mind.
+It was good to talk to a man again, to hear a deep masculine voice, to
+look at a broad strong frame.  Putting aside all question of love and
+marriage, the convent life is no more satisfying than the monastic.
+Each sex was designed by God to be the complement of the other.  Each
+must suffer from lack of the other's companionship.
+
+"I arrived just as you began your performance," Captain Fanshawe
+informed her.  "It was a great `draw.'  Everybody had crowded forward to
+listen.  It was only towards the end of your second--er--how exactly
+should one express it?--_morceau_, that I managed to get into seeing
+line.  It was a surprise!  Have you known the Willoughbys long?"
+
+Claire looked at him blankly.
+
+"I never saw them before to-night.  Your mother wrote to ask them if
+they would send me a card."
+
+"Oh!"  Captain Fanshawe was certainly surprised, and Claire mentally
+snubbed herself because at the bottom of her heart there had lain a
+suspicion that perhaps--just perhaps--he had come to-night in the hope
+of meeting his acquaintance of the railway station.  This was not the
+case; no thought of her had been in his mind.  Probably until the moment
+of meeting he had forgotten her existence.  Never mind!  They _had_ met,
+and he was agreeable and friendly.  Now for a delightful half-hour...
+
+"That was a good thought of the _mater's_.  You will like them.  They
+are delightful people.  Just the people you ought to know as a stranger
+in town.  How goes the school teaching, by the way?  As well as you
+expected?"
+
+Claire deliberated, with pursed lips.
+
+"No.  I expected so much; I always do.  But much better than other
+people expected for me.  Theoretically it's a fine life.  There are
+times when it seems that nothing could be finer.  But--"
+
+"But what?"
+
+"I don't think it's quite satisfying, as a _whole_ life!"
+
+"Does anyone suppose it is?"
+
+"They try to.  They have to.  For most teachers there is so little
+else."
+
+The waiter handed plates of lobster mayonnaise, and Captain Fanshawe
+said quietly--
+
+"Tell me about the times when the work seems fine."
+
+"Ah--many times!  It depends on one's own mood and health, because, of
+course, the circumstances are always the same.  There are mornings when
+one looks round a big class-room and sees all the girls' faces looking
+upwards, and it gives one quite a thrilling sense of power and
+opportunity.  That is what the heaven-born teacher must feel every
+time.--`Here is the fresh virgin soil, and mine is the joy of planting
+the right seed!  Here are the women of the future, the mothers of the
+race.  For this hour they are mine.  What I say, they must hear.  They
+will listen with an attention which even their parents cannot gain.  The
+words which I speak this morning may bear fruit in many lives.'  That's
+the ideal attitude, but the ordinary human woman has other mornings when
+all she feels is--`Oh, dear me, six hours of this!  And what's the use?
+Everything I batter in to-day will be forgotten by to-morrow.  What's
+the ideal anyway in teaching French verbs?  I want to go to bed.'"
+
+They laughed together, but Captain Fanshawe sobered quickly, and his
+brow showed furrows of distress.  Claire looked at him and said
+quickly--
+
+"Do you mind if we don't talk school?  I am Cinderella to-night, wearing
+fine clothes and supping in state.  I'd so much rather talk Cinderella
+to match."
+
+"Certainly, certainly.  Just as you wish."  Lolling back in his chair,
+Captain Fanshawe adopted an air of _blase_ indifference, and drawled
+slowly, "Quite a good winter, isn't it?  Lots going on.  Have you been
+to the Opera lately?"
+
+"Oh dear!" thought Claire with a gush, "how refreshing to meet a grown-
+up man who can pretend like a child!"  She simpered, and replied
+artificially, "Oh, yes--quite often.  The dear Duchess is _so_ kind; her
+box is open to me whenever I choose to go.  Wonderful scene, isn't it?
+All those tiers rising one above another.  Do you ever look up at the
+galleries?  Such funny people sit there--men in tweed suits; girls in
+white blouses.  Who _are_ they, should you think?  Clerks and typists
+and school-mistresses, and people of that persuasion?"
+
+"Possibly, I dare say.  One never knows.  They look quite respectable
+and quiet, don't you know!"
+
+The twinkle was alight in Captain Fanshawe's eyes.  It shone more
+brightly still as he added, "Everybody turns up sooner or later in the
+Duchess's box.  Have you happened to meet--the Prince!"
+
+For a moment Claire groped for the connection, then dimpled merrily.
+
+"Not yet.  No! but I am hoping--"
+
+The waiter approached with plates of chicken in aspic, and more rolls of
+crisp browned bread.  Claire sent a thought to Cecil finishing a box of
+sardines, with her book propped up against the cocoa jug.  The
+Cinderella _role_ was forgotten while her eyes roved around, studying
+the silver dishes on the various tables.
+
+"When you were a small boy, Captain Fanshawe, did you go out to
+parties?"
+
+Captain Fanshawe knitted his brows.  This charming girl was a little
+difficult to follow conversationally; she leapt from one subject to
+another with disconcerting agility.
+
+"Er--pardon me!  Is that question put to me in my--er--private, or
+imaginary capacity?"
+
+"Private, of course.  But naturally you did.  Did you have pockets?"
+
+"To the best of my remembrance I was disguised as a midshipmite, with
+white duck trousers of a prodigious width.  They used to crackle, I
+remember.  There was room for a dozen pockets."
+
+Claire laid her arms on the table, so that her face drew nearer his own.
+Her voice fell to a stage whisper--
+
+"Did you--ever--take--something--home?"
+
+The Captain threw back his head with a peal of laughter.
+
+"Miss Gifford, what a question!  I was an ordinary human boy.  _Of
+course_ I did.  And sat on my spoils in the carriage going back, and was
+scolded for spoiling my clothes.  I had a small brother at home."
+
+"Well--I have a small friend!  She has letters after her name, and is
+very learned and clever, but she has a _very_ sweet tooth.  Do you
+think, perhaps--in this bag--"
+
+"Leave it to me!" he said firmly, and when the waiter next appeared, he
+received an order to bring more bon-bons--plenty of bon-bons--a
+selection of all the small dainties in silver dishes.
+
+"He thinks I _am_ having a feast!"  Claire said demurely, as she watched
+the progress of selection; then she met Erskine Fanshawe's eyes, and
+nodded in response to an unspoken question, "And I _am_!  I'm having a
+lovely time!"
+
+"I wish it were possible that you could oftener--"
+
+"Well, who knows?  A week ago I had made up my mind that nothing
+exciting would ever happen again, and then this invitation arrived.
+What a perfect dear Miss Willoughby seems to be!"
+
+"Janet?  She _is_!" he said warmly.  "She is a girl who has had
+everything the world can give her, and yet has come through unspoiled.
+It's not often one can say that.  Many society girls are selfish and
+vain, but Janet never seems to think of herself.  You'd find her an
+ideal friend."
+
+Claire's brain leapt swiftly to several conclusions.  Janet Willoughby
+was devoted to Mrs Fanshawe; Mrs Fanshawe returned her devotion.
+Janet Willoughby was rich, and of good birth.  Mrs Fanshawe had
+mentally adopted her as a daughter-in-law.  Given the non-appearance of
+a rival on the scene, her desire would probably be fulfilled, since such
+sincere liking could easily ripen into love.  Just for a moment Claire
+felt a stab of that lone and lorn feeling which comes to solitary
+females at the realisation of another's happiness; then she rallied
+herself and said regretfully--
+
+"I'm afraid I shan't have the chance!  Our lives lie too far apart, and
+my time is not my own.  It is only an occasional Saturday-night that I
+can play Cinderella."
+
+"What do you do on Sundays?"
+
+"Go to church in the morning, and sleep in the afternoon.  Sounds
+elderly, doesn't it?  But I do enjoy that sleep.  The hour after lunch
+is the most trying of the school day.  It's all I can do sometimes to
+smother my yawns, and not upset the whole class.  It's part of the
+Sunday rest to be able to let go, lie down hugging a hot bottle, and
+sleep steadily till it's time for tea."
+
+"Where do you go to church?"
+
+"Oh!"  Claire waved an airy hand, "it depends!  I've not settled down.
+I am still trying which I like best."
+
+Across the table the two pairs of eyes met.  The man's questioning,
+protesting, the girl's steadily defiant.  "Why won't you tell me?" came
+the unspoken question.  "Why won't you give me a chance?"
+
+"I am too proud," came the unspoken answer.  "Your mother did not think
+me good enough.  I will accept no acquaintance by stealth."
+
+Interruption came in the shape of the waiter bearing a tray of little
+silver dishes filled with dainties, which he proceeded to arrange in
+rows on the table.  Claire relapsed into giggles at the sight, and
+Captain Fanshawe took refuge, man-like, in preternatural solemnity; but
+he made no comment, and the moment that the man had disappeared, both
+heads craned eagerly to examine the spoils.
+
+"Chocolates, _marrons glacis_, crystallised peaches, French bon-bons,
+plums.  I don't recognise them by head mark.  These are too sticky...
+These look uncommonly good!"  The big fingers hovered over each dish in
+turn, lifting sample specimens, and placing them on Claire's plate,
+whence they were swiftly conveyed to her bag.  Not a single sweetmeat
+touched her own lips.  The unconventionality of the action seemed to
+receive some justification from the fact that she was confiscating only
+her own share.  When the waiter returned with ices, the little bag
+bulged suspiciously, and the silver dishes were no longer required.  The
+waiter was ordered to carry them away, and plainly considered that some
+people did not know what they wanted.
+
+"The only thing lacking is a cracker.  I invariably purloined a cracker,
+and doubled up the ends.  I suppose we are hardly near enough to
+Christmas.  By the by, what are you doing for Christmas?  You will have
+holidays, of course," Captain Fanshawe said, with an elaborate
+unconsciousness, and Claire kept her eyes on her plate.
+
+"I may go to Belgium.  I haven't decided."
+
+"There seem to be a good many things you cannot--decide.  Miss Gifford,
+you haven't forgotten what I asked you?"
+
+"What did you ask?"
+
+"That if ever I could help--if you ever needed help--"
+
+"I shall want help badly during the next few weeks, when the
+examinations come on, and I have all the papers to set and correct."
+
+Captain Fanshawe refused to smile.
+
+"The kind of help that a man can give--"
+
+"Yes, I remember.  You were very kind, and I am still so much under the
+influence of the old life that I do feel you might be a comfort; but no
+doubt, after some more months of school-mistressing, I shall resent the
+idea that a man could do any more than I could myself.  So it's a case
+of soon or never.  You will hardly be cruel enough to wish to hasten my
+extremity!"
+
+"I'm not so sure about that, if I could have the satisfaction of putting
+things to rights!"
+
+It was while she was smiling her acknowledgment of this pretty speech
+that Claire became conscious of Janet Willoughby's eyes bent searchingly
+upon her.  She had entered the room on the arm of her supper partner,
+and came to a pause not a yard away from the table where a very
+animated, apparently very intimate conversation was taking place between
+the son of her old friend and the girl to whom she had believed him to
+be unknown.  As she met Claire's glance, Janet smiled automatically, but
+the friendliness was gone from her glance.  The next moment Captain
+Fanshawe, had turned, seen her, and sprung to his feet.
+
+"Janet!  Are you waiting for a table?  We have nearly finished.  Won't
+you sit down and talk to Miss Gifford?"
+
+"Oh, please don't hurry...  We'll find another place.  You have met
+before, then?  I didn't know."
+
+"I saw Miss Gifford when she was befriending my mother at Liverpool
+Street Station, and recognised her upstairs just now.  Do sit down,
+Janet.  You look tired."
+
+Janet Willoughby took the offered chair and exchanged a few words with
+Claire as she gathered together her possessions, but the subtle change
+persisted.  Claire felt vaguely disturbed, but the next half-hour passed
+so pleasantly that she had no time to puzzle over the explanation.
+Captain Fanshawe never left her side; they sat together on the same sofa
+which Great-aunt Jane had monopolised for the earlier part of the
+evening, and talked of many things, and discussed many problems, and
+sometimes agreed, and oftener disagreed, and when they disagreed most
+widely, looked into each other's eyes and smiled, as who should say,
+"What do words matter?  We understand!"
+
+At one o'clock Claire rose to depart, and said her adieu to her hostess
+and her daughter, who were standing side by side.
+
+"My dear, it is too bad.  I have had _no_ time with you, and I am so
+grateful for the charming way in which you came to the rescue!  We shall
+hope to see you often again.  Shan't we, Janet?  You girls must arrange
+a day which suits you both."
+
+"Oh, yes, we must!"  Janet said, as she shook hands, but she made no
+attempt to make the arrangement there and then, as her mother obviously
+expected, and Claire realised, with a sinking of the heart, that a
+promised friendship had received a check.
+
+When she descended to the hall wrapped in her filmy cloak it was to find
+Captain Fanshawe waiting at the foot of the stairs.  He looked worried
+and grave, and the front door was reached before he made the first
+remark.  Then, lingering tentatively on the threshold, he looked down at
+her with a searching glance.
+
+"Is--er--is your address still the Grand Hotel?"
+
+Claire's face set into firm lines.
+
+"Still the Grand Hotel!"
+
+For a moment he looked her steadily in the eyes, then said quietly--
+
+"And my address is still the Carlton Club!"  He bowed, and turned into
+the house.
+
+The footman banged the door of the taxi, and stood awaiting
+instructions.
+
+"T-wenty-two, Laburnum Crescent," said Claire weakly.  Halfway through
+the words a sudden obstacle arose in her throat.  It was all she could
+do to struggle through.  She hoped to goodness the footman did not
+notice.
+
+"There now! what did I tell you?  You look fagged to death, and as cross
+as two sticks.  Five shillings wasted on taxis, and nothing for it but
+getting thoroughly upset.  Next time I hope you will take my advice!"
+said Cecil, and took up her candle to grope her way up the dark stairway
+to bed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN.
+
+NOWHERE TO GO.
+
+Cecil's observance of her day of licenced grumbling was somewhat
+obstructed by the fact that for several weeks after Mrs Willoughby's At
+Home, Monday mornings found her in a condition of excitement and gaiety.
+It was a restless gaiety, which seemed to spring rather from the head
+than the heart, and Claire looking on with puzzled eyes had an instinct
+that her companion was assiduously whipping up her own spirits, playing
+the part of happiness with all her force, with the object of convincing
+the most critical of all audiences--her own heart!  Life was a lonely
+thing to Claire in these days, for Cecil went out regularly every
+Saturday and Sunday, returning so late that the two girls did not meet
+from lunch one day until breakfast the next.  She vouchsafed no
+explanation of her sudden plunge into society, neither beforehand when
+she sat stitching at pathetic little pieces of finery, nor afterwards
+when letting herself in with her latch-key she crept slowly to bed,
+never deigning to enter Claire's room for one of those "tell-all-about-
+it" _seances_ dear to a girl's heart.
+
+It was the sight of those pathetic little pieces of finery which first
+suggested the idea of a man to Claire's mind.  However dear and intimate
+a woman friend may be, the prospect of meeting her does not inspire a
+fellow-woman with sufficient energy to sit up until after midnight to
+cover a shabby lace blouse with ninon, or to put a new silk collar and
+cuffs on a half-worn coat.  It is only the prospect of meeting the eyes
+of some male creature, who in all probability will remain supremely
+unconscious of the result, which stimulates such effort, and Claire,
+noting Cecil's restless excitement, cast anxious thoughts towards the
+particular man in this case.
+
+Was Sophie Blake correct in her deduction as to a previous unhappy
+romance?  Claire had no tangible grounds to lead her to a conclusion,
+but instinct induced her to agree.  Something beyond the troubles of her
+professional life had gone towards warping a nature that was naturally
+generous and warm.  In imagination Claire lived over the pitiful
+romance.  Poor Cecil had been badly treated.  Some selfish man had made
+love to her, amusing his idle hours with the society of a pretty, clever
+woman; he had never seriously intended marriage, but Cecil had believed
+in his sincerity, had given him her whole heart, had dreamt dreams which
+had turned the grey of life to gold.
+
+And then had come the end.  How had the end come?  Some day when they
+were walking together, had he suddenly announced: "I am sailing to India
+next month!" or, "We have been such capital friends, you and I.  I
+should like you to be the first to hear my news.  I am engaged to be
+married to the dearest girl in the world!"  Then, because convention
+decrees that when her heart is wounded a woman may make no moan, had
+Cecil twisted her lips into a smile, and cried, "I am so glad to hear
+it.  I hope you will be very happy," while the solid earth rocked around
+her?  At such thoughts as these Claire flared with righteous anger.  "If
+that should ever happen to me, I wouldn't pretend!  I wouldn't spare
+him.  I should look him straight in the face, and say, `And all this
+time you have been pretending to love me.--I thank God that it _was_
+pretence.  I thank God that He has preserved me from being the wife of
+man who could act a double part!'"
+
+But perhaps there had been no real ending.  Perhaps the man had simply
+grown tired, and ceased to call, ceased to write.  Oh, surely that would
+be the greatest tragedy of all!  Claire's quick brain summoned pictures
+of Cecil creeping down the oil-clothed stairs in her dressing-gown at
+the sound of the postman's earliest knock, and creeping back with no
+letter in her hand; of Cecil entering the little parlour on her return
+from work with a swift hungry look at the table on which the day's
+letters were displayed; seeing no letter lying there; never, never the
+letter for which she watched!  And the days would pass, and the weeks,
+and the months, and the old routine of life would go on just the same.
+Whatever might be her private sufferings, the English mistress must be
+at her post each morning at nine o'clock; she must wrestle all day with
+the minds of dull girls, listless girls, clever girls, girls who were
+eager to learn, and girls whose energies seemed condensed in the effort
+to avoid learning at all.  However sore might be the English mistress's
+heart, it was her duty to be bright and alert; however exhausted her own
+stock of patience, she must still be a female Job in her treatment of
+her many pupils.  A school-mistress must banish her individuality as a
+woman on the threshold of the form-room; while on duty she must banish
+every outside interest from her mind.  No lying in bed, with her face to
+the pillow; no weeping far into the night.  Headache and swollen eyelids
+are not for her.  If her love-story goes wrong, she must lock her sorrow
+in her own heart.  What wonder if, as a result, her mind grows bitter
+and her tongue grows sharp!
+
+"That's a lesson for me!  I must never, never allow myself to fall in
+love!" sighed Claire to herself.  It was a depressing necessity, but
+vaguely she allowed herself to dream of a distant Someday, when the ban
+should be removed.  Something might happen to set her free.  Something
+most certainly _would_ happen!  Optimistic one-and-twenty is ready
+enough to face a short term of renunciation, but it resolutely refuses
+to believe in its continuance.
+
+A shadow fell over Claire's happy face as the practical application of
+this resolve came into her mind.  Erskine Fanshawe!  At the moment he
+was the one masculine figure on her horizon, but she did not disguise
+from herself that of all the men she had met, he attracted her the most.
+What a mercy that she had had the resolution to put a stop to a
+friendship which might have ended in unfitting her for the work in hand!
+It had been hard to refuse the desired information, but the fact that
+the second refusal had been twice as hard as the first was in itself a
+proof of the wisdom of her decision.  And then, in illogical girlish
+fashion, Claire fell to wondering if perchance Captain Fanshawe would
+discover her address for himself?  It would be the easiest of tasks,
+since he had nothing to do but to put the question to Mrs Willoughby.
+At one moment Claire openly hoped that he would; at the next she
+recalled the expression on Janet Willoughby's face as she stood staring
+across the supper room, and then she was not so sure.  What if the
+continuance of the friendship brought trouble on Janet as well as
+herself?
+
+Laboriously Claire thrust the thought of Erskine Fanshawe from her mind,
+but just because inclination would have led her to so blithely meet him,
+she felt a keener sympathy with her companion's preparations for similar
+meetings.
+
+The time of examinations had come, and night after night the dining-
+table of the little parlour was littered with the sheets of foolscap
+which were to test the progress of the pupils throughout the term.
+Cecil's older forms had been studying _The Merchant of Venice, Richard
+the Second_, and the _Essays of Elia_; the younger forms, _Tanglewood
+Tales_ and Kingsley's _Heroes_.  She had set the questions not only as a
+test of memory, but with a view of drawing out original thought.  But,
+to judge from her groans and lamentations, the result was poor.
+
+"Of all the dull, stupid, unimaginative--_sheep_!  Not an original idea
+between them.  Every answer exactly like the last--a hash-up of my own
+remarks in class.  If there's a creature on earth I despise more than
+another, it's an English flapper.  Silly, vain, egotistical--"
+
+Then the French mistress would scowl across the table, and say, "Now
+you've put me out!  I was just counting up my marks.  Oh, do be quiet!"
+
+"Sorry!"  Cecil would say shortly, and taking up her pencil slash
+scathing comments at the side of the foolscap sheets.  Anon she would
+smile, and smile again, and forgetting Claire's request, would interrupt
+once more.
+
+"Can you remember the name of Florence Mason?"
+
+"If I strain my intellect to its utmost, I believe I can."
+
+"Well, remember, then!  It will be worth while.  She'll do something--
+that girl.  When you are an insignificant old woman, you may be proud to
+boast that you used to sit at the very table on which her first English
+essays were corrected."
+
+"So they are not all dull, stupid, unimaginative?"
+
+"The exception proves the rule!" cried Cecil, and swept the papers
+together with a sigh of relief.  "Done at last.  Now for my blouse."
+
+Claire cast a glance at the clock.
+
+"Half-past ten.  And you are so tired.  Surely you won't begin to sew at
+this hour?"
+
+"I must.  I want it for Saturday.  I tried it on last night, and it
+wasn't a bit nice at the neck.  I've got to alter it somehow."
+
+"I have some trimming upstairs.  Just be quiet for five minutes, while I
+finish my list, and then I'll bring down my scrap-box, and we'll see
+what we can find."
+
+That scrap-box was in constant request during the next weeks.  It was
+filled with the dainty oddments which a woman of means and taste
+collects in the course of years; trimmings and laces, and scraps of fine
+brocades; belts and buckles, and buttons of silver and paste; glittering
+ends of tinsel, ends of silk and ribbons that were really too pretty to
+throw away, and cunning little motifs which had the magic quality of
+disguising deficiencies and making both ends meet.  Claire gave with a
+lavish hand, and Cecil's gratitude was pathetic in its intensity.  More
+and more as the weeks passed on did she become obsessed with the craze
+for decking herself in fine garments; new gloves, shoes, and veils were
+purchased to supplement the home-made garments, and one memorable night
+there arrived a large dress-box containing an evening dress and cloak.
+
+"I have been out so little these last years.  I have no clothes to
+wear," Cecil said in explanation.  "It's not fair to--er--people, when
+they take you about, to look as if you had come out of the Ark...  And
+these ready-made things are _so_ cheap!"
+
+She spoke with an air of excusing herself, and with a flush of
+embarrassment on her cheeks, and Claire hastened to sympathise and
+agree.  She wondered if the embarrassment arose from the fact that for
+the last two weeks Cecil had not paid her share of the joint expenses!
+The omission had happened naturally enough, for on each occasion when
+the landlady appeared with the bill, Cecil had been absent on one of her
+now frequent excursions, when it had seemed the simplest thing to settle
+in full, and await repayment next day.
+
+Repayment, however, had not come.  Half a dozen times over Cecil had
+exclaimed, "Oh, dear, there's that money.  I _must_ remember!" but
+apparently she never had remembered at a moment when her purse was at
+hand.
+
+Claire was honestly indifferent.  The hundred pounds which she had
+deposited in a bank was considerably diminished, since it had been drawn
+on for all her needs, but the term's salary would be paid in a short
+time, and the thought of that, added to the remainder, gave her a
+pleasant feeling of ease.  It was only when for the third Saturday Cecil
+hurried off with an air of fluster and embarrassment, that an unpleasant
+suspicion arose.  The weekly bill was again due, and Cecil had not
+forgotten, she was only elaborately pretending to forget!  Claire was
+not angry, she was perfectly willing to play the part of banker until
+the end of the term, but she hated the thought that Cecil was acting a
+part, and deliberately trying to deceive.  What if she had been
+extravagant in her expenditure on clothes and had run herself short for
+necessary expenses, there was nothing criminal in that!  Foolish it
+might be, but a fellow-girl would understand that, after being staid and
+sensible for a long, long time, it was a blessed relief to the feminine
+mind to have a little spell of recklessness for a change.  Cecil had
+only to say, "I've run myself horribly short.  Can you pay up till I get
+my screw?" and the whole matter would have been settled in a trice.  But
+to pretend to forget was so _mean_!
+
+The next morning after breakfast the vexed question of the Christmas
+holidays came up for discussion for the twentieth time.  Cecil had
+previously stated that she always spent the time with her mother, but it
+now appeared that to a certain extent she had changed her plans.
+
+"I shall have to go down over Christmas Day and the New Year, I suppose.
+Old people make such a fuss over those stupid anniversaries, but I
+shall come up again on the second.  I prefer to be in town.  We have to
+pay for the rooms in any case, so we may as well use them."
+
+Claire's face lengthened.
+
+"_Pay_ for them!  Even if we go away?"
+
+"Of course.  What did you expect?  The landlady isn't let off her own
+rent, because we choose to take a holiday.  There's no saving except for
+the light and coal.  By the way, I owe you for a third week now.  I
+_must_ remember!  Have you decided what you are going to do?"
+
+Claire shook her head.  It was a forlorn feeling that Christmas was
+coming, and she had nowhere to go.  Until now she had gone on in faith,
+feeling sure that before the time arrived, some one would remember her
+loneliness, and invite her if only for the day itself.  Possibly Cecil
+in virtue of three months' daily companionship would ask her mother's
+permission to invite her friend, if only for a couple of days.  Or
+bright, friendly Sophie Blake, who had sympathised with her loneliness,
+might have some proposition to make, or Mrs Willoughby, who was so
+interested in girls who were working for themselves, or Miss
+Farnborough, who knew that it was the French mistress's first Christmas
+without her mother; but no such suggestion had been made.  No one seemed
+to care.
+
+"I must say it's _strange_ that no one has invited you!" said Cecil
+sharply.  "I don't think much of your grand friends if they can't look
+after you on Christmas Day.  What about the people in Brussels?  Did no
+one send you an invitation?  If you lived there for three years, surely
+you must know some one intimately enough to offer to go, even if they
+don't suggest it."
+
+"It is not necessary, thank you," said Claire with an air.  "I have an
+open invitation to several houses, but I am saving up Brussels for
+Easter, when the weather will be better, and it will be more of a
+change.  And I have an old grand-aunt in the North, but she is an
+invalid, confined to her room.  I should be an extra trouble in the
+house.  I shall manage to amuse myself somehow.  It will be an
+opportunity for exploring London."
+
+"Oh well," Cecil said vaguely, "when I come back!" but she spoke no word
+of Christmas Day.
+
+The next week brought the various festivities with which Saint
+Cuthbert's celebrated the end of the Christmas term.  There was a school
+dance in the big class-room, a Christmas-tree party, given to the
+children in an East End parish, and last and most important of all the
+breaking-up ceremony in the local Town Hall, when an old girl, now
+developed into a celebrated authoress, presented the prizes, and gave an
+amusing account of her own schooldays, which evoked storms of applause
+from the audience, even Miss Farnborough smiling benignly at the recital
+of misdoings which would have evoked her sternest displeasure on the
+part of present-day pupils!  Then the singing-class girls sang a short
+cantata, and the eldest girls gave a scene from Shakespeare, very dull
+and exceedingly correct, and the youngest girls acted a little French
+play, while the French mistress stood in the wings, ready to prompt, her
+face very hot, and her feet very cold, and her heart beating at express
+speed.
+
+This moment was a public test of her work during the term, and she had a
+horror that the children would forget their parts and disgrace their
+leader as well as themselves.  She need not have feared, however, for
+the publicity which she dreaded was just the stimulus needed to spur the
+juvenile actors to do their very best, and they shrugged, they
+gesticulated, they rolled their r's, they reproduced Claire's own little
+mannerisms with an _aplomb_ which brought down the house.  Claire's lack
+of teaching experience might make her less sound on rules and routine,
+but it was obvious that she had succeeded in one important point; she
+had lifted "French" from the level of a task, and converted it into a
+living tongue.
+
+Miss Farnborough was very gracious in her parting words to her new
+mistress.
+
+"I have not come to my present position without learning to trust my
+perceptions," said she.  "I recognised at once that you possessed the
+true teaching instinct, and to-day you have justified my choice.  I have
+had many congratulations on your pupils' performance."  Then she held
+out her hand with a charming smile.  "I hope you will have very pleasant
+holidays!"
+
+She made no inquiries as to the way in which this young girl was to
+spend her leisure.  She herself was worn-out with the strain of the long
+term, and when the morrow came she intended to pack her bag, and start
+off for a sunny Swiss height, where for the next few weeks it would be
+her chief aim to forget that she had ever seen a school.  But the new
+French mistress turned away with a heavy heart.  It seemed at that
+moment as if nobody cared.
+
+That year Christmas fell on a Monday.  On the Saturday morning Cecil
+packed up her bag, and departed, grumbling, for her week at home.
+Before she left, Claire presented her with a Christmas gift in the shape
+of a charming embroidered scarf, and Cecil kissed her, and flushed, and
+looked at the same time pleased and oppressed, and hastily pulling out
+her purse extracted two sovereigns and laid them down on the table.
+
+"I keep forgetting that money!  Three weeks, wasn't it?  There's two
+pounds; let me know the rest when I come back and I'll settle up.
+Christmas is an awful time.  The money simply melts."
+
+Claire had an uncomfortable and wholly unreasonable feeling of being
+paid for her present as she put the two sovereigns in her purse.  Cecil
+had given her no gift, and the lack of the kindly attention increased
+the feeling of desolation with which she returned to her empty room.
+Even the tiniest offering to show that she had been thought of, would
+have been a comfort!
+
+The landlady came into the room to remove the luncheon tray, her lips
+pursed into an expression which her lodger recognised as the preliminary
+to "a bit of my mind."  When the outlying cruets and dishes had been
+crowded together in a perilous pile, the bit of her mind came out.
+
+"I was going to say, miss, that of course you will arrange to dine out
+on Christmas Day.  I never take ladies as a rule, but Miss Rhodes, she
+said, being teachers, you would be away all holiday time.  I never had a
+lodger before who stayed in the house over Christmas, and of course you
+must understand that we go over to Highgate to my mother's for the day
+and the girl goes out, and I couldn't possibly think of cooking--"
+
+"Don't be afraid, Mrs Mason.  I am going out for the day."
+
+Mrs Mason lifted the tray and carried it out of the room, shutting the
+door behind her by the skilful insertion of a large foot encased in a
+cashmere boot, and Claire stood staring at her, wondering if it were
+really her own voice which had spoken those last words, and from what
+source had sprung the confidence which had suddenly flooded her heart.
+At this last blow of all, when even the little saffron-coloured parlour
+closed the door against her, the logical course would have been to
+collapse into utter despair, instead of which the moment had brought the
+first gleam of hope.
+
+"Now," said the voice in her heart, "everyone has failed me.  I am
+helpless, I am alone.  This is God's moment.  I will worry no more, but
+leave it to Him.  Something will open for me when the time arrives!"
+
+She went upstairs, put on her hat, and sallied out into the busy
+streets.  All the world was abroad, men and women and small eager
+children all bent on the same task, thronging the shops to the doors,
+waiting in rows for the favour of being served, emerging triumphant with
+arms laden with spoils.  On every side fragments of the same
+conversation floated to the ears.  "What can I get for Kate?"
+
+"I can't think what in the world to buy for John."
+
+"Do try to give me an idea what Rose would like!..."
+
+Claire mingled with the throng, pushed her way towards the crowded
+counters, waited a preposterous time for her change, and then hurried
+off to another department to go through the same struggle once more.
+Deliberately she threw herself into the Christmas feeling, turning her
+thoughts from herself, considering only how she could add to the general
+happiness.  She bought presents for everybody, for the cross landlady,
+for the untidy servant girl, for Sophie Blake, and Flora Ross, for the
+maid at Saint Cuthbert's who waited upon the Staff-Room, with a
+selection of dainty oddments for girl friends at Brussels, and when the
+presents themselves had been secured she bought prettily tinted paper,
+and fancy ribbons, and decorated name cards for the adornment of the
+parcels.
+
+The saffron parlour looked quite Christmas-like that evening, and Claire
+knew a happy hour as she made up her gifts in their dainty wrappings.
+They looked so gay and seasonable that she decided to defer putting them
+into the sober outer covering of brown paper as long as possible.  They
+were all the Christmas decoration she would have!
+
+On Sunday morning the feeling of loneliness took an acute turn.  Claire
+longed for a church which long association had made into a home; for a
+clergyman who was also a friend; for a congregation of people who knew
+her, and cared for her well-being, instead of the long rows of strange
+faces.  She remembered how Cecil had declared that in London a girl
+might attend the same church for years on end, and never hear a word of
+welcome, and hope died low in her breast.  The moment of exaltation had
+passed, and she told herself drearily that on Christmas afternoon she
+must take a book and sit by the fire in the waiting-room of some great
+station, dine at a restaurant, and perhaps go to a concert at night.
+
+For weeks past Claire had been intending to go to a West End church to
+hear one of the finest of modern preachers.  She decided to go this
+morning, since the length of journey now seemed rather an advantage than
+a drawback, as helping to fill up another of the long, dragging hours.
+
+She dressed herself with the care and nicety which was the result of her
+French training, and which had of late become almost a religious duty,
+for the study of the fifteen women who daily assembled round the table
+in the Staff-Room was as a danger signal to warn new-comers of the
+perils ahead.  With the one exception of Sophie Blake, not one of the
+number seemed to make any effort to preserve their feminine charm.  They
+dressed their hair in the quickest and easiest fashion without
+considering the question of appearance; they wore dun-coloured garments
+with collars of the same material; though severely neat, all their
+skirts seemed to suffer from the same depressing tendency to drop at the
+back; their bony wrists emerged from tightly-buttoned sleeves.  The
+point of view adopted was that appearance did not matter, that it was
+waste of time to consider the adornment of the outer woman.  Brain was
+the all-important factor; every possible moment must be devoted to the
+cultivation of brain; but an outsider could not fail to note that, with
+this destroying of a natural instinct, something which went deeper than
+the surface was also lost; with the grace of the body certain feminine
+graces of soul died also, and the world was poorer for their loss.
+
+The untidy servant maid peered out of the window to watch Claire as she
+left the house that morning, and evolved a whole feuilleton to account
+for the inconsistency of her appearance with her position as a first
+floor front.  "You'd take her for a lady to look at her!  P'raps she
+_is_ a lady in disguise!" and from, this point the making of the
+feuilleton began.
+
+The service that morning was food to Claire's hungering soul, for the
+words of the preacher might have been designed to meet her own need.  As
+she listened she realised that the bitterness of loneliness was
+impossible to one who believed and trusted in the great, all-compassing
+love.  Sad one might still be, so long as the human heart demanded a
+human companionship, but the sting of feeling uncared for, could never
+touch a child of God.  She took the comfort home to her heart, and
+stored it there to help her through the difficult time ahead, and on her
+knees at the end of the service she sent up her own little petition for
+help.
+
+"There are so many homes in this great city!  Is there no home for me on
+Christmas Day?"  With the words the tears sprang, and Claire mopped her
+eyes with her handkerchief, thankful that she was surrounded by
+strangers by whom her reddened eyes would pass unnoticed.  Then rising
+to her feet, she turned to lift the furs which hung on the back of the
+pew, and met the brown eyes of a girl who had been sitting behind her
+the whole of the service.
+
+The girl was Janet Willoughby.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN.
+
+ENTER MAJOR CAREW.
+
+In the street outside the church door the two girls shook hands and
+exchanged greetings.  Janet wore a long fur coat, and a toque of dark
+Russian sable, with a sweeping feather at one side.  The price of these
+two garments alone would equal the whole of Claire's yearly salary, but
+it had the effect of making the wearer look clumsy and middle-aged
+compared with the graceful simplicity of the other's French-cut costume.
+Janet Willoughby was not thinking of clothes at that moment, however;
+she was looking at reddened eyelids, and remembering the moment when she
+had seen a kneeling figure suddenly shaken with emotion.  The sight of
+those tears had wiped away the rankling grudge which had lain at her
+heart since the evening of her mother's At Home, and revived the warm
+liking which at first sight she had taken to this pretty attractive
+girl.
+
+"Which way are you going?  May I walk with you?  It's just the morning
+for a walk.  I hope it will keep cold and bright over Christmas.  It's
+so inappropriate when it's muggy.  Last year we were in Switzerland, but
+mother is old-fashioned, and likes to have the day at home, so this time
+we don't start till the new year.  You are not going sporting by any
+chance?"
+
+"I'm not!" said Claire, and, for all her determination, could not resist
+a grimace, so far from sporting seemed the prospect ahead.  Janet caught
+the grimace, and smiled in sympathy, but the next moment her face
+sobered.
+
+"But I hope you _are_ going to have jolly holidays?"
+
+"Oh, I hope so.  Oh, yes, I mean to enjoy them very much," Claire said
+valiantly, and swiftly turned the subject.  "Where do you go in
+Switzerland?"
+
+"Saint Moritz.  We've gone there for years--a large party of friends.
+It has become quite a yearly reunion.  It's so comfy to have one's own
+party, and be independent of the other hoteliers.  They may be quite
+nice, of course, but then, again, they may not.  I feel rather mean
+sometimes when I see a new arrival looking with big eyes at our merry
+table.  Theoretically, I think one _ought_ to be nice to new-comers in
+an hotel.  It's such a pelican-in-the-wilderness feeling.  I'd hate it
+myself, but practically I'm afraid I'm not particularly friendly.  We
+are so complete that we don't want outsiders.  They'd spoil the fun.
+Don't you think one is justified in being a little bit selfish at
+Christmas-time?"
+
+Claire laughed, her old, happy, gurgling laugh.  It warmed her heart to
+have Janet Willoughby's companionship once more.
+
+"It isn't exactly the orthodox attitude, is it?  Perhaps you will be
+more justified this year, after you have got through your Christmas
+duties at home."
+
+"Yes!  That's a good idea.  I _shall_, for it was pure unselfishness
+which prevented me running away last week with the rest of the party.
+Mother would have given in if I'd persisted, and I wanted to so
+dreadfully badly."  She sighed, and looked quite dejected, but Claire
+remained unmoved.
+
+"I don't pity you one bit.  You have only a week to wait.  That's not a
+great trial of patience!"
+
+"Oh, yes, it is.--Sometimes!" said Janet with an emphasis which gave the
+words an added eloquence.
+
+Claire divined at once that Switzerland had an attraction apart from
+winter sports--an attraction centred in some individual member of the
+merry party.  Could it by any chance be Erskine Fanshawe?  She longed to
+ask the question.  Not for a hundred pounds would she have asked the
+question.  She hoped it was Captain Fanshawe.  She hoped Janet would
+have a lovely time.  Some girls had everything.  Some had nothing.  It
+was unfair--it was cruel.  Oh, dear, what was the use of going to
+church, and coming out to have such mean, grudging thoughts?  Janet
+Willoughby too!  Such a dear!  She deserved to be happy.  Claire forced
+a smile, and said bravely--
+
+"It will be all the nicer for waiting."
+
+"It couldn't be nicer," Janet replied.
+
+Then she looked in the other girl's face, and it struck her that the
+pretty eyelids had taken an additional shade of red, and her warm heart
+felt a throb of compunction.  "Grumbling about my own little bothers,
+when she had so much to bear--hateful of me!  I've been mean not to ask
+her again; mother wanted to; but she's so pretty.  I admired her so much
+that I was afraid--other people might too!  But she was crying; I saw
+her cry.  Perhaps she is lonely, and it's my fault--"
+
+"What do you generally do on Sundays?" she asked aloud.  "There are lots
+of other mistresses at your school, aren't there?  I suppose you go
+about together, and have tea at each other's rooms in the afternoon, and
+sit over the fire at night and talk, and brew cocoa, as the girls do in
+novels.  It all sounds so interesting.  The girls are generally rather
+plain and very learned; but there is always one among them who is like
+you.  I don't mean that you are not learned--I'm sure you are--but--er--
+pretty, you know, and attractive, and fond of things!  And all the
+others adore her, and are jealous if she is nicer to one than to the
+others..."
+
+Claire grimaced again, more unrestrainedly than before.
+
+"That's not my part.  I wish it were.  I could play it quite well.  The
+other mistresses are quite civil and pleasant, but they don't hanker
+after me one bit.  With two exceptions, the girl I live with, and one
+other, I have not spoken to one of them out of school hours.  I don't
+even know where most of them live."
+
+Janet's face lengthened.  Suddenly she turned and asked a sharp direct
+question:
+
+"Where are you going on Christmas Day?"
+
+Pride and weakness struggled together in Claire's heart, and pride won.
+She would _not_ pose as an object of pity!
+
+"Oh, I'm going--out!" said she with an air, but Janet Willoughby was not
+to be put off so easily as that.  Her brown eyes sent out a flash of
+light.  She demanded sternly:
+
+"Where?"
+
+"Really--" Claire tossed her head with the air of a duchess who was so
+overburdened with invitations that she found it impossible to make a
+choice between them.  "Really, don't you know, I haven't quite
+decided--"
+
+"Claire Gifford, you mean, horrid girl, don't dare to quibble!  You are
+going nowhere, and you know it.  Nobody has invited you for Christmas
+Day; that's why you were crying just now--because you had nowhere to go.
+And you would have gone away this morning, and said nothing, and sat
+alone in your rooms...  I call it _mean_!  Talk of the spirit of
+Christmas!  It's an insult to me and to mother.  How do you suppose we
+should have felt if we'd found out _afterwards_?"
+
+"W-what else could I do?  How could I tell you?" stammered Claire,
+blushing.  "It would have seemed such a barefaced _hint_, and I detest
+hints.  And really why should you have felt bad?  I'm a stranger.
+You've only seen me once.  There could be no blame on you.  There's no
+blame on anyone.  It just happens that it doesn't quite fit in to visit
+friends at a distance, and in town--well!  I'm a stranger, you see.  I
+_have_ no friends!"
+
+Janet set her lips.
+
+"Just as a matter of curiosity I should like to know exactly what you
+_were_ going to do?  You said, I believe, that you were going out.  And
+now you say you had nowhere to go.  Both statements can't be true--"
+
+"Oh, yes, they can.  I have nowhere to go, but I had to find somewhere,
+because my good landlady is going to her mother's at Highgate, and
+disapproves of lodgers who stay in on Christmas Day.  She gave me notice
+that I must go out as the house would be locked up."
+
+"But where--what--where _could_ you go?"
+
+"I thought of a restaurant and a concert, and a station waiting-room to
+fill in the gaps.  Quite comfortable, you know.  They have lovely fires,
+and with a nice book--"
+
+"If you don't stop this minute I shall begin to cry--here, in the open
+street!" cried Janet hotly.  "Oh, you poor dear, you poor dear!  A
+station waiting-room.  I never heard of anything so piteous.  Oh, how
+thankful I am that I met you!  Tell me honestly, was it about that that
+you were crying?"
+
+"Y-yes, it was.  I was saying a little prayer and trying not to feel
+lonesome, and then I looked round and saw--you."
+
+"End of volume one!" cried Janet briskly.  "No more waiting-rooms, my
+dear.  You must come to us for the whole of Christmas Day.  I wish I
+could ask you to stay, but we are chock-a-block with cousins and aunts.
+I'll come round in my car in time to take you to church, and send you
+back at night after the Highgate revels are over.  We can't offer you
+anything very exciting, I'm afraid--just an old-fashioned homey
+gathering."
+
+"It's just what I want.  I am thirsty for a home; but your mother--what
+will she say?  Will she care for a stranger--"
+
+"Mother says what I say," Janet declared with the assurance of an only
+daughter.  "And she'll say in addition, `What a blessing!  She'll
+whistle for us, and amuse Aunt Jane.'  Did you realise that Aunt Jane
+was coming?  She's generally _very_ cross all day, and makes a point of
+giving away her presents to other members of the party under the very
+noses of the givers, to let them see what she thinks of their choice.
+The great idea is to sit down by her quickly when you see her begin to
+fumble with something you would like to have.  I got quite a nice bag
+that way last Christmas!"
+
+Presents!  That was another idea.  Claire went home mentally reviewing
+her own treasures with a view to selecting some trifle which Janet in
+the midst of her plenty might still be glad to receive.  She decided on
+a silver clasp of quaint Breton manufacture, which had the merit that in
+the whole of London it would be impossible to purchase another to match.
+
+Claire returned to her room in a frame of mind vastly different from
+that in which she had started forth.  Her buoyant spirits soared upwards
+at the prospect of a Christmas spent in the midst of a happy family
+party, and all the difficulties of life seemed to dissolve into thin
+air, since, after the providential meeting just vouchsafed, it seemed
+faithless to doubt that future difficulties would be solved in the same
+way.
+
+She intended to devote the afternoon to writing a long letter to her
+mother, which had been delayed owing to her recent depression of
+spirits, for it seemed cruel to write in a pessimistic strain to the
+happy bride, who now, more than ever, saw everything _couleur de rose_.
+Mrs Judge's present had arrived the week before, in the shape of a
+richly embroidered Indian table-cloth, for which her daughter had as
+much use as she herself would have found for a fur rug.  To use it in
+the saffron parlour was a sheer impossibility, for every separate
+article of furniture shrieked at it, and it shrieked at them in return;
+so Claire folded it away at the bottom of her box, reflecting, between a
+sigh and a smile, that the choice was "just like mother."  It was not
+agreeable to the bride to picture her daughter living in an ugly
+lodging-house parlour, so she had mentally covered the ugliness beneath
+the gorgeous embroidery of that cloth, and happily dismissed the subject
+from her mind.  At the time of the opening of the parcel, Claire had
+felt a sense of sharp disappointment, amounting even to irritation, but
+this morning she could see the humour of the situation, and she chuckled
+softly to herself as she walked homeward, rehearsing words of thanks
+that would be at once cordial and truthful.  "Just what I wanted," was
+plainly out of the question; "So useful" was also ruled out, but she
+could honestly admire the workmanship of the cloth, and enlarge on the
+care with which it should be preserved!  It was an easy task to satisfy
+a correspondent who was eager to interpret words into the meaning most
+agreeable to herself!
+
+Claire entered the house prepared to devote herself to writing letters
+to absent friends, but the excitements of the day were not yet over, for
+the little maid met her on the threshold with the exciting intelligence
+that a gentleman was in the parlour waiting to see her.
+
+The feuilleton made an exciting leap forward, as Lizzie watched the
+blood rush into the "first floor's" cheeks, and ebb away suddenly,
+leaving her white and tense.  "Struck all of a heap, like!  I shouldn't
+have thought meself as she'd look at him!  Queer thing, love!"
+soliloquised Lizzie, as she clumped down the kitchen stairs, and
+returned to her superintendence of Sunday's "jint."
+
+The "first floor" meanwhile stood motionless in the oil-clothed hall,
+struggling to regain self-possession before turning the handle of the
+door.  A gentleman waiting to see her!  Who could the gentleman be?  But
+at the bottom of her heart Claire believed the question to be
+superfluous, for there was only one "gentleman" who could possibly come.
+Captain Fanshawe had found out her address, and it was Christmas-time,
+when a visitor was justified in counting on a hospitable reception.  At
+Christmas-time it would be churlish for a hostess to deny a welcome.
+Every pulse in Claire's body was throbbing with anticipation as she
+flung open that door.
+
+The visitor was standing with his back towards her, bending low to
+examine a photograph on the mantelpiece.  At the sound of her entrance
+he straightened himself and wheeled round, and at the sight of his face
+Claire's heart dropped heavy as lead.  They stood for a moment staring
+in a mutual surprise, the girl's face blank with disappointment, the
+man's brightening with interest.
+
+He was a tall, thickly-set man, trim and smart in his attire, yet with a
+coarseness of feature which aroused Claire's instant antagonism.
+Compared with the face she had expected to see, the florid good looks
+which confronted her were positively repugnant.  Before the obvious
+admiration of the black eyes she stiffened in displeasure.
+
+"You wished to see me?"
+
+"Miss Gifford, I believe!  I called about a little matter of a parcel
+for Miss Rhodes.  To be sent on.  I wanted to ask if you--"
+
+"Oh, certainly!  I shall be delighted."
+
+Claire thawed at the prospect of a present for Cecil, but could it be
+possible that it was this man with the flushed cheeks, and harsh,
+uncultivated voice, who had so revolutionised Cecil's life!  Could it be
+for the delectation of those bold eyes that she had worked far into the
+night, contriving her pitiful fineries?  Claire's instinctive dislike
+was so strong that she would not seat herself and so give an opportunity
+for prolonging the interview; she crossed the room to a bureau that
+stood in the corner, and took a slip of paper from one of the pigeon-
+holes.
+
+"Perhaps it would be simpler if I gave you the address?"
+
+The man laughed complacently.
+
+"No need, thank you, I've got it all right, but it's safer not to write.
+The old lady, you know!  Parcel coming in for her daughter addressed in
+a man's writing--no end of fuss and questioning.  You know what old
+ladies are!  Never satisfied till they've ferreted to the bottom of
+everything that comes along.  It's not good enough, that sort of thing,
+but she'll expect a present.  It's all stamped and made up, if you'll be
+good enough just to address it, and slip it into the post to-morrow."
+
+He put his hand in his pocket as he spoke and drew out a little package
+some two inches square, the sort of package which might contain an
+article of jewellery, such as a brooch or ring.  Could it by any chance
+be an engagement ring?  Claire's blood shuddered as she took the little
+packet and dropped it quietly on the bureau.
+
+"Certainly I will post it.  Do you wish it registered?"
+
+He looked at her sharply as though suspicious of an under-meaning to the
+inquiry, then, meeting the glance of her clear eyes, had the grace to
+look ashamed.
+
+"N-no.  No!  It is not worth while.  A trifle, just a trifle--Christmas,
+you know--must do the proper thing!"  He mumbled vaguely the while he
+collected his hat and gloves, the aloofness in Claire's attitude making
+it impossible to prolong the interview; but as he held out his hand in
+farewell, his self-possession returned.  He laughed meaningly, and
+said--
+
+"Odd, you know; I imagined that you were quite old!  Miss Rhodes gave me
+that impression.  Nothing definite, you know; no false statements; just
+the way she spoke.  Clever of her, what?--very clever!  Knew better than
+to spoil her own game!"
+
+If looks could have slain, the saffron parlour would have seen a dead
+man at that moment.  Claire withdrew her hand, and surreptitiously
+rubbed it against her skirt.  She would not condescend to notice that
+last remark.
+
+"I'll post the parcel to-morrow.  Perhaps you will tell me your name, as
+I shall have to explain."
+
+He drew out a pocket-book and extracted a card.  Claire dropped it
+unread upon the table, and bowed stiffly in farewell.  The next moment
+he was gone, and she could satisfy her curiosity unseen.  Then came
+surprise number two, for the card bore the inscription, "Major J.F.
+Carew," and in the corner two well-remembered words, "Carlton Club."  An
+officer in the Army--who would have thought it!  He was emphatically not
+a gentleman; he was rough, coarse, mannerless, yet he was in a position
+which would bring him into intimate association with gentle people; by a
+strange coincidence, he might know, he almost certainly would know, the
+man whom she had expected to see in his stead--Erskine Fanshawe himself!
+They could never be friends, but they would meet, they would sit in the
+same rooms, they would exchange occasional remarks.  Claire's mood of
+intolerable disgust changed suddenly into something strangely
+approaching envy of this big rough man!  Christmas morning brought Janet
+bright and early, to find Claire standing at the window ready to rush
+out the moment the car stopped at the door.  It felt delightfully
+luxurious to seat herself on the springy cushions, draw the fur rug over
+her knees, and feel the warmth of a hot tin beneath her feet.
+
+"_Wasn't_ it lacerating?"  Janet cried.  "Just as I was starting the
+parcel post arrived, and there were about half-a-dozen parcels for me
+from Saint Moritz!  There was no time to open them, and I simply die to
+know what's inside.  I care about those presents more than anything
+else.  We had our family presents this morning.  Mother gave me this."
+She opened her coat to show a glittering crescent.  "Quite pretty, isn't
+it, but I'd rather have had pearls.  That's the worst of Christmas
+presents, you so seldom get what you want.  Half the time you feel more
+disappointed than pleased.  People cling to the idea that they ought to
+give you a surprise, and you _are_ surprised, but not in the way they
+expect.  I have given mother thousands of hints about pearls.  Ah,
+well!"  She hooked the coat with an air of resignation.  "We must take
+the will for the deed.  Have you had nice things?"
+
+"My mother sent me a very handsome present," Claire said demurely.  She
+had no personal agitations about the day's post; but she did feel
+interested in the thought of those parcels from Switzerland which lay
+awaiting Janet Willoughby's return.  Half eager, half shrinking, she
+looked forward to seeing their contents.
+
+It was in Janet's dainty boudoir that the unpacking took place.  The two
+girls went straight upstairs on their return from church, and there, on
+a gate-legged table, lay the pile of parcels which had arrived by the
+morning's delivery.  Janet pounced upon the Swiss packets, and cut the
+fastenings with eager haste.  From across the room Claire watched her
+eager face as she read the inscriptions one by one.  As she neared the
+end of the pile, the eagerness became tinged with anxiety; she picked up
+the last parcel of all, and the light died out of her face.
+
+Claire turned aside and affected to be absorbed in examining the
+contents of an old cabinet, and Janet moved to the nearer side of the
+table so that her face was hidden from view; after a few minutes of
+silence, she broke the silence in a voice of forced lightness.
+
+"Won't you come and look at my trophies?  Switzerland is not a very
+happy hunting-ground, for there is so little variety to be had.  That's
+my fifth carved chalet, and about the seventeenth bear.  Rather a dear,
+though, isn't he?  Such a nice man sent it--one of the nicest of men.
+That's his photograph on the mantelpiece."
+
+Claire looked, met a straight keen glance which lived in her memory, and
+felt a tingle of blood in her cheeks.  Janet's eyes followed hers, and
+she said quickly--
+
+"Not that; that's Erskine Fanshawe.  He is a casual person, and doesn't
+go in for presents.  He hasn't even troubled to send a card.  I meant
+the man in the leather frame.  He always remembers.  I do like that, in
+a man!  They are all good enough in an emergency, but so few of them
+think of the nice _little_ things!"  Janet sighed, and dropped the
+carved wooden bear on to the table.  However much she might appreciate
+the donor's thoughtfulness, it had not had a cheering effect.  The light
+had died out of her eyes, and she turned over the various trophies
+without a trace of the enthusiasm with which she had torn open the
+parcel.  Claire standing beside her felt torn between sympathy and a
+guilty sense of relief.  She was sorry for Janet's obvious
+disappointment, but she was also (it was a dog-in-the-manger feeling,
+for how could it possibly affect herself?) _relieved_ that Captain
+Fanshawe was not the donor of the bear!
+
+As the two girls stood together turning over the little collection of
+carved toys, Claire slipped her hand through Janet's arm with an
+affectionate pressure, which was an outward apology for the inward
+disloyalty, and Janet stretched out her own hand to clasp it with
+unexpected fervour.
+
+"Oh, I am glad you are here!  I'm glad to have another girl!  Girls
+understand.  I wish I hadn't opened those horrid old parcels.  It's just
+as I said--presents are disappointing.  Now I feel thoroughly humped and
+dumpy!  It's so stupid, too, for I know quite well that I've every sane
+reason to be pleased.  How exasperating it is that one's head and one's
+heart so seldom agree!"
+
+Claire gave the plump arm another squeeze, but made no further answer.
+She was afraid to show how well she understood.  Janet would forget her
+hasty words, and believe that her secret was locked within her own
+breast; but the other girl realised the position as clearly as if she
+had been told in so many words--"I am in love with one man, and another
+man is in love with me.  I am throwing away the substance for the
+shadow!"
+
+"Ah, well, such is life!" continued Janet, sighing.  "Now I'm supposed
+to go downstairs and be the life of the party!  How I do dislike family
+parties!  Mother says it's the ideal thing for relations to gather
+together for Christmas Day, but I've been gathered together for so
+_many_ years!"
+
+"You are too well-off, my dear, that's what's the matter!  I have never
+met a girl before who had so much to make her happy, and yet you are not
+satisfied.  How would you like to be a High School-mistress living in
+poky lodgings, not able to have a holiday because she can't afford two
+rents, and getting only one present all told?"
+
+Janet looked at her quickly.
+
+"Have you had only one?"
+
+"I said _a_ High School-mistress, not any special mistress, but I will
+be definite if you like.  How would you like to be _Me_?"
+
+Janet turned suddenly, laid her free hand on Claire's shoulder, and
+stared deeply into her face.
+
+"I--don't--know!" she said slowly.  "Sometimes I think it's just what I
+should like.  I have a great deal, but you have more.  Look at our two
+faces in that glass!"
+
+She drew Claire round so that they stood in front of the Chippendale
+mirror over the mantelpiece, from whence a row of pictured faces stared
+back, as though stolidly sitting in judgment.  The clear tints of
+Claire's skin made Janet look sallow and faded, the dark curve of her
+eyebrows under the sweep of gold brown hair, the red lips and deeply
+cleft chin, made Janet's indeterminate features look insignificant, the
+brown eyes seemed the only definite feature in her face, and they were
+clouded with depression.
+
+"Look at yourself," she said deeply, "and look at me!"
+
+It was an awkward moment, and Claire shrugged uncomfortably.
+
+"But my face is--it has to be--my fortune!"
+
+"Oh, beauty!  I wasn't thinking of beauty," Janet cried unexpectedly.
+"You are very pretty, of course, but heaps of girls are pretty.  It's
+something more--I suppose it is what is called Charm.  When people see
+you once, they remember you; they want to see you again.  You make a
+place for yourself.  I am one in a crowd.  People like me well enough
+when they are with me, but--they forget!"
+
+"And I never meet anyone to remember.  We're two love-lorn damsels, and
+this is Merrie Christmas.  Would you have thought it?" cried Claire, and
+that wrought the desired effect, for Janet awoke with a shock to her
+responsibilities as hostess, and led the way downstairs to join the rest
+of the house-party.
+
+The rest of the day was spent in conventional English fashion in a
+praiseworthy effort to sustain spirits at concert pitch, and keep up a
+continuous flow of gaiety, a mountainous task when guests are brought
+together by claims of birth, without consideration as to suitability!
+Mrs Willoughby's party consisted of four distinct elements; there were
+Great-aunt Jane, and second cousin William, two octogenarians, who for
+health's sake dined early all the year round, and sipped a cup of Benger
+at eight, but who dauntlessly tackled sausages and plum pudding on
+Christmas Day, and suffered for it for a week to come.  There were Mr
+and Mrs Willoughby, and two cousin husbands and their wives, and a
+spinster aunt to represent the next generation, then came sweet and
+twenty as represented by Janet and Claire, followed by Reginald of Eton,
+on whom they looked down as a mere boy, the while he in his turn
+disdained to notice the advances of two curly-headed cousins of nine and
+ten!  Claire enjoyed herself because it was in her nature to enjoy, and
+it felt good to be once more in a beautiful, well-appointed home, among
+friends; but driving home in the taxi she yawned persistently from one
+door to the other.  It was dreadfully tiring work being pleasant at the
+same time to the whole five ages of man!
+
+With the opening of the door of the saffron parlour came an end of
+sleepiness, for on the table lay a square parcel, and the parcel bore
+the same stamp, the same markings which she had seen duplicated in Janet
+Willoughby's boudoir!  Red as a rose was Claire as she stared at the
+bold masculine writing of the address, tore open the wrappings of the
+box, and drew forth a carved cuckoo clock with the well-known chalet
+roof and long pendulum and chains.  It was an exquisite specimen of its
+kind, the best that could be obtained, but for the moment Claire had no
+attention to spare for the gift itself; she was absorbed in hunting
+among the paper and straw for a card which should settle the identity of
+the donor.  Not a line was to be found.  Pink deepened to crimson on
+Claire's cheeks.
+
+"Who in the world could have sent it?  Who _could_ it be?"  She played
+at bewilderment, but in spite of herself the dimples dipped.  "Now how
+in the world has he found out my address?" asked Claire of herself.
+
+For the next week Claire experienced the sensation of being "alone in
+London."  From the evening of Christmas Day until Cecil returned on
+January 2nd, not one friendly word did she hear; she walked abroad among
+a crowd of unknown faces, she returned to a solitary room.
+
+Miss Farnborough was spending the Christmas abroad; the other mistresses
+were either visiting or entertaining relations, the ladies of the
+committee were presumably making merry each in her own sphere.  It was
+no one's business to look after the new member of the staff out of term
+time, and no one troubled to make it her business.
+
+The only friendly sound which reached Claire's ears during those days
+was the striking of the cuckoo clock, as a minute before every hour a
+sliding door flew open, and a little brown bird popped out and piped the
+due number of cuckoos in a clear, sweet note.  Claire loved that little
+bird; the sight of him brought a warmth to her heart, which was as
+sunshine lighting up the grey winter days.  Someone had remembered!
+Someone had cared!  In the midst of a merry holiday, time and thought
+had been spared for her benefit.
+
+The presence of the cuckoo clock preserved Claire from personal
+suffering, but during that silent week there was borne in upon her a
+realisation of the loneliness of the great city which was never
+obliterated.  A girl like herself, coming to London without
+introductions, might lead this desert life, not for a week alone, but
+for _years_!  Her youth might fade, might pass away, she might grow
+middle-aged and old, and still pass to and fro through crowded street,
+unnoted, uncared for, unknown beyond the boundaries of the schoolroom or
+the office walls.  A working-woman was as a rule too tired and too poor
+to join societies, or take part in social work which would lead to the
+making of friends; she was dependent on the thoughtfulness of her
+leisured sisters, and the leisured sisters were too apt to forget.  They
+invited their own well-off friends, exhausted themselves in organising
+entertainments which were often regarded as bores pure and simple, and
+cast no thought to the lonely women sitting night after night in
+lodging-house parlours.  "If I am ever rich--if I ever have a home, I'll
+remember!"  Claire vowed to herself.  "I'll take a little trouble, and
+_find out_!  I couldn't do a hundredth or a thousandth part of what
+ought to be done, but I'd do my share!"  Cecil announced her return for
+the evening of January 2nd, and remindful of the depressing influence of
+her own arrival, Claire exerted herself to make the room look as
+homelike as possible, and arranged a dainty little meal on a table
+spread with a clean cloth and decorated with a bowl of holly and
+Christmas roses.  At the first sound of Cecil's voice she ran out into
+the hall, hugged her warmly, and relieved her of a bundle of packages of
+all sorts and sizes.
+
+"You look a real Mother Christmas hidden behind parcels.  What are they
+all?  Trophies?  You _have_ come off well!  It is lovely to see you
+back.  If you'd stayed away the whole time I think I should have grown
+dumb.  My tongue would have withered from sheer lack of use.  I never
+realised before how much I love to talk.  I do hope you feel sociable.
+I want to talk and talk for hours at a time, and to hear _you_ talk,
+too."
+
+"Even to grumble?"
+
+Claire grinned eloquently.
+
+"Oh, well--if you _must_, but it would be rather mean, wouldn't it,
+after a holiday, and when I've got everything so nice?  I am driven to
+praise myself, because _you_ take no notice."
+
+"You have given me no time.  You chatter so that no one else can get in
+a word."  Cecil took off hat and gloves, and threw them down on the
+sofa.  "I must say your looks don't pity you.  You look as if you had
+been enjoying yourself all right.  That kettle's boiling!  I'm dying for
+a cup of tea!  Let's have it at once, and talk comfortably."  She seated
+herself by the table, and helped herself to a buttered scone.  "What did
+you do on Christmas Day?"
+
+"The Willoughbys asked me.  I went to church with them, and stayed until
+eleven."
+
+"Anything going on, or just the ordinary family frumps?"
+
+Claire laughed.
+
+"Nobody but relations and my fascinating self; but you needn't be so
+blighting.  I enjoyed every moment, and they were angelically kind.
+Janet was like an old friend."
+
+"Did she give you a present?"
+
+"Yes, she did.  Half a dozen pairs of gloves."
+
+"The wrong size, of course!  They always are!"
+
+"No, my pessimist, they were not!  She had diagnosed me as a six and a
+half, and six and a half I am, so all was peace and joy.  I put on a new
+pair the next day when I went out for a constitutional.  It was quite a
+tonic.  Gloves are much cheaper abroad, and I never wore a shabby pair
+in my life until this winter.  It's been one of the things I've hated
+most."
+
+"Six pairs will soon go," said Cecil; "I prefer to have things that
+last.  Oh, by the way, you addressed a parcel.  How did it come?  Was it
+left at the door?"
+
+Instinctively Claire busied herself over the tea-tray.  She had a
+feeling that Cecil would rather be unobserved; she was also afraid that
+her own expression might betray too much.
+
+"Oh no, he called.  When I came in after morning church on Sunday,
+Lizzie said that a gentleman was waiting.  It was Major Carew.  He asked
+me if I would address the parcel and send it on."
+
+Silence.  Claire bent over the tea-tray, but she knew without looking
+that Cecil's face had fallen into the cold set lines which she had seen
+times and again, when things had gone wrong; she knew that when she
+spoke again the coldness would be in her voice, but her own conscience
+was clear.  She had done nothing to offend.
+
+"Really!  That's curious.  _Waiting_, you say?  You didn't ask him in?
+What did he say?"
+
+"He said, `Miss Gifford, I presume.  I have called to ask if you will be
+kind enough to address a small parcel for Miss Rhodes.'  I said,
+`Wouldn't it be better if I gave you her address?'  He said, `I should
+prefer if you wrote it yourself.'  I said, `I will do so with pleasure.
+Good morning.'  He said, `Good morning.'  He then took up his hat and
+departed.  He showed himself out, and shut the door after him.  I went
+upstairs and took off my things."
+
+"He didn't stay long then?"
+
+"About three minutes, I should say, perhaps four; I can't tell you to a
+second, unfortunately.  I didn't look at the clock."
+
+Cecil laughed, half apologetic, half relieved.
+
+"Oh, well, you needn't be sarcastic.  Naturally I wanted to know.  I
+couldn't make it out when I saw your writing, for you had given me the
+scarf--I'm going to buy your present at the sales, by the way--but, of
+course, when I took off the paper, there was a message inside.  I was
+expecting that present."
+
+"I hope it was very nice?"
+
+"Oh, yes--yes!  A brooch," Cecil said carelessly.  Claire hoped it was
+not the insignificant little golden bar which she was wearing at the
+moment, but she had never seen it before, and Cecil's jewellery was of
+the most limited description.  She determined to ask no more questions
+on the subject, since evidently none were desired.  Cecil helped herself
+to a second scone, and asked suddenly--
+
+"Why didn't he sit down?"
+
+"It wasn't necessary, was it?  He gave his message, and then there was
+nothing to say.  I wasn't going to make conversation."
+
+"You didn't like him!" cried Cecil, but she laughed as she spoke, and
+her face relaxed; it was evident that she was more pleased than
+disconcerted at her friend's lack of approval.  "You're no good at
+hiding your feelings, Claire; your voice gives you away as well as your
+face.  _Why_ didn't you like Major Carew?  I suppose you don't deny that
+he is a handsome man?"
+
+"I don't think I care about handsome men," said Claire, seeing before
+her a clean-shaven face which could lay no claims to beauty, but in
+comparison with which the Major's coarse good looks were abhorrent in
+her eyes.
+
+"Prefer men plain, I suppose?  Well, I don't; I shouldn't like Frank
+half so much, if he didn't look so big and imposing.  And other people
+admire him, too.  People stare at him as we pass.  I suppose you have
+guessed that it is with him that I've been going out?  There didn't seem
+any need to speak of it before, but during the rest of the holidays you
+might expect me to go about with you, and sometimes--often, I hope, I'll
+be engaged, so it's just as well to explain.  We can do things together
+in the morning, but naturally--"
+
+"Yes, of course; I quite understand.  Don't worry about me, Cecil.  I'd
+love you to have a good time.  Are you--are you engaged to him, dear?"
+
+There was in her voice that soft, almost awed note with which an
+unengaged girl regards a companion who has actually plighted her troth.
+Cecil softened at the sound.
+
+"Well--I suppose we are.  Between ourselves.  It's not public yet, but I
+think it soon will be.  Half a dozen years ago I should have been sure,
+but I know better now.  You can never be sure!  Men are such brutes.
+They think of nothing but themselves, and their own amusement."
+
+"Some men!"
+
+"Most men!  Of course, every girl who falls in love thinks her own
+particular man is the exception, and believes in him blindly until she
+gets her heart broken for her pains.  I believed in a man, too, years
+ago, when I was not much older than you are now."
+
+She paused, as though waiting for comment, but Claire sat silent,
+listening with grave, tender eyes.
+
+Cecil sent her a flickering smile.
+
+"You are a nice child, Claire; you have some sense!  I'll tell you,
+because you never pried or asked questions.  You would never have got
+anything out of me that way, but sometimes I feel as if it would be a
+relief to talk.  I was twenty-three, and very pretty; not as pretty as
+you are, perhaps, but very nearly, and he was twenty-eight, a lawyer--
+brother of one of the girls.  He came to one of the prize-givings, and
+we were introduced.  After that he made his people invite me once or
+twice, and he found out where I was going in the summer holidays, and
+came down to the same inn.  He stayed a fortnight."  Cecil sighed, and
+stared dreamily at her cup.  "Even now, Claire, after all that has
+happened, I can never quite make up my mind to be sorry that he came.
+It made things harder when the parting came, but I _had had it_.  For
+two whole weeks I had been as perfectly, blissfully happy as a human
+creature can be!  I had wakened every morning to feel that life was too
+good to be true, I had gone to bed every night grudging the time for
+sleep.  A fortnight is not very long, but it's not every woman who gets
+even as much as that.  I shall never feel that happiness again, but I'm
+glad that I know what it is like."
+
+"But, Cecil dear, if--if Major Carew--"
+
+Cecil shook her head.
+
+"No!  Never again.  One may be happy enough, but it's never the same.  I
+can't feel now as I did then.  The power has gone.  I cared so much, you
+see; I would have given my life for him a dozen times over.  I thought
+of him night and day for over a year; I lived for the times when we
+could meet.  It wasn't very often, for his people had taken fright, and
+would not ask me to the house.  They were rich people, and didn't want
+him to marry a poor girl who was working for herself.  It's a great
+mistake, Claire, to be friends with a man when his relations ignore you.
+If I'd had any pride I would have realised that, but I hadn't, and I
+didn't care; I didn't care for anything but just to see him, and do what
+he wished.  And then, my dear, after a year he began to change.  He
+didn't write to me for weeks, and I had to go to school every day, and
+try to think of the work, and be patient with the girls, and seem bright
+and interested, as if I had nothing on my mind.  It was near Christmas-
+time, and we were rehearsing a play.  I used to feel as if I should go
+mad, staying behind after four o'clock to go over those wretched scenes,
+when I was panting to run home to see if a letter had come!  But each
+time that we met again I forgot everything; I was so happy that I had no
+time to grumble.  That surprises you, doesn't it?  You can hardly
+believe that of me, but I was different then.  I was quite nice.  You
+would have liked me, if you had known me then!"
+
+"Dear old Cecil!  I like you now.  You know I do!"
+
+"Oh, you put up with me!  We get along well enough, but we are not
+_friends_.  If we had not been thrown together, you would never have
+singled me out.  Don't apologise, my dear; there's no need.  I'm a
+grumbling old thing, and you've been very patient.  Well, that's how it
+happened.  I went out to meet him one night, and he told me quite calmly
+that he was going to be married.  She was the sweetest girl in the
+world, and he was the happiest of men.  Wanted me to know, because we
+had been such _good_ friends, and he was sure I should be pleased!"
+
+Claire drew her breath with a sharp, sibilant sound.
+
+"And _you_?  Oh, Cecil!  What did you say?"
+
+Mary Rhodes compressed her lips; the set look was in her face.
+
+"I said what I thought!  Quite plainly, and simply, and very much to the
+point.  I suppose it would have been dignified to congratulate him, and
+pretend to be delighted; but I couldn't do it.  He had broken my heart
+for his own amusement, and he knew it as well as I did, so why should I
+pretend?  Something inside me seemed to go snap at that moment, and I've
+been sour and bitter ever since; but I've learnt _one_ lesson, and that
+is, that it is folly to go on waiting for perfection in this world.
+Much better take what comes along, and make the best of it!"
+
+Claire was silent, applauding the sentiment in the abstract, but
+shrinking from its application to the swarthy Major Carew.  She
+stretched her hand across the table, and laid it caressingly on Cecil's
+arm.
+
+"_Pauvre_!  Dear old girl!  It's no use saying he wasn't worth having--
+that's no comfort.  When you have loved a man, it must be the worst blow
+of all to be obliged to despise him; but men are not all like that,
+Cecil; you mustn't condemn them all because of one bad specimen.  I've a
+great admiration for men.  As a whole they are _bigger_ than women--I
+mean mentally bigger--freer from mean little faults.  As a rule they
+have a stricter sense of honour.  That's an old-fashioned attitude, I
+suppose, but I don't care; it's been my experience, and I can only speak
+what I know.  The average man _is_ honourable, _is_ faithful!"
+
+"Ah, you are speaking of your experience as a leisured girl--a girl
+living at home with her mother behind her.  It's a different story when
+you are on your own.  A man finds it pleasant enough to be friends with
+a bachelor girl, to take her about, give her little presents, and play
+the fairy prince generally.  The dear little soul is so grateful"--
+Cecil's voice took a bitter note--"so appreciative of his condescension!
+He can enjoy her society without being bothered with chaperons and
+conventions.  It is really an uncommonly jolly way of passing the time.
+But, when it comes to _marrying_, does he want to _marry_ the bachelor
+girl?"
+
+Claire pushed her chair from the table, her face looked suddenly white
+and tired, there was a suspicious quiver in her voice.
+
+"Oh, Cecil, don't, don't!  You are poisoning me again.  Leave me _some_
+faith!  If I can't believe in my fellow-creatures, I'd rather die at
+once, and be done with it.  It stifles me to breathe the atmosphere of
+distrust and suspicion.  And it isn't true.  There _are_ good men, who
+would be all the more chivalrous because a girl was alone.  I know it!
+I'm sure of it!  I refuse to believe that every man is a blackguard
+because you have had an unfortunate experience."
+
+Mary Rhodes stared, abashed.  Since the night when Claire had implored
+her not to poison her mind, she had never seen her merry, easy-going
+companion so aroused; but for the moment regret was swamped in
+curiosity.  Ostensibly Claire was arguing in the plural, but in reality
+she was defending a definite man; Cecil was sure of it; saw her
+suspicion confirmed in the paling cheeks and distended eyes; heard it
+confirmed in the shaking voice.  But who could the man be?  Claire was
+the most candid, the most open of colleagues; she loved to talk and
+describe any experiences which came her way; every time she returned
+from an afternoon in town she had a dozen amusing incidents to recount,
+which in themselves constituted a guide to her doings.  Cecil felt
+satisfied that Claire had had no masculine escort on any of these
+occasions, and with the one exception of Mrs Willoughby's "At Home" she
+had paid no social visits.  Yet there did exist a man on whose honour
+she was prepared to pin her faith; of that Cecil was convinced.
+Probably it was someone in Brussels whom she was still hoping to meet
+again!
+
+"Well, don't get excited," she said coolly.  "If you choose to look upon
+life as a fairy tale, it's not my business to wake you up.  The Sleeping
+Beauty position is very soothing while it lasts.  Don't say I didn't
+warn you, that's all!  I don't call it exactly `poisonous' to try to
+prevent another girl from suffering as badly as one has suffered
+oneself."
+
+"Perhaps not--certainly not, but it was the way you did it.  Sorry,
+Cecil, if I was cross!  I hope _this_ time, dear, all will go well, and
+that you'll be very, very happy.  Do tell me anything you can.  I won't
+ask questions, but I'd love to hear."
+
+Cecil's laugh had rather a hard intonation.
+
+"Oh, well! once bitten, twice shy.  I'm older this time, and it's a
+different thing.  Perhaps I shall be all the happier because I don't
+expect too much.  He's very devoted, and he'll be rich some day, but his
+father gives him no allowance, which makes things tight just now.  He is
+an erratic old man, almost a miser, but there are pots of money in the
+family.  Frank showed me the name in _Landed Gentry_; there's quite a
+paragraph about them, and I've seen a picture of the house, too.  A
+beautiful place; and he's the eldest son.  It's in Surrey--quite near
+town."
+
+"He hasn't taken you down to see it?"
+
+"Not yet.  No.  It's a private engagement.  His father doesn't know.  He
+is waiting for a chance to tell him."
+
+"Wouldn't the father be glad for his heir to marry?"
+
+"He wouldn't be glad for him to marry _me_!  But the estate is entailed,
+so Frank can do as he likes.  But the old man is ill, always having
+asthma and heart attacks, so it wouldn't do to upset him, and of course
+till he knows, Frank can't tell any other members of the family."
+
+Claire, standing by the fireplace, gave a vague assent, and was glad
+that her face was hidden from view.  For Cecil's sake she intensely
+wanted to believe in Major Carew and his account of his own position,
+but instinctively she doubted, instinctively she feared.  She remembered
+the look of the man's face as he had stood facing her across the little
+room, and her distrust deepened.  He did not look straight; he did not
+look true.  Probably the old father had a good reason for keeping him
+short of money.  If he were really in love with Cecil, and determined to
+marry her, that was so much to his credit; but Claire hated the idea of
+that secrecy, marvelled that Cecil could submit a second time to so
+humiliating a position.  Poor Cecil! how _awful_ it would be if she were
+again deceived!  A protective impulse stirred in Claire's heart.  "She
+shan't be, if I can help it!" cried the inner voice.  At that moment she
+vowed herself to the service of Mary Rhodes.
+
+"A big country house in Surrey!  That's the ideal residence of the
+heroine of fiction.  It does sound romantic, Cecil!  I should love to
+think of you as the mistress of a house like that.  Come and sit by the
+fire, and let us talk.  It's so exciting to talk of love affairs instead
+of exercises and exams...  Let's pretend we are just two happy, ordinary
+girls, with no form-rooms looming ahead, and that one of us is just
+engaged, and telling the other `all about it.'  Now begin!  Begin at the
+beginning.  How did you meet him first?"
+
+But there a difficulty arose, for Cecil grew suddenly red, and stumbled
+over her words.
+
+"Oh--well--I-- We _met_!  It was an accident--quite an accident--rather
+a romantic accident.  I was coming home one Sunday evening a year ago.
+I had been to church in my best clothes, and when I was halfway here the
+skies opened, and the rain _descended_.  Such rain!  A deluge!  Dancing
+up from the pavement, streaming along the gutters.  I hadn't an
+umbrella, of course--just my luck!--and I'd had my hat done up that very
+week.  I tore it off, and wrapped it in the tails of my coat, and just
+as that critical moment Frank passed, saw me doing it, and stopped.
+Then he asked if I would allow him to shelter me home beneath his
+umbrella.  Well!  I'm _not_ the girl to allow men to speak to me in the
+street, but at that moment, in that deluge, when he'd just seen me take
+off my hat, _could_ a gentleman do less than offer to shelter me?  Would
+it have been sane to refuse?"
+
+"No; I don't think it would.  I should certainly have said yes, too.
+That's the sort of thing that would have been called chivalry in olden
+times.  It's chivalry _now_.  He was quite right to offer.  It would
+have been horrible if he had passed by and left you to be drenched."
+
+Cecil brightened with relief.
+
+"That's what _I_ thought!  So I said `Yes'; and, of course, while we
+walked we talked, and the wind blew my hair into loose ends, and the
+damp made them curl, and the excitement gave me a colour; and it was so
+nice to talk to a man again, Claire, after everlasting women!  I _did_
+look pretty when I saw myself in the glass when I came in, almost as I
+used to look years before.  And he looked handsome, too, big and strong,
+and so delightfully like a man, and unlike a member of staff!  We liked
+each other very much, and when we got to this door--"
+
+Silence.  Mary Rhodes waited wistfully for a helping word.  Claire
+stared into the fire, her brows knitted in suspense.
+
+"Well, naturally, we were sorry to part!  He asked if I usually went to
+Saint C--- for the evening service.  I didn't, but I said `Yes.'  I knew
+he meant to meet me again, and I _wanted_ to be met."
+
+Claire sent her thoughts back and recalled a certain Sunday evening when
+she had offered to accompany Cecil to church, and had been bluntly
+informed that her company was not desired.  She had taken the hint, and
+had not offered it again.  She was silent, waiting for the revelations
+which were still to come.
+
+"So after that it became a regular thing.  He met me outside the church
+door, and saw me home.  He often asked me to go out with him during the
+week, but I always refused, until suddenly this term I was so tired, so
+hungry for a change that I gave in, and promised that I would.  I
+suppose that shocks you into fits!"
+
+"It does rather.  You see," explained Claire laboriously, "I've been
+brought up on the Continent, where such a thing would be impossible.  It
+would be an insult to suggest it.  Even here in England it doesn't seem
+right.  Do you think a really nice man who was attracted by a girl
+wouldn't find some other way--get an introduction _somehow_?"
+
+"How?  It's easy to talk, but _how_ is he to do it?  We live in
+different worlds.  I am a High School teacher, living in rooms in
+London, without a relation or a house open to me where I am intimate
+enough to take a friend.  He is an officer in a crack regiment, visiting
+at fashionable houses.  Can't you imagine how his hostesses would stare
+if he asked them to call upon me here, in this poky room!  And if he
+loves me, if I interest him more than the butterflies of Society, if he
+wants to know me better, what is he to do?  Tell me that, my dear,
+before you blame me for taking a little bit of fun when I get the
+chance!"
+
+But Claire had no suggestion to make.  She herself had been strong
+enough to refuse a friendship on similar lines, but she had been living
+a working life for a bare four months, while Cecil had been teaching for
+twelve years.  Twelve years of a second-hand life, living in other
+women's houses, teaching other women's children, obeying other women's
+rules; with the one keen personal experience of a slighted love!
+
+The tale of close on four thousand nights represented a dreary parlour
+and a pile of exercise books.  For twelve long years this woman had
+worked away, losing her youth, losing her bloom, cut off from all that
+nature intended her to enjoy; and then at the end behold a change in the
+monotony, the sudden appearance of a man who sought her, admired her,
+craved her society as a boon!
+
+The tears came to Claire's eyes as she put herself in such a woman's
+place, and realised all that this happening would mean.  Renewal of
+youth, renewal of hope, renewal of interest and zest...
+
+"I don't know!  I don't know!" she said brokenly.  "It's all wrong,
+somehow.  You ought not to be forced into such a position, but I don't
+blame you, Cecil.  It's the _other_ women who deserve the blame, the
+women who are better off, and could have opened their houses.  You have
+been so drearily dull all these long years that you would have been more
+than human to refuse.  But now, dear, now that you are engaged, surely
+he has some friends to whom he could introduce you?"
+
+Mary Rhodes shook her head.
+
+"Not till his people know.  It might come round to their ears, and that
+would make things more difficult still; but I am hoping it won't be
+long.  Now, Claire, I've told _you_, because you are such a kind
+understanding little soul, and it's a comfort to talk things out; but
+I'll kill you if you dare to breathe a word to another soul--Sophie
+Blake, or Mrs Willoughby, or even your mother when you write to her.
+You can never tell how these things are repeated, and Frank would never
+forgive me if it came out through me.  Promise faithfully that you'll
+never mention his name in connection with me."
+
+"Of course I will.  What do you take me for?  I shouldn't dream of doing
+such a thing!"
+
+"Of course, at the Willoughbys', for instance, if anyone _did_ mention
+his name--they might, quite well, for I should think they were in much
+the same set--there would be no harm in saying that you'd heard of him.
+I should rather like to hear what they said."
+
+Cecil's face looked wistful as she spoke these last words, but the next
+moment her expression changed to one of pure amazement as the whirr of
+the cuckoo clock made itself heard, and the little brown bird hopped out
+of its niche, and sounded five clear notes.
+
+"Gracious, what's that?  Where did that come from?"
+
+"It was a Christmas present to me from abroad."
+
+Claire added the last words in the fond hope that they would save
+further criticism, and Cecil rose from her seat, and stood in front of
+the hanging clock examining it with critical eyes.
+
+"It's a good one.  Most of them are so gimcrack.  From abroad?  One of
+your Belgian friends, I suppose?  Does it make that awful row every
+hour?  I can't stand it here, you know, if it does."
+
+"Don't trouble yourself.  I'll take it upstairs.  I _like_ the `awful
+row.'  I put it here because I thought it would be a pleasure to you as
+well as to myself.  I'm sorry."
+
+"What a tantrum!  Evidently the clock is a tender point.  Better leave
+it here and stop the gong.  It will keep you awake all night."
+
+"I won't stop the gong!  I--I like to be waked!" declared Claire
+obstinately.  She lifted the clock from its nail, and stalked out of the
+room, head in air.
+
+Cecil whistled softly between pursed lips.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE.
+
+AN UNPLEASANT TEA-PARTY.
+
+In the inevitable fatigue which had marked Claire's first experience of
+regular work, she had looked forward with joy to the coming of the
+holidays when she would be able to take her ease, and for a month on end
+laze through the hours at her own sweet will.  A teacher scores above
+other workers in the length of holidays she enjoys.  Several months in
+the year contrasts strongly with the fortnight or three weeks enjoyed by
+a female clerk or typist; in no other profession is so large a
+proportion of the year given to rest.
+
+Claire had condemned the staff at Saint Cuthbert's for want of
+appreciation of this privilege; but, before the four weeks of the
+Christmas holidays were over, her eyes were opened to the other side of
+the picture.  Holidays were horribly expensive!  Living "at home" meant
+an added bill for fire and light to add to the necessary expenses
+abroad; that the last items were necessary could hardly be denied, for a
+girl who had been shut up in a schoolroom through three months of term,
+naturally wished to amuse herself abroad during holiday time, and in
+London even the most carefully planned amusement has a habit of costing
+money.
+
+Even that mild dissipation of shop-gazing, enjoyed by Sophie Blake, plus
+the additional excitement of choosing an imaginary present from every
+window, could only be enjoyed at the price of two Tube or omnibus fares.
+Boots wore out, too, and gloves grew shabby, and the January sales
+furnished a very fire of temptation.  Claire had never before seen such
+bargains as confronted her down the length of Oxford and Regent Streets,
+and, though she might be firm as adamant on Monday or Tuesday, Wednesday
+was bound to bring about a weak moment which carried her over the
+threshold of a shop, and once inside, with sensational sacrifices
+dangling within reach, resistance melted like wax.
+
+"Where do you suppose you are going to wear that concoction?"  Mary
+Rhodes asked blightingly as Claire opened a cardboard box which had
+arrived by the morning delivery, and displayed a blue muslin dress inset
+with lace.  "Lords, I suppose, or Ascot, or Ranelagh, or Hurlingham, or
+Henley...  They come on in June and July, just as poor High School-
+mistresses are in the thick of cramming for the Matric.  But _no_ doubt
+you are the exception to the rule! ...  You must think you are, at
+least, to have bought a frock like that!"
+
+"Cecil, it was wickedly cheap--it was, indeed!  It was one of a few
+summer dresses which were positively given away, and it's made in the
+simple, picturesque style which I love, and which does not go out of
+date.  I hadn't the least intention of buying anything, until I saw it
+hanging there, at that price, and it looked at me so longingly, as if it
+_wanted_ to come!"
+
+"It's well to be rich!  It might have longed at me as much as it liked,
+I couldn't have bought it, if it had been two-and-six!  I need all my
+money for necessities," Mary Rhodes said, sighing; and Claire felt a
+pang of reproach, for, since her return, Cecil had indeed seemed
+painfully short of loose cash.  The debt still outstanding had been
+increased by various small borrowings, insignificant in themselves, yet
+important as showing how the wind blew.  Claire wondered if perchance
+the poor soul had crippled herself by presenting her lover with a
+Christmas gift which was beyond her means.
+
+The third week of the holidays arrived; in another week school would
+begin.  Claire succumbed to temptation once more, purchased two good
+tickets for an afternoon concert at the Queen's Hall, and invited Cecil
+to be her guest.  Cecil hesitated, evidently torn between two
+attractions, asked permission to defer her answer until the next day,
+but finally decided to accept.  From remarks dropped from time to time
+Claire had gathered that Major Carew was not fond of indoor
+entertainments, and somewhat disappointed his _fiancee_ by his
+unwillingness to indulge her wishes in that respect.  In this instance
+she had evidently balanced the concert against an afternoon in the
+Major's society, and the concert had won.  Claire found herself
+cordially in agreement.
+
+When the afternoon arrived the two girls arrayed themselves in their
+best clothes, and set off in high spirits for their afternoon's
+amusement.  Their seats were in a good position, and the concert was one
+of the best of the season.  All went as happily as it could possibly go,
+until the last strains of "God save the King" had been played, and the
+audience filed out of the hall on to the crowded pavement, and then,
+with a throb of disgust, Claire recognised the figure of a man who was
+standing directly beneath a lamp-post, his black eyes curiously scanning
+the passing stream--Major Carew!  He had evidently been told of the
+girls' destination, and had come with the express purpose of meeting
+them coming out.  For the moment, however, they were unrecognised, and
+Claire gave a quick swerve to the right, hurrying out of the patch of
+light into the dimness beyond.  The street was so full that, given a
+minute's start, it would surely be easy to escape.  She slid her hand
+through Cecil's arm, drawing her forward.
+
+"Come along!  Come along!  Let's hurry to Fuller's before all the tables
+are taken!"
+
+"Fuller's?  Tea?  How scrumptious!  Just what I longed for.  Listening
+to classical music _is_ thirsty work!"  Cecil replied, laughing.  She
+was so lively, so natural and unconcerted that Claire absolved her on
+the moment from any arrangement as to a _rendez-vous_.  In her anxiety
+to secure the longed-for cup of tea she broke into a half-run, but it
+was too late; the sharp black eyes had spied them out, the tall figure
+loomed by their side, the large face, with its florid colouring, smiled
+a broad smile of welcome.
+
+"Hulloa, Mary!  Thought it was you.  I was just passing along.  Good
+afternoon, Miss Gifford.  It _is_ Miss Gifford, isn't it?  Had a good
+concert, I hope--a pleasant afternoon?"
+
+"Very good, thank you," said Claire shortly.
+
+Mary cried, "Oh, Frank!  _You_!  How did you come?  I didn't expect--"
+And the tone of her voice showed that the surprise was hardly more
+agreeable to her than to her companion.  However welcome her lover might
+be on other occasions, it was obvious that she had not wished to see him
+at this particular moment.
+
+"Well, well, we must move on; we mustn't block up the pavement," the
+Major said hastily.  He took his place by the kerb, which placed him
+next to Claire, and bent over with an assiduous air.  "You must let me
+escort you!  Where were you bound for next?"
+
+Claire hesitated.  She wished with all her heart that she had not
+mentioned Fuller's, so that she could reply that they were bound for the
+Tube.  Oxford Circus was only a step away; in five minutes they could
+have been seated in the train; but Cecil had declared that she was
+longing for tea, so it would be ungracious to withdraw the invitation.
+
+"We were going to Fuller's."
+
+"Right!"  The Major's tone was complacent.  "Good idea!  How shall we
+go?  Taxi?  Tube?  Which do you prefer?"
+
+Claire stared at him in surprise.
+
+"But it's here!  Quite close.  We're nearly there."
+
+He looked disconcerted, unnecessarily disconcerted, Claire thought; for
+it was surely no disgrace for a man to be ignorant of the locality of a
+confectioner's shop!  From the other side came Cecil's voice, cool and
+constrained--
+
+"If you were going anywhere, Frank, you needn't stay with us.  We can
+look after each other.  We are accustomed to going about alone."
+
+"Please allow me the pleasure.  There's plenty of time.  I should enjoy
+some tea immensely.  Always take it when I get the chance!"
+
+The block on the pavement made consecutive conversation impossible, and
+the three edged their way in and out in silence until Fuller's was
+reached, and one of the last tables secured.  The room looked very
+bright and dainty, the Christmas garlands still festooning the walls and
+framing the mirrors, the hanging lights covered by rose-coloured shades.
+The soft pink light was very kind to the complexions of the visitors,
+nevertheless Claire felt a guilty pang as she looked into the nearest
+mirror and beheld the reflection of herself and her friend as they sat
+side by side.  As a rule, it was pure pleasure to realise her own fair
+looks; but for the moment they were of no importance, whereas poor dear
+Cecil had a lover to please, and there was no denying Cecil was not
+looking her best!  Her expression was frowning and dissatisfied.  She
+had taken off her veil in the hall and her hair was disarranged;
+compared with the fashionable groups round the other tables, she looked
+suddenly shabby and insignificant, her little attempts at decoration
+pitifully betraying the amateur hand.
+
+"Oh, dear me, why _won't_ she smile?  She looks quite pretty when she
+smiles.  I'll hold her before a mirror some day and show her the
+difference it makes.  Ten years disappear in a flash!  Now what in the
+world had I better be--agreeable and chatty, or cold and stand-off?
+I'll do anything to please her, but it _is_ hard lines having our
+afternoon spoiled, and being sulked at into the bargain.  Cakes,
+please--lots of sweet, sugary cakes!  Won't that do, Cecil?  We can have
+bread-and-butter at home!"
+
+"Cecil!  Cecil!  Her name is Mary.  Why do you call her Cecil?" cried
+the Major quickly, looking from one girl to another.  Claire fancied
+there was a touch of suspicion in his voice, and wondered that he should
+show so much interest in a mere nickname.
+
+"Because she is `Rhodes,' of course."
+
+For a moment his stare showed no understanding, then, "Oh! that fellow!"
+he said slowly.  "I see!  It's a pretty name anyway.  Beats Mary to
+fits.  Mary is so dull and prosaic.  Too many of them about.  One gets
+sick of the sound."
+
+"Is that intended for me by any chance?" asked Cecil in her most acid
+tones, whereupon the Major cried, "Oh!  Put my foot in it that time,
+didn't I?" and burst into a long guffaw of laughter, which brought on
+him the eyes of the surrounders.
+
+Claire's interest had already been aroused by a little party of two men
+and two women who were sitting at a table in the corner of the room, and
+who were, to her thinking, by far the most attractive personalities
+present.  The men were tall, well set up, not especially handsome in any
+way, but possessing an unmistakable look of breeding.  One of the women
+was old, the other young, and it would have been hard to say which was
+the more attractive of the two.  They were quietly but very elegantly
+dressed, handsome furs being thrown back, to show pretty bodices of
+ninon and lace.
+
+When Major Carew gave that loud unrestrained laugh, the four members of
+this attractive party turned to see whence the sound arose; but whereas
+three faces remained blankly indifferent, the fourth was in the moment
+transformed into an expression of the liveliest surprise.  He stared,
+narrowing his eyes as if doubting that they were really seeing aright,
+twisted his head to get a fuller view, and, obtaining it, twisted back
+into his original position, his lips twitching with laughter.  Then he
+spoke a few words, his companions leant forward to listen, and to two
+faces out of the three, the laughter spread on hearing what he had to
+say.
+
+Only the elder of the two ladies retained her gravity.  Her sweet glance
+rested on Claire's face, and her brow contracted in distress.  In the
+Major and Cecil she showed no interest, but Claire's appearance
+evidently aroused curiosity and pity.  "What is _she_ doing in that
+_galere_?"  The question was written on every line of the sweet high-
+bred face, and Claire read its significance and flinched with distaste.
+
+"How they stare!" cried Mary Rhodes.  "The man looked as if he knew you,
+Frank.  Do you know who he is?"
+
+"He's a member of the Club.  His name is Vavasour.  We know each other
+by sight."  Major Carew's florid colour had grown a shade deeper, he was
+evidently disconcerted by the encounter; but he made a strong effort to
+regain his composure, smiled at the two girls in turn, and cried
+lightly, "Envies me, I suppose, seeing me with two such charmers!"
+
+"He didn't look exactly envious!"  Cecil said drily.  She also had
+noticed that reflection in the mirror, and it had not helped to soothe
+her spirits.  She felt an unreasoning anger against Claire for appearing
+more attractive than herself, but it did not occur to her that she was
+heightening the contrast by her own dour, ungracious manner.  Altogether
+that tea-party was a difficult occasion, and as it proceeded, Claire's
+spirits sank ever lower and lower.  She had spent more than she had any
+right to afford on those two expensive tickets, hoping thereby to give
+pleasure, and now Cecil was in a bad temper, and would snap for days to
+come.--It was not a cheerful outlook, and for the second time a feeling
+of restiveness overtook her, a longing for a companion who would help
+the gaiety of life--such a companion as pretty, lively, happy-go-lucky
+Sophie Blake, for example.  How refreshing it would be to live with
+Sophie!  Just for a moment Claire dwelt wistfully on the possibility,
+then banished it with a loyal "She doesn't need me, and Cecil does.
+She's fond of me in her funny way.  She must be, for she has confided in
+me already, more than in any of the others whom she's known for years,
+and perhaps I may be able to help..."
+
+The Major passed his cup for a second supply; a waitress brought a plate
+of hot cakes; the occupants of the corner table stood up, fastening furs
+and coats, and passed out of the door.  With their going Major Carew
+regained his vivacity, chaffed the girls on their silence, recounted the
+latest funny stories, and to Claire's relief addressed himself primarily
+to his _fiancee_, thus putting her in the place of honour.
+
+Nevertheless Claire was conscious that from time to time keen glances
+were cast in her own direction.  She had a feeling that no detail of her
+attire escaped scrutiny, that the black eyes noted one and all,
+wondered, and speculated, and appraised.  She saw them dwell on the
+handsome fur stole and muff which Mrs Judge bequeathed to her daughter
+on sailing for India, on the old diamond ring and brooch which had been
+handed over to her on her twenty-first birthday; she had an instinctive
+feeling that she rose in the man's estimation because of her air of
+prosperity.  He made tentative efforts to arrange a further meeting.
+"Where do _you_ go on Sundays, Miss Gifford?  I say, we must arrange
+another tea like this.  Lots of good tea places in town.  We must sample
+them together.  What do you say, Miss Gifford?"
+
+Claire's answers were politely evasive, and presently he began to grow
+restless, and finally pulled out his watch, and jumped to his feet.
+
+"How time flies!  I had no idea it was so late.  I must run.  So sorry
+to leave you like this."
+
+Mary Rhodes stared in surprise.
+
+"Leave!  Frank!  But you said--I thought we were going--"
+
+"Yes, I know, I know.  I'm sorry, I thought I was free--but--a
+regimental engagement!  Can't get out of it.  I'll fix up another night.
+I'll write."
+
+There was no doubt that he was genuinely disconcerted at the lateness of
+the hour, and his leave-taking was of the most hasty description, though
+he found time to give a lingering pressure to Claire's hand; then he was
+gone, and the waitress came across the room and presented the bill.
+
+Cecil flushed uncomfortably.
+
+"I must pay this.  Frank has forgotten.  He rushed off in such a hurry."
+
+She pulled out her shabby purse, and Claire made no protest.  In a
+similar position she herself would have wished to pay, but it was
+inconceivable that she should ever be in such a position.  However
+hurried a man might be-- She rubbed her hand on her knee with a little
+shudder of distaste.  "Wretch!  He would make love to me, too, if I
+would allow it!  How can Cecil possibly care for such a man?"
+
+And then she forgot Cecil's feelings to ponder on a more perplexing
+problem.
+
+Why had the man called Vavasour looked so amused, and why had the sweet-
+faced woman looked so distressed?
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
+
+A DOUBLE INVITATION.
+
+Janet Willoughby sent Claire a picture postcard, all white snow and
+strong shadow, and dazzling blue sky, and little black figures
+pirouetting on one leg with the other raised perilously in the rear.
+"This is me!" was written across the most agile of the number, while a
+scrawling line across the top ran, "Happy New Year!  Returning on
+Tuesday.  Hope to see you soon."  Tuesday was the day on which school
+re-opened; but Janet's holiday was year long, not a short four weeks.
+
+Cecil moaned loudly, but Claire was tired of aimless days, and welcomed
+the return to work.  She determined to throw her whole heart into her
+task, and work as no junior French mistress had ever worked before; she
+determined never to lose patience, never to grow cross, never to indulge
+in a sarcastic word, always to be a model of tact and forbearance.  She
+determined to wield such an ennobling influence over the girls in her
+form-room that they should take fire from her example, and go forth into
+the world perfect, high-souled women who should leaven the race.  She
+determined also to be the life and soul of the staff-room--the general
+peace-maker, confidante, and consoler, beloved by one and all.  She
+determined to seize tactfully upon every occasion of serving the Head,
+and acting as a buffer between her and disagreeables of every kind.  She
+arranged a touching scene wherein Miss Farnborough, retiring from work
+and being asked by the Committee to name a worthy successor, pronounced
+unhesitatingly, "Claire Gifford; she is but young, but her wisdom and
+diplomacy are beyond all praise."  She saw herself Head of Saint
+Cuthbert's, raised to the highest step of her scholastic ladder, but
+somehow the climax was not so exhilarating as the climb itself.  To be
+head mistress was, no doubt, a fine achievement, but it left her cold.
+
+Inside Saint Cuthbert's all was life and bustle.  Girls streaming along
+the corridors, in and out of every room; girls of all ages and sizes and
+shapes, but all to-day bearing an appearance of happiness and animation.
+Bright-coloured blouses shone forth in their first splendour; hair-
+ribbons stood out stiff and straight; many of the girls carried bunches
+of flowers to present to the special mistress for whom they cherished
+the fashionable "G.P."  (grand passion) so characteristic of school
+life.
+
+Flora had a bunch of early daffodils for Claire.  Another girl presented
+a pot of Roman hyacinths for the decoration of the form-room, a third a
+tiny bottle of scent; three separate donors supplied buttonholes of
+violets.  The atmosphere was full of kindness and affection.  Girls
+encountering each other would fall into each other's arms with
+exclamations of ecstatic affection.  "Oh, you precious lamb!"
+
+"My angel child!"
+
+"You dear, old, darling duck!"  Claire heard a squat, ugly girl with
+spectacles and a turned-up nose addressed as "a princely pet" by an
+ardent adorer of fourteen.  The mistresses came in for their own share
+of adulation--"Darling Miss Gifford, I _do_ adore you!"
+
+"Miss Gifford, darling, you are prettier than ever!"
+
+"Oh, Miss _Gifford_, I was _dying_ to see you!"
+
+The morning flew past, and lunch-time brought the gathering of
+mistresses in staff-room.  Mademoiselle's greetings were politely
+detached, Fraulein was kindly and discursive, Sophie's smile was as
+bright as ever, but she did not look well.
+
+"Oh, I'm all right!  It's nothing.  Only this horrid old pain!" she said
+cheerfully.  Into her glass of water she dropped three tabloids of
+aspirin.  Every one had been away for a longer or shorter time, visiting
+relatives and friends; they compared experiences; some had enjoyed
+themselves, some had not; but they all agreed that they were refreshed
+by the change.
+
+"And where have _you_ been?" asked the drawing mistress of Claire, and
+exclaimed in surprise at hearing that she had remained in town.  "Dear
+me, I wish I had known!  I've been back a fortnight.  We might have done
+something together.  Weren't you _dull_?" asked the drawing mistress,
+staring with curious eyes.
+
+"Very!" answered poor Claire, and for a moment struggled with a horrible
+inclination to cry.
+
+After lunch Miss Bates took her cup of coffee to Claire's side, and made
+an obvious attempt to be pleasant.
+
+"I feel quite remorseful to think of your holidays.  It's astonishing
+how little we mistresses know of each other out of school hours.  The
+first school I was in--a much smaller one by the sea,--we were so
+friendly and jolly, just like sisters, but in the big towns every one
+seems detached.  It's hard on the new-comers.  I don't know _what_ I
+should have done if I hadn't a brother's house to go to on Sundays and
+holiday afternoons.  Except through him, I haven't made a single friend.
+At the other place people used to ask us out, and we had quite a good
+time; but in town people are engrossed in their own affairs.  They
+haven't time to go outside."
+
+"I wonder you ever left that school!  What made you want to change?"
+
+"Oh, well!  London was a lure.  Most people want to come to London, and
+I had my brother.  Do tell me, another time, if you are not going away.
+It worries me to think of you being alone.  How did you come to get this
+post, if you have no connections in town?"
+
+"Miss Farnborough came to stay in Brussels, in the _pension_ which my
+mother and I had made headquarters for some time.  She offered me the
+post."
+
+Miss Bates stared with distended eyes.  "How long had she known you?"
+
+"About a fortnight, I think.  I don't remember exactly."
+
+"And you had never seen her before?  She knew nothing about you?"
+
+"She had never seen me before, but she _did_ know something about me.
+Professionally speaking, she knew all there was to know."
+
+"That accounts for it," said Miss Bates enigmatically.  "I wondered--
+You are not a bit the usual type."
+
+"I hope that doesn't mean that I can't teach?"
+
+Miss Bates laughed, and shrugged her thin shoulders.  "Oh, no.  I should
+say, personally, that you teach very well.  That play was
+extraordinarily good.  It absolutely sounded like French.  Can't think
+how you knocked the accent into them!  English girls are so self-
+conscious; they are ashamed of letting themselves go.  Mademoiselle
+thinks that your classes are too like play; but it doesn't matter what
+she thinks, so long as--" she paused a moment, lowered her voice, and
+added impressively, "Keep on the right side of Miss Farnborough.  You
+are all right so long as you are in her good books.  Better be careful."
+
+"What do you mean?"  Claire stared, puzzled and discomposed, decidedly
+on the offensive; but Miss Bates refused a definite answer.
+
+"Nothing!" she said tersely.  "Only--people who take sudden fancies, can
+take sudden dislikes, too.  Ask no more questions, but don't say I
+didn't warn you, that's all!"
+
+She lifted her coffee-cup, and strolled away, leaving Claire to reflect
+impatiently, "_More_ poison!  It's too bad.  They won't _let_ one be
+happy!"
+
+Before the end of the week school work settled into its old routine, and
+the days passed by with little to mark their progress.  The English
+climate was at its worst, and three times out of four the journey to
+school was accomplished in rain or sleet.  The motor-'buses were crammed
+with passengers, and manifested an unpleasant tendency to skid; pale-
+faced strap-holders crowded the carriages of the Tube; for days together
+the sky remained a leaden grey.  It takes a Mark Tapley himself to keep
+smiling under such conditions.  As Claire recalled the days when she and
+her mother had sat luxuriously under the trees in the gardens of Riviera
+hotels, listening to exhilarating bands, and admiring the outline of the
+Esterels against the cloudless blue of the sky, the drab London streets
+assumed a dreariness which was almost insupportable.  Also, though she
+would not acknowledge it to herself, she was achingly disappointed,
+because something which she had sub-consciously been expecting did not
+come to pass.  She had expected something to happen, but nothing
+happened; all through February the weeks dragged on, unrelieved by any
+episode except the weekly mail from India.
+
+The little brown bird still industriously piped the hour; but his
+appearance no longer brought the same warm thrill of happiness.  And
+then one morning came a note from Janet Willoughby.
+
+"Dear Miss Gifford,--
+
+"I should really like to call you `Claire,' but I must wait to be asked!
+I have been meaning to write ever since we returned from Saint Moritz;
+but you know how it is in town, such a continual rush, that one can
+never get through half the things that ought to be done!  We should all
+like to see you again.  Mother has another `At Home' on Thursday evening
+next, and would be glad to see you then, if you cared to come; but what
+_I_ should like is to have you to myself!  On Saturday next I could call
+for you, as I did at Christmas, and keep you for the whole day.  Then we
+could talk as we couldn't do at the `At Homes,' which are really rather
+dull, duty occasions.
+
+"Let me know which of these propositions suits you best.  Looking
+forward to seeing you,--
+
+"Your friend, (if you will have me!)
+
+"Janet Willoughby."
+
+Claire had opened the letter, aglow with expectation; she laid it down
+feeling dazed and blank.  For the moment only one fact stood out to the
+exclusion of every other, and that was that Janet did not wish her to be
+present at the "At Home."  Mrs Willoughby had sent the invitation, but
+Janet had supplemented it by another, which could not be refused.  "I
+would rather have you to myself."  How was it possible to refuse an
+invitation couched in such terms?  How could one answer with any show of
+civility, "I should prefer to come with the crowd?"
+
+Claire carried the letter up to her cold bedroom, and sat down to do a
+little honest thinking.
+
+"It's very difficult to understand what one really wants!  We deceive
+ourselves as much as we do other people...  Why am I so hideously
+depressed?  I liked going to the `At Home,' I liked dressing up, and
+driving through the streets, and seeing the flowers and the dresses, and
+having the good supper; but, if that were all, I believe I'd prefer the
+whole day with Janet.  I suppose, really, it's Captain Fanshawe that's
+at the bottom of it.  I want to meet him, I thought I should meet him,
+and now it's over.  I shan't be asked again when there's a chance of his
+coming.  Janet doesn't want me.  She's not jealous, of course--that's
+absurd--but she wants to keep him to herself, and she imagines somehow
+that I should interfere--"
+
+Imagination pictured Janet staring with puzzled, uneasy eyes across the
+tables in the dining-room, of Janet drearily examining the piled-up
+presents in the boudoir, and then, like a flash of light, showed the
+picture of another face, now eager, animated, admiring, again grave and
+wistful.  "Is your address still the Grand Hotel?--_My_ address is still
+the Carlton Club."
+
+"Ah, well, well!" acknowledged Claire to her heart, "we _did_ like each
+other.  We did love being together, and he remembered me; he sent me the
+clock when he was away.  But it's all over now.  That was our last
+chance, and it's gone.  He'll go to the At Home, and Mrs Willoughby
+will tell him I was asked, but preferred to come when they were alone,
+and he'll think it was because I wanted to avoid him, and--and, oh,
+goodness, goodness, goodness! how _miserable_ I shall feel sitting here
+all Thursday evening, imagining all that is going on!  Oh, mother,
+mother, your poor little girl is _so_ lonesome!  Why did you go so far
+away?"
+
+Claire put her head down on the dressing-table, and shed a few tears, a
+weakness bitterly regretted, for like all weaknesses the consequences
+wrought fresh trouble.  Now her eyelids were red, and she was obliged to
+hang shivering out of the window, until they had regained their natural
+colour, before she could face Cecil's sharp eyes.
+
+Janet arrived soon after eleven o'clock on Saturday morning, and was
+shown into the saffron parlour where Claire sat over her week's mending.
+She wore a spring suit purchased in Paris, and a hat which was probably
+smart, but very certainly was unbecoming, slanting as it did at a
+violent angle over her plump, good-humoured face, and almost entirely
+blinding one eye.  She caught sight of her own reflection in the
+overmantel and exclaimed, "What a fright I look!" as she seated herself
+by the table, and threw off her furs.  "Don't hurry, please.  Let me
+stay and watch.  What are you doing?  Mending a blouse?  How clever of
+you to be able to use your fingers as well as your brains!  I never sew,
+except stupid fancy-work for bazaars.  So this is your room!  You told
+me about the walls.  Can you imagine any one in cold blood choosing such
+a paper?  But it looks cosy all the same.  I _do_ like little rooms with
+everything carefully in reach.  They are ever so much nicer than big
+ones, aren't they?"
+
+"No."
+
+Janet pealed with laughter.
+
+"That's right, snub me!  I deserve to be snubbed.  Of course, I meant
+when you have big ones as well!  Who is the pretty girl in the carved
+frame?  Your mother!  Do you mean it, really?  What a ridiculous mamma!
+I'm afraid, Claire, I'm afraid she is even prettier than you!"
+
+"Oh, she is; I know it.  But I have more charm," returned Claire
+demurely, whereat they laughed again--a peal of happy girlish laughter,
+which reached Lizzie's ears as she polished the oilcloth in the hall,
+and roused an envious sigh.
+
+"It's well to be some folks!" thought poor Lizzie.  "Motor-cars, and
+fine dresses, and nothing to do of a Saturday morning but sit still and
+laugh.  I could laugh myself if I was in her shoes!"
+
+Claire folded away her blouse, and took up a bundle of gloves.
+
+"These are your gloves.  They have been such a comfort to me.  There's a
+button missing somewhere.  Tell me all about your holiday!  Did you have
+a good time?  Was it as nice as you expected?"
+
+"Yes.  No.  It _was_ a good time, but--do you think anything ever
+_quite_ comes up to one's expectation?  I had looked forward to that
+month for the whole year, and had built so many fairy castles.  You have
+stayed in Switzerland?  You know how the scene changes when the sun
+sinks, how those beautiful alluring rose-coloured peaks become in a
+minute awesome and gloomy.  Well, it was rather like that with me.  I
+don't mean that it was gloomy; that's exaggerating, but it was prose,
+and I had pictured it poetry.  Heigho!  It's a weary world."
+
+Claire's glance was not entirely sympathetic.
+
+"There are different kinds of prose.  You will forgive my saying that
+your especial sort is an _Edition de luxe_."
+
+"I know!  I know!  You can't be harder on me than I am on myself.  My
+dear, I have a most sensible head.  I'm about as practical and long-
+headed as any woman of forty.  It's my silly old heart which handicaps
+me.  It _won't_ fall into line...  Have you finished your mending?  May
+I come upstairs and see your room while you dress?"
+
+For just the fraction of a moment Claire hesitated.  Janet saw the
+doubt, and attributed it to disinclination to exhibit a shabby room; but
+in reality Claire was proud of her attic, which a little ingenuity had
+made into a very charming abode.  Turkey red curtains draped the window,
+a low basket-chair was covered in the same material, a red silk
+eiderdown covered the little bed.  On the white walls were a profusion
+of photographs and prints, framed with a simple binding of leather
+around the glass.  The toilet table showed an array of well-polished
+silver, while a second table was arranged for writing, and held a number
+of pretty accessories.  A wide board had been placed over the narrow
+mantel, on which stood a few good pieces of china and antique silver.
+There was nothing gimcrack to be seen, no one-and-elevenpenny ornaments,
+no imitations of any kind; despite its sloping roof and its whitewashed
+walls, it was self-evidently a lady's room, and Janet's admiration was
+unfeigned.
+
+"My dear, it's a lamb!  I love your touches of scarlet.  Dear me, you've
+quite a view!  I shall have sloping walls when I change my room.  They
+are _ever_ so picturesque.  It's a perfect duck, and everything looks so
+bright.  They _do_ keep it well!"
+
+"_I_ keep it well!"  Claire corrected.  "Lizzie `does' it every morning,
+but it's not a doing which satisfies me, so I put in a little manual
+labour every afternoon as a change from using my brain.  I do all the
+polishing.  You can't expect lodging-house servants to clean silver and
+brass."
+
+"Can't you?  No; I suppose you can't."  Janet's voice of a sudden
+sounded flat and absent.  There was a moment's pause, then she added
+tentatively, "You have a cuckoo clock?"
+
+Claire was thankful that her face was screened from view as she was in
+the process of tying on her veil.  A muffled, "Yes," was her only reply.
+
+Janet stood in front of the clock, staring at it with curious eyes.
+
+"It's--it's like--there were some just like this in a shop at Saint
+Moritz."
+
+"They are all much alike, don't you think?"
+
+"I suppose they are.  Yes--in a way.  Some are much better than others.
+This is one of the best--"
+
+"Yes, it is.  It keeps beautiful time.  I had it in the sitting-room,
+but Miss Rhodes objected to the noise."
+
+"Was it in Saint Moritz that you bought it?"
+
+"I didn't buy it.  It was a present."
+
+That finished the cross-questioning, since politeness forbade that Janet
+should go a step further and ask the name of the friend, which was what
+she was obviously longing to do.  She stood a moment longer, staring
+blankly at the clock, then gave a little sigh, and moved on to examine
+the ornaments on the mantelpiece.  Five minutes later the two girls
+descended the staircase, and drove away from the door.
+
+The next few hours passed pleasantly enough, but Claire wondered if it
+were her own imagination which made her think that Janet's manner was
+not quite so frank and bright as it had been before she had caught sight
+of the cuckoo clock.  She never again said, "Claire"; but her brown eyes
+studied Claire's face with a wistful scrutiny, and from time to time a
+sharp little sigh punctuated her sentences.
+
+"But what could I tell her?"  Claire asked unhappily of her sub-
+conscience.  "I don't _know_--I only think; and even if he _did_ send
+it, it doesn't necessarily affect his feelings towards her.  He was
+going to see her in a few days; and she is rich and has everything she
+wants, while I am poor and alone.  It was just kindness, nothing more."
+But though her head was satisfied with such reasoning, her heart, like
+Janet's, refused to fall into line.
+
+At tea-time several callers arrived, foremost among them a tall man whom
+Claire at once recognised as the original of a portrait which stood
+opposite to that of Captain Fanshawe on the mantelpiece of Janet's
+boudoir.  This was "the kind man, the thoughtful man," the man who
+remembered "little things," and in truth he bore the mark of it in every
+line of his good-humoured face.  Apart from his expression, his
+appearance was ordinary enough; but he was self-evidently a man to
+trust, and Claire found something pathetic in the wistful admiration
+which shone in his eyes as they followed Janet Willoughby about the
+room.  To ordinary observers she was just a pleasant girl with no
+pretensions to beauty; to him she was obviously the most lovely of her
+sex.  He had no attention to spare for Claire or the other ladies
+present; he was absorbed in watching Janet, waiting for opportunities to
+serve Janet, listening eagerly to Janet's words.  It is not often that
+an unengaged lover is so transparent in his devotion, but Malcolm Heward
+was supremely indifferent to the fact that he betrayed his feelings.
+
+At ten o'clock Claire rose to take leave, and Mrs Willoughby made a
+request.
+
+"I am going to ask you to do me a favour, dear.  A friend is having a
+Sale of Work at her house for a charity in which we are both interested,
+and she has asked me to help.  It is on a Saturday afternoon and
+evening, and I wondered if I might ask you to take part in the little
+concerts.  Whistling is always popular, and you do it so charmingly.  I
+would send the car for you, and take you home, of course, and be so very
+much indebted.  You don't mind my asking?"
+
+"No, indeed; I should be delighted.  Please let me help you whenever you
+can."
+
+In the bedroom upstairs Janet deliberately introduced Malcolm Heward's
+name.
+
+"That was the man I told you about at Christmas.  He was one of the
+party at Saint Moritz.  What did you think of him?"
+
+"I liked him immensely.  He looks all that you said he was.  He has a
+fine face."
+
+"He wants to marry me."
+
+Claire laughed softly.
+
+"That's obvious!  I never saw a man give himself away so openly."
+
+"Do you think I ought to accept him?"
+
+"Oh, how can I say?  It's not for me to advise.  I hope, whoever you
+marry, you'll be very, very happy!"
+
+Suddenly Janet came forward and laid her hands on Claire's arm.
+
+"Oh, Claire, I do like you!  I do want to be friends, but sometimes I
+have the strangest thoughts."  Before Claire had time to answer, she had
+drawn back again, and was saying with a little apologetic laugh, "I am
+silly!  Take no notice of what I say.  Here's your fur; here's your
+muff.  Are you quite sure you have all your possessions?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
+
+A QUESTION OF MONEY.
+
+The next week was memorable to Claire as marking the beginning of
+serious anxiety with regard to Sophie.  She had looked ill since the
+beginning of the term, and the bottle of aspirin tabloids had become
+quite an accustomed feature on the luncheon table; but when questioned
+she had always a smile and an easy excuse.
+
+"What can you expect in this weather?  No one but a fish could help
+aching in these floods.  I'm perfectly all right!"
+
+But one morning this week, meeting her on an upper landing, Claire
+discovered Sophie apparently dragging herself along with her hands, and
+punctuating each step with a gasp of pain.  She stood still and stared,
+whereupon Sophie instantly straightened herself, and ascended the
+remaining steps in a normal manner.
+
+"Sophie," cried Claire sternly, "don't pretend!  I heard you; I saw you!
+My dear girl, is the rheumatism so bad?"
+
+Sophie twisted her head this way and that, her lips pursed in warning.
+
+"S-sh!  Be careful!  You never know who is about.  I _am_ rather stiff
+to-day.  This raw fog has been the last straw.  I shall be all right
+when we get through this month.  I hate March!  It finds out all the
+weak spots.  Please, Claire, don't take any notice.  A Gym. mistress has
+no business to have rheumatism.  It's really very good for me to be
+obliged to keep going.  It is always worse at the beginning of the day."
+
+Claire went away with a pain in her heart, and the pain grew steadily as
+she watched Sophie throughout the week.  The pretty face was often drawn
+with pain, she rose and sat down with an obvious effort; and still the
+rain poured, and the dark fog enveloped the city, and Sophie struggled
+to and from her work in a thin blue serge suit which had already seen
+three winters' wear.
+
+One day the subject came up for discussion in the staff-room, and Claire
+was shocked and surprised at the attitude of the other teachers.  They
+were sorry for Sophie, they sympathised, to a certain extent they were
+even anxious on her account, but the prevailing sentiment seemed to be
+that the kindest thing was to take no notice of her sufferings.  No use
+pitying her; that would only make her more sorry for herself.  No use
+suggesting cures; cures take time, not to speak of money.  The Easter
+holidays would soon be here; perhaps she might try something then.  In
+the meantime--_tant pis_! she must get along as best she could.  There
+was simply no time to be ill.
+
+"I've a churchyard cough myself," declared the Arts mistress.  "I stayed
+in bed all Saturday and Sunday, and it was really a little better, but
+it was as bad as ever after a day in this big draughty hole."
+
+"And I am racked with neuralgia," chimed in Miss Bates.  The subject of
+Sophie was lost in a general lamentation.
+
+Friday evening came, and after the girls had departed Claire went in
+search of Sophie, hoping tactfully to be able to suggest remedial
+methods over the week-end.  She peeped into several rooms before at
+last, in one of the smallest and most out-of-the-way, she caught sight
+of a figure crouched with buried head at the far end of the table.  It
+was Sophie, and she was crying, and catching her breath in a weak
+exhausted fashion, pitiful to hear.  Claire shut the door tightly, and
+put her arms round the shaking form.
+
+"Miss Blake--Sophie!  You poor, dear girl!  You are tired out.  You have
+been struggling all the week, but it's Friday night, dear, remember
+that!  You can go home and just tumble into bed.  Don't give way when
+you've been so brave."
+
+But for the moment Sophie's bravery had deserted her.
+
+"It's raining!  It's raining!  It _always_ rains.  I can't face it.  The
+pain's all over me, and the omnibuses _won't_ stop!  They expect you to
+jump in, and I can't jump!  I don't know how to get home."
+
+"Well, I do!"  Claire cried briskly.  "There's no difficulty about that.
+I'm sick of wet walks myself.  I'll whistle for a taxi, and we'll drive
+home in state.  I'll take you home first, and then go on myself; or, if
+you like, I'll come in with you and help you to bed."
+
+"P-please.  Oh, yes, please, do come!  I don't want to be alone,"
+faltered Sophie weakly; but she wiped her eyes, and in characteristic
+fashion began to cheer up at the thought of the drive home.
+
+There was a cheerful fire burning in Sophie's sitting-room, and the
+table was laid for tea in quite an appetising fashion.  The landlady
+came in at the sound of footsteps, and showed a sympathetic interest at
+the sight of Sophie's tear-stained face.
+
+"I _told_ you you weren't fit to go out!" she said sagely.  "Now just
+sit yourself down before the fire, and I'll take your things upstairs
+and bring you down a warm shawl.  Then you shall have your teas.  I'll
+bring in a little table, so you can have it where you are."  She left
+the room, and Sophie looked after her with grateful eyes.
+
+"That's what I pay for!" she said eloquently.  "She's so kind!  I love
+that woman for all her niceness to me.  I told you I had no right to pay
+so much rent.  I came in just for a few weeks until I could find
+something else, and I haven't had the _heart_ to _move_.  I've been in
+such holes, and had such awful landladies.  They seem divided into two
+big classes, kind and dirty, or clean and _mad_!  When you get one who
+is kind _and_ clean, you feel so grateful that you'd pay your last penny
+rather than move away.  Oh, how lovely! how lovely! how lovely!  It's
+Friday night, and I can be ill comfortably all the time till Monday
+morning!  Aren't we jolly well-off to have our Saturdays to ourselves?
+How thankful the poor clerks and typists would be to be in our place!"
+
+She was smiling again, enjoying the warmth of the fire, the ease of the
+cushioned chair.  When Mrs Rogers entered she snoodled into the folds
+of a knitted shawl, and lay back placidly while the kind creature took
+off her wet shoes and stockings and replaced them by a long pair of
+fleecy woollen bed-socks, reaching knee high.  The landlady knelt to her
+task, and Sophie laid a hand on the top of starched lace and magenta
+velvet, and cried, "Rise, Lady Susan Rogers!  One of the truest ladies
+that ever breathed..."
+
+"How you do talk!" said the landlady, but her eyes shone.  As she
+expounded to her husband in the kitchen, "Miss Blake had such a way with
+her.  When ladies were like that you didn't care what you did, but there
+was them as treated you like Kaffirs."
+
+Tea was quite a cheerful and sociable little meal, during which no
+reference was made to Sophie's ailments, but when the cups had been
+replaced on the central table, Claire seated herself and said with an
+air of decision--
+
+"Now we're going to have a disagreeable conversation!  I don't approve
+of the way you have been going on this last month, and it's time it came
+to an end.  You are ill, and it's your business to take steps to get
+better!"
+
+"Oh!"
+
+"Yes; and you are going to take them, too!"
+
+"What am I going to do?"
+
+"You are going to see a specialist next week."
+
+"You surprise me!"  Sophie smiled with exaggerated lightness.  "What
+funny things one does hear!"
+
+"Why shouldn't you see a specialist?  I defy you to give me one sensible
+reason?"
+
+"I'll do better than that.  I'll give you two."
+
+"So do, then!  What are they?"
+
+"Guineas!" said Sophie.
+
+For a moment Claire stared blankly, then she laughed.
+
+"Oh, I see!  Yes.  It is rather a haul.  But it's better to harden your
+heart once for all, and pay it down."
+
+"The two guineas is only the beginning."
+
+"The beginning of what?"
+
+"Trouble!" said Sophie grimly.  "Baths, at a guinea apiece.  Massage,
+half-a-guinea a time.  Medicine, liniments, change of air.  My dear,
+it's no use.  What's the use of paying two guineas to hear a man tell
+you to do a dozen things which are hopelessly impossible?  It's paying
+good money only to be aggravated and depressed.  If it comes to that, I
+can prescribe for myself without paying a sou...  Knock off all work for
+a year.  Go to Egypt, or some perfectly dry climate, and build up your
+strength.  Always get out of London for the winter months.  Live in the
+fresh air, and avoid fatigue...  How's that?  Doesn't that strike you as
+admirable advice?"
+
+She put her head on one side with a gallant attempt at a smile, but her
+lips twitched, and the flare of the incandescent light showed her face
+lined and drawn with pain.  Claire was silent, her heart cramping with
+pain.  The clock ticked on for several minutes, before she asked
+softly--
+
+"Have you no savings, Sophie?  No money to keep you if you _did_ take a
+rest?"
+
+"Not a sou.  It's all I can do to struggle along.  I told you I had to
+help a young sister, and things run up so quickly, that it doesn't seem
+possible to save.  I suppose many people would say one ought to be able
+to do it on a hundred a year; that's all I have left for myself!
+Hundreds of women manage on less, but as a rule they come from a
+different class, and can put up with a style of living which would be
+intolerable to us.  I don't complain of the pay.  I don't think it is
+bad as things go: it's only when illness comes that one looks ahead and
+feels--frightened!  Suppose I broke down now, suppose I broke down in
+ten years' time!  I should be over forty, and after working hard for
+twenty years I should be left without a penny piece; thrown on the scrap
+heap, as a worn-out thing that was no more use.  But I might still live
+on, years upon years.  Oh, dear! why did you make me think of it?  It
+does no good; only gives one the hump.  There _is_ no Pension scheme, so
+I simply can't afford to be ill.  That's the end of it."
+
+"Don't you think if you went to Miss Farnborough, and explained to
+her--"
+
+Sophie turned a flushed, protesting face.
+
+"Never!  Not for the world, and you mustn't either.  Promise me
+faithfully that you will never give so much as a hint.  Miss Farnborough
+is a capital head, but her great consideration is for the pupils; we
+only count in so far as we are valuable to them.  She'd be sorry for me,
+of course, and would give me quite a lot of advice, but she'd think at
+once, `If she's rheumatic, she won't be so capable as a Gym. mistress; I
+must get some one else!'  No, no, my dear, I must go on, I must fight it
+out.  You'd be surprised to see how I _can_ fight when Miss Farnborough
+comes on the scene!"
+
+"Very well.  You have had your say, now I'm going to have mine!  If you
+go on as you have been doing the last month, growing stiffer week by
+week, you won't be _able_ to hide it!  The other mistresses talk about
+it already.  They were discussing you in staff-room last week.  If you
+go on trusting to chance, you are simply courting disaster.  Now I'll
+tell you what I am going to do.  I'm going to find out the address of a
+good specialist, and make an appointment for next Saturday morning.  You
+shan't have any trouble about it, and I'll call in a taxi, and take you
+myself, and bring you safely back.  And it will be the wisest and the
+cheapest two guineas you ever spent in your life.  Now!  What have you
+got to say to that?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know, I don't know!  You are very kind.  I suppose I ought
+to be grateful.  I suppose you are right.  Oh, I'll go, I suppose, I
+must go.  _Bother_!" cried Sophie ungraciously, whereupon Claire hastily
+changed the conversation, and made no further reference to health during
+the rest of her visit.
+
+Mrs Willoughby supplied the name of a specialist; the specialist
+granted an appointment for the following Saturday at noon, when the two
+girls duly appeared in his consulting-room; and Sophie underwent the
+usual examination, during which the great doctor's face assumed a
+serious air.  Finally he returned to the round-backed chair which stood
+against the desk, and faced his patient across the room.  Sophie was
+looking flushed and pretty, she was wearing her best clothes, and she
+wore them with an air which might well delude a masculine eye into
+believing them much better than they really were.  Claire had her usual
+smart, well-turned-out appearance.  They seemed to the doctor's eyes two
+prosperous members of Society.
+
+"I fear," he said gravely, "I fear that there is no doubt that your
+rheumatism is the sort most difficult to treat.  It is a clear case of
+rheumatoid arthritis, but you are young, and the disease is in an early
+stage, so that we must hope for the best.  In olden times it was
+supposed to be an incurable complaint, but of late years we have had
+occasional cures, quite remarkable cures, which have mitigated that
+decision.  You must realise, however, that it is a difficult fight, and
+that you will need much patience and perseverance."
+
+"How soon do you think you can cure me?"
+
+The doctor looked into Sophie's face, and his eyes were pitiful.
+
+"I wish I could say, but I fear that's impossible.  Different people are
+affected by different cures.  You must go on experimenting until you
+find one that will suit your case; meanwhile there are certain definite
+instructions which you would do well to observe.  In what part of London
+do you live?"  He pursed-up his lips at the reply.  "Clay!  Heavy clay.
+The worst thing you could have.  That must be altered at once.  It is
+essential that you live on light, gravelly soil, and even then you
+should not be in England in winter.  You should go abroad for four or
+five months."
+
+Sophie cast a lightning glance at her companion.  "It's impossible!" she
+said shortly.  "I can't move.  I can't go abroad.  I am a High School-
+mistress.  I am obliged to stay at my work.  I am dependent on my
+salary.  I knew it was stupid to come.  I knew what you would say.  I
+told my friend.  It was her doing.  She made me come--"
+
+"I am very much indebted to your friend," the doctor said genially.
+"She was quite right to insist that you should have advice, and now that
+I know the circumstances, I'll try not to be unreasonable.  I know how
+aggravating it must be to be ordered to do things which are clearly
+impossible; but you are young, and you are threatened with a disease
+which may cripple your life.  I want to do all that is in my power to
+help you.  Let's talk it over quietly, and see what can be done."
+
+"I'm in school every day until half-past four, except on Saturdays, and
+I can't afford to wait.  I _must_ get better, and I must be quick about
+it, or I shall lose my post.  If I leave this school through rheumatism,
+it will go down in my testimonial, and I should never get another
+opening.  I'm the Gym. mistress."
+
+"Poor girl!" said the doctor kindly.  "Well," he added, "I can say one
+thing for your encouragement; you could not help yourself more than by
+preserving your present attitude of mind.  To determine to get better,
+and to get better quickly, is a very valuable aid to material means.
+And now I will tell you what I propose."
+
+He bent forward in his chair, talking earnestly and rapidly.  There was
+no time to be lost, since the disease was apt to take sudden leaps
+forward; at this stage every day was of value; the enemy must be
+attacked before he had made good his hold.  There was a new treatment
+which, within his own experience, had had excellent results.  It was not
+a certainty; it was very far from a certainty, but it was a chance, and
+it had this merit, that a month or six weeks would prove its efficacy in
+any special case.  If this failed, something else must be tried, but
+most cures were very long, very costly.  He would propose in the first
+instance giving two injections a week; later on three or even four.
+There might be a certain amount of reaction.
+
+"What do you mean by reaction?"  Sophie asked.
+
+"Fever, headache.  Possibly sickness, but not lasting for more than
+twenty-four hours."
+
+Sophie set her lips.
+
+"I have no time to be ill!"
+
+The doctor looked at her with deliberate sternness.
+
+"You will have all your life to be ill, if you do not take care now!  I
+will do what I can to help you; we will arrange the times most
+convenient to you.  You might come to me at first direct from school on
+Wednesdays and Saturdays.  Later on the system will accustom itself, and
+you will probably feel no bad effects.  I should like to undertake your
+case myself.  My charge to you will be a quarter of my ordinary fee."
+
+"Thank you very much," stammered Sophie, "but--"
+
+Claire jumped up, and hastily interposed.
+
+"Thank you so very much!  We are most grateful, but it's--it's been
+rather a shock, and we have not had time to think.  Will you allow us to
+write and tell you our decision?"
+
+"Certainly.  Certainly.  But be quick about it.  I am anxious to help,
+but every week's delay will make the case more difficult.  Try to
+arrange for Wednesday next."
+
+As he spoke he led the way towards the door.  He had been all that was
+kind and considerate, but there were other patients waiting; all day
+long a procession of sufferers were filing into that room.  He had no
+more time to give to Sophie Blake.  The two girls went out into the
+street, got into a taxi and were driven swiftly away.  Neither spoke.
+They drew up before the door of Sophie's lodgings, entered the cosy
+sitting-room and sat down by the fire.
+
+"Well!"  Sophie's face was flushed, her eyes were dry and feverishly
+bright.  "I hope you are satisfied, my dear.  I've been to a specialist
+to please you, and a most depressing entertainment it has been.
+Arthritis!  That's the thing people have who go about in Bath chairs,
+and have horrible twisted fingers.  It was supposed to be incurable, but
+now they have `an occasional cure,' so I must hope for the best!  I do
+think doctors are the stupidest things!  They have no tact.  He could
+tell me that in one breath, and in the other that it was most important
+that I should have hope.  Well!  I _have_ hope.  I _have_ faith, but
+it's not because of his stupid injections.  I believe in God, and God
+knows that I need my health, and that other people need it too.  My
+little sister!  What would happen to her if I crocked now?  I don't
+believe He will _let_ me grow worse!"
+
+"That's all right, Sophie dear, but oughtn't you to use the means?  I
+don't call it trusting in the right sense if you set yourself against
+the help that comes along.  God doesn't work miracles as He did in the
+old way; the world has progressed since those old times, and now He
+works through men.  It is a miracle just the same, though it shows
+itself in a more natural fashion.  Don't you call it a miracle that a
+busy doctor should offer to treat you himself, at the hours most
+convenient to you, and to do it at a quarter of his usual fees?"
+
+"His fee for to-day was two guineas.  They always charge that, I
+suppose--these specialist people.  A quarter of that would mean half-a-
+guinea a visit.  Two half-guineas equal one guinea.  Later on, three or
+four half-guineas a week would equal one-and-a-half to two guineas.  Two
+guineas equal my whole income.  Very kind, no doubt--very kind indeed.
+And just about as feasible as if he'd said a thousand pounds."
+
+Claire was busy calculating, her fingers playing upon her knee.  Ten
+guineas ought to pay for the six weeks which would test the efficacy of
+the vaccine.  Surely there could not be any serious difficulty about ten
+guineas?
+
+"Wouldn't your brother?"
+
+Sophie shook her head.
+
+"I wouldn't ask him.  He has four small children, and he does so much
+for Emily.  More than he can afford.  He works too hard, poor fellow.
+If it were a certainty, perhaps it might be managed somehow; but it's
+only a chance, and six weeks won't see the end."
+
+"But the end will be quicker if you begin at once.  The doctor said that
+every day was of importance.  Sophie, listen!  I've got the money.  I've
+got it lying in the bank.  I'll lend it to you.  I'd love to lend it.
+If you'll let me, I'll send you a cheque to-night; that will pay for the
+first six weeks--"
+
+Sophie stretched out her hand, and gave a momentary clasp to Claire's
+fingers.
+
+"You _are_ a good soul!  Fancy offering that to a stranger like me!
+It's noble of you, my dear.  Perfectly sweet!  I'm awfully grateful, but
+it's absolutely impossible that I could accept.  When could I pay you
+back?  I've never been able to save, but I _have_ kept out of debt, and
+it would worry me to death to have ten pounds hanging round my neck.
+Besides, we shouldn't be any further.  At the end of the six weeks I
+should either be better, in which case he would certainly want me to go
+on; or worse, when I should have to try something else!  You don't
+propose that I should go on borrowing from you at the rate of one or two
+guineas a week?"
+
+"I--I'm afraid I haven't got it to give."
+
+"Very well, then--there you are!  What's the good of beginning at all?"
+
+Claire put her hands over her face and thought with that intense and
+selfless thought which is as a prayer for help.  The future seemed dark
+indeed, and the feeling of helplessness was hard to bear.  Two lonely
+girls, with no one to help, and so much help that was needed!  Here was
+indeed the time for prayer.
+
+"Sophie, it's horribly difficult; we can't see ahead.  We can only `do
+the next thing.'  It is your duty to take this cure _now_, and the way
+has opened for that.  When we've come to the end of the six weeks, it
+may open again.  You said you have trust in God.  It's no use talking
+generalities, if you are not prepared to put your faith into practice.
+The question for to-day is, _Can you trust Him for the beginning of
+May_?"
+
+Sophie smiled.
+
+"I like that!  That's a nice way of putting it.  Yes, I can; but, Claire
+(I must call you Claire, you are such a dear!), I wish it didn't mean
+borrowing other people's money!  It will be years before I can pay you
+back.  It may be that I can never do it."
+
+"I would have said `give,' but I was afraid it would hurt your pride.
+My stepfather gave me some money to buy jewellery for a wedding present,
+and as a pure matter of selfishness I'd get more pleasure out of helping
+you than out of a stupid brooch.  And listen, Sophie, listen!  I'm going
+to explain.--I chose to take up teaching because I wanted to be
+independent, and I knew my mother would be happier without me during the
+first years of her marriage; but she is devoted to me, and I know in
+time she will crave to have me back.  She isn't strong, and she finds
+the Indian climate trying, so very likely she may _need_ my help.  I
+shall never be sorry that I came to London, for work is a splendid
+experience, and I am glad to have it; but I have never the feeling that
+it is going to _last_.  Mother comes first, and my stepfather is quite
+well-off, and can afford to keep me; so if I were _needed_, I should not
+feel that I was sacrificing my independence in letting him do it.  So
+you see I am not quite in the same position as the other mistresses, and
+money is not of the same importance.  If you were in my place, Sophie,
+would you hesitate to lend me a ten-pound note?"
+
+"Guineas, please!" cried Sophie, laughing to hide her tears.  "All
+right, my dear, all right!  I give in.  I lie down.  You've beaten me.
+I've nothing more to say.  I'll take the horrid old injections, and pay
+for them with your money, and--and--I think I'll go to bed now, please!
+I've had about as much as I can bear for one short day!"
+
+"And I'll go home and have a rest myself.  I am to help at a bazaar this
+afternoon, and I don't feel at all in my full beauty.  Good-bye, Sophie.
+Cheer up!  There's a good time coming!"
+
+"There's a good time coming for _you_!" predicted Sophie confidently.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
+
+"LEND ME FIVE POUNDS!"
+
+The contrasts of life seemed painfully strong to Claire Gifford that
+Saturday afternoon as she seated herself in the luxurious car by Mrs
+Willoughby's side, and thought of Sophie Blake obliged to borrow ten
+pounds to pay for a chance of health, and the contrast deepened during
+the next few hours, as she watched beautifully gowned women squandering
+money on useless trifles which decked the various "stalls."  Embroidered
+cushions, painted sachets, veil cases, shaving cases, night-dress cases,
+bridge bags, fan bags, handkerchief bags, work bags; bags of every size,
+of every shape, of every conceivable material; bead necklaces, mats--a
+wilderness of mats--a very pyramid of drawn-thread work.  Claire found a
+seat near the principal stall, where she caught the remarks of the
+buyers as they turned away. "...I detest painted satin!  Can't think why
+I bought that ridiculous sachet.  It will have to go on to the next
+bazaar."
+
+"...That makes my twenty-third bag!  Rather a sweet, though, isn't he?
+It will go with my grey dress."
+
+"This is awful!  I'm not getting on at all.  I can't decently spend less
+than five pounds.  For goodness' sake tell me what to buy!"
+
+"Can't think why people give bazaars!  Such an upset in the house.  For
+some charity, I believe--I forget what.  She asked me to come..."
+
+So on and so on; scores of women surging to and fro, swinging bags of
+gold and silver chain, buying baubles for which they had no use;
+occasionally--very occasionally, for love of the cause; often--very
+often because Lady --- had sent a personal invitation, and Lady --- was
+a useful friend, and gave such charming balls!
+
+At the two concerts Claire had a pleasant success, which she enjoyed
+with all her heart.  Her whistling performance seemed to act as a
+general introduction, for every listener seemed to be anxious to talk to
+her, and to ask an infinitude of questions.  Was it difficult?  How long
+did it take to learn?  Was she nervous?  Wasn't it difficult not to
+laugh?  How did she manage not to look a fright?  Did she do it often?
+Did she _mind_?  This last question usually led up to a tentative
+mention of some entertainment in which the speaker was interested, but
+after the first refusal Claire was on guard, and regretted that her time
+was filled up.  She was eager to help Mrs Willoughby, but had no desire
+to be turned into an unpaid public performer!
+
+Janet did not appear at the bazaar, so the drive home was once more a
+_tete-a-tete_, during which Mrs Willoughby questioned Claire as to the
+coming holidays, and expressed pleasure to hear that they were to be
+spent in Brussels.  She was so kind and motherly in her manner that
+Claire was emboldened to bespeak her interest on Sophie's behalf.
+
+"I suppose," she said tentatively, "you don't know of any family going
+abroad to a dry climate--it must be a very dry climate--who would like
+to take a girl with them to--er--to be a sort of help!  She's a pretty
+girl, and very gay and amusing, and she's had the highest possible
+training in health exercises.  She would be splendid if there was a
+delicate child who needed physical development, and, of course, she is
+quite well educated all round.  She could teach up to a certain point.
+She is the Gym. mistress in my school, and is very popular with the
+girls."
+
+"And why does she want to leave?"
+
+"She's not well.  It's rheumatism--a bad kind of rheumatism.  It is just
+beginning, and the doctor says it ought to be tackled at once, and that
+to live on clay soil is the worst thing for her.  If she stays at Saint
+Cuthbert's she's practically bound to live on clay.  And he says she
+ought to get out of England for the next few winters.  She has not a
+penny beyond her salary, but if she could find a post--"
+
+"Well, why not?"  Mrs Willoughby's voice was full of a cheerful
+optimism.  "I don't know of anything at present, but I'll make inquiries
+among my friends.  There ought not to be any difficulty.  So many people
+winter abroad; and there is quite a craze for these physical exercises.
+Oh, yes, my dear, I am sure I can help.  Poor thing! poor girl! it's so
+important to keep her health.  I must find some one who will be
+considerate, and not work her too hard."
+
+She spoke as if the post were a settled thing; as if there were several
+posts from which to choose.  Probably there were.  Among her large
+circle of wealthy friends this popular and influential woman, given a
+little trouble, could almost certainly find a chance for Sophie Blake.
+_Given a little trouble_!  That was the rub!  Five out of six of the
+women who had thronged Lady ---'s rooms that afternoon would have
+dismissed Sophie's case with an easy sympathy, "Poor creature!  Quite
+too sad, but really, you know, my dear, it's a shocking mistake to
+recommend any one to a friend.  If anything goes wrong, you get blamed
+yourself.  Isn't there a Home?"  Mrs Willoughby was the exception to
+the rule; she helped in deed, as well as in word.  Claire looked at the
+large plain face with a very passion of admiration.
+
+"Oh, I wish all women were like you!  I'm so glad you are rich.  I hope
+you will go on growing richer and richer.  You are the right person to
+have money, because you help, you _want_ to help, you remember other
+women who are poor."
+
+"My dear," said Mrs Willoughby softly, "I have been poor myself.  My
+father lost his money, and for years we had a hard struggle.  Then I
+married--for love, my dear, not money, but there was money, too,--more
+money than I could spend.  It was an intoxicating experience, and I
+found it difficult not to be carried away.  My dear husband had settled
+a large income on me, for my own use, so I determined, as a safeguard,
+to divide it in two, and use half for myself and half for gentlewomen
+like your friend, who need a helping hand.  I have done that now for
+twenty-five years, but I give out of my abundance, my dear; it is easy
+for me to give money; I deserve no credit for that."
+
+"You give time, too, and sympathy, and kindness.  It's no use, Mrs
+Willoughby.  I've put you on the topmost pinnacle in my mind, and
+nothing that you can say can pull you down.  I think you are the best
+woman in London!"
+
+"Dear, dear, you will turn my head!  I'm not accustomed to such
+wholesale flattery," cried Mrs Willoughby, laughing; then the car
+stopped, and Claire made her adieux, and sprang lightly to the ground.
+
+The chauffeur had stopped before the wrong house, but he did not
+discover his mistake as Claire purposely stood still until he had turned
+the car and started to retrace his way westward.  The evening was fine
+though chill, and the air was refreshing after the crowded heat of Lady
+---'s rooms.  Claire had only the length of a block to walk, and she
+went slowly, drawing deep breaths to fill her tired lungs.
+
+The afternoon had passed pleasantly enough, but it had left her feeling
+flat and depressed.  She questioned herself as to the cause of her
+depression.  Was she jealous of those other girls who lived lives of
+luxury and idleness?  Honestly she was not.  She was not in the position
+of a girl who had known nothing but poverty, and who therefore felt a
+girl's natural longing for pretty rooms, pretty clothes, and a taste of
+gaiety and excitement.  Claire had known all these things, and could
+know them again; neither was she in the position of a working girl who
+has no one to help in the day of adversity, for a comfortable home was
+open to her at any moment.  No! she was not jealous: she probed still
+deeper, and acknowledged that she was disappointed!  Last time that she
+had whistled in public--
+
+Claire shook her head with an impatient toss.  This was feeble.  This
+was ridiculous.  A man whom she had met twice!  A man whose mother had
+refused an introduction.  A man whom Janet--
+
+"I must get to work, and prepare my lesson for Monday.  Nothing like
+good work to drive away these sentimental follies!"
+
+But Fate was not kind, for right before her eyes were a couple of lovers
+strolling onward, the man's hand through the girl's arm, his head bent
+low over hers.  Claire winced at the sight, but the next moment her
+interest quickened in a somewhat painful fashion, as the man
+straightened himself suddenly, and swung apart with a gesture of
+offence.  The lovers were quarrelling!  Now the width of the pavement
+was between them; they strode onward, ostentatiously detached.  Claire
+smiled to herself at the childishness of the display.  One moment
+embracing in the open street, the next flaunting their differences so
+boldly that every passer-by must realise the position!  Surely a grown
+man or woman ought to have more self-control.  Then suddenly the light
+of a lamp shone on the pair, and she recognised the familiar figures of
+Mary Rhodes and Major Carew.  He wore a long light overcoat.  Cecil had
+evidently slipped out of the house to meet him, for she was attired in
+her sports coat and knitted cap.  Poor Cecil!  The interview seemed to
+be ending in anything but a pleasant fashion.
+
+Claire lingered behind until the couple had passed her own doorway, let
+herself in with her latch-key, and hastened to settle down to work.
+When Cecil came in, she would not wish to be observed.  Claire carried
+her books to the bureau, so as to have her back to the fire, but before
+she had been five minutes writing, she heard the click of the lock, and
+Cecil herself came into the room.
+
+"Halloa!  I saw the light go up.  I thought it must be you."  She was
+silent for a couple of minutes, then spoke again in a sharp, summoning
+voice: "Claire!"
+
+"Yes?"
+
+Claire turned round, to behold Cecil standing at the end of the dining-
+table, her bare hands clasping its rim.  She was so white that her lips
+looked of a startling redness; her eyes met Claire with a defiant
+hardness.
+
+"I want you to lend me five pounds _now_!"
+
+Claire's anxiety was swallowed in a rising of irritation which brought
+an edge of coldness into her voice.
+
+"Five pounds!  What for?  Cecil, I have never spoken of it, I have never
+worried you, but I've already paid--"
+
+"I know!  I know!  I'll pay you back.  But I must have this to-night,
+and I've nowhere else to go.  It's important.  I would lend it to you,
+Claire, if it were in my power."
+
+"Cecil, I hate to refuse, but really--I _need_ my money!  Just now I
+need it particularly.  I can't afford to go on lending.  I'm dreadfully
+sorry, but--"
+
+"Claire, please!  I implore you, just this one time!  I'll pay you
+back...  There's my insurance policy--I can raise something on that.
+For pity's sake, Claire, help me this time!"
+
+Claire rose silently and went upstairs.  It was not in her to refuse
+such a request while a five-pound note lay in her desk upstairs.  She
+slipped the crackling paper into an envelope, and carried it down to the
+parlour.  Cecil took it without a word, and went back into the night.
+
+When she had gone, Claire gathered her papers together in a neat little
+heap, ranged them in a corner of the bureau, and seated herself on a
+stiff-backed chair at the end of the table.  She looked as if she were
+mounted on a seat of justice, and the position suited her frame of mind.
+She felt angry and ill-used.  Cecil had no right to borrow money from a
+fellow-worker!  The money in the bank was dwindling rapidly; the ten
+guineas for Sophie would make another big hole.  She did not grudge
+that--she was eager and ready to give it for so good a cause; but _what_
+was Cecil doing with these repeated loans?  To judge from appearances,
+she was rather poorer than richer during the last few months, while
+bills for her new clothes came in again and again, and received no
+settlement.  An obstinate look settled on Claire's face.  She determined
+to have this thing out.
+
+In ten minutes' time Cecil was back again, still white, still defiant,
+meeting Claire's glance with a shrug, seating herself at the opposite
+end of the table with an air of callous indifference to what should come
+next.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"You look as if you had something to say!"
+
+"I have.  Cecil, what are you doing with all this money?"
+
+"That's my business, I suppose!"
+
+"I don't see it, when the money is mine!  I think I have the right to
+ask?"
+
+"I've told you I'll pay you back!"
+
+"That's not the question.  I want to know what you are doing _now_!  You
+are not paying your bills."
+
+"I'll sell out some shares to-morrow, and--"
+
+"You shall do no such thing.  I can wait, and I will wait, but I can't
+go on lending; and if I did, it could do you no good.  Where does the
+money go?  It does _you_ no good!"
+
+"I am the best judge of that."
+
+"Cecil, _are you lending money to that man_?"
+
+The words leapt out, as on occasion such words will leap, without
+thought or premeditation on the speaker's part.  She did not intend to
+speak them; if she had given herself one moment for reflection she dared
+not have spoken them; when their sound struck across the quiet room she
+was almost as much startled as Cecil herself; yet heart and brain
+approved their utterance; heart and brain pronounced that she had
+discovered the truth.
+
+Cecil's face was a deep glowing red.
+
+"Really, Claire, you go too far!  Why in the world should you think--"
+
+"I saw you with him now in the street.  I could see that you were
+quarrelling; you took no pains to hide it.  You left him to come in to
+me, and went back again.  It seems pretty obvious."
+
+"Well! and if I did?"  Cecil had plainly decided that denial was
+useless.  "I am responsible for the loan.  What does it matter to you
+who uses it?"
+
+But at that Claire's anger vanished, and she shrank back with a cry of
+pain and shame.
+
+"And he _took_ it from you?  Money!  Took it from a girl he professes to
+love--who is working for herself!  Oh, Cecil, how _could_ he?  How could
+you allow him?  How can you go on caring for such a man?"
+
+"Don't get hysterical, Claire, please.  There's nothing so extraordinary
+in a man being hard up.  It's happened before now in the history of the
+world.  Frank has a position to keep up, and his father--I've told you
+before how mean and difficult his father is, and it's so important that
+Frank should keep on good terms just now.--He dare not worry him for
+money.  When he is going to make me a rich woman some day, why should I
+refuse to lend him a few trifling pounds when he runs short?  He's in an
+expensive regiment; he belongs to an expensive Club; he is obliged to
+keep up with the other men.  If I had twice as much I would lend it with
+pleasure."
+
+Claire opened her lips to say that at least no more borrowed money
+should be supplied for Major Carew, but the words were never spoken.
+Pity engulfed her, a passion of pity for the poor woman who a second
+time had fallen under the spell of an unscrupulous man.  Cecil's
+explanation had fallen on deaf ears, for Claire could accept no excuses
+for a man who borrowed from a woman to ensure comfort and luxury for
+himself.  An officer in the King's army!  The thing seemed incredible;
+so incredible that, for the first time, a rising of suspicion mingled
+with her dislike.  Mentally, she rehearsed the facts of Major Carew's
+history as narrated by himself, and found herself doubting every one.
+The beautiful house in the country--did it really exist?  The eccentric
+old father who refused to part with his gold--was he flesh and blood, or
+a fictitious figure invented as a convenient excuse?  The fortune which
+was to enrich the future--_was_ there such a fortune?  Or, if there
+were, was Major Carew in truth the eldest son?  Claire felt a
+devastating helplessness her life abroad had left her ignorant of many
+British institutions; she knew nothing of the books in which she might
+have traced the Carew history; she had nothing to guide her but her own
+feminine instinct, but if that instinct were right, what was to become
+of Mary Rhodes?
+
+Her face looked so sad, so downcast, that Cecil's conscience was
+pricked.
+
+"Poor old Claire!" she said gently, "how I do worry you, to be sure!
+Never mind, my dear, I'll make it up to you one day.  You've been a
+brick to me, and I shan't forget it.  And I'll go to my mother's for the
+whole of the Easter holidays, and save up my pennies to pay you back.
+The poor old soul felt defrauded because I stayed only a week at
+Christmas, so she'll be thankful to have me.  You can go to Brussels
+with an easy mind, knowing that I'm out of temptation.  That will be
+killing two birds with one stone.  What do you say to having cocoa now,
+instead of waiting till nine o'clock?  We've tired ourselves out with
+all this fuss?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
+
+THE MEETING IN HYDE PARK.
+
+It was the end of May.  The weather was warm and sunny, the windows of
+the West End were gay with flowers; in the Park the great beds of
+rhododendrons blazed forth in a glow of beauty.  It was the season, and
+a particularly gay and festive season at that.  "Everybody" was in town,
+including a few million "nobodies."  There were clerks toiling by their
+thousands in the City, chained all day long to their desks; there were
+clerks' wives at home in the suburbs, toiling all day too, and sometimes
+far into the night; there were typists, and shop assistants, and
+prosperous heads of households, who worked steadily for five and a half
+days a week, in order that their families might enjoy comfort and ease,
+condensing their own relaxation into short Saturday afternoons.  And
+there were school-mistresses, too, who saw the sun through form-room
+windows, but felt its call all the same--the call of the whole glad
+spring--and grew restless, and nervous, and short in temper.  It was not
+the leaders of society whom they envied; they read of Court balls, and
+garden parties, of preparations for Ascot and Henley with a serene
+detachment, just as they read with indifference in the fashion page of a
+daily newspaper that "Square watches are the vogue this season, and our
+_elegantes_ are ordering several specimens of this dainty bauble to
+match the prevailing colours of their costumes," the while they suffered
+real pangs at the sight of an "alarming sacrifice" at twenty-nine and
+six.  The one was almost within their grasp; the other floated in the
+nebulous atmosphere of a different sphere.
+
+In the staff-room at lunch-time the staff grew restless and critical.
+The hot joints no longer appealed to their appetites, the watery
+vegetables and heavy puddings became things abhorred.  They thought of
+cool salads and _compotes_ on ice, and hated the sight of the greasy
+brown gravy.  They blamed the cook, they blamed the Committee, they said
+repeatedly, "Nobody thinks of _us_!" and exchanged anecdotes
+illustrative of the dulness, the stupidity of their pupils.  As for the
+Matric. candidates, they would _all_ fail!  There wasn't a chance for a
+single one.  The stupidest set of girls the school had ever possessed!
+Oh, certainly they would all fail!
+
+"And then," said Mary Rhodes bitterly, "_we_ shall be blamed."
+
+The Arts mistress said with a sigh--
+
+"Oh, wouldn't it be heavenly to run away from it all, and have a week-
+end in the country!  The gorse will be out, and the hawthorn still in
+blossom.  What's the very cheapest one could do it on for two days?"
+
+Mademoiselle said--
+
+"Absolutely, _ma chere_, there is no help for it.  It is necessary that
+I have a distraction.  I must buy a new hat."
+
+Sophie Blake said defiantly to herself--
+
+"Crippled?  Ridiculous!  I _refuse_ to be crippled.  I want to run, and
+run, and run, and run, and dance, and sing, and jump about!  I feel
+pent!  I feel caged!  And all that precious money squandered on
+injections..."
+
+The six weeks' course of treatment had been, from the doctor's point of
+view, a complete success; from Sophie's a big disappointment.  She
+argued that she was still stiff, still in pain, that the improvement was
+but small; he pointed out that without the injections she would of a
+certainty have been worse, and since in arthritis even to remain
+stationary was a success, to have improved in the smallest degree in six
+weeks' time might be regarded as a triumph.  He prescribed a restful
+holiday during the Easter vacation, and a second course of treatment on
+her return.  Sophie resigned herself to do without new clothes for the
+summer, and sold her most treasured possession, a diamond ring which had
+belonged to her mother, so that the second ten pounds was secure.  But
+how was she to pay back the original loan?
+
+Meanwhile Mrs Willoughby was inquiring among her friends for a suitable
+post, and had played the good fairy by arranging to send Sophie for the
+Easter holidays to a country cottage on the Surrey heights, which she
+ran as a health resort for gentlewomen.  Here on a fine dry soil, the
+air scented with the fragrant breath of the pines, with nothing to do,
+and plenty of appetising food to eat, the Gym. mistress's general health
+improved so rapidly that she came back to school with her thin cheeks
+quite filled out.
+
+"Very satisfactory," said the doctor.  "Now I shall be able to get on to
+stronger doses!"
+
+"What's the good of getting better, only to be made worse?" cried Sophie
+in rebellion.
+
+Cecil's loan remained unpaid.  She had spent her holidays with her
+mother as arranged, but her finances did not appear to have profited
+thereby.  Dunning for bills became so incessant that the landlady spoke
+severely of the "credit of the house."  She went out constantly in the
+evening, and several times Claire heard Major Carew's voice at the door,
+but he never came into the house, and there was no talk of an open
+engagement.
+
+As for Claire herself, she had had a happy time in Brussels, staying
+with both English and Belgian friends and re-visiting all the old
+haunts.  She thoroughly enjoyed the change, but could not honestly say
+that she wished the old life to return.  If she came back with a heavy
+heart, it was neither poverty nor work which she feared, but rather the
+want of that atmosphere of love and kindliness which make the very
+essence of home.  At the best of times Mary Rhodes was a difficult
+companion and far from affectionate in manner, but since the giving of
+that last loan, there had arisen a mental barrier which it seemed
+impossible to surmount.  It had become difficult to keep up a
+conversation apart from school topics, and both girls found themselves
+dreading the evening's _tete-a-tete_.
+
+Claire felt like a caged bird beating against the bars.  She wanted an
+outlet from the school life, and the call of the spring was insistent to
+one who until now had spent the summer in wandering about some of the
+loveliest scenes in Europe.  She wearied of the everlasting streets, and
+discovered that by hurrying home after afternoon school, making a quick
+change of clothing, and catching a motor-'bus at the corner of the road,
+she could reach Hyde Park by half-past five, and spend a happy hour
+sitting on one of the green chairs, enjoying the beauty of the flowers,
+and watching the never-ending stream of pedestrians and vehicles.
+Sometimes she recognised Mrs Willoughby and Janet bowling past in their
+luxurious motor, but they never saw her, and she was not anxious that
+they should.  What she wanted was to sit still and rest.  Sometimes a
+smartly-dressed woman, obviously American, would seat herself on the
+next chair, and inquire as to the best chance of seeing the Queen, and
+the question being amiably answered, would proceed to unasked
+confidences.  She thought England "sweet."  She had just come over to
+this side.  She was staying till the fall.  Who was the lady in the
+elegant blue auto?  The London fashions were just too cute!  When they
+parted, the fair American invariably said, "Pleased to have met you!"
+and looked as though she meant it into the bargain, and Claire whole-
+heartedly echoed the sentiment.  She liked these women with their keen,
+child-like enthusiasm, their friendly, gracious ways.  In contrast to
+them the ordinary Englishwoman seemed cold and aloof.
+
+One brilliant afternoon when the Park was unusually bright and gay,
+Claire was seated near the Achilles statue, carelessly scanning the
+passers-by, when, with a sudden leap of the heart, she saw Erskine
+Fanshawe some twenty yards ahead, strolling towards her, accompanied by
+two ladies.  He was talking to his companions with every appearance of
+enjoyment, and had no attention to spare for the rows of spectators on
+the massed green chairs.  Claire felt the blood rush to her face in the
+shock of surprise and agitation.  She had never contemplated the
+possibility of such a meeting, for Captain Fanshawe had not appeared the
+type of man who would care to take part in a fashionable parade, and the
+sudden appearance of the familiar face among the crowd made her heart
+leap with a force that was physically painful.  Then, the excitement
+over, she realised with a second pang, almost as painful as the first,
+that in another minute he would have passed by, unseeing, unknowing, to
+disappear into space for probably months to come.  At the thought
+rebellion arose in her heart.  She felt a wild impulse to leave her seat
+and advance towards him; she longed with a sudden desperation of longing
+to meet his eyes, to see his smile, but pride held her back.  She sat
+motionless watching with strained eyes.
+
+One of Captain Fanshawe's companions was old, the other young--a pretty,
+fashionably-dressed girl, who appeared abundantly content with her
+escort.  All three were watching with amusement the movements of a stout
+elderly dame, who sauntered immediately ahead, leading by a leash a
+French poodle, fantastically shaved, and decorated with ribbon bows.
+The stout dame was evidently extravagantly devoted to her pet, and
+viewed with alarm the approach of a jaunty black and white terrier.
+
+The terrier cocked his ears, and elevating his stump of a tail, yapped
+at the be-ribboned spaniel with all a terrier's contempt, as he advanced
+to the attack.  The stout dame screamed, dropped the leash, and hit at
+the terrier with the handle of her parasol.  The poodle evidently
+considering flight the best policy, doubled and fled in the direction of
+the green chairs, to come violently to anchor against Claire's knee.
+The crowd stared, the stout dame hurried forward.  Claire, placing a
+soothing hand on the dog's head, lifted a flushed, smiling face, and in
+so doing caught the lift of a hat, met for the moment the glance of
+startled eyes.
+
+The stout lady was not at all grateful.  She spoke as sharply as though
+Claire, and Claire alone, had been the cause of her pet's upset.  She
+strode majestically away, leaving Claire trembling, confused, living
+over again those short moments.  She had seen him; he had seen her!  He
+was alive and well, living within a few miles of herself, yet as far
+apart as in another continent.  It was six months since they had last
+met.  It might be six years before they met again.  But he had seemed
+pleased to see her.  Short as had been that passing glance, there was no
+mistaking its interest.  He was surprised, but pleasure had overridden
+surprise.  If he had been alone, he would have hurried forward with
+outstretched hand.  In imagination she could see him coming, his grave
+face lightened with joy.  Oh, if _only, only_ he had been alone!  But he
+was with friends; he had the air of being content and interested, and
+the girl was pretty, far prettier than Janet Willoughby.
+
+"Good afternoon!"
+
+She turned gasping; he was standing before her, holding out his hand.
+He had left his companions and come back to join her.  His face looked
+flushed, as though he had rushed back at express speed.  He had seemed
+interested and content, and the girl was pretty, yet he had come back to
+her!  He seated himself on the chair by her side, and looked at her with
+eager eyes.
+
+"I haven't seen you for six months!"
+
+"I was just--" Claire began impulsively, drew herself up, and finished
+demurely--"I suppose it is."
+
+"You haven't been at either of Mrs Willoughby's `At Homes.'"
+
+"No; but I've seen a good deal of them all the same.  They have been so
+kind."
+
+"Don't you care for the `At Homes'?  I asked Mrs Willoughby about you,
+and she seemed to imply that you preferred not to go."
+
+"Oh, no!  Oh, no!  That was quite wrong.  I _did_ enjoy that evening.
+It was a--a misunderstanding, I think," said Claire, much exercised to
+find an explanation of what could really not be explained.  Of the third
+"At Home" she had heard nothing until this moment, and a pang of
+retrospective disappointment mingled with her present content.  "I have
+been to the house several times when they were alone," she continued
+eagerly.  "They even asked me on Christmas Day."
+
+"I know," he said shortly.  "I was in Saint Moritz, skating in the
+sunshine, when I heard how you were spending _your_ Christmas holidays."
+His face looked suddenly grim and set.  "A man feels pretty helpless at
+a time like that.  I didn't exactly enjoy myself for the rest of that
+afternoon."
+
+"That was stupid of you, but--but very nice all the same," Claire said
+softly.  "It wouldn't have made things easier for me if other people had
+been dull, and, after all, I came off better than I expected."
+
+"You were all alone--in your Grand Hotel?"
+
+"Only for a week."  Claire resolutely ignored the hit.  "Then my friend
+came back, and we made some little excursions together, and enjoyed
+being lazy, and getting up late, and reading lots of nice books.  I had
+made all sorts of good resolutions about the work I was going to get
+through in the holidays, but I never did one thing."
+
+"Do you often come to the Park?"
+
+Claire felt a pang of regret.  Was it possible that even this simple
+pleasure was to be denied her?  She knew too well that if she said
+"yes," Captain Fanshawe would look out for her again, would come with
+the express intention of meeting her.  To say "yes" would be virtually
+to consent to such meetings.  It was a temptation which took all her
+strength to reject, but rejected it must be.  She would not stoop to the
+making of a rendez-vous.
+
+"I have been several times, but I shan't be able to come any more.  We
+get busier towards the end of the term.  Examinations--"
+
+Captain Fanshawe straightened himself, and said in a very stiff voice--
+
+"I also, unfortunately, am extremely busy, so I shall not be able to see
+the rhododendrons in their full beauty.  I had hoped you might be more
+fortunate."
+
+Claire stared at a passing motor, of which she saw nothing but a moving
+mass; when she turned back it was to find her companion's eyes fixed on
+her face, with an expression half guilty, half appealing, altogether
+ingratiating.  At the sight her lips twitched, and suddenly they were
+laughing together with a delicious consciousness of understanding.
+
+"Well!" he cried, "it's true!  I mean it!  There's no need to stay away
+because of me; but as I _am_ here to-day, and it's my last chance, won't
+you let me give you tea?  If we walk along to Victoria Gate--"
+
+Claire thought with a spasm of longing of the little tables under the
+awning; of the pretty animated scene; but no, it might not be.  Her
+acquaintance with this man was too casual to allow her to accept his
+hospitality in a public place.
+
+"Thank you very much, but I think not.  I would rather stay here."
+
+"Well, at any rate," he said defiantly, "I've paid for my chair, and you
+can't turn me out.  Of course, you can move yourself."
+
+"But I don't want to move.  I like being here.  I'm very glad to see
+you.  I should like very much to have tea, too.  Oh, if you don't
+understand I can't explain!" cried poor Claire helplessly; and instantly
+the man's expression altered to one of sympathy and contrition.
+
+"I do understand!  Don't mind what I say.  Naturally it's annoying, but
+you're right, I suppose--you're perfectly right.  I am glad, at any
+rate, that you allow me to talk to you for a few minutes.  You are
+looking very well!"  His eyes took her in in one rapid comprehensive
+sweep, and Claire thanked Providence that she had put on her prettiest
+dress.  "I am glad that you are keeping fit.  Did you enjoy your holiday
+in Belgium?"
+
+"How did you know I was in Belgium?"
+
+He laughed easily, but ignored the question.
+
+"You have good news of your mother, I hope?"
+
+"Very good.  She loves the life, and is very happy and interested, and
+my stepfather writes that his friends refuse to believe in the existence
+of a grown-up daughter.  He is so proud of her youthful looks."
+
+"How much did you tell her about your Christmas holidays?"
+
+"All the nice bits!  I don't approve of burdening other people!"
+
+"Evidently not.  Then there have been burdens?  You've implied that!
+Nothing by any chance, in which a man--fairly intelligent, and, in this
+instance, keen after work--could possibly be of some use?"
+
+The two pairs of eyes met, gazed, held one another steadily for a long
+eloquent moment.
+
+"Yes," said Claire.
+
+Captain Fanshawe bent forward quickly, holding his stick between his
+knees.  The side of his neck had flushed a dull red colour.  For several
+moments he did not speak.  Claire had a curious feeling that he could
+not trust his voice.
+
+"Good!" he said shortly at last.  "Now may I hear?"
+
+"I should like very much to ask you some questions about--about a man
+whom I think you may know."
+
+The grey eyes came back to her face, keen and surprised.
+
+"Yes!  Who is he?"
+
+"A Major Carew.  His Christian name is Frank.  He belongs to your Club."
+
+"I know the fellow.  Yes!  What do you want to know about him?"
+
+"Everything, I think; everything you can tell me!"
+
+"You know him personally, then?  You've met him somewhere?"
+
+"Yes," Claire answered to the last question, "and I'm anxious--I'm
+interested to know more.  Do you know his people, or anything about
+him?"
+
+"I don't know them personally.  I know Carew very slightly.  Good
+family, I believe.  Fine old place in Surrey."
+
+The Elizabethan manor house was true, then!  Claire felt relieved, but
+not yet satisfied.  Her suspicion was so deep-rooted that it was not
+easily dispelled.  She sat silent for a moment, considering her next
+question.
+
+"Is he the eldest son?"
+
+"I believe he is.  I've always understood so."
+
+The eldest son of a good family possessing a fine old place!  Claire
+summoned before her the picture of the coarse florid-faced man who had
+tried to flirt with her in the presence of the woman to whom he was
+engaged; a man who stooped to borrow money from a girl who worked for
+her own living.  _What_ excuse could there be for such a man?  She drew
+her brows together in puzzled fashion, and said slowly--
+
+"Then surely, if he is the heir, he ought to be rich!"
+
+"It doesn't necessarily follow.  I should say Carew was not at all
+flush.  Landed property is an expensive luxury in these days.  I've
+heard, too, that the father is a bit of a miser.  He may not be generous
+in the matter of allowance!"
+
+Claire sat staring ahead, buried in thought, and Captain Fanshawe stared
+at her in his turn, and wondered once more why this particular girl was
+different from every other girl, and why in her presence he felt a
+fullness of happiness and content.  She was very pretty; but pretty
+girls were no novelty in his life; he knew them by the score.  It was
+not her beauty which attracted him, but a mysterious affinity which made
+her seem nearer to him than he had hitherto believed it possible for any
+human creature to be.  He had recognised this mysterious quality at
+their first meeting; he had felt it more strongly at Mrs Willoughby's
+"At Home"; six months' absence had not diminished his interest.  Just
+now, when he had caught sight of her flushed upturned face, his heart
+had leapt with a violence which startled him out of his ordinary calm.
+Something had happened to him.  When he had time he must think the thing
+out and discover its meaning.  But how did she come to be so uncommonly
+interested in Carew?  He met Claire's eyes, and she asked falteringly--
+
+"I wish you would tell me what you think of him personally!  Do you
+think he is--nice?"
+
+"Tell me first what you think yourself."
+
+"Honestly?  You won't mind?"
+
+"Not one single little bit!  I told you he is a mere acquaintance."
+
+"Then," said Claire deliberately, "I think he is the most horrible,
+detestable, insufferable, altogether despicable creature I have ever met
+in the whole of my life!"
+
+"What!  What!  I say, you _are_ down on him!"  Captain Fanshawe stared,
+beamed with an obvious relief, then hastened to defend an absent man.
+"You're wrong, you know; really you're wrong!  I don't call Carew the
+most attractive fellow you can meet; rather rough manners, don't you
+know, but he's all right--Carew's all right.  You mustn't judge by
+appearances, Miss Gifford.  Some of the most decent fellows in the Club
+are in his set.  Upon my word, I think he is quite a good sort."
+Captain Fanshawe waxed the more eloquent as Claire preserved her
+expression of incredulous dislike.  He looked at her curiously, and
+said, "I suppose I mustn't ask--I suppose you couldn't tell me exactly
+why you are so interested in Carew?"
+
+"I'm afraid not.  No; I'm afraid I can't," Claire said regretfully.
+Then suddenly there flashed through her mind a remembrance of the many
+tangles and misunderstandings which take place in books for want of a
+little sensible out-speaking.  She looked into Captain Fanshawe's face
+with her pretty dark-lashed eyes and said honestly, "I wanted to know
+about him for the sake of--another person?  _Nothing_ to do with myself!
+I have only met him twice.  I hope I shall never meet him again!"
+
+"Thank you," said the man simply, and at the time neither of the two
+realised the full significance of those quiet words.  It was only on
+living over the interview on her return home that Claire remembered and
+understood!
+
+For the next quarter of an hour they abandoned the personal note, and
+discussed the various topics of the hour.  They did not always agree,
+and neither was of the type to be easily swayed from a preconceived
+opinion, but always they were interested, always they felt a sympathy
+for the other view, never once was there a fraction of a pause.  They
+had so much to say that they could have talked for hours.
+
+Gradually the Park began to empty, the string of motors grew less, the
+crowd on the footpath no longer lounged, but walked quickly with a
+definite purpose; the green chairs stood in rows without a single
+occupant.  Claire looked round, realised her isolation, drew an
+involuntary sigh, and rose in her turn.
+
+"It's getting late.  I must be hurrying home.  I go to the Marble Arch
+and take a motor-'bus.  Please don't let me take you out of your way!"
+
+He looked at her straightly but did not reply, and they paced together
+down the broad roadway, past the sunken beds of rhododendrons with the
+fountain playing in the centre, towards the archway which seemed to both
+so unnecessarily near!  Claire thought of the six months which lay
+behind, saw before her a vision of months ahead unenlightened by another
+meeting, and felt suddenly tired and chill.  Captain Fanshawe frowned
+and bit at his lower lip.
+
+"I am going away to-morrow.  We shall be in camp.  In August I am taking
+part of my leave to run up to Scotland, but I can always come to town if
+I'm needed, or if there's a special inducement.  I came up for both the
+Willoughbys' `At Homes.'"
+
+"Did you?"  Claire said feebly, and fell a-thinking.  The inference was
+too plain to be misunderstood.  The "special inducement" in this
+instance had been the hope of meeting herself.  Actually it would appear
+that he had travelled some distance to ensure this chance, but the
+chance had been deliberately denied.  Kind Mrs Willoughby would have
+welcomed her with open arms; it was Janet who had laid the ban.  Janet
+was friendly, almost affectionate.  As spring progressed she had
+repeatedly called at Saint Cuthbert's after afternoon school and carried
+Claire off for refreshing country drives.  Quite evidently she enjoyed
+Claire's society, quite evidently also she preferred to enjoy it when
+other visitors were not present.  Claire was not offended, for she knew
+that there was no taint of snobbishness in this decision; she was just
+sorry, and, in a curious fashion, remorseful into the bargain.  She did
+not argue out the point, but instinctively she felt that Janet, not
+herself, was the one to be pitied!
+
+They reached the end of the footpath: in another minute they would be in
+the noise and bustle of Oxford Street.  Erskine Fanshawe came to an
+abrupt halt, faced Claire and cried impulsively--
+
+"Miss Gifford!"
+
+"Yes?"
+
+Claire shrank instinctively.  She knew that she was about to be asked a
+question which it would be difficult to answer.
+
+Erskine planted his stick on the ground, and stared straight into her
+eyes.
+
+"Why are you so determined to give me no chance of meeting you again?"
+
+"I--I'm _not_ determined!  I hope we _shall_ meet.  Perhaps next
+winter--at Mrs Willoughby's."
+
+He laughed grimly.
+
+"But if I were not content to wait for `perhaps next winter--at Mrs
+Willoughby's.' ...  What then?"
+
+Claire looked at him gravely.
+
+"What would you suggest?  I have no home in London, and no relations,
+and your mother, Captain Fanshawe, would not introduce me to you when
+she had the chance!"
+
+He made a gesture of impatience.
+
+"Oh, my mother is the most charming of women--and the most indiscreet.
+She acts always on the impulse of the moment.  She introduced you to
+Mrs Willoughby, or asked Mrs Willoughby to introduce herself, which
+comes to the same thing.  Surely that proves that she--she--"
+
+He broke off, finding a difficulty in expressing what he wanted to say;
+but Claire understood, and emphatically disagreed.  To enlist a friend's
+sympathy was a very different thing from running the risk of entangling
+the affections of an only son!  Obviously, however, she could not
+advance this argument, so they stood, the man and the girl, looking at
+one another, helpless, irresolute, while the clock opposite ticked
+remorselessly on.  Then, with an abruptness which lent added weight to
+his words, Erskine said boldly--
+
+"I want to meet you again!  I am not content to wait upon chance."
+
+Claire did not blush; on the contrary, the colour faded from her cheeks.
+Most certainly she also was not content, but she did not waver in her
+resolution.
+
+"I'm afraid there's nothing else for it.  It's one of the hardships of a
+working girl's life that she can't entertain or make plans.  It seems
+more impossible to me, perhaps, from having lived abroad where
+conventions are so strict.  English girls have had more freedom.  I
+don't see what I can do.  I'm sorry!"--she held out her hand in
+farewell.  "I hope some day I _shall_ see you again!"
+
+Quite suddenly Captain Fanshawe's mood seemed to change.  The set look
+left his face; he smiled--a bright confident smile.
+
+"There's not much fear about that!  I shall take very good care that we
+do!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
+
+GOD'S OPPORTUNITY.
+
+After the meeting with Captain Fanshawe in the Park, Claire's
+relationship with Mary Rhodes sensibly improved.  In the first place,
+her own happiness made her softer and more lenient in her judgment, for
+she _was_ deeply, intensely happy, with a happiness which all her
+reasonings were powerless to destroy.
+
+"My dear, what nonsense!" she preached to herself in elderly
+remonstrating fashion.  "You met the man, and he was pleased to see
+you--he seemed quite anxious to meet you again.  Perfectly natural!
+Pray don't imagine any special meaning in _that_!  You looked quite an
+attractive little girl in your pretty blue dress, and men like to talk
+to attractive little girls.  I dare say he says just the same to dozens
+of girls!"  So spake the inner voice, but spoke in vain.  The best
+things of life are beyond reasoning.  As in religion reason leads us, as
+it were, to the very edge of the rock of proven fact, then faith takes
+wing, and soars above the things of earth into the great silence where
+the soul communes with God, so in love there comes to the heart a
+sweetness, a certainty, which no reasoning can shake.  As Erskine's eyes
+had looked into hers in those moments of farewell, Claire had realised
+that between this man and herself there existed a bond which was
+stronger than spoken word.
+
+So far as she could foresee, they were hopelessly divided by the
+circumstances of life, but in the first dawn of love no lover troubles
+himself about what the future may bring; the sweetness of the present is
+all-sufficient.  Claire was happy, and longed for every one else to be
+as happy as herself.  Moreover, her suspicions concerning Major Carew
+had been lulled to rest by Erskine's favourable pronouncement.
+Personally she did not like him, but this was, after all, a matter of
+taste; she could not approve his actions, but conceivably there might be
+explanations of which she was unaware.  Her manner to Cecil regained its
+old spontaneous friendliness, and Cecil responded with almost pathetic
+readiness.  In her ungracious way she had grown fond of her pretty,
+kindly companion, and had missed the atmosphere of home which her
+presence had given to the saffron parlour.  As they sat over their
+simple supper, she would study Claire's face with a questioning glance,
+and one night the question found vent in words.
+
+"You look mightily pleased with yourself, young woman!  Your eyes are
+sparkling as if you were having a firework exhibition on your own
+account.  I never saw a school-mistress look so perky at the end of the
+summer term!  Look as if you'd come into a fortune!"
+
+"Wish I had!" sighed Claire, thankful to switch the conversation on to a
+safe topic.  "It would come in most usefully at the moment.  What are
+you going to do for the summer hols, Cecil?  Is there any possibility
+of--"
+
+"No," Cecil said shortly.  "And the regiment is going into camp, so he
+will be out of town.  I'm not bothering my head about holidays--quite
+enough to do with this wretched Matric.  The Head is keen to make a good
+show this year, for the Dulwich School beat us last year, and, as usual,
+all the responsibility and all the blame is put on the poor mistresses.
+You can't make girls work if they don't want, you can't cram their
+brains when they've no brains to cram; but those wretched examiners send
+a record of all the marks, so you can see exactly where they fall short.
+Woe betide the mistress who is responsible for that branch!  I wouldn't
+mind prophesying that if the German doesn't come out better than last
+year, Fraulein will be packed off.  I wouldn't be too sure of myself.
+I've done all right so far, but the Head is not as devoted to me as she
+might be.  I don't think she'd be sorry to have an excuse for getting
+rid of me.  That's one of the delightful aspects of our position--we are
+absolutely at the mercy of a woman who, from sheer force of
+circumstances, becomes more of an autocrat every year.  The Committee
+listen to her, and accept every word she says; the staff know better
+than to dispute a single order.  We'd stand on our head in rows if she
+made it a rule!  The pupils scuttle like rabbits when they see her
+coming, and cheer themselves hoarse every time she speaks.  No human
+woman can live in that atmosphere for years and keep a cool head!"
+
+"She's rather a dear, though, all the same!"  Claire said loyally.  She
+had been hurt by the lack of personal interest which Miss Farnborough
+showed in the different members of her staff, but she was unwilling to
+brand her as a heartless tyrant.  "Anyway," she added hastily, "you are
+not satisfied here.  If you were going on teaching I should have thought
+you'd be glad of a change.  It would be easy to get another school."
+
+Mary Rhodes looked at her; a long eloquent glance.
+
+"With a good testimonial--yes!  Without a good testimonial--no!  A
+testimonial for twelve years' work depends on one woman, remember--on
+her prejudice or good nature, on the mood in which she happens to be on
+one particular day.  It might read quite differently because she
+happened to have a chill on her liver."
+
+"My dear! there _is_ a sense of justice!  There is such a thing as
+honesty."
+
+"My dear, I agree.  Even so, would you dare to say that the wording of a
+testimonial would be unaffected by the writer's mood?"
+
+"Surely twelve years in one school--"
+
+"No, it wouldn't!  Not necessarily.  `Miss Rhodes has been English
+Mistress at Saint Cuthbert's for twelve years.  Of late has been erratic
+in temper.  Health uncertain.  Examination records less satisfactory.'
+Well!  If you represented another school, would _you_ engage Miss
+Rhodes?"
+
+Claire was silent.  For the first time she realised the danger of this
+single-handed power.  It meant--what might it not mean?  It might mean
+that the mistress who was unfortunate enough to incur the dislike of her
+chief, might _never_ be able to procure another post!  She might be
+efficient, she might be hard-working; given congenial surroundings she
+might develop into a treasure untold, yet just because of a depreciating
+phrase in the wording of a testimonial, no chance would be vouchsafed.
+No doubt the vast majority of head mistresses were women of judgment,
+possessing a keen sense of justice and responsibility, yet the fact
+remained that a hasty impulse, a little access of temper in penning
+those all-important lines, might mean the end of a career, might mean
+poverty, might mean ruin!
+
+Claire shivered, looked across the table at the thin, fretted face and
+made a hesitating appeal--
+
+"Cecil dear, I know you are a good teacher.  I just love to hear you
+talking over your lessons, but you _are_ irritable!  One of my girls was
+crying the other day.  You had given so much homework, and she didn't
+understand what was to be done, and said she daren't ask.  You had been
+`so cross!'  I made a guess at what you wanted, and by good chance I was
+right; but if I'd been wrong, the poor thing would have been in
+disgrace, and honestly it wasn't her fault!  She was willing enough."
+
+"Oh, that imbecile Gladys Brown!  I know what you mean.  I'd explained
+it a hundred times.  If she'd the brains of a cow she'd have understood.
+No wonder I was cross.  I should have been a saint if I wasn't, and no
+one can be a saint in the summer term.  Did--did any one else see her
+cry?"
+
+"I think not.  No, I managed to comfort her; but if Miss Farnborough had
+happened to come in just at that moment--"
+
+Cecil shrugged and turned the subject, but she took the hint, to the
+benefit of her pupils during the next few weeks.
+
+July came in, and with it a spell of unbearable heat.  In country places
+and by the seashore there was space and air, and clean fragrant
+surroundings; but over London hung a misty pall, and not a branch of the
+dusty trees quivered to the movement of a passing breeze.  It was a
+thunderous, unnatural heat which sapped every scrap of vitality, and
+made every movement a dread.
+
+Claire was horrified at the effect of this heat wave on Sophie Blake.
+In superficial fashion she had always believed that rheumatism must be
+better in hot weather; but, according to the specialist, such heat as
+this was more trying than damp or cold, and Sophie's stiffness increased
+with alarming suddenness.
+
+There came a day when by no effort of will could she get through her
+classes, when sheer necessity drove her to do the thing she had dreaded
+most of all--inform the Head that she could not go on with her work.
+
+Miss Farnborough was seated in her private room, and listened with grave
+attention to what the Games mistress had to say.  Her forehead puckered
+in surprise as she noted Sophie's halting gait, and the while she
+listened, her keen brain was diving back into the past, collecting
+impressions.  She had seen less than usual of Miss Blake during the
+term; once or twice she had received the impression that Miss Blake
+avoided her approach; Miss Blake had been looking pale.  She waited
+until Sophie had finished speaking, her hands folded on her knee, her
+penetrating eye fixed on the girl's face.  Then she spoke--
+
+"I am sorry to hear this, Miss Blake.  Your work has been excellent
+hitherto, but rheumatism is a serious handicap.  You say that this heat
+is responsible for the present attack?  Am I to understand that it is a
+first attack--that you have had no threatening before?"
+
+"I have been rheumatic all winter, more or less.  Before the Easter
+holidays it was pretty bad.  I began to feel stiff."
+
+Miss Farnborough repeated the word gravely.
+
+"Stiff!  That was bad; that was very bad!  How could you take your
+classes if you were feeling stiff?"
+
+"I managed somehow!"  Sophie said.
+
+For a moment she had imagined that the Head Mistress's concern had been
+on her account; she believed it no longer when she saw the flash of
+indignation which lighted the grey eyes.
+
+"Managed--_somehow_?  And you went on in that fashion--you were content
+to go on!"
+
+"No.  I was not content.  I was very far from content.  I suffered
+horrible pain.  I went to a specialist and paid him two guineas for his
+advice.  Since then I have paid twenty pounds for treatment."
+
+On Miss Farnborough's face the disapproval grew more and more
+pronounced.
+
+"Miss Blake, I am afraid you have not been quite straightforward in this
+matter.  It appears that you have been ill for months, with an illness
+which must necessarily have interfered with your work, and this is the
+first time I hear about it.  I am Head Mistress of this school; if
+anything is wrong with a member of the staff, it is her first duty to
+come to me.  You tell me now that you have been ill for three months,
+since before the last holidays, and acknowledge that you can go on no
+longer."
+
+"In ten days we break up.  I ask you to allow me ten extra days.  The
+weather is so hot that the girls would be thankful to escape the
+exercises.  By the end of the holidays I hope to be quite better."
+
+"The Easter holidays do not seem to have done you much good," Miss
+Farnborough said cruelly.  Then, seeing the girl flush, she added, "Of
+course you shall have your ten days.  I can see that you are unfit for
+work, and we must manage without you till the end of the term.  I am
+very sorry for you, Miss Blake; very sorry, indeed.  It is very trying
+and upsetting and--and expensive into the bargain.  Twenty pounds, did
+you say?  That is surely a great deal!  Have you tried the shilling
+bottles of gout and rheumatic pills?  I have been told they are quite
+excellent.  But I must repeat that you have been wrong in not coming to
+me sooner.  As a pure matter of honesty, do you think that you were
+justified in continuing to take classes for which you were unfit?"
+
+The tears started to Sophie's eyes; she lowered her lids to hide them
+from sight.
+
+"The girls did not suffer," she said deeply.  "I did the suffering!"
+
+Miss Farnborough moved impatiently.  She was intensely practical and
+matter-of-fact, and with all her heart hated any approach to sentiment.
+
+"You suffered _because_ you were unfit," she repeated coldly, "and your
+obvious duty was to come to me.  You must have known that under the
+circumstances I should not have wished you to continue the classes!"
+
+Sophie was silent for a moment, then she said very quietly, very
+deliberately--
+
+"Yes, I did know; but I also knew that if I could nerve myself to bear
+the pain and the fatigue, I _could_ train the girls as well as ever, and
+I knew, too, that if you sent me away in the middle of term you would be
+less likely to take me back.  It means everything to me, you see.  What
+would happen to me if I were permanently invalided--without a pension--
+at thirty-one?"
+
+"You have been paid a good salary, Miss Blake--an exceptionally good
+salary--because it is realised that your work is especially wearing.
+You ought to have saved--"
+
+"If I had had no home claims I might have been able to save one or two
+hundred pounds--not a very big life provision!  As it happens, however,
+I have given thirty pounds a year towards the education of a young
+sister, and it has been impossible to save at all."
+
+"But now, of course, your sister will help _you_," Miss Farnborough
+said, and turned briskly to another topic.  "You said that you have been
+to a specialist?  Will you give me his address?  I should like to
+communicate with him direct.  You understand, Miss Blake, that if this
+stiffness continues, it will be impossible for you to continue your
+duties here?"
+
+"Quite impossible," faltered Sophie, in low tones.
+
+Miss Farnborough pushed back her chair, and rose to her feet.
+
+"But one hopes, of course, that all may go well.  I have never had any
+complaint to make with respect to your work.  You have been very
+successful, very popular with the girls.  I should be sorry to lose you.
+Be sure to let me know how you go on.  Perhaps I had better be guided
+by Dr Blank.  I should try the pills, I think; they are worth trying.
+And avoid the sea; sea air is bad for rheumatism.  Try some high inland
+place.  We had better say good-bye, now, I suppose, as you will not come
+back after to-night.  Good-bye, my dear.  Let me hear soon.  All good
+wishes for your recovery."
+
+Sophie left the room, and made her way upstairs to the Staff-Room.  She
+moved very slowly, partly because every movement was an effort, partly
+because the familiar objects on which her eyes rested became suddenly
+instinct with new interest.  For ten long working years she had passed
+them daily with indifference, but this afternoon it was borne in upon
+her that she would never see them again, and the conviction brought with
+it a bitter pang.  After all, they had been happy years, spent in a
+bustle of youthful life and energy, in an atmosphere of affection, too,
+for the girls were warm-hearted, and the "Gym. mistress" had been
+universally popular.  Even as the thought passed through Sophie's mind,
+one of her special adorers appeared suddenly at the far end of the
+corridor and hurried forward to meet her.
+
+"Miss Blake!  Darling!  You look so white.  Are you faint?  Take my arm;
+lean on me.  Were you going to lie down?"
+
+"I'm going to the Staff-Room.  I can manage myself; but, Gladys, find
+Miss Gifford, and ask her to come to me as soon as she is free.  Tell
+her I'm not well.  You're a dear girl, Gladys.  Thank you for being so
+kind to me all these years."
+
+Gladys rolled adoring blue eyes, and sped on her mission.  The next
+morning she realised that those thanks had been darling Miss Blake's
+farewell, and shed bitter tears; but for the moment she was filled with
+complaisance.
+
+Claire appeared in due time, heard what had happened, and helped Sophie
+to collect her various small belongings.  The other teachers had already
+dispersed, so the ordeal of leave-taking was avoided.
+
+"You can explain when you meet them next term!" said Claire.
+
+"I can write my good-byes," corrected Sophie.  She blinked away a few
+tears and said piteously, "Not much chance for me if she consults Dr
+Blank!  He's as much discouraged as I am myself.  What do you suppose he
+will advise now?  I suppose I'll have to see him to-morrow."
+
+"And lie awake all to-night, wondering what he will say!  We'll do
+better than that--we'll call this very afternoon.  If he is in, I'm sure
+he will see us, and a day saved is a day gained.  I'll get a taxi."
+
+"Another taxi!  I'm ruining you, Claire.  How I do hate sponging on
+other people!"
+
+"Wouldn't you do it for me, if things were reversed?"
+
+"Of course I should, but it's so much more agreeable to help than to be
+helped.  It's ignoble, I suppose, but I do hate to feel grateful!"
+
+"Well!  No one could by any possibility call you _gracious_, my dear.
+Is that any consolation?" cried Claire mischievously, and Sophie was
+surprised into the travesty of a smile.
+
+Dr Blank was at home, and listened to what Sophie had to tell him with
+grave attention.  He expressed satisfaction to hear that her holidays
+had begun, but when questioned as to his probable report to Miss
+Farnborough, had no consolation to offer.
+
+"I am afraid I must tell you honestly that you are not fit for the work.
+Of course, it is quite possible that there may be a great improvement
+by September, but, even so, you would be retarding your recovery by
+going on with such exhausting work.  You must try to find something
+lighter."
+
+Sophie laughed, and her laugh was not good to hear.
+
+Claire said firmly--
+
+"She _shall_ find it!  I will find it for her.  There's no need to worry
+about September.  What we want to know is what she is to do _now_?--to-
+morrow--for the rest of the holidays?"
+
+"I can't afford any more injections!  They've done me no good, and they
+cost too much.  I can't afford any more treatments.  I can only take
+medicines.  If you will give me some medicines--"
+
+Dr Blank sat silent; tapping his desk with noiseless fingers; staring
+thoughtfully across the room.  It was evident that he had a proposition
+to make; evident also that he doubted its reception.
+
+"The best thing under the circumstances--the wisest thing," he said
+slowly at last, "would be for you to go into hospital as an ordinary
+patient.  I could get you a bed in one of my own wards, where I could
+look after you myself, in consultation with the first men in town.  You
+could have massage, electricity, radium, heat baths, every appliance
+that could possibly be of use, and you could stay on long enough to give
+them a chance.  It would be an ordinary ward, remember, an ordinary bed
+in an ordinary ward, and your neighbours would not be up to Newnham
+standard!  You would be awakened at five in the morning, and settled for
+the night at eight.  You would have to obey rules, which would seem to
+you unnecessary and tiresome.  You would be, I am afraid, profoundly
+bored.  On the other hand, you would have every attention that skill and
+science can devise.  You would not have to pay a penny, and you would
+have a better chance than a duchess in a ducal palace.  Think it over,
+and let me know!  If you decide to go, I'll manage the rest.  Take a
+day--a couple of days."
+
+"I won't take two minutes, thank you!  I'll decide now.  I'll go, of
+course, and thank you very much!"
+
+Dr Blank beamed with satisfaction.
+
+"Sensible girl!  Sensible girl!  That's right!  That's right!  That's
+very good!  You are doing the right thing, and we'll all do our best for
+you, and your friend here will come to see you and help to make the time
+pass.  Interesting study, you know; valuable opportunity of studying
+character if you look at it in that light!  Why not turn it into
+literary capital?  `Sketches from a Hospital Bed,' `My Neighbours in B
+Ward,' might make an uncommonly good series.  Who knows?  We may have
+you turning out quite a literary star!"
+
+Sophie smiled faintly, being one of the people who would rather walk
+five miles than write the shortest letter.  Many unexpected things
+happen in this world, but it was certain that her own rise to literary
+eminence would never swell the number!  But she knew that Dr Blank was
+trying to cheer her, so she kept that certainty to herself.
+
+The two girls made their way back to Sophie's lodgings, and discussed
+the situation over the ever-comforting tea.
+
+"I shall have to give my landlady notice," Sophie said, looking
+wistfully round the little room which had been so truly a home.  "If I'm
+to be in hospital for many weeks, it's folly to go on paying the rent;
+and in any case I can't afford so much now.  One can't have doctor's
+bills, and other luxuries as well.  What shall I have to take into
+hospital?  Will they allow me to wear my own things?  I don't think I
+_could_ get better in a calico night-dress!  Pretty frills and a blue
+ribbon bow are as good as a tonic, but will the authorities permit?
+Have you ever seen ribbon bows in a hospital bed?"
+
+"I haven't had much experience, but I should think they would be
+encouraged, as a ward decoration!  I hope so, I'm sure, for I mean to
+present you with a duck of a dressing-jacket!"
+
+"Oh, nothing more, Claire; don't give me anything more.  I shall never
+be able to pay you back," cried Sophie; then, in a voice of poignant
+suffering, she cried sharply, "Oh, Claire, my little sister!  _What_ is
+to become of my little sister?  If I am not able to help, if I need to
+be helped myself, her education will be interrupted, for it will be
+impossible to go on paying.  Oh, it's too hard--too dreadful!
+Everything seems so hopeless and black!"
+
+"Yes, it does.  The way seems blocked.  One can't see a step ahead.
+_Man's extremity_, Sophie!" cried Claire deeply--"_Man's extremity_;"
+and at that a gleam of light came into Sophie's eyes.
+
+"Yes, yes!  That's just what it is.  Thanks for reminding me.  _God's
+opportunity_!"  Sophie leant back in her chair, staring dreamily into
+space, till presently something of the old bright look came back to her
+face.  "And that," she said softly, "that's the kind of help it is sweet
+to accept!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
+
+AN INVITATION.
+
+With Sophie in hospital, pathetically anxious for visits, with the rent
+of the Laburnum Road lodgings to pay whether one lived in them or not,
+Claire nerved herself to spend August in town, with the prospect of a
+September holiday to cheer her spirits.  Through one of the other
+mistresses she had heard of an ideal farmhouse near the sea where the
+kindly housewife "mothered" her guests with affectionate care, where
+food was abundant, and cream appeared upon the table at every meal--
+thick, yellow, country cream in which a spoon would stand upright.
+There was also a hammock swung between two apple-trees in the orchard, a
+balcony outside the bedroom window, and a shabby pony-cart, with a pony
+who could really go.  What could one wish for more?
+
+Claire planned a lazy month, lying in that hammock, reading stories
+about other people, and dreaming still more thrilling romances about
+herself; driving the pony along country lanes, going out on to the
+balcony in the early morning to breathe the scent of honeysuckle, and
+sweetbriar, and lemon thyme, and all the dear, old-world treasures to be
+found in the gardens of well-conducted farmhouses.  She had a craving
+for flowers in these hot summer days; not the meagre sixpennyworth which
+adorned the saffron parlour, but a wealth of blossom, bought without
+consideration of cost.  And one day, with the unexpectedness of a fairy
+gift, her wish was fulfilled.
+
+It lay on the table when she returned from school--a long cardboard box
+bearing the name of a celebrated West End florist, the word "fragile"
+marked on the lid, and inside were roses, magnificent, half-opened roses
+with the dew still on their leaves, the fat green stalks nearly a yard
+in length--dozens of roses of every colour and shade, from the lustrous
+whiteness of Frau Carl to the purple blackness of Prince Camille.
+Claire gathered them in her arms, unconscious of the charming picture
+which she made, in her simple blue lawn dress, with her glowing face
+rising over the riot of colour, gathered them in a great handful, and
+ran swiftly upstairs.
+
+There was no card inside the box, no message of any kind, but her heart
+knew no doubt as to the sender, and she dare not face the fire of Mary
+Rhodes' cross-examination.  In the days of daffodils she had treated
+herself to a high green column of a vase, which was an ideal receptacle
+for the present treasures.  When it was filled there were still nearly
+half the number waiting for a home, so these were plunged deep into the
+ewer until the morrow, when they would be taken to Sophie in hospital.
+The little room was filled with beauty and fragrance, and Claire knew
+moments of unclouded happiness as she looked around.
+
+Presently she extracted two roses from the rest, ran downstairs to
+collect box, paper and string, and handed rubbish and roses together to
+Lizzie at the top of the kitchen stairs.  Lizzie received her share of
+the treasures with dignity, cut off the giant stems, which she
+considered straggly and out of place, and crammed the two heads into a
+brown cream-jug, the which she deposited on a sunny window-ledge.
+Claire saw them as she next left the house and shrugged resignedly, for
+she was beginning to learn the lesson which many of us take a lifetime
+to master, the wisdom of allowing people to enjoy themselves in their
+own fashion!
+
+The Willoughbys were leaving town in mid July, _en route_ for
+Switzerland, and later on for a Scottish shooting-box.  Claire received
+an invitation to tea on their last Saturday afternoon, and arrived to
+find the drawing-room full of visitors.
+
+Malcolm Heward was assisting Janet at the tea-table, but with this
+exception she recognised no one in the room, and was thankful for the
+attentions of Master Reginald, who hailed her as an old acquaintance,
+and reproached her loudly for not turning up at "Lord's."
+
+"I looked out for you, you know!" he said impressively, and Claire was
+the more gratified by his remembrance because Malcolm Heward had
+required a second introduction to awaken his recollection.  It is no
+doubt gratifying to the object of his devotion when a man remains blind
+to every other member of her sex, but the other members may feel a
+natural objection to be so ignored!  Claire was annoyed by the necessity
+of that second introduction, and as a consequence made herself so
+fascinating to the boy who _had_ remembered, that he hugged the sweet
+delusion that she considered him a man, and was seriously smitten by his
+charms.  He waited upon her with assiduity, gave her exclusive tips as
+to her choice of cakes, and recited the latest funny stories which were
+already stale in his own circles, but which came to her ears with
+agreeable freshness.
+
+It was while the two were laughing together over an unexpected
+_denouement_ that the departure of two guests left a space across which
+Claire could see a far corner of the room, and perceived that a lady
+seated on a sofa had raised a tortoiseshell-bound _lorgnon_, to stare
+across at herself.  She was an elderly lady, and at first sight her
+appearance awoke no recollection.  She was just a grey-haired woman,
+attired in handsome black, in no way differentiated from one or two
+other visitors of the same age: even when the _lorgnon_ dropped to her
+side, disclosing a pair of very bright, very quizzical grey eyes, it was
+a full moment before Claire realised that this was her acquaintance of
+that first eventful journey to London, none other than Mrs Fanshawe
+herself.  There she sat, smiling, complacent, _grande dame_ as ever,
+nodding with an air of mingled friendliness and patronage, laying one
+hand on the vacant place by her side, with an action which was obviously
+significant.  Claire chose, however, to ignore the invitation, and after
+a grave bow of acknowledgment, turned back to Reginald, keeping her eyes
+resolutely averted from that far corner.  It was Mrs Fanshawe herself
+who was finally compelled to cross the room to make her greetings.
+
+"Miss Gifford!  Surely it is Miss Gifford?  Mrs Willoughby told me she
+expected you this afternoon.  And how are you, my dear, after this long
+time?"
+
+The tone was all that was cordial and friendly.
+
+Claire stood up, tall and stately, and extended a perfectly gloved hand.
+It was not in human nature to be perfectly natural at that moment.
+Sub-consciously she was aware that, as the Americans would express it,
+she was "putting on frills"; sub-consciously she was amused at the
+artificiality of her own voice.
+
+"Quite well, thank you.  Exceedingly flourishing!"
+
+"You look it," Mrs Fanshawe said, and seated herself ruthlessly in
+Reginald's chair.  "Tell me all about it!  You were going to work,
+weren't you?  Some new-fangled idea of being independent.  So ridiculous
+for a pretty girl!  And you've had--how long--nearly a year?  Haven't
+got tired of it yet, by any chance?"
+
+"Oh, yes; quite often I feel very tired, but I should have felt the same
+about pleasuring, and work is more worth while.  It has been very
+interesting.  I have learnt a great deal."
+
+"More than the pupils--hey?" chuckled Mrs Fanshawe shrewdly.  "Don't
+try to pretend that you are a model school-mistress.  I know better!  I
+knew you were not the type when I saw you on that journey, and after a
+year's trial you are less the type than ever."  She screwed up her eyes
+and looked Claire over with deliberate criticism up and down, down and
+up.  "No, my dear!  Nature did _not_ intend you to be shut up in a
+girls' school!"  Suddenly she swerved to another topic.  "What a journey
+that was!  I nearly expired.  If it hadn't been for you, I should never
+have survived.  I told my son you had saved my life.  That was my son
+who met me on the platform!"
+
+Was it fancy that an expression of watchfulness had come into the gay
+eyes?  Claire imagined that she recognised such an expression, but,
+being prepared for some such reference, had herself well in command.
+Not a nicker of embarrassment passed over her face as she said quietly--
+
+"Yes, I knew it was your son.  I met Captain Fanshawe here one evening
+last winter, so I have been introduced."
+
+Mrs Fanshawe waved her _lorgnon_, and murmured some vague words which
+might, or might not, have been intended as an apology.
+
+"Oh, yes.  So nice!  Naturally, that morning I was worn-out.  I did not
+know what I was doing.  I crawled into bed.  Erskine told me about
+meeting you, and of your pretty performance.  Quite a professional
+_siffleuse_!  More amusing than school teaching, I should say.  _And_
+more profitable.  You ought to think of it as a profession.  Erskine was
+quite pleased.  He comes here a great deal.  Of course--"
+
+Mrs Fanshawe's smile deepened in meaning fashion, then suddenly she
+sighed.  "Very delightful for them, of course; but I see nothing of him.
+We mothers of modern children have a lonely time.  I used to wish for a
+daughter, but perhaps, if I'd had one, _she_ would have developed a
+fancy to fly off to India!"
+
+That was a hit at Claire, but she received it in silence, being a little
+touched by the unaffected note of wistfulness in the other's voice as
+she regretted her lonely estate.  It _was_ hard to be a widow, and to
+see so little of an only child, especially if that only child happened
+to be so altogether charming and attractive!
+
+Mrs Fanshawe glanced across at the tea-table where Janet and her
+cavalier were still busy ministering to the needs of fresh arrivals.
+
+"I asked Janet Willoughby to take pity on me for a few weeks this
+summer, but she's too full up with her own plans.  Says so, at least;
+but I dare say it would have been different if-- Well, well!  I have
+been young myself, and I dare say I shouldn't have been too keen to
+accept an invitation to stay in the country with only an old woman as
+companion.  Enjoy yourself while you are young, my dear.  It gets more
+and more difficult with every year you live."
+
+Claire made a protesting grimace.
+
+"Does it?  That's discouraging.  I've always flattered myself that it
+would grow easier.  When one is young, everything is vague and
+unsettled, and naturally one feels anxious about what is to happen next.
+It is almost impossible to be philosophical about the unknown, but when
+your life has shaped itself, it ought to be easy to settle down and make
+the best of it, and cultivate an easy mind."
+
+Mrs Fanshawe laughed.
+
+"Well reasoned, my dear, well reasoned!  Most logical and sound.  And
+just as futile in practice as logical things usually are!  You wouldn't
+believe me if I told you that it is the very uncertainty which makes the
+charm of youth, or that being certain is the bane of old age, but it's
+the truth, all the same, and when you are sixty you will have discovered
+it for yourself.  Well! so my letter to Mrs Willoughby was of some use
+after all?  She did send you a card!"
+
+Claire looked across the room to where Mrs Willoughby sat.  Hero-
+worship is an instinct in hearts which are still fired with youth's
+enthusiasm, and this stout, middle-aged woman was Claire's heroine _par
+excellence_.  She was _kind_, and to be kind is in good truth the
+fulfilment of Christ's law.  Among Claire's favourite books was
+Professor Drummond's "The Greatest Thing in the World," with its
+wonderful exposition of the thirteenth chapter of 1st Corinthians.  When
+she read its pages, her thoughts flew instinctively to this rich woman
+of society, who was not puffed up, thought no evil, was not easily
+provoked, suffered long, _and was kind_.
+
+The girl's eyes were eloquent with love and admiration as they rested on
+the plain, elderly face, and the woman who was watching felt a stab of
+envy at the sight.  The old crave for the love of the young, and cherish
+it, when found, as one of their dearest possessions, and despite the
+natural gaiety of her disposition there were moments when Mrs Fanshawe
+felt the burden of loneliness press heavily upon her.
+
+"She has done much more than send me a card!"  Claire said deeply.  "She
+has been a friend.  She has taken away the terrible feeling of
+loneliness.  If I were in trouble, or needed any help, I _know_ that she
+would give it!"
+
+"Oh, yes, yes, naturally she would.  So would any one, my dear, who had
+the chance.  But she's a good creature, of course; a dear creature.  I'm
+devoted to her, and to Janet.  Janet and I are the best of friends!"
+
+Again the meaning look, the meaning tone, and again in Claire's heart
+the same sweet sense of certainty mingled with a tender compassion for
+Janet, who was less fortunate than herself.  It was a help to look
+across at the tea-table, and to realise that consolation was waiting for
+Janet if she chose to take it.
+
+Suddenly Mrs Fanshawe switched off on to yet another topic.
+
+"And where are you going to spend your summer holidays, my dear?"
+
+"In September I am probably going to a farmhouse near the sea."
+
+"And in August?"
+
+"In town, I think.  I have an invalid friend--"
+
+Mrs Fanshawe swept aside the suggestion with an imperious hand.
+
+"Nonsense!  Utter nonsense!  _Nobody_ stays in town in August, my good
+child.  The thing's impossible.  I've passed through once or twice, _en
+route_ for country visits, and it's an unknown place.  The wierdest
+people walking up and down!  Where they come from I can't conceive; but
+you never saw anything more impossible.  And the shops!  I knew a poor
+girl who became engaged at the end of July, and had to get her trousseau
+at once, as they sailed in September.  She was in despair.  _Nothing_ to
+be had.  She was positively in tears."
+
+"I shall get engaged in June," Claire said firmly, "and take advantage
+of the summer sales.  I call it most thoughtless of him to have waited
+till the end of July."
+
+But Mrs Fanshawe was not attending; her eyes had brightened with a
+sudden thought; she was saying to herself, "Why not?  I should be alone.
+There would be no danger of complications, and the child would be a
+delightful companion, good to look at, plenty to say for herself, and a
+mind of her own.  Quite useful in entertaining, too.  I could play off
+some of my duty debts, and she could whistle to us after dinner.  Quite
+a novelty in the country.  It would be quite a draw...  A capital idea!
+I'll say a week, and if it works she can stay on--"
+
+"No, my dear, you cannot possibly endure town in August, at least not
+the entire month.  Run down to me for a break.  Quite a short journey;
+an hour and a half from Waterloo, and the air is delightfully fresh.  I
+shall be alone, so I can't offer you any excitement, but if you are fond
+of motoring--"
+
+The blood rushed into Claire's face.  She was so intensely,
+overpoweringly surprised, that, for the moment, all other feelings were
+in abeyance.  The last thing in the world which she had expected was
+that Erskine's mother should invite her to visit her home.
+
+"I don't know if you care for gardening.  I'm mad about it myself.  My
+garden is a child to me.  I stand no interference.  The gardeners are
+paid to obey me, and carry out my instructions.  If they get upsetting,
+off they go.  You'd like my garden.  It is not cut out to a regulation
+pattern; it has a personality of its own.  I have all my meals on the
+verandah in summer.  We could get you some tennis, too.  You wouldn't be
+buried alive.  Well?  What do you say?  Is it worth while?"
+
+"It's exceedingly kind.  It's awfully good of you.  I--I am so
+completely taken by surprise that I hardly know--I shall have to think."
+
+"Nonsense, my dear; what is there to think about?  You have no other
+engagement, and you need a change.  Incidentally also _I_ want a
+companion.  You would be doing me a good turn as well as yourself.  I'm
+sure your mother would wish it!"
+
+No doubt about that!  Claire smiled to herself as she realised how Mrs
+Judge would rejoice over the visit; turning one swallow into a summer,
+and in imagination beholding her daughter plunged into a very vortex of
+gaiety.  She was still smiling, still considering, when Janet came
+strolling across the room, and laid her hand affectionately on Mrs
+Fanshawe's shoulder.
+
+"I haven't had a word with you all afternoon!  Such a rush of people.
+You had tea comfortably, I hope: and you, too--Claire!"  There was just
+a suspicion of hesitation before the Christian name.
+
+"I have just been asking Miss Gifford to take pity on my loneliness for
+part of August.  She is not knee-deep in engagements, as you are, my
+dear, and that precious son of mine; so we are going to amuse each
+other, and see how much entertainment we can squeeze out of the
+countryside!"
+
+"But I haven't--I didn't--I'm not sure," stammered Claire, acutely
+conscious of the hardening of Janet's face, but once again Mrs Fanshawe
+waved aside her objections.
+
+"But _I_ am sure!  It's all settled, my dear--all but the day.  Put your
+address on this silly little tablet, and I'll write as soon as I've
+looked over my dates.  Now, Janet, I'm ready for a chat.  Take me out to
+the balcony, away from this crowd."
+
+"And I must go, I think.  I'll say good-bye."  Claire held out her hand
+to the daughter of the house.  "I hope you may have a delightful
+summer."
+
+"Oh, thanks so much.  Oh, yes, yes, I'm quite sure I will," Janet
+answered mechanically.  She touched Claire's hand with her fingers, and
+turned hastily aside.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINETEEN.
+
+ERSKINE FANSHAWE'S HOME.
+
+Claire dreaded Mary Rhodes' curiosity on the subject of her proposed
+visit, but in effect there was none forthcoming.  Cecil was too much
+engrossed in her own affairs to feel anything but a passing interest.
+
+"Some one you met at the Willoughbys'?  Only the old lady?  Rather you
+than me!  Nice house though, I suppose; gardens, motors, that kind of
+thing.  Dull, but luxurious.  Perhaps you'll stay on permanently as her
+companion."
+
+"That," Claire said emphatically, "will never happen!  I was thinking of
+clothes...  I am quite well-off for evenings, and I can manage for
+afternoons, but I do think I ought to indulge in one or two `drastic
+bargains' for morning wear.  I saw some particularly drastic specimens
+in Knightsbridge this week.  Cecil ... could you--I hate asking, but
+_could_ you pay me back?"
+
+Cecil's stare of amazement was almost comical under the circumstances.
+
+"My--good--girl!  I was really pondering whether I dare, I'm horribly
+hard up, and that's the truth.  I've had calls..."
+
+"Not Major Carew again?  I can't understand it, Cecil.  You know I
+inquired about him, you told me to ask if I had a chance, and his father
+_is_ rich.  He might fly into a rage if he were asked for money, but he
+would give it in the end.  Major Carew might have a bad half-hour, but
+what is that compared with borrowing from you!  And from a man's point
+of view it's so little, such very small sums!"  She caught a change of
+expression on the other's face, and leapt at its meaning.  "Cecil!  You
+have been giving more!  Your savings!"
+
+"And if I have, Claire Gifford, what business is it of yours?  What was
+I saving for?  To provide for my old age, wasn't it? and now that the
+need has gone, why shouldn't I lend it, if I chose?  Frank happens to be
+hard up for a few months, and besides, there's a reason! ...  We are
+getting tired of waiting...  You must never, never breathe a word to a
+soul, but he wants me ... he thinks it might be better..."
+
+Claire stared with wide eyes, Cecil frowned, and finished the sentence
+in reckless tones--
+
+"We shall probably get married this autumn, and tell his father
+afterwards."
+
+"Oh, Cecil, no!  Don't do it!  It's madness.  It's folly.  He ought not
+to ask you.  It will make things fifty times more difficult."
+
+"It would make things _sure_!"  Mary Rhodes said.
+
+The words were such an unconscious revelation of her inner attitude
+towards her lover, that Claire was smitten with a very passion of pity.
+She stretched out her hand, and cried ardently.  "Cecil, I am thinking
+of your happiness: I long for you to be sure, but a private marriage is
+an insult to a girl.  It puts her into a wrong position, and no man has
+the right to suggest it.  Where is your pride?"
+
+"Oh, my dear," interrupted Cecil wearily, "I'm past worrying about
+pride.  I'm thirty-three, and look older, and feel sixty at the least.
+I'm tired out in body and soul.  I'm sick of this empty life.  I want a
+home.  I want rest.  I want some one to care for me, and take an
+interest in what I do.  Frank isn't perfect, I don't pretend that he is.
+I wish to goodness he _would_ own up, and face the racket once for all,
+but it's no use, he won't!  Between ourselves I believe he thinks the
+old man won't live much longer, and there will be no need to worry him
+at all.  Any way there it is, he won't tell at present, however much I
+may beg, but he will marry me; he wants to be married in September, and
+that proves that he _does_ care!  He is looking out for a flat, and
+picking up furniture.  _We_ are picking up furniture," Cecil corrected
+herself hastily.  "I go in and ask the prices, and he sends his servants
+the next week to do the bargaining.  And there will be my clothes,
+too...  I'll pay you back in time, Claire, with ten per cent, interest
+into the bargain, and perhaps when I'm a rich woman the time may come
+when you will be glad to borrow from me!"
+
+The prospect was not cheering, but the intention was good, and as such
+had to be suitably acknowledged.  Claire adjourned upstairs to consult
+her cheque-book, and decided bravely that the drastic bargains could not
+be afforded.  Then, being a very human, and feminine young woman she
+told herself that there could be no harm in going to look at the dresses
+once more, just to convince herself that they were not so very drastic
+after all, and lo! close inspection proved them even more drastic than
+she had believed, and by the evening's delivery a choice specimen was
+speeding by motor van to Laburnum Road.
+
+On visiting days Claire went regularly to visit Sophie, who, by her own
+account, was being treated to seventeen different cures at the same
+time, and was too busy being rubbed, and boiled, and electrified, and
+dosed, and put to bed in the middle of the afternoon, and awakened in
+the middle of the night, to have any time to feel bored.  She took a
+keen interest also in her fellow patients, and was the confidante of
+many tragic stories which made her own lot seem light in comparison.
+Altogether she was more cheerful and hopeful than for months back, but
+the nurses looked dubious, and could not be induced to speak of her
+recovery with any certitude.
+
+On the tenth of August, Claire packed her boxes with the aid of a very
+mountain of tissue paper, and set forth on her journey.  The train
+deposited her at Hazlemere station, outside which Mrs Fanshawe was
+waiting in a big cream car, smiling her gay, quizzical smile.  She was
+one of the fortunate women who possess the happy knack of making a guest
+feel comfortable, and at home, and her welcome sent Claire's spirits
+racing upwards.
+
+Many times during the last fortnight had she debated the wisdom of
+visiting Erskine Fanshawe's home, but the temptation was so strong that
+at every conflict prudence went to the wall.  It was not in girl nature
+to resist the longing to see his home and renew her acquaintance with
+his mother; and as it had been repeatedly stated that he himself was to
+spend most of August in Scotland, she was absolved from any ulterior
+design.  Janet Willoughby had obviously looked upon the visit with
+disfavour, but Claire was too level-headed to be willing to victimise
+herself for such a prejudice.  Janet would have a fair field in
+Scotland.  She could not hold the whole kingdom as a preserve!
+
+"You are looking charming, my dear," Mrs Fanshawe said.  "I always say
+it is one of the tests of a lady to know how to dress for a journey.  A
+little pale, perhaps, but we shall soon change that.  This high air is
+better than any tonic.  I laze about during the heat of the day, and
+have a two hours' spin after tea; I never appear until eleven, and I
+rest in my own room between lunch and tea, so you won't have too much of
+my society, but I've a big box of new books from Mudie's for you to
+read, and there's a pony-cart at your disposal, so I dare say you can
+amuse yourself.  I love companionship, but I couldn't talk to the
+cleverest woman in Europe for twelve hours at a stretch."
+
+"Nor I!" agreed Claire, who to tell the truth was more elated at the
+prospect of so much time to herself than she felt it discreet to betray.
+She was enchanted with her first view of the beautiful Surrey
+landscape, and each turn of the road as they sped uphill seemed to open
+out more lovely vistas.  They drove past spinneys of pine trees, past
+picturesque villages, consisting of an old inn, a few scattered
+cottages, a pond and a green, along high roads below which the great
+plain of thickly-treed country lay simmering in a misty haze.  Then
+presently the road took a sudden air of cultivation, and Claire staring
+curiously discovered that the broad margin of grass below the hedge on
+either side, was mown and rolled to a lawn-like smoothness, the edges
+also being clipped in as accurate a line as within the most carefully
+tended garden.  For several hundred yards the margin stretched ahead,
+smooth as the softest velvet, a sight so rare and refreshing to the eye
+that Claire could not restrain her delight.
+
+"But how charming!  How unexpected!  I never saw a lane so swept and
+garnished.  It has a wonderful effect, those two long lines of sward.
+It _is_ sward! grass is too common a word.  But what an amount of work!
+Twenty maids with twenty mops sweeping for half a year.--I think the
+whole neighbourhood ought to be grateful to the owner of this land."
+
+Mrs Fanshawe beamed, complacently.
+
+"I'm glad you think so.  _I_ am the owner!  This is my property, mine
+for my lifetime, and my son's after me.  It's one of my hobbies to keep
+the lane mown.  I like to be tidy, outside as well as in.  Erskine began
+by thinking it a ridiculous waste of work, but his friends are so
+enthusiastic about the result, that he is now complacently convinced
+that it was entirely his own idea.  That's a man, my dear!  Illogical,
+self-satisfied, the best of 'em, and you'll never change them till the
+end of time...  What's your opinion of men?"
+
+"I rather--like them!" replied Claire with a _naivete_ which kept her
+listener chuckling with amusement until the lodge gates were reached,
+and the car turned into the drive.
+
+The house was less imposing than the grounds, just a large comfortable
+English country house, handsome and dignified, but not venerable in any
+way.  The hall was good, running the entire length of the house, and
+opening by tall double doors on to the grounds at the rear.  In summer
+these doors were kept open, and allowed a visitor a charming vista of
+rose pergolas and the blue-green foliage of an old cedar.  All the walls
+of the house from top to bottom were painted a creamy white, and there
+was noticeable a prevailing touch of red in Turkey carpets, cushion-
+covers, and rose-flecked chintzes.
+
+Tea was served on a verandah, and after it was over Mrs Fanshawe
+escorted her visitor round the flower gardens, and finally upstairs to
+her own bedroom, where she was left with the announcement that dinner
+would be served at eight o'clock.  After dinner the ladies played
+patience, drank two glasses of hot-water, and retired to bed at ten
+o'clock.  It was not exciting, but on the other hand it was certainly
+not dull, for Mrs Fanshawe's personality was so keen, so youthful in
+its appreciation, that it was impossible not to be infected, and share
+in her enjoyment.
+
+The next week passed quickly and pleasantly.  The weather was good,
+allowing long drives over the lovely country, a tennis party at home,
+and another at a neighbouring house introduced a little variety into the
+programme, and best of all Mrs Fanshawe grew daily more friendly, even
+affectionate in manner.  She was a woman of little depth of character,
+whose main object in life was to amuse herself and avoid trouble, but
+she had humour and intelligence, and made an agreeable companion for a
+summer holiday.  As her intimacy with her guest increased she spoke
+continually of her son, referring to his marriage with Janet Willoughby
+with an air of complacent certitude.
+
+"Of course he will marry Janet.  They've been attached for years, but
+the young men of to-day are so deliberate.  They are not in a hurry to
+give up their freedom.  Janet will be just the right wife for Erskine,
+good tempered and yielding.  He is a dear person, but obstinate.  When
+he once makes up his mind, nothing will move him.  It would never do for
+him to have a high-spirited wife."
+
+"I disapprove of pandering to men," snapped Claire in her most High
+School manner, whereupon the conversation branched off to a discussion
+on Women's Rights, which was just what she had intended and desired.
+
+On the seventh afternoon of her visit, Claire was in her room writing a
+letter to Sophie when she heard a sudden tumult below, and felt her
+heart bound at the sound of a familiar voice.  The pen dropped from her
+hand, and she sat transfixed, her cheeks burning with excitement.  It
+could not be!  It was preposterous, impossible.  He was in Scotland.
+Only that morning there had been a letter.--It was impossible,
+impossible, and then again came the sound of that voice, that laugh, and
+she was on her feet, running across the floor, opening the door,
+listening with straining ears.
+
+A voice rose clear and distinct from the hall beneath, the deep, strong
+voice about which there could be no mistake.
+
+"A perfect flood!  The last five days have been hopeless.  I was tired
+of being soaked to the skin, and having to change my clothes every two
+hours, so I cut it, picked up Humphreys in town, and came along home.
+And how have you been getting on, mater?  You look uncommonly fit!"
+
+"I'm quite well.  I am perfectly well.  You need not have come home on
+my account," Mrs Fanshawe's voice had a decided edge.  "I suppose this
+is just a flying visit.  You will be going on to pay another visit.  I
+have a friend with me--a Miss Gifford.  You met her at the
+Willoughbys'."
+
+"So I did!  Yes.  That's all right.  I'm glad you had company.  I
+suppose I _shall_ be moving on one of these days.  I say, mother, what
+about tea?"
+
+Claire shut the door softly, and turned back into the room.  Erskine's
+voice had sounded absolutely normal and unmoved: judging by it no one
+could have imagined that Miss Gifford's presence or absence afforded him
+the slightest interest, and yet, and yet, the mysterious inner voice was
+speaking again, declaring that it was not the wet weather which had
+driven him back ... that he had hurried home because he knew, he knew--
+
+In ten minutes' time tea would be served.  Claire did not change her
+dress or make any alteration in her simple attire, her energies during
+those few minutes were chiefly devoted to cooling her flushed cheeks,
+and when the gong sounded she ran downstairs, letters in hand, and
+evinced a politely impersonal surprise at the sight of Captain Erskine
+and his friend.
+
+Mrs Fanshawe's eyes followed the girl's movements with a keen scrutiny.
+It seemed to her that Claire's indifference was a trifle overdone:
+Erskine also was unnaturally composed.  Under ordinary circumstances
+such a meeting would have called forth a frank, natural pleasure.  She
+set her lips, and determined to leave nothing to chance.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY.
+
+THE FLOWERY WAY.
+
+Only a few hours before her son's unexpected arrival, Mrs Fanshawe had
+warmly pressed Claire to extend her visit to a fortnight at least, and
+Claire had happily agreed.  Mrs Fanshawe recalled the incident as she
+poured out tea, and rated herself for her imprudence, but the deed was
+done; there was the girl, looking pretty enough to turn any young man's
+head, and there, alas! was Erskine, who should, by all the laws of what
+was right and proper, be even now making love to Janet Willoughby in
+Scotland!  Janet was rich, Janet was well born, Janet was amiable and
+easily led, for years past Mrs Fanshawe had set her heart on Janet as a
+daughter-in-law, and she was not easily turned from her purpose.
+Throughout that first afternoon her thoughts were busily engaged
+planning ahead, striving to arrange the days to the hindrance of
+dangerous _tete-a-tetes_, Erskine appeared to have returned in ignorance
+of Miss Gifford's presence.  Mrs Fanshawe had been careful to avoid all
+reference to the girl in her letters, and was unable to think how the
+information could have leaked out, nevertheless the choice of Major
+Humphreys as a companion filled her with suspicion.  Never before had
+such an invitation been given on Erskine's initiative; on more than one
+occasion, indeed, he had confessed that he found the Major a bore, and
+had expressed surprise at his mother's liking for so dull a man.
+
+Mrs Fanshawe had never found the Major dull, since he shared with
+enthusiasm her own passion for gardening, and was a most valuable
+adviser and assistant.  Together they had planned the flagged path
+winding low between the high banks of the rock garden, together they had
+planted the feathery white arenaria calearica in the crevices of the
+steps leading upward to the pergola, together they had planned the
+effect of clusters of forget-me-not, and red tulips among the long
+grasses in the orchard.  There was never any dearth of conversation
+between Major Humphreys and Mrs Fanshawe, and a stroll round the rose
+garden might easily prolong itself into a discussion lasting a couple of
+hours.  Hence came the suspicion, or Erskine knew as much, and had
+deliberately invited this man before any one of his own friends.
+Despite all appearance to the contrary, Mrs Fanshawe felt convinced
+that "the bore" had been brought down to engage her own attention, and
+so leave her son free to follow his own devices.  She set her lips, and
+determined on a counter move.
+
+A _partie carree_ was dangerous under the circumstances; safety lay in a
+crowd.  That evening when Mrs Fanshawe retired to dress for dinner, the
+telephone in her boudoir was used to ring up all the big houses in the
+neighbourhood, invitations were given galore for tennis, for dinner, for
+lunch; and return invitations were accepted without consultation with
+her son.  At the end of half an hour she hung up the receiver, satisfied
+that Erskine's opportunities for _tete-a-tetes_ would be few.  Perhaps
+also time would suggest some excuse for shortening the girl's visit to
+the ten days originally planned.  She must think it out, put her wits to
+work.  Claire was a pretty creature and a delightful companion, but a
+nobody, and poor into the bargain.  She could not be allowed to upset a
+cherished plan!
+
+During dinner Mrs Fanshawe alluded casually to the coming gaieties, and
+mentally paid a tribute of admiration to the _aplomb_ with which Claire
+listened, and smiled, betraying not a flicker of surprise at the sudden
+change of programme.  The good lady was so pleased with the result of
+her own scheming, that when later on the Major proposed a game of
+patience, she accepted at once, and viewed with equanimity the sight of
+the two young people strolling down the garden path.  It would be the
+last night when such an escape would be possible!
+
+It was an exquisite moonlight night, clear enough to show the colour of
+the flowers in the beds and borders.  Claire's white dress took on a
+ghostly hue against the deep background of the trees, her cheeks were
+pale, too, and the long line of eyelash showed dark against her cheeks.
+She felt very happy, very content, just the least little bit in the
+world, afraid!  Captain Fanshawe was smoking a cigarette, and in the
+intervals drawing deep sighs of enjoyment.
+
+"There's only one thing that worries me--why didn't I come back last
+week?  To think of rain, and mist, and smoky fires, and then--This!  I
+feel like a man who has been transported into fairyland!"
+
+Claire felt as if she also was in fairyland, but she did not say so.
+There are things that a girl does not say.  They paced up and down the
+winding paths, and came to the flight of steps leading to the pergola,
+"The Flowery Way" as Mrs Fanshawe loved to call it, where the arenaria
+calearica shone starry white in the moonlight.  Erskine stopped short,
+and said urgently--
+
+"Would you mind walking on alone for a few yards?  I'll stand here ...
+while you go up the steps.  Please!"
+
+Claire stared in surprise, but there seemed no reason to deny so simple
+a request.
+
+"And what am I to do when I get there?"
+
+"Just stand still for a moment, and then walk on...  I'll come after!"
+
+Claire laughed, shrugged, and went slowly forward along the flagged
+path, up the flower-sprinkled stair, to pause beneath an arch of pink
+roses and look back with an inquiring smile.  Erskine was standing where
+she had left him, but he did not smile in response, while one might have
+counted twenty, he remained motionless, his look grave and intent, then
+he came quickly forward, leapt up the shallow steps and stood by her
+side.
+
+"Thank you!" he said tersely, but that was all.  Neither then or later
+came any explanation of the strange request.
+
+For a few moments there was silence, then Erskine harked back to his
+former subject.
+
+"Scottish scenery is very fine, but for restful loveliness, Surrey is
+hard to beat.  You haven't told me yet how you like our little place,
+Miss Gifford!  It's on a very modest scale, but I'm fond of it.  There's
+a homey feeling about it that one misses in bigger places, and the mater
+is a genius at gardening, and gets the maximum of effect out of the
+space.  Are you fond of a garden?"
+
+"I've never had one!"  Claire said, and sighed at the thought.  "That's
+one of the Joys that does _not_ go with a roving life!  I've never been
+able to have as many flowers as I wanted, or to choose the right foliage
+to go with them, or to pick them with the dew on their leaves."  She
+paused, smitten with a sudden recollection.  "One day this year, a
+close, smouldering oven-ey day, I came in from school and found--a box
+full of roses!  There were _dewdrops_ on the leaves, or what looked like
+dewdrops.  They were as fresh as if they had been gathered an hour
+before.  Dozens of roses, with great long stems.  They made my room into
+a bower."
+
+"Really!  Did they?  How very jolly," was Erskine's comment.
+
+His voice sounded cool and unperturbed, and Claire did not venture to
+look at his face.  She thought with a pang, that perhaps after all she
+had been mistaken.  Perhaps Mrs Willoughby had been the real donor ...
+perhaps he had never thought...  She hurried on terrified lest her
+thoughts might be suspected.
+
+"Mrs Fanshawe has been so kind, allowing me to send boxes of fruit and
+flowers to a friend in hospital.  One of our mistresses, who is being
+treated for rheumatism."
+
+"Poor creature!" said the Captain with careless sympathy.  "Dull work
+being in hospital in this weather.  How have you been getting on with my
+mother, Miss Gifford?  I'm awfully glad to find you down here, though I
+should have enjoyed showing you round myself.  I'm a bit jealous of the
+mater there!  She's a delightful companion, isn't she?  So keen and
+alert.  I don't know any woman of her age who is so young in spirit.
+It's a great gift, but--" he paused, drew another cigarette from his
+case, and stared at it reflectively, "it has its drawbacks!"
+
+"Yes.  I can understand that.  It must be hard to feel young, to _be_
+young in heart and mind, and to be handicapped by a body that persists
+in growing old.  I've often thought how trying it must be."
+
+"I suppose so.  Yes.  I'm afraid I wasn't thinking about it in that
+light.  I was not discussing the position from my mother's point of
+view, but from--her son's!  It would be easier sometimes to deal with a
+placid old lady who was content with her knitting, and cherished an old-
+fashioned belief in the superiority of man!  Well! let us say the
+equality.  But the mater won't even grant that.  By virtue of her
+superior years she is under the impression that she can still manage my
+affairs better than I can myself, which, of course, is a profound
+delusion!"
+
+Looking at the firmly cut profile it seemed ridiculous to think of any
+one managing this man if it were not his will to be managed.  Mother and
+son were alike in possessing an obstinate self-will.  A conflict between
+them would be no light thing.  Woman-like, Claire's sympathies leant to
+the woman's side.
+
+"It must be very difficult for a mother to realise that her son is
+really past her control.  And when she _does_, it must be a painful
+feeling.  It isn't painful for the son; it's only annoying.  The mother
+fares worst!"
+
+Captain Fanshawe laughed, and looked down at the girl's face with
+admiring eyes.
+
+"What a faculty you have of seeing the other side!  Do you always take
+the part of the person who isn't here?  If so, all the better for me
+this last week, when the mater has been spinning stories of my
+obstinacy, and pig-headedness, and general contradictiveness.  I thought
+I had better hurry home at once, before you learnt to put me down as a
+hopeless bad lot!"
+
+Claire stood still, staring with widened eyes.
+
+"Hurry home--hurry home before--" She stopped short, furious with
+herself for having taken any notice of the slip, and Erskine gave a
+short embarrassed laugh, and cried hastily--
+
+"Oh, I knew; of course I knew!  The rain was only an excuse.  The real
+reason was that as soon as I knew you were staying here, I hadn't
+patience to stay on.  I stood it for exactly three hours, thinking of
+you in this garden, imagining walking about as we are walking now, and
+then--I bolted for the afternoon train!"
+
+Claire felt her cheeks flame, and affected dignity to hide her deep,
+uncontrollable joy.
+
+"If _I_ had been your hostess--"
+
+"But you weren't, you see...  You weren't!  For goodness' sake don't put
+yourself in her place next.  Be Claire Gifford for once, and say you are
+glad to see me!"  His eyes met hers and twinkled with humour as he added
+solemnly.  "There's not a single solitary convention that could possibly
+be broken by being civil to a man in his own home!  Even your ultra
+sensitive conscience--"
+
+"Never mind my sensitive conscience.  What I want to know is, how did
+you know?  Who told you that I was here?"
+
+It was significant that the possibility that Mrs Fanshawe had written
+of her guest never occurred to Claire's mind; that Erskine like herself
+discounted such a possibility.  He replied with a matter-of-fact
+simplicity which left Claire marvelling at the obtuseness of mankind--
+
+"Janet, of course.  Janet Willoughby.  We were staying in the same
+house.  We were talking of you yesterday morning, and comparing notes
+generally.  She said you were--oh! quite a number of agreeable things--
+and I agreed with her, with just one exception.  She considered that you
+were responsive.  I said I had never found any one less so.  She said
+you were always so ready to meet her halfway.  I complained that you
+refused to meet me at all.  I ... er ... told her how I felt about it,
+and she said my chance was waiting if I choose to take it--that you were
+staying here keeping the mater company.  So--"
+
+Claire said nothing.  She was thinking deeply.  For how many days had
+Janet been staying in the same house with Erskine?  Perhaps a week,
+certainly several days, yet it had been only yesterday morning that she
+had given the news.  Yesterday morning; and in three hours he had flown!
+How was Janet faring now, while Claire was walking in fairyland?
+
+"You are not angry?  Why do you look so serious?  Tell me you are not
+sorry that I came?" said a deep voice close to her ear, but before she
+had time to answer, footsteps approached, and Mrs Fanshawe's voice was
+heard calling in raised accents--
+
+"Erskine! are you there?  Give me your arm, dear; I am so tired.  It's
+such a perfect night, that it seemed a shame to stay indoors.  The Major
+has been admiring `The Flowery Way.'  It certainly looks its best to-
+night."  She turned towards Major Humphreys with her light, cynical
+laugh.  "My son declares that it is profanation to allow ordinary,
+commonplace mortals to walk up those steps!  He always escorts my
+visitors round by another way.  He is ungallant enough to say that he
+has never yet seen a girl whom he would care to watch walk up those
+steps in the moonlight.  She would have to be quite ideal in every
+respect to fit into the picture.  We'll go round by the lily garden,
+Erskine, and then I think Miss Gifford and I will be off to bed.  You
+men will enjoy a smoke."
+
+For the next ten minutes Mrs Fanshawe kept tight hold of her son's arm,
+and Claire talked assiduously to Major Humphreys.  She knew now why
+Erskine had asked her to walk ahead up "The Flowery Way!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
+
+ALL IN A GARDEN FAIR.
+
+The next afternoon a party of friends had been bidden for tennis.  For
+the morning no plans had been made, but throughout its length Mrs
+Fanshawe fought a gallant fight against overwhelming odds, and was
+hopelessly beaten for her pains.  It was her strong determination that
+her son should be prevented from holding another _tete-a-tete_ with
+Claire Gifford.  Erskine actively, and Claire passively, desired and
+intended to bring about just that very consummation, while Major
+Humphreys, shrewdly aware of the purpose for which he had been invited,
+aided and abetted their efforts by the development of a veritable frenzy
+of gardening enthusiasm.  He questioned, he disputed, he meekly
+acknowledged his mistakes; he propounded schemes for fresh developments,
+the scenes of which lay invariably at the opposite end of the grounds
+from that in which the young people were ensconced.
+
+Mrs Fanshawe struggled valiantly, but the Triple Entente won the day,
+and for a good two hours before lunch, Erskine and Claire remained
+happily lost to sight in the farthest recesses of the grounds.  They had
+left behind the region of formal seats and benches, and sat on the grass
+at the foot of a great chestnut, whose dark green foliage made a haven
+of shade in the midst of the noonday glare.  Claire wore her bargain
+frock, and felt thankful for the extravagant impulse of that January
+morn.  Erskine was in flannels, cool and becoming as a man's _neglige_
+invariably is; both had discarded hats, and sat bareheaded in the
+blessed shade, and Erskine asked questions, dozens of questions, a very
+_viva voce_ examination, the subject being the life, history, thoughts,
+hopes, ambitions, and dreams of the girl by his side.
+
+"You were an only child.  So was I.  Were you a lonely little kiddie?"
+
+"No, I don't think I was.  My mother was a child with me.  We were
+blissfully happy manufacturing a doll's house out of a packing chest,
+and furnishing it with beds made out of cardboard boxes, and sofas made
+out of pin-cushions.  I used to feel other children a bore because they
+distracted her attention."
+
+"That would be when you were--how old?  Six or seven?  And you are now--
+what is it?  Twenty-two?  I must have been a schoolboy of seventeen at
+that time, imagining myself a man.  Ten years makes a lot of difference
+at that age.  It doesn't count so much later on.  At least I should
+think not.  Do I appear to you very old?"
+
+"Hoary!"
+
+"No, but I say...  Honestly!"
+
+"Don't be conceited.  You know perfectly well--"
+
+"But I wanted to make sure!  And then you went to school.  Did you have
+a bad time at first among the other girls?"
+
+"No.  I'm afraid the other girls had a bad time with me.  I was very
+uppish and British, and insisted on getting my own way.  Did _you_ have
+a bad time?"
+
+"Yes, I did," he said simply.  "Small boys have a pretty stiff time of
+it during their first term, and my time happened to be stiffer than
+most.  I may be as miserable again.  I hope I never may be!  But I'm
+pretty sure it's impossible to be _more_ miserable than I was at nine
+years old, bullied on every side, breaking my heart with home sickness,
+and too proud to show a sign."
+
+"Poor little lad!" sighed Claire softly, and for a long minute the two
+pairs of eyes met, and exchanged a message.  "But afterwards?  It grew
+better after that?"
+
+"Oh, yes.  I learnt to stand up for myself, and moved up in the school,
+and began to bully on my own...  Did you make many real friends in your
+school days?"
+
+"No real lasting friends.  They were French girls, you see, and there
+was the difference of race, and religion, to divide us as we grew up.
+And we were birds of passage, mother and I; always moving about."
+
+"You felt the need of companionship?"
+
+"No.  I had mother, and we were like girls together."  The twin dimples
+showed in a mischievous smile.  "You seem very anxious to hear that I
+was lonely!"
+
+"Well!" said Erskine, and hesitated as though he found it impossible to
+deny the accusation.  "I wanted to feel that you could sympathise with
+me!  I've been more or less lonely all my life, but I have always felt
+that a time would come when it would be all right--when I'd meet some
+one who'd understand.  I was great chums with my father, but he died
+when I was twelve, and my school chum went off to China, and comes home
+for a few months every three years, when it has usually happened that
+I've been abroad.  There are nice enough fellows in the regiment, but I
+suppose I'm not quick at making friends--"
+
+Strive as she would Claire could not resist a twinkle of amusement,
+their eyes met, and both went off into a peal of laughter.
+
+"Oh, well, there are exceptions!  That's different.  I felt that I knew
+you at once, without any preliminary stages.  It must always be like
+that when people really fit."  And then after a short pause he added in
+boyish, ingenuous tones, "Did you feel that you knew me?"
+
+"I--I think I did!"  Claire acknowledged.  To both it seemed the most
+wonderful, the most absorbing of conversations.  They were blissfully
+unconscious that it was old as the hills themselves, and had been
+repeated with ceaseless reiteration from prehistoric periods.  Only once
+was there an interruption of the deep mutual happiness and that came
+without warning.  Claire was smiling in blissful contentment,
+unconscious of a care, when suddenly a knife-like pain stabbed her
+heart.  Imagination had wafted her back to Staff-Room.  She saw the
+faces of the fifteen women seated around the table, women who were with
+but one exception past their youth, approaching nearer and nearer to
+dreaded age, and an inward voice whispered that to each in her turn had
+come this golden hour, the hour of dreams, of sweet, illuminative hope.
+The hour had come, and the hour had passed, leaving behind nothing but a
+memory and a regret.  Why should she herself be more blessed than
+others?  She looked forward and saw a vision of herself ten years hence
+still hurrying along the well-known street looking up at the clock in
+the church tower to assure herself that she was in time, still mounting
+the same bare staircase, still hanging up her hat on the same peg.  The
+prose of it in contradistinction with the poetry of the present was
+terrifying to Claire's youthful mind, and her look was so white, so
+strained, that Erskine took instant alarm.
+
+"What is it?  What is it?  Are you ill?  Have I said anything to upset
+you?  I say, what _is_ the matter!"
+
+"Nothing.  Nothing!  I had a--thought!  Talk hard, please, and make me
+forget!"
+
+The end of the two hours found the cross-questioning still in full
+force; the man and the girl alike still feeling that the half was not
+yet told.  They resented the quick passage of time, resented the
+disturbance of the afternoon hours.
+
+"What on earth do we want with a tennis party?" grumbled the Captain.
+"Wish to goodness we could be left alone.  I suppose the mater wanted
+them to amuse you before I came back."
+
+Claire murmured incoherently.  She knew better, but she was not going to
+say so!  They turned unwillingly towards the house.
+
+In the afternoon the guests arrived.  They came early, for the Fanshawe
+tennis courts were in fine condition, and the prospect of meeting a new
+man and a new girl, plus the son of the house, was a treat in itself in
+the quiet countryside where the members of the same set met regularly at
+every function of the year.  One of the courts was reserved for men's
+fours, for Mrs Fanshawe believed in giving her guests what they liked,
+and there is no doubt that men as a rule are ungallant enough to prefer
+their own sex in outdoor games.
+
+In the second court the younger girls took part in mixed fours, while
+others sat about, or took part in lengthy croquet contests on the
+furthest of the three lawns.  Claire as a member of the house-party had
+a good deal of time on her hands, and helped Mrs Fanshawe with the
+entertainment of the older guests, who one and all eyed her with
+speculative interest.
+
+One thin, faded woman had spent a few years in Bombay and was roused to
+interest by hearing that Claire's mother was now settled in that city.
+Yes! she had met a Mr Judge.  Robert Judge, was it not?  Her husband
+knew him quite well.  He had dined at their house.  Quite a dear man.
+She had heard of his marriage, "but"--here came a look of
+mystification--"to a _young_ wife; very pretty, very charming--"
+
+Claire laughed, and held out a little coloured photograph in a round
+glass frame which hung by a chain round her neck.
+
+"That is my mother.  She is thirty-nine, and looks thirty.  And she is
+prettier than that."
+
+The faded lady looked, and sighed.  Mrs Fanshawe brightened into vivid
+interest.  "You know Mr Judge, then?  You have met him?  That's quite
+interesting.  That's very interesting!"  Claire realised with some
+irritability that the fact that one of her own acquaintances knew and
+approved, instantaneously raised Mr Judge in her hostess's estimation.
+Hitherto he had been a name, a nobody; now he became a real man, "quite
+a dear man," a man one could know!  The result was satisfactory enough,
+but Claire was irritated by the means.  She was irritated also by the
+subtle but very real change in her hostess's manner to herself in the
+last twenty-four hours; irritated because the precious hours were
+passing, and Erskine was surrounded by his guests, playing endless sets
+on the hot lawn.  He looked as though he were enjoying himself, too, and
+that added to her annoyance, for like many another girl she had not yet
+realised that a man can forget even his love in his whole-hearted
+enjoyment of sport!
+
+At tea-time, however, there was a lull when Erskine carried a chair to
+Claire's side, and seated himself with an air of contentment.  Once and
+again as the meal progressed she saw his eyes rove around, and then come
+back to dwell upon herself.  She knew that he was comparing her with the
+other girls who were present, knew also by the deep glow of that
+returning glance, that in his eyes she was fairest and best.  The former
+irritation dropped from her like a cloak.
+
+Tea was over, the guests rose from their seats.  Erskine stood by
+Claire's side looking down at her with a quizzical smile.
+
+"Er--did you notice that man who came in just before tea, with the girl
+in the pink frock?  He was sitting over there, on the right?"
+
+"Yes, I noticed him.  I could see him quite well.  Why?"
+
+"What did you think of him?"
+
+"Quite nice.  I liked his face.  Good-natured and interesting."
+
+Erskine laughed.
+
+"Sure?"
+
+"Quite sure.  Why?"
+
+"Don't recognise him at all?  Doesn't remind you of any one you know?"
+
+"Not in the least.  Why should he?"
+
+Erskine laughed again.
+
+"I'm afraid your memory is defective.  I must introduce you again!"  He
+walked away, laid his hand on the arm of the new-comer, and led him back
+to Claire's side.  "Miss Gifford," he said gravely, "allow me to
+introduce--Major Carew!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
+
+FOUND OUT.
+
+The man with the good-natured, interesting face bowed to Claire with the
+alacrity which the normal man shows at an introduction to a pretty girl;
+Claire stared blankly, recovered herself, and returned his bow in formal
+manner.  Erskine looked from one to the other in undisguised surprise.
+
+"I thought you had met...  You told me you had met Carew in town!"
+
+"Not _this_ Major Carew!"  Claire could not suppress a tone of regret.
+With all her heart she wished that the man before her had been Cecil's
+fiance.
+
+"It was the same name, but--"
+
+"Not the same man?  It's not an unusual name, I expect there are several
+of us knocking about," the present Major Carew said smilingly.  "Do you
+happen to know his regiment?"
+
+Claire knew it well, but as she pronounced the name, the hearer's face
+crinkled in confusion.
+
+"But that is my own regiment!  There _is_ no other Carew!  There's some
+mistake.  You have mixed up the names."
+
+"Oh no.  I've heard it a hundred times.  It is impossible to be
+mistaken.  His Christian name is Frank."
+
+"_My_ name is Frank!" the strange man said, and stared at Claire in
+increasing perplexity.  "There is certainly not another Frank Carew in
+the M---.  There is something wrong about this.  I don't understand!"
+
+"He is a member of the --- Club, and his people live in Surrey.  He has
+an old father who is an invalid, and the name of the house is `The
+Moat'--"
+
+Major Carew's face turned a deep, apoplectic red, his light eyes seemed
+to protrude from his head, so violent was his anger and surprise.
+
+"But--that's _me_!  That's my club, my father, my home!  Somebody has
+been taking my name, and passing himself off under false colours for
+some mysterious reason.  I can't imagine what good it is going to do
+him."
+
+He broke off in alarm, and cast an appealing look at Erskine as Claire
+suddenly collapsed on the nearest chair, her face as white as her gown.
+
+"I say, this is a bad business I'm most awfully sorry.  I'm afraid Miss
+Gifford is distressed--"
+
+Erskine's lips were set in a fury of anger.  He glanced at Claire and
+turned hurriedly away, as though he could not trust himself to look at
+her blanched face.  To see the glint of his eye, the set of the firm
+jaw, was to realise that it would fare badly with the masquerader should
+he come within reach.  There was a moment of tense, unhappy silence,
+then Erskine drew forward two more chairs, and motioned to the Major to
+be seated.
+
+"I think we shall have to thresh this out!  It is naturally a shock, but
+Miss Gifford's acquaintance with this person is very slight.  She took a
+violent dislike to him at first sight, so you need not fear that she
+will feel any personal distress.  That is so, isn't it?  That's the real
+position?"
+
+Claire nodded a quick assent.
+
+"Yes, yes.  I met him twice, and I hated him from the first; but my
+friend believes..."  Her voice broke, and she struggled for composure,
+her chin quivering with pitiful, child-like distress.  "He is engaged to
+be _married_ to my friend!"
+
+A deep murmur of anger came simultaneously from both hearers.  The real
+Major Carew straightened himself with an air of determination.
+
+"Engaged to her?  Under my name?  This is too strong!  And in the name
+of wonder, what for?  I'm nobody.  I've nothing.  I'm the most
+insignificant of fellows, and chronically hard up.  What had he to gain
+by taking my name?"
+
+"You are a gentleman, and he is not.  Everything is comparative.  He
+wanted to impress my friend, and he knew you so well that it was easy to
+pretend, and make up a good tale.  He _said_ he was hard up.  He--he--
+borrowed money!"
+
+"From the girl?"  Again came that deep murmur of indignation.  "What an
+unspeakable cur, and--excuse me, what a poor-spirited girl to have
+anything to do with him after that!  Could you do nothing to prevent her
+making such a fool of herself?"
+
+"Nothing.  I tried.  I tried hard, but--"
+
+Erskine looked at her with his keen, level glance.
+
+"And she borrowed from you to supply his needs?  No, never mind, I won't
+ask any more questions, but I know!  I know!"  His eyes hardened again
+as he turned towards the other man.  "Carew, this is pure swindling!  We
+shall have to worry this out!"
+
+"I believe you, my boy!" said the Major tersely.  He turned to Claire
+and added more gently, "Tell us some more about this fellow, Miss
+Gifford!  Describe him!  Would you recognise him if you met again?"
+
+"Oh, yes.  At once.  He is tall and dark, good-looking, I suppose,
+though I detest his type.  Very dark eyes.  Large features."
+
+The Major ruminated, finding apparently no clue in the description.
+
+"Tall.  Dark.  Large features!  I know about a hundred men to whom that
+description might apply.  Could you think of anything more definite?"
+
+Claire ruminated in her turn; recalled the image of Cecil's lover, and
+tried to remember the details of his appearance.
+
+"He has very thick hair, and brushes it straight across his forehead.
+His eyebrows are very short.  He has a high colour, quite red cheeks."
+
+Major Carew made a short, choking sound; lay back in his chair, and
+stared aghast.  This time it was evident that the description awoke a
+definite remembrance, but he appeared to thrust it from him, to find it
+difficult to give credence to the idea.
+
+"Impossible!" he murmured to himself.  "Impossible!  High colour, you
+say; short eyebrows.  When you say `short,' what exactly do you mean?"
+
+"They begin by being very thick, then they stop abruptly.  They don't
+follow the line of the eye, like most eyebrows.  They look--unfinished!"
+
+Major Carew bounced upon his chair.
+
+"Erskine, I have an idea.--It seems almost incredible, but I'm bound to
+find if it is correct!  There is a man who is in our camp now.  I'll
+make an excuse, and send him over to-night, if you can arrange that Miss
+Gifford sees him when he comes.  I'll give him a message for you."
+
+"_Send_!" repeated Erskine sharply; then he glanced at Claire, and sent
+a frowning message towards the other man.  "That can easily be arranged.
+We'll leave it till evening, then.  We can't get any further now, and I
+must get back to my duties.  The mater is scowling at me.  Go and soothe
+her like a good fellow, but for your life--not a word of this to her!"
+
+Major Carew rose obediently, perfectly aware that his company was not
+wanted, and Erskine bent towards Claire with a few earnest words.
+
+"Don't worry!  If this man is an impostor, the sooner it is found out,
+the better.  He _is_ an impostor, there's no getting away from that, and
+he is making a dupe of that poor girl for his own ends.  If we had not
+made this discovery, he would have stuck to her until he had bled her of
+her last penny, and then would probably have disappeared into space.
+She knows nothing of his real name or position, so it would have been
+difficult to trace him, and probably nothing to be gained, if he _were_
+found.  One reads of these scoundrels from time to time, but I've never
+had the misfortune to meet one in the flesh.  I'd like to horsewhip the
+fellow for upsetting you like this!"
+
+"Oh, what does it matter about me?"  Claire cried impatiently.  "It's
+Cecil I'm thinking about--my poor, poor friend!  She's not young, and
+she is tired out after twelve years of teaching, and it's the _second_
+time!  Years ago a man pretended to love her, it was only pretence, and
+it nearly broke her heart.  She has never been the same since then.  It
+made her bitter and distrustful."
+
+"Poor creature!  No wonder.  But that was some time ago, and now she is
+engaged to this other fellow.  Is she in love with him, do you suppose?"
+
+Claire shrugged vaguely.
+
+"I--don't--know!  She is in love with the idea of a home."
+
+"And he?  You have seen them together.  He is a cur, there's no getting
+away from that, but he might be attached to the girl all the same.  Do
+you think he is?"
+
+"Oh, how can I tell?"  Claire cried impatiently.  "She thinks he is, but
+she thought the same about the other man.  It doesn't seem possible to
+tell!  Men amuse themselves and pretend, and act a part, and then laugh
+at a girl if she is so foolish as to believe--"
+
+Captain Fanshawe bent forward, his arm resting on his knees, his face
+upraised to hers; a very grave face, fixed and determined.
+
+"Do you believe that, Claire?  Do you believe what you are saying?"
+
+The grey eyes looked deep into hers, compelling an answer.
+
+"I--I think many of them--"
+
+"Some of them!" the Captain corrected.  "Just as some girls encourage a
+man to gratify their own vanity.  They are the exceptions in both cases;
+but you speak in generalities, condemning the whole sex.  Is it what you
+really think--that most men pretend?"
+
+The grey eyes were on her face, keen, compelling eyes from which there
+was no escape.  Claire flushed and hesitated.
+
+"No!  No, I don't.  Not most.  But there are some!"
+
+"We are not concerned with `some'!" he said quietly, and straightening
+himself, he cast a glance around.
+
+The guests were standing about in little groups, aimless, irresolute,
+waiting to be broken up into twos and fours, and drafted off to the
+empty lawns; across the deserted tea-tables his mother's eyes met his,
+coldly reproachful.  Erskine sighed, and rose to his feet.
+
+"I must go.  These people need looking after.  Don't look so sad.  It
+hurts me to see you sad."
+
+Just those few, hastily-spoken words and he was gone, and Claire
+strolled off in an opposite direction, anxious to screen herself from
+observation among the crowd.  She ached with pity for Cecil, but through
+all her distresses the old confidence lay warm at her heart.  There was
+one man in the world who towered high above the possibility of deceit;
+and between that man and herself was a bond stronger than spoken word.
+The future seemed full of difficulties, but Claire did not trouble
+herself about the future.  The present was all-absorbing, full of
+trouble; full of joy!
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+It was seven o'clock before the last of the guests had departed, and
+Mrs Fanshawe saw to it that her son was fully engaged until it was time
+to dress for dinner.  Her keen eyes had noticed signs of agitation as
+the two young people sat together at tea.  And what had Erskine been
+talking about with that tense expression on his face?  And what had
+happened to the girl that she looked at one moment so radiant, and at
+the next so cast-down?  Mrs Fanshawe's affections, like those of most
+selfish people, were largely influenced by personal considerations.  A
+week before she had felt quite a warm affection for the agreeable
+companion who had rescued her from the boredom of lonely days, now hour
+by hour, she was conscious of a rising irritation against the girl who
+threatened to interfere with her own plans.  The verdict of others
+confirmed her own suspicions as to Erskine's danger, for during the
+afternoon half a dozen intimate friends referred to Claire with
+significant intonation.  "Such a graceful creature.  No wonder Erskine
+is _epris_!" ...  "Miss Gifford is quite charming." ...  "_So_
+interested to meet Miss Gifford!"  Eyes and voice alike testified to the
+conviction that if an engagement were not already arranged, it was a
+certainty in the near future.  Mrs Fanshawe set her lips, and
+determined by hook or crook to get Claire Gifford out of the house.
+
+That evening at nine o'clock the parlour-maid announced that Major
+Carew's soldier servant wished to see Captain Fanshawe on a message from
+his master, and Erskine gave instructions that he should be sent round
+to the verandah, and stepped out of the window, leaving Claire wondering
+and discomfited.  What had happened?  Was the impostor not to be found?
+In her present tension of mind any delay, even of the shortest, seemed
+unbearable.
+
+The murmur of voices sounded from without, then Erskine stepped back
+into the room, and addressed himself pointedly to Claire, but without
+using her name.
+
+"Would you come out just for two minutes?  It's some plan for to-
+morrow."
+
+Claire crossed the room, acutely conscious of Mrs Fanshawe's
+displeasure, stepped into the cool light of the verandah and beheld
+standing before her, large and trim in his soldier's uniform, Cecil's
+lover, the man who had masqueraded under his master's name.
+
+For one breathless moment the two stood face to face, staring, aghast,
+too petrified by surprise to be able to move or speak.  Claire caught
+hold of the nearest chair, and clutched at its back; the florid colour
+died out of the man's cheeks, his eyes glazed with horror and dismay.
+Then with a rapid right-about-face, he leapt from the steps, and sped
+down the drive.  Another moment and he had disappeared, and the two who
+were left, faced each other aghast.
+
+"His servant!  His _servant_!  Oh, my poor Cecil!"
+
+"The scoundrel!  It was a clever ruse.  No need to invent details: he
+had them all ready to his hand.  The question is, what next?  The game
+is up, and he knows it.  What will be his next move?"
+
+Claire shook her head.  She was white and shaken.  The reality was even
+worse than she had expected, and the thought of Cecil's bitterness of
+disillusion weighed on her like a nightmare.  She tried to speak, but
+her lips trembled and Erskine drew near with a quick word of
+consolation--
+
+"Claire!"
+
+"What is this plan, Erskine?  Am I not to be consulted?  Remember that
+you are engaged to lunch with the Montgomerys to-morrow."
+
+Mrs Fanshawe stood in the doorway, erect, haughty, obviously annoyed.
+Her keen eyes rested on Claire's face, demanding a reason for her
+embarrassment.  Erskine made a virtue of necessity, and offered a short
+explanation.
+
+"A disagreeable thing has happened, mother.  Miss Gifford has discovered
+through Major Carew that a friend is in serious trouble.  It has been
+rather a shock."
+
+"Dear me.  Yes!  It would be.  Perhaps you would like to go to your
+room, my dear.  I'm tired myself, and shall be glad to get to bed.  I am
+sure you must wish to be alone.  Shall we go?"
+
+Claire said good night to the two men and went wearily upstairs.  At
+this moment even her own inward happiness failed to console.  When
+contrasted with her own fate, Cecil's seemed so cruelly unfair!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
+
+"NO!"
+
+Sleep refused to come to Claire that night.  She lay tossing on her bed
+while the old clock in the corridor without struck hour after hour.
+
+Two, three, four, and still she tossed, and turned, and again and again
+asked herself the world-old question, "What shall I do?  What shall I
+do?" and shuddered at the thought of the disillusionment which was
+coming to her poor friend.
+
+What was her own duty in the matter?  Obviously Cecil must be told the
+truth; obviously she was the one to tell it.  Would it be possible to
+_write_?  Inclination clamoured in favour of such a course.  It would be
+so much easier: it would obviate the necessity for a lacerating
+interview.  Would it not be easier for Cecil, also?  Claire felt that if
+positions had been reversed, she would crave above all things to be
+alone, hidden from the eyes of even the most sympathising of friends;
+but Cecil's nature was of a different type.  Having heard the one
+abhorrent fact, she would wish to probe further, to be told details, to
+ask a score of trifling questions.  However full a letter might be, she
+would not be satisfied without an interview.  "But I might write first,
+and see her afterwards!" poor Claire said to herself.  "It would not be
+quite so bad, when she had got over the first shock.  I could _not_ bear
+to see her face..."
+
+It was five o'clock before at last sleep came to drive away the haunting
+questions, and when she woke it was to find her early tea had grown cold
+on the table by her side, and to see on looking at her watch that it was
+nearly ten o'clock.  She dressed hurriedly and went downstairs to find
+Mrs Fanshawe alone in the dining-room, reading the _Morning Post_.  She
+waved aside Claire's apologies for her late appearance with easy good
+nature.  No one was _expected_ to be punctual at breakfast.  It was
+sheer tyranny to decree that visitors should get up at a definite hour.
+If Claire had slept badly, why didn't she order breakfast in her room,
+and spend the morning in bed?
+
+"You look a wreck!" she said frankly, and threw down the paper with an
+impatient gesture.  "Such a nuisance about this bad news.  Erskine seems
+disgusted with the whole affair.  He has gone off with Major Carew to
+see what can be done, and is to go straight to the Willoughbys.  So
+tiresome, for I particularly wanted him to be in good form this
+afternoon!  What's it all about?  As it has happened in my house, I
+think I am entitled to an explanation.  Something to do with Major
+Carew's servant?  How can your friend be associated with a servant?  The
+man has bolted, it appears.  The Major came over half an hour ago to say
+that he never returned last night.  Thought flight the best policy, I
+suppose, but what I am waiting to be told, is--what has he _done_?"
+
+Claire sat down on the nearest chair, feeling more of a wreck than ever.
+
+"Deserted!  A soldier!  But if he is found?  The punishment..."
+
+"He has already been found out, it appears, so that it was a choice
+between certain punishment if he stayed, or the chance of getting safely
+away.  I am waiting to hear what it's all about!"
+
+"Oh, Mrs Fanshawe, it's so difficult.  It's not my secret!" cried poor
+Claire desperately.  "He, this man, has been masquerading under his
+master's name.  My friend knew him as Major Carew.  She, they, became
+very intimate."
+
+"Engaged, I suppose!  It doesn't say much for her discrimination.  Her
+ideas of what constitute a gentleman must be somewhat vague!"  Mrs
+Fanshawe said disagreeably.  She felt disagreeable, and she never made
+any effort to conceal her feelings, kindly or the reverse.  It was
+annoying that one of her own guests should be mixed up in an unsavoury
+scandal with a common soldier: annoying to have people going about with
+long faces, when she had planned a festive week.  Really this Claire
+Gifford was becoming more and more of an incumbrance!  Mrs Fanshawe
+paused with her hand on the coffee-pot, to ask a pointed question--
+
+"Have _you_ also known this man under his false name, may I ask?"
+
+Claire flushed uncomfortably.
+
+"I met him twice.  Only twice.  For a very short time."
+
+Mrs Fanshawe did not speak, but she arched her eyebrows in a fashion
+which was more scorching than words.  "So you, also, are ignorant of
+what constitutes a gentleman!" said those eyebrows.  "You also have been
+including my friend's servant among your acquaintances!"
+
+Claire felt the hopelessness of trying to justify herself, and relapsed
+into silence also, the while she made a pretence of eating one of the
+most miserable meals of her life.  According to his mother, Erskine was
+"quite disgusted" with the whole affair!  Claire's heart sank at the
+thought, but she acknowledged that such an attitude would be no more
+than was natural under the circumstances.  A soldier himself, Captain
+Fanshawe would be a stern judge of a soldier's fraud, while his _amour
+propre_ could not fail to be touched.  Claire had too much faith to
+believe that his displeasure would be extended to herself, yet she was
+miserably aware that it was through her instrumentality that he had been
+brought in contact with the scandal.
+
+In the midst of much confusion of mind only one thing seemed certain,
+and that was that it was impossible to face a tennis party that
+afternoon.  Claire made her apologies to Mrs Fanshawe as she rose from
+the table, and they were accepted with disconcerting readiness.
+
+"Of course!  Of course!  I never imagined that you would.  Under the
+circumstances it would be most awkward.  I expect by afternoon the story
+will be the talk of the place.  Your friend, I understand, is still
+ignorant of the man's real station?  What do you propose to do with
+regard to breaking the news?"
+
+"In.  I'm going to write.  I thought I would sit in my room and compose
+a letter.--It will be difficult!"
+
+"Difficult!"  Mrs Fanshawe repeated the word with disagreeable
+emphasis.  "Impossible, I should say, and, excuse me! cruel into the
+bargain.  To open a letter from a friend, expecting to find the ordinary
+chit-chat, and to receive a blow that shatters one's life!  My dear,
+it's unthinkable!  You cannot seriously intend it."
+
+"You think it would be better if I _told_, her?"  Claire asked
+anxiously.  "I wondered myself, but naturally I dreaded it, and I
+thought she might prefer to get over the first shock alone.  I had
+decided to write first, and see her later on.  But you think..."
+
+"I think decidedly that you ought to break the news in person.  You can
+lead up to it more naturally in words.  Even the most carefully written
+letters are apt to read coldly; perhaps the more care we spend on them,
+the more coldly they read."
+
+"Yes, that's true, that's quite true, but I thought it would be better
+not to wait.  She is staying at home just now.  I don't think he will
+visit her there, for he seemed to shrink from meeting her mother, but he
+may write and try--" Claire drew herself up on the point of betraying
+that borrowing of money which was the most shameful feature of the
+fraud, but Mrs Fanshawe was too much absorbed in her own schemes to
+notice the omission.  She had seen a way of getting rid of an unwelcome
+guest, and was all keenness to turn it to account.
+
+"He is sure to try to see her again while he is at large.  He will
+probably urge her to marry him at once.  You should certainly not defer
+your visit if it is to be of any use.  How dreadful _it_ would be if she
+were to marry him under an assumed name!  You mustn't let us interfere
+with your arrangement, my dear.  You only promised me ten days, so I
+can't grumble if you run away, and for the short time that Erskine is at
+home, there are so many friends to fit in...  You understand, I am sure,
+that I am thinking of your own convenience!"
+
+"I understand perfectly, thank you!"  Claire replied, her head in the
+air, the indignant colour dying her cheeks with red.  Mrs Fanshawe's
+arguments in favour of haste might be wise enough, but her personal
+desire was all too plainly betrayed.  And she pointedly ignored the fact
+that the proposed interview need not have interrupted Claire's visit,
+since it and the journey involved could easily have been accomplished in
+the course of a day.  "I understand perfectly, thank you.  I will go
+upstairs and pack now.  Perhaps there is a train I could catch before
+lunch?"
+
+"The twelve-thirty.  That will give you the afternoon in town.  I'll
+order a fly from the inn.  I'm _so_ sorry for you, dear!  Most nerve-
+racking to have to break bad news, but you'll feel happier when it's
+done.  Perhaps you could take the poor thing with you to that sweet
+little farm!"
+
+Not for the world would Claire have spent the next hour in Mrs
+Fanshawe's company.  She hurried to her room, and placing her watch on
+the dressing-table, so timed her packing that it should not be completed
+a moment before the lumbering country "fly" drove up to the door.  Then,
+fully dressed, she descended the staircase, and held out a gloved hand
+to her hostess, apparently unconscious of an offered kiss.
+
+It was some slight consolation to note the change of bearing which had
+come over Mrs Fanshawe during the last hour, and to realise that the
+success of her scheme had not brought much satisfaction.  She was
+nervous, she was more than nervous, she was afraid!  The while Claire
+had been packing upstairs, she had had time to realise Erskine's return,
+and his reception of the news she would have to break.  As she drove
+away from the door, Claire realised that her hostess would have paid a
+large sum down to have been able to undo that morning's work!
+
+For her own part, Claire cared nothing either way: literally and
+truthfully at that moment even the thought of leaving Erskine had no
+power to wound.  The quickly-following events of the last twenty-four
+hours had had a numbing effect on her brain.  She was miserable, sore,
+and wounded; the whole fabric of life seemed tumbling to pieces.  Love,
+for the moment, was in abeyance.  As the fly passed the last yard of
+mown grass which marked the boundary of the Fanshawe property, she threw
+out her arms with one of the expressive gestures, which remained with
+her as a result of her foreign training.  "_Fini_!" she cried aloud.
+Mentally at that moment, she swept the Fanshawes, mother and son, from
+the stage of her life.
+
+Where should she go next?  Back to solitude, and the saffron parlour?
+London in August held no attraction, but the solitary prospect of being
+able to see Sophie, and at the moment Claire shrank from Sophie's sharp
+eyes.  Should she telegraph to the farm, and ask how soon she could be
+received; and at the same time telegraph to Mary Rhodes asking for an
+immediate interview?  A few minutes' reflection brought a decision in
+favour of this plan, and she drew a pocket-book from her dressing-bag,
+and busied herself in composing the messages.  One to the farm, a second
+to Laburnum Crescent announcing her immediate return, then came a pause,
+to consider the difficult wording of the third.  Would it be possible to
+drop a word of warning, intelligible to Cecil herself, but meaningless
+to anyone else who might by chance open the wire?
+
+"Back in town.  Have important news.  Imperative to see you to-day, if
+possible.  Appoint meeting.  Delay dangerous."
+
+It was not perfect, but in Claire's dazed condition it was the best she
+could concoct, and it left a tactful uncertainty as to whether the news
+affected herself or Cecil, which would make it the easier to explain.
+Claire counted the words and folded the three messages in her hand-bag,
+ready to be sent off the moment she reached the station.
+
+The fly lumbered on; up a toilsome hill, down into the valley, up
+another hill on the farther side; then came a scattering of houses, a
+church, a narrow street lined with shops, and finally the station
+itself, the clock over the entrance showing a bare four minutes to
+spare.
+
+The porter labelled the luggage, and trundled it down the platform.
+Claire hurried through her business in the telegraph office, and ran
+after him just as the train slowed down on the departure platform.  One
+carriage showed two empty corner places on the nearest side, Claire
+opened the door, seated herself facing the engine, and spread her
+impedimenta on the cushions.  But few passengers had been waiting, for
+this was one of the slowest trains in the day, but now at this last
+moment there came the sound of running footsteps, a man's footsteps,
+echoing in strong heavy beats.  With a traveller's instinctive curiosity
+Claire leant forward to watch the movements of this late comer, and
+putting her head out of the window came face to face with Erskine
+Fanshawe himself.
+
+At sight of her he stopped short, at sight of him she stood up, blocking
+the window from sight of the other occupants of the carriage; by a
+certain defiance of pose, appearing to defend it also against his own
+entrance.  But he did not attempt to enter.  Though he had been running,
+it was his pallor, not his heat, which struck Claire in that first
+moment.  He was white, with the pallor of intense anger; the flash of
+his eyes was like cold steel.  He rested his hands on the sill of the
+window, and looked up into her face.
+
+"This is my mother's doing!"
+
+It was a statement, not a question, and Claire made no reply.  She stood
+stiff and silent, while down the length of the platform sounded the
+quick banging of doors.
+
+"I got through sooner than I expected and went home to change.  I did
+not waste time in talking...  I could guess what had happened.  She made
+it impossible for you to stay on?"
+
+Still silence.  The guard's whistle sounded shrilly.  Erskine came a
+step nearer.  His white tense face almost touched her own.
+
+"Claire!" he whispered breathlessly, "will you marry me?"
+
+"Stand back there!  Stand back!" cried an authoritative voice.  The
+wheels of the carriage rolled slowly forward.  Claire bent forward, and
+gave her answer in one incisive word--
+
+"No!"
+
+The wheels rolled faster and faster: left the station, whirled out into
+the green, smiling plain.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
+
+A RUPTURE.
+
+In after days Claire often looked back upon that journey to London, and
+tried to recall her own feelings, but invariably the effort ended in
+failure.  She could remember nothing but a haze of general misery and
+confusion, which deepened with every fresh mile, and reached its acutest
+point at the moment of arriving "home."
+
+The landlady was flustered at having to prepare for so hasty a return,
+and did not scruple to show her displeasure.  She took for granted that
+Claire had had lunch, and the poor girl had not the courage to undeceive
+her.  A telegram was lying on the dining-room table which announced
+Cecil's arrival at four o'clock.  Claire ordered tea to be ready at that
+hour, and stretched herself on her bed in the room upstairs which looked
+so bare and cold, denuded of the beautifying personal touches.  She felt
+incredibly tired, incredibly lonely; she longed with a very passion of
+longing for some one of her own, for the dear, beautiful mother, who if
+she did not always understand, was always ready to love.  Oh, it was
+hard, unnatural work, this fighting the world alone!  Did the girls who
+grew weary of the restraints of home, ever realise how their working
+sisters sickened with longing for some one who cared enough even to
+_interfere_!
+
+Three o'clock, half-past three, a quarter to four.  Claire was faint for
+want of food, and had enough sense to realise that this was a poor
+preparation for the ordeal ahead; she went downstairs, and threw herself
+upon Lizzie's mercy.
+
+"Lizzie, I have had no lunch.  I'm starving.  Could you bring up the tea
+_now_, and make some fresh for Miss Rhodes when she arrives?"
+
+"Why couldn't you say so before?"  Lizzie asked with the freedom of the
+lodging-house slavey, but the question was spoken in sympathy rather
+than anger.  "The kettle's boiling, and I've cut the bread and butter.
+You shall have it in two two's.  I'll cut you a sanguidge," she cried as
+a supreme proof of goodwill, and clattered down the kitchen stairs at
+express speed.
+
+She was as good as her word.  In five minutes tea was ready, and Claire
+ate and drank, keeping her eyes turned resolutely from the clock.
+Before it had struck the hour, there came from the hall the sound of a
+well-known double knock, and she knew that the hour of her ordeal had
+arrived.
+
+She did not rise from the table; the tea-things were clattering with the
+trembling of the hand that was resting upon the tray, she literally had
+not the strength to rise.  She lay back in her chair and stared
+helplessly at the opening door.
+
+Cecil came in.  It came as a shock to see her looking so natural, so
+entirely the Cecil Claire was accustomed to see.  She looked tired, and
+a trifle cross, but alas! these had been prevailing expressions even in
+the days when things were going comparatively well.  Casual in her own
+manner, she saw nothing unusual in Claire's lack of welcome, she nodded
+an off-hand greeting, and drew up a chair to the table.
+
+"Well!  I've come.  Give me a cup of tea as a start.  I've had a rush
+for it.  You said to-day, if possible, and I had nothing special on
+hand, so I thought I had better come.  What's the news, and what's the
+danger?  Which of us does it affect,--me or you?"
+
+"Oh, it's--horrid, horrid, horrid!  It's a long story.  Finish your tea
+first, then I'll tell you.  I'm _so_ miserable!"
+
+"Poor old girl!"  Cecil said kindly, and helped herself to bread and
+butter.  Claire had a miserable conviction that her reply had had a
+deceptive effect, and that the shock when it came, would be all the more
+severe.  Nevertheless, she was thankful for the reprieve; thankful to
+see Cecil eat sandwiches with honest enjoyment, until the last one had
+disappeared from the plate.
+
+"Well!"  Cecil pushed aside her cup, and rested an arm on the table.
+"Let's get to business.  I promised mother I'd catch the six o'clock
+train back.  What's it all about?  Some young squire wanting to marry
+you, and you want my advice?  Take him, my dear!  You won't always be
+young and beautiful!"
+
+Claire shook her head.
+
+"Nothing about me.  I wouldn't have worried you in the holidays, if--if
+it hadn't been for your own sake..."
+
+The red flowed into Cecil's cheeks, her face hardened, the tone of her
+voice was icy cold.
+
+"_My_ sake?  I don't understand.  I am not aware that you have any
+responsibility about my affairs!"
+
+"Cecil, I have!  I must have.  We have lived together.  I have loved
+you--"
+
+Mary Rhodes waved aside the protestations with impatient scorn.
+
+"Don't be sentimental, please!  You are not one of the girls.  If it's
+the money, and you are in a hurry to be repaid--"
+
+"I'm not.  I'm not!  I don't care if you _never_ pay..."  Tears of
+distress rose in Claire's eyes, she caught her breath and cried in a
+choking sob.  "Cecil, it's about--him!  I've found out something.  I've
+seen him...  Only last night..."
+
+"I thought you might meet as his camp was so near.  Suppose you did!
+What was so terribly alarming in that?"
+
+"You haven't heard?  He hasn't been to see you, or written, or wired,
+to-day?"
+
+"He has not.  Why should he?  Don't be hysterical, Claire.  If you have
+anything to say, say it, and let me hear.  What have you `found out'
+about Major Carew?"
+
+"He's--_not_ Major Carew!"  Claire cried desperately.  "He has deceived
+you, Cecil, and pretended to be ... to be something quite different from
+what he really is.  There _is_ a real Major Carew, and his name is
+Frank, and he has a home in Surrey, and an invalid father--everything
+that he told you was true, only--he is not the man!  Oh, Cecil, how
+shall I tell you?  It's so dreadfully, dreadfully hard.  He knew all
+about the real Major Carew, and could get hold of photographs to show
+you, because he--he is his servant, Cecil--his soldier servant...  He
+was with him in camp!"
+
+Cecil rose from her chair, and went over to the empty fireplace,
+standing with her back to her companion.  She spoke no word, and Claire
+struggled on painfully with her explanations.
+
+"He--the real Major Carew--came over to a tennis party at Mrs
+Fanshawe's yesterday.  I thought, of course, that it was another man of
+the same name, but he said--he said there was no other in that regiment,
+and he asked me to tell him some more, and I did, and everything I said
+amazed him more and more, for it was true about _himself_!  Then he
+asked me to describe--the man, and he made an excuse to send his servant
+over in the evening so that I should see him.  He came.  Oh, Cecil!  He
+saw me, and he--ran away!  He had not returned this morning.  He has
+_deserted_!"
+
+Still silence.  It seemed to Claire of most pitiful import that Cecil
+made no disclaimer, that at the word of a stranger she accepted her
+lover's guilt.  What a light on the past was cast by that stoney
+silence, unbroken by a solitary protest.  Poor Mary Rhodes had known no
+doubts as to the man's identity, she had given him affection and help,
+but respect and trust could never have entered into the contract!
+
+Claire had said her say: she leant her elbows on the table, and buried
+her head in her hands.  The clock on the mantelpiece ticked steadily for
+an endless five minutes.  Then Cecil spoke:--
+
+"I suppose," she said harshly, "you expect me to be grateful for this!"
+
+The sound of her voice was like a blow.  Claire looked up, startled,
+protesting.
+
+"Oh, Cecil, surely you would rather know?"
+
+"Should I?"  Cecil asked slowly.  "Should I?"  She turned back to the
+tireless grate, and her thoughts sped...  With her eyes opened she would
+not, of course, consent to marry this man who had so meanly abused her
+trust, but--suppose she had not known!  Suppose in ignorance the
+marriage had taken place?  If he had been loving, if he had been kind,
+would she in after days have regretted the step?  At the bottom of her
+weary woman's heart, Cecil answered that she would _not_.  The fraud was
+unpardonable, yet she could have pardoned it, if it had been done for
+love of herself.  No stately Surrey mansion would have been her home,
+but a cottage of three or four rooms, but it would have been her _own_
+cottage, her _own_ home.  She would have felt pride in keeping it clean
+and bright.  There would have been some one to work for: some one to
+care: some one to whom she _mattered_.  And suddenly there came the
+thought of another joy that might have been; she held to her breast a
+child that was no paid charge, but her very own, bone of her bone, flesh
+of her flesh...
+
+"No!  No!" she cried harshly, "I am not grateful.  _Why_ did you tell
+me?  Why did you spoil it?  What do I care who he was?  He was my man;
+he wanted me.  He told lies _because_ he wanted me...  I am getting old,
+and I'm tired and cross, but he cared.--He _did_ care, and he looked up
+to me, and wanted to appear my equal...  Oh, I'm not excusing him.  I
+know all you would say.  He deceived me--he borrowed money that he could
+never pay back, but he would have confessed some day, he would have had
+to confess, and I should have forgiven him.  I'd have forgiven him
+anything, _because_ he cared ... and after that--he would have cared
+more--I should have had him.  I should have had my home..."
+
+Claire hid her face, and groaned in misery of spirit.  From her own
+point of view it seemed impossible that any woman should regret a man
+who had proved so unworthy, but once again she reminded herself that her
+own working life counted only one year, as against Cecil's twelve; once
+again she felt she had no right to judge.  Presently she became aware
+that Cecil was moving about the room, opening the bureau, and taking
+papers out of a drawer.  At the end of ten minutes she came back to the
+table, and began drawing on her gloves.  Her face was set and tearless,
+but the lines had deepened into a new distinctness.  Claire had a
+pitiful realisation that this was how Cecil would look when she was
+_old_.
+
+"Well," she said curtly, "that's finished!  I may as well go for my
+train.  I'm sorry to appear ungracious, but you could hardly expect me
+to be pleased.  You meant well, of course, but it's a pity to interfere.
+There's just one thing I'd like to make clear--you and I can hardly
+live together after this.  I never was a very agreeable companion, and I
+shall be worse in the future.  It would be better for your own sake to
+make a fresh start, and for myself--I'm sorry to appear brutal, but I
+could not stand another winter together.  It would remind me too
+much..."
+
+She broke off abruptly, and Claire burst into helpless tears.
+
+"Oh, Cecil, Cecil ... don't hate me--don't blame me too much!  It's been
+hard on me, too.  Do you think I _liked_ breaking such news?  Of course
+I will take fresh rooms.  I can understand that you'd rather have some
+one else, but let us still be friends!  Don't turn against me
+altogether.  I'm lonely, too...  I've got my own trouble!"
+
+"Poor little Claire!"  Cecil melted at once, with the quick response
+which always rewarded an appeal to her better feelings.  "Poor little
+Claire.  You're a good child; you've done your best.  It isn't _your_
+fault."  She lifted her bag from the table, and took a step towards the
+door, then resolutely turned back, and held out her hand.  "Good-bye.
+Don't cry.  What's the good of crying?  Good luck to you, my dear, and--
+take warning by me.  I don't know what your trouble is, but as it isn't
+money, it's probably love.--If it is, don't play the fool.  If the
+chance of happiness comes along, don't throw it away out of pride, or
+obstinacy, or foolish prejudice.  You won't always be young.  When you
+get past thirty, it's ... it's hard ... when there's nothing--"
+
+She broke off again, and walked swiftly from the room.
+
+The next moment the front door banged loudly.  Cecil had gone.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
+
+A SUDDEN RESOLVE.
+
+The next morning brought a letter from the farm bidding Claire welcome
+as soon as she chose to arrive, but there was no second letter on the
+table.  Claire had not realised how confidently she had expected its
+presence, until her heart sank with a sick, heavy faintness as she
+lifted the one envelope, and looked in vain for a second.
+
+Erskine had not written.  Did that mean that he had taken her hasty
+answer as final, and would make no further appeal?  She had read of men
+who had boasted haughtily that no girl should have an opportunity of
+refusing them _twice_; that the woman who did not know her own mind was
+no wife for them, but like every other lover she felt her own case to be
+unique.  Driven to answer in a moment of intolerable irritation, what
+else could she have said?
+
+But he had not written!  What did that mean?  At the moment of
+discovering her departure, Erskine had been consumed with anger, but
+afterwards, had his mother's counsels prevailed?  Had he repented
+himself of his hasty impulse?  Would the days pass on, and the months,
+and the years, and leave her like Cecil, solitary, apart?
+
+Claire made a pretence at eating her breakfast, and then, too restless
+to stay indoors, put on her hat, and went out to roam the streets until
+it should be time to visit Sophie in her hospital.
+
+Two hours later she returned and packed up not only her entire wardrobe,
+but the whole of her personal possessions.  In the course of her walk
+there had come to her one of those curious contradictory impulses which
+are so characteristic of a woman's nature.  Having poured out her heart
+in grief because Erskine had neither written nor followed her to town,
+she was now restlessly impatient to make communication impossible, and
+to bury herself where she could not be found.  Before leaving the house
+she made Lizzie happy by a present of money, accompanied by quite a
+goodly bundle of clothing, after which she interviewed the landlady,
+gave notice that she no longer needed the rooms, and wrote out a cheque
+in payment of all claims.  Then a taxi was summoned, the various boxes
+piled on top, and another chapter of life had come to an end.
+
+Claire drove to the station, whence she proposed to take a late
+afternoon train to the farm, deposited her boxes in the left luggage
+office, and strolled listlessly towards the great bookstall under the
+clock.  Another hour remained to be whiled away before she could start
+for the hospital; she would buy a book, sit in the waiting-room, and try
+to bury herself in its pages.  She strolled slowly down the length of
+the stall, her eyes passing listlessly from one pile of books to
+another, finding little interest in them, and even less in the men and
+women who stood by her side.  As Mrs Fanshawe would have said, "No one
+was in town"; even school-mistresses had flown from the region of bricks
+and mortar.  If she had thought about it at all, Claire would have said
+that there was no one she _could_ meet, but suddenly a hand grasped her
+arm, and brought her to a halt.  She started violently, and for an
+instant her heart leapt with a wild glad hope.  It was not Erskine
+Fanshawe who confronted her, however, but a girl clad in a tweed costume
+with a cloth cap to match, on the side of which a sprig of heather was
+fastened by a gold brooch fashioned in the shape of a thistle.  In
+bewildered surprise Claire recognised the brown eyes and round freckled
+face of Janet Willoughby, whom she had believed to be hundreds of miles
+away, in the highlands of Scotland.
+
+"Just come back," Janet explained.  "The weather was impossible.
+Nothing but sheets of rain.  I got tired, and came back to pay some
+visits in the south."  She hesitated, then asked a sudden question.
+"Are you busy?  Going anywhere at once?  Could you spare half an hour?
+We might have lunch together in the refreshment room!"
+
+"Yes.  No.  I'd like to.  I've had no lunch."  Claire faltered
+nervously, whereupon Janet turned to her maid, who was standing near,
+dressing-bag in hand, and gave a few quick instructions.
+
+"Get a taxi, Ross, and take all the things home.  The car can wait for
+me.  I'll follow later."
+
+The maid disappeared, and the two girls made their way across the open
+space.  Both looked nervous and ill at ease, both dreaded the coming
+_tete-a-tete_, yet felt that it was a thing to be faced.  Janet led the
+way to a table in the farthest corner of the room, and they talked
+trivialities until the ordered dishes were set on the table, and the
+waiter had taken his departure.  Claire had ordered coffee, and drank
+eagerly, hoping that the physical refreshment would help to steady her
+nerves.  Janet played with her knife and fork, and said, without looking
+up--
+
+"You have left the Fanshawes, then!  I heard that you were staying on."
+
+"Yes.  Yesterday I--came back."
+
+The very lameness of the answer made it significant.  Janet's freckled
+face turned noticeably pale.
+
+"Erskine went straight home after he left Scotland?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And before he arrived, you had promised to stay on?"
+
+"Mrs Fanshawe asked me, before he came, if I could stay for another
+week, and I was very glad to accept.  I had no other engagement."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"Oh, then things were different.  She didn't need company, and--and--
+things happened.  My friend, Miss Rhodes--"
+
+Janet waved aside "my friend, Miss Rhodes," with an impatient hand.
+
+"And Erskine?  What did _he_ say to your leaving?"
+
+The colour flamed in Claire's cheek; she stammered in hopeless
+confusion, and, in the midst of her stammering, Janet laid both hands on
+the table, and, leaning forward so that the two faces were only a few
+inches apart, spoke a few startling words--
+
+"Has he--_proposed_ to you?  I must know!  You must tell me!"
+
+It was a command, rather than an appeal, and Claire automatically
+replied--
+
+"He--he did!  Yes, but--"
+
+"And you?"
+
+"I--couldn't.  I said no!"
+
+"You said no!  Erskine asked you to be his wife, and you _refused_?"
+Janet stared in incredulous bewilderment.  A spark of indignation shone
+in her brown eyes.  "But why?  You care for him.  Any girl might be
+proud to marry Erskine Fanshawe.  _Why_?"
+
+"I can't tell you.  It's so difficult.  His mother--she didn't want me.
+She would have hated it.  She almost turned me out."
+
+"His _mother_!  Mrs Fanshawe!"  Janet's voice was full of an ineffable
+surprise.  "You refused Erskine because of _her_ prejudice?  But she is
+always changing; she is the most undependable woman on the face of the
+earth!  She is charming, and I'm fond of her, but I should not take her
+advice about a pair of gloves.  Nothing that she could say would
+possibly have the slightest influence on my life.  She's irresponsible;
+she sees entirely from her own standpoint.  And Erskine--Erskine is a
+rock!"  She paused, pressing her lips together to still their trembling,
+and Claire answered with a note of apology in her voice.
+
+"Janet, I _know_!  Don't think I don't appreciate him.  Wait till you
+hear how it happened...  He followed me to the station; it was the very
+last moment, just as the train was starting.  There was time for only
+one word, and--I was sore and angry!"
+
+Janet looked at her, a long, searching look.
+
+"It's curious, but I always knew this would come.  When I saw you
+sitting together at supper that first night, I knew then.  All the time
+I knew it in my heart, but on the surface it seemed ridiculous, for you
+never met!"
+
+"Never that you did not know, except one time in the park.  There was
+nothing to tell you, Janet; nothing to hide."
+
+"No.  So he said.  We talked of you in Scotland, you know, and it was
+just as I thought--a case of recognising each other at first sight.  He
+said the moment he saw you you seemed different from everyone else, and
+he hoped and believed that you felt the same.  That is how people ought
+to love; the right way, when both are attached, both feel the same...
+And it is so rare.  Yet you _refused_!"
+
+"Would you marry a man if his family disapproved?"
+
+"Oh, yes!  I should not be marrying the family.  I'd be sorry, of
+course, but I'd make up my mind that in time I'd make them fall in love
+with me, too.  What are you going to do now?"
+
+"Going away.  Into the country.  I want to be quiet, and think."
+
+Janet did not ask the address.  She sat silent, staring into space, then
+asked a sudden irrelevant question:
+
+"Did he send you the cuckoo clock?"
+
+"I--think so!  It had no name, but it came from Switzerland while he was
+there.  He has never referred to it since."
+
+"Ah!"  Janet began pulling on her gloves.  "I knew that, too.  I _felt_
+that he had sent it.  Well!  I must go.  It will all come right, of
+course, and you will be very happy.  I've known Erskine so long, and his
+wife is sure to be happy."  Janet forced an artificial little laugh.
+"You will be engaged before me, after all, but I dare say I shall soon
+follow suit.  It's nice to be loved.  As one grows older, one
+appreciates it more.  And Captain Humphreys is a good man."
+
+"He is splendid!  I loved his face.  And he is so devoted to you.  It
+was quite beautiful to watch him," cried Claire, thankful from her heart
+to be able to enthuse honestly.
+
+A load was lifted from her heart by Janet's prophecy of her own future.
+For the moment it had no doubt been made more out of bravado than any
+real conviction, and inevitably there must be a period of suffering, but
+Janet was of a naturally buoyant nature, and her wounded spirit would
+gradually find consolation in the love which had waited so patiently for
+its reward.  It needed no great gift of prophecy to see her in the
+future, a happy, contented wife.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.
+
+EASIER TO DIE.
+
+When Janet had taken her departure Claire looked at the clock and found
+that it was time to start for the hospital.  She went out of the
+station, and, passing a shop for flowers and fruit went in, spent ten
+shillings in the filling of a reed basket, and, leaving the shop, seated
+herself in one of the taxis which were standing in readiness outside the
+great porch.  Such carelessness of money was a natural reversion to
+habit, which came as a consequence of her absorbed mind.
+
+The great hospital looked bare and grim, the smell of iodoform was more
+repellent than ever, after the sweet scents of the country.  Claire knew
+her way by this time, and ascended by lift to the women's ward, where
+Sophie lay.  Beside almost every bed one or two visitors were seated,
+but Sophie was alone.  Down the length of the ward Claire caught a
+glimpse of a recumbent form, and felt a pang at the thought of the many
+visiting days when her friend had remained alone.  With no relations in
+town, her brother's family too pressed for means to afford expeditions
+from the country, Sophie had no hope of seeing a familiar face, and her
+very attitude bespoke dejection.
+
+Claire walked softly to the further side of the bed, and dangled the
+basket before the half-covered face, whereupon Sophie pushed back the
+clothes and sat up, her eyes lighting with joy.
+
+"_Claire_!  You!  Oh, you dearly beloved, I thought you were still away!
+Oh, I am glad--I am glad!  I was so dreadfully blue!"
+
+She looked it.  Even in the eagerness of welcome her face looked white
+and drawn, and the pretty pink jacket, Claire's own gift, seemed to
+accentuate her pallor.  The hands with which she fondled the flowers
+were surely thinner than they had been ten days before.
+
+"My dear, what munificence!  Have you come into a fortune?  And fruit
+underneath!  I shall be able to treat the whole ward!  When did you come
+back?  Have you had a good time?  Are you going on to the farm?  It _is_
+good of you to come again.  It's--it's hard being alone when you see the
+other patients with their own people.  The nurses are dears, but they
+are so rushed, poor things, they haven't time to stay and talk.  And oh,
+Claire, the days!  They're so wearily _long_!"
+
+Claire murmured tender exclamations of understanding and pity.  A pained
+conviction that Sophie was no better made her shrink from putting the
+obvious question; but Sophie did not wait to be asked.
+
+"Oh, Claire," she cried desperately, "it's so hard to be patient and to
+keep on hoping, when there's no encouragement to hope!  I'm not one
+scrap better after all that has been tried, and I've discovered that
+they did not expect me to be better; the best they seem to hope for is
+that I may not grow worse!  It's like running at the pitch of one's
+speed, and succeeding only in keeping in the same place.  And there are
+other arthritics in this ward!"  She shuddered.  "When I think that I
+may become like _them_!  It would be much easier to die."
+
+"I think it would often seem easier," Claire agreed sadly, her thoughts
+turning to Cecil, whose trouble at the moment seemed as heavy as the one
+before her.  "But we can't be deserters, Sophie.  We must stick to our
+posts, and play the game.  When these troubles come, we just _have_ to
+bear them.  There's no hiding, or running away.  There's only one choice
+open to us--whether we bear it badly or well."
+
+But Sophie's endurance was broken by weeks of suffering, and her bright
+spirit was momentarily under an eclipse.
+
+"Everybody doesn't have to bear them!  Things are so horribly uneven,"
+she cried grudgingly.  "Look at your friend Miss Willoughby, with that
+angel of a mother, and heaps of money, and health, and strength, and a
+beautiful home, and able to have anything she wants, as soon as she
+wants it.  What does _she_ know of trouble?"
+
+Claire thought of Janet's face, as it had faced her across the table in
+the refreshment room, but it was not for her to betray another's secret,
+so she was silent, and Sophie lifted a spray of pink roses, and held
+them against her face, saying wistfully--
+
+"You're a good little soul, Claire, and it's because you are good that I
+want to know what your opinion is about all this trouble and misery.
+What good can it possibly do me to have my life ruined by this illness?
+Don't tell me that it will not be ruined.  It must be, in a material
+sense, and I'm not all spiritual yet; there's a lot of material in my
+nature, and I live in a material world, and I want to be able to enjoy
+all the dear, sweet, natural, human joys which come as a right to
+ordinary human beings.  I want to _walk_!  Oh, my dear, I look out of
+these windows sometimes and see all the thousands and thousands of
+people passing by, and I wonder if a single one out of all the crowd
+ever thinks of being thankful that he can _move_!  I didn't myself, but
+now--when I hobble along--"
+
+She broke off, shaking back her head as though to defy the rising tears,
+then lay back against the pillows, looking at Claire, and saying
+urgently--"Go on!  Tell me what you think!"
+
+"I think," Claire answered slowly, "that we are bound to grow!  The mere
+act of death is not going to lift us at once to our full height.  Our
+training must go on after we leave this sphere; but, Sophie dear, some
+of us have an extra hard training here, and if we bear it in the right
+way, surely, surely when we move up, it must be into a higher class than
+if things had been all smooth and easy.  There must be less to learn,
+less to conquer, more to enjoy.  You and I are school-mistresses and
+ought to realise the difficulties of mastering difficult tasks.  Don't
+look upon this illness as cheating you out of a pleasant holiday, dear--
+look upon it as special training for an honours exam.!"
+
+Sophie smiled, her old twinkling smile, and stroked Claire's hand with
+the spray of roses.
+
+"I knew you'd say something nice!  I knew you'd put it in a quaint,
+refreshing way.  I shall remember that, when I am alone, and feel
+courage oozing out of every pore.  Two o'clock in the morning is a
+particularly cheery time when you are racked with pain!  Claire, I asked
+the doctor to tell me honestly whether there was any chance of my ever
+taking up the old work again, and he said, honestly, he feared there was
+none."
+
+"But Mrs Willoughby--"
+
+"I asked that, too.  He says he quite hopes to get me well enough to go
+to Egypt in October or November, and that I should certainly be much
+better there.  It would be the best thing that could happen if it came
+off!  But--"
+
+Claire held up a protesting hand.
+
+"No ifs!  No buts!  Do your part, and get better, and leave the rest to
+Providence and--Mrs Willoughby!  It's her mission in life to help
+girls, and she'll help _you_, too, or know the reason why.  The truly
+sensible thing would be for you to begin to prepare your clothes.  What
+about starting a fascinating blouse at once?  Your hands are quite able
+to sew, and if you once got to work with chiffon and lace the time would
+fly!  You might write for patterns to-night.  You would enjoy looking at
+patterns."
+
+When Claire took her departure half an hour later, she left behind a
+very different Sophie from the wan dejected-looking creature whom she
+had found on her arrival.
+
+Hers was a happy nature, easily cheered, responsive to comfort, and
+Claire had a happy conviction that whatever physical handicaps might be
+in store, her spirit would rise valiantly to the rescue.  A winter in
+Egypt was practically assured, since Mrs Willoughby had privately
+informed Claire that if nothing better offered, she would send Sophie at
+her own expense to help in the household of her niece--an officer's
+wife, who would be thankful for assistance, though she could not afford
+to pay the passage out.  What was to happen in the future no one could
+tell, and there was no profit in asking the question.  The next step was
+clear, and the rest must be left to faith, but with a chilling of the
+blood Claire asked herself what became of the disabled working women who
+had no influential friends to help in such a crisis; the women who fell
+out of the ranks to die by the roadside homeless, penniless, _alone_?
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
+
+SURRENDER.
+
+It was a very limp and exhausted Claire who arrived at the farm that
+evening, and if she had had her own way she would have hurried to bed
+without waiting for a meal, but the kind countrywoman displayed such
+disappointment at the idea that she allowed herself to be dissuaded, sat
+down to a table spread with home-made dainties and discovered that she
+was hungrier than she had believed.  The fried ham and eggs, the fresh
+butter, the thick yellow cream, the sweet coarse bread, were all the
+best of their kind, and Claire smiled at her own expense as she looked
+at the emptied dishes, and reflected that, for a person who had
+professed herself unable to eat a bite, she had made a pretty good
+sweep!
+
+The bed was somewhat bumpy, as farmhouse beds have a habit of being;
+there was one big ball in especial which took many wrigglings to avoid;
+but on the other hand the sheets smelt deliciously, not of lavender, but
+of lemon thyme, and the prevailing air of cleanliness was delicious
+after the smoke-laden atmosphere of town.  Claire told herself that she
+could not expect to sleep.  She resigned herself to hear the clock
+strike every hour--and as a matter of fact after ten o'clock she was
+unconscious of the whole world, until her breakfast-tray was carried
+into the room next morning.
+
+After breakfast she had another nap, and after lunch still another, and
+in the intervals wandered about the farm-yard, laboriously striving to
+take an interest in what really interested her not at all.  Hens seemed
+to her the dullest of created creatures, pigs repelled, cows were
+regarded with uneasy suspicion, and sheep, seen close at hand, lost all
+the picturesque quality of a distant flock, and became stupid long-faced
+creatures, by no means as clean as they might be.  Milking-time aroused
+no ambition to experiment on her own account, and a glass of foaming new
+milk proved unexpectedly nauseous.  Sad as it was to confess it, she
+infinitely preferred the chalked and watered edition of the city!
+
+Indoors things were no better, for the tiny sitting-room stood by itself
+at the end of a passage, cut off from the life of the house.  It was
+spotlessly clean and the pride of its owner's heart, but contained
+nothing of interest to an outsider.  Pictures there were none, with the
+exception of portraits of the farmer and his wife, of the enlarged
+photograph type, and a selection of framed funeral cards in a corner.
+Books there were none, with the exception of a catalogue of an
+Agricultural Show, and a school prize copy of _Black Beauty_.  Before
+the second night was over Claire had read _Black Beauty_ from cover to
+cover; the next morning she was dipping into the catalogue, and trying
+to concentrate her attention on "stock."
+
+As her body grew rested, Claire's mind became increasingly active.  It
+was inevitable, but the second stage was infinitely harder to bear.  For
+the first hours after her arrival her supreme longing had been to lie
+down and shut her eyes; but now restlessness overtook her, and with
+every fresh hour drove her more helplessly to and fro.  She went out for
+long walks over the countryside, her thoughts so engrossingly turned
+inward that she saw nothing of the landscape on either hand; she
+returned to the house and endeavoured to write, to read, to sew, only to
+give up the attempt at the end of half an hour, and once more wander
+helplessly forth.
+
+The good countrywoman was quick to sense that some hidden trouble was
+preying on her guest, and showed her sympathy in practical fashion.
+
+"A bit piney-like, aren't you?  I seed from the first that you was
+piney-like," she said, standing tray in hand on the threshold of the
+little parlour, her fresh, highly-coloured face smiling kindly upon the
+pale girl.  "I always do say that I pities ladies when they has anything
+on their minds; sitting about, same as you do now, with nothing to take
+them off theirselves.  A body like me that has to keep a house clean,
+and cook and wash, and mind the children, to say naught of the sewing
+and the mending, and looking after the cows and the hens, and all the
+extra fusses and worries that come along, she hasn't got no time to
+remember herself, and when she gets to bed she's too tired to think.
+Now if you was to have some work--"
+
+Claire's face brightened with a sudden inspiration.
+
+"Will you give me some work?  Let me help _you_!  Do, please, Mrs
+Corby; I'd be so grateful.  Let me come into the kitchen and do
+something now.  I feel so lonely shut off here, all by myself."
+
+Mrs Corby laughed, her fat comfortable laugh.
+
+"Bless your 'art, you can come along and welcome.  I'll be proud to have
+you.  It ain't much you know of housework, I expect, but it'll do you no
+harm to learn.  I'll find you some little jobs."
+
+"Oh, I'm not so useless as you think.  I can brush and dust, and polish,
+and wash up, and I know a good deal about cooking.  I'll make a salad to
+eat with the cold meat--a real French salad.  I'm sure Mr Corby would
+enjoy a French salad," cried Claire, glancing out of the window at the
+well-stocked kitchen garden, and thinking of the wet lettuce and uncut
+onions, which were the good woman's idea of the dish in question.  "May
+I make one to-day?"
+
+Mrs Corby smiled with a fine resignation.  Personally she wanted none
+of them nasty messy foods, but there! the poor thing meant well, and if
+it would make her happy, let her have her way.  So Claire collected her
+materials, and washed and mixed, and filled a great bowl, and decorated
+the top with slices of hardboiled eggs, and a few bright nasturtium
+blossoms, while three linty-locked children stood by, watching with
+fascinated attention.  At dinner Claire thoroughly enjoyed her share of
+her own salad, but the verdict of the country-people was far from
+enthusiastic.
+
+"I don't go for to deny that it tasted well enough," Mrs Corby said
+with magnanimous candour, "but what I argue is, what's the sense of
+using up all them extras--eggs, and oil, and what not--when you can
+manage just as well without?  I've never seen the day when I couldn't
+relish a bit o' plain lettuce and a plate of good spring onions!"
+
+"But the eggs and the dressing make it more nourishing," Claire
+maintained.  "In France the peasants have very often nothing but salad
+for their dinner--great dishes of salad, with plenty of eggs."
+
+"Eh, poor creatures!  It makes your heart bleed to think of it.  We may
+be thankful we are not foreign born!"  Mrs Corby pronounced with
+unction, and Claire retired from the struggle, and decided that for the
+future it would be more tactful to learn, rather than to endeavour to
+teach.  The next morning, therefore, she worked under Mrs Corby's
+supervision, picking fruit, feeding chickens, searching for eggs, and
+other light tasks designed to keep her in the open air; and in the
+afternoon accompanied the children on a message to a farm some distance
+away.  The path lay across the fields, away from the main road, and on
+returning an hour later, Mrs Corby's figure was seen standing by her
+own gate, her hand raised to her eyes, as though watching for their
+approach.  The children broke into a run, and Claire hurried forward,
+her heart beating with deep excited throbs.  What was it?  _Who_ was it?
+Nobody but Sophie and Cecil knew her address, but still, but still--
+For a moment hope soared, then sank heavily down as Mrs Corby
+announced--
+
+"A lady, miss.  Come to see you almost as soon as you left.  She's
+waiting in the parlour."
+
+Cecil!  Claire hardly knew if she were sorry or relieved.  It would be a
+blessing to have some one to whom she could speak, but, on the other
+hand, what poor Cecil had to say would not fail to be depressing.  She
+went slowly down the passage, taking a grip over her own courage, opened
+the door, and stood transfixed.
+
+In the middle of the hard horsehair sofa sat Mrs Fanshawe herself, her
+elaborately coiffured, elaborately attired figure looking
+extraordinarily out of place in the prim bareness of the little room.
+Her gloved hands were crossed on her lap, she sat ostentatiously erect,
+her satin cloak falling around her in regal folds; her face was a trifle
+paler than usual, but the mocking light shone in her eyes.  At Claire's
+entrance she stood up, and crossed the little room to her side.
+
+"My dear," she said calmly, "I am an obstinate old woman, but I have the
+sense to know when I'm beaten.  I have come to offer my apologies."
+
+A generous heart is quick to forgive.  At that moment Claire felt a pang
+indeed, but it came not from the remembrance of her own wrongs, but from
+the sight of this proud, domineering woman humbling herself to a girl.
+Impulsively she threw out both hands, impulsively she stopped Mrs
+Fanshawe's lips with the kiss which she had refused at parting.
+
+"Oh, stop!  Please don't!  Don't say any more.  I was wrong, too.  I
+took offence too quickly.  You were thinking of me, as well as of
+yourself."
+
+"Oh, no, I was not," the elder woman corrected quietly.  "Neither of
+you, nor your friend, my dear, though I took advantage of the excuse.
+You came between me and my plans, and I wanted to get you out of the
+way.  You saw through me, and I suppose I deserved to be seen through.
+It's an unpleasant experience, but if it's any satisfaction to you to
+know it, I've been _well_ punished for interfering.  Erskine has seen to
+my punishment."
+
+The blood rushed to Claire's face.  How much did Mrs Fanshawe know?
+Had Erskine told her of that hurried interview upon the station?  Had he
+by any possibility told what he had _asked_?  The blazing cheeks asked
+the question as plainly as any words, and Mrs Fanshawe replied to it
+without delay.
+
+"Oh, yes, my dear, I know all about it.  It was because I guessed that
+was coming that I wanted to clear the coast; but it appears that I was
+too late.  Shall we sit down and talk this out, and for pity's sake see
+that that woman doesn't come blundering in.  It's such an anti-climax to
+have to deal with a tea-tray in the midst of personal explanations.  I'm
+not accustomed to eating humble pie, and if I am obliged to do it at
+all, I prefer to do it in private."
+
+"She won't come.  I don't have tea for another hour," Claire assured
+her.  "And please don't eat humble pie for me.  I was angry at the time,
+but you had been very kind to me before.  I--I enjoyed that first week
+very much."
+
+"And so did I!"  Mrs Fanshawe gave one of her dry, humorous, little
+laughs.  "You are a charming companion, my dear.  I was a little in love
+with you myself, but-- Well! to be honest, it did not please me that my
+son should follow my example.  He is my only child, and I am proud and
+ambitious for him, as any mother would be.  I did not wish him to marry
+a--a--"
+
+"A gentlewoman who was honourably working at an honourable profession!"
+concluded Claire for her, with a general stiffening of pose, voice and
+manner; but Mrs Fanshawe only laughed once more, totally unaffected by
+the pose.
+
+"No, my dear, I did not!  It's very praiseworthy, no doubt, to train the
+next generation, but it doesn't appeal to me in the present connection.
+I was thinking of my son, and I wanted him to have a wife of position
+and fortune, who would be able to help his career.  If you had been a
+girl of fortune and position, I should have been quite ready to welcome
+you.  You are a pretty creature, and much more intelligent than most
+girls of your age, but, you see, you are not--"
+
+"I have no money but what I earn, but I belong to a good family.  I
+object to your saying that I have no position, Mrs Fanshawe, simply
+because I live in lodgings and work for my living!"
+
+Mrs Fanshawe shrugged with a touch of impatience.
+
+"Oh, well, my dear, why bandy words?  I have told you that I am beaten,
+so it's useless to argue the point.  Erskine has decided for himself,
+and, as I told you before, one might as well try to bend a granite wall
+as move him when he has once made up his mind.  I've planned, and
+schemed, and hoped, and prayed for the last dozen years, and at the
+first sight of that pretty face of yours all my plans went to the wall.
+If I'd been a wise woman I would have recognised the inevitable, and
+given in with a good grace, but I never was wise, never shall be, so I
+ran my head up against the wall.  I've been through a bad time since you
+left me, my dear, and I was forgiven only on the understanding that I
+came here and made my peace with you.  Have I made peace?  Do you
+understand what I mean?  That I withdraw my opposition, and if you
+accept my boy, you shall have nothing to fear.  I'll make you welcome;
+and I'll be as good to you as it's in my nature to be.  I'll treat you
+with every courtesy.  Upon my word, my dear, as mothers-in-law go, I
+think you would come off pretty well!"
+
+"I--I--I'm sure--You're very kind..."  Claire stammered in helpless
+embarrassment; and Mrs Fanshawe, watching her, first smiled, then
+sighed, and said in a quick low voice--
+
+"Ah, my dear, you can afford to be generous!  If you live to be my age,
+and have a son of your own, whom you have loved, and cherished, and
+mothered for over thirty years, and at the end he speaks harshly to you
+for the sake of a girl whom he has known a few short months, puts her
+before you, finds it hard to forgive you because you have wounded her
+pride--ah, well, it's hard to bear!  I don't want to whine, but--don't
+make it more difficult for me than you can help!  I have apologised.
+Now it's for you--"
+
+Claire put both arms round the erect figure, and rested her head on the
+folds of the black satin cloak.  Neither spoke, but Mrs Fanshawe lifted
+a little lace-edged handkerchief to her eyes, and her shoulders heaved
+once and again.  Then suddenly she arose and walked towards the door.
+
+"The car is waiting.  Don't come with me, my dear.  I'll see you again."
+
+She waived Claire back in the old imperious way against which there was
+no appeal.  Evidently she wished to be alone, and Claire re-seated
+herself on the sofa, flushed, trembling, so shaken out of her bearings
+that it was difficult to keep hold of connected thought.  The impossible
+had happened.  In the course of a few short minutes difficulties which
+had seemed insurmountable had been swept from her path.  Within her
+grasp was happiness so great, so dazzling that the very thought of it
+took away her breath.
+
+Her eyes fell on the watch at her wrist.  Ten minutes to four!  Twenty
+minutes ago--barely twenty minutes--at the end of the field path she had
+looked at that little gold face with a dreamy indifference, wondering
+only how many minutes remained to be whiled away before it was time for
+tea.  Even a solitary tea-drinking had seemed an epoch in the uneventful
+day.  Uneventful!  Claire mentally repeated the word, the while her eyes
+glowed, and her heart beat in joyful exultation.  Surely, surely in
+after-remembrance this day would stand out as one all-important, epoch-
+making.
+
+And then suddenly came a breathless question.  How had Mrs Fanshawe
+discovered her retreat?  No address had been left at Laburnum Crescent;
+no address had been given to Janet Willoughby.  Cecil was in her
+mother's home; Sophie in hospital.  In the name of all that was
+mysterious and inexplicable, _how had she been tracked_?
+
+Claire sat bolt upright on her sofa, her grey eyes widened in amaze, her
+breath coming sharply through her parted lips.  She thrilled at the
+realisation that Erskine's will had overcome all difficulties.  Had not
+Mrs Fanshawe declared that she came at his instigation?  And where the
+mother had come, would not the son follow?
+
+At that moment a shadow fell across the floor; against the open space of
+the window a tall figure stood, blocking the light.  Erskine's eager
+eyes met her own.  Before the first gasp of surprise had left her lips,
+his strong hands had gripped the sill, he had vaulted over and stood by
+her side.
+
+"I sent on my advance guard, and waited till her return.  Did you think
+you had hidden yourself where I could not find you?  I should have found
+you wherever you had gone; but as it happens it was easy enough.  You
+forgot that you had forwarded flowers to your friend in hospital!  She
+was ready enough to give me your address.  And now--_Claire_"--he held
+out his hands, gazing down into her face--"what have you to say to me
+now?"
+
+Instinctively Claire's hands stretched out to meet his, but on the
+following impulse she drew back, clasping them nervously behind her
+back.
+
+"Oh, are you _sure_?" she cried breathlessly.  "Are you _sure_ you are
+sure?  Think what it means!  Think of the difference it might make!  I
+have no money, no influence; I'd be an expense to you, and a drag when
+another girl might help.  Think!  Think!  Oh, do be quite sure!"
+
+Erskine's stern eyes melted into a beautiful tenderness as he looked at
+her troubled face.  He waited no longer, but came a step nearer, and
+took forcible possession of the hidden hands.
+
+"It is not my feelings which are in question; it is _yours_.  There has
+been no doubt in my mind for months past.  I think you know that,
+Claire!"
+
+"But--your career?"
+
+"I can look after my own career.  Do you think it is the straight thing
+to suggest to a soldier that he needs a woman to help him in his work?
+It's not as a soldier I need you, but as a man.  I need you there,
+Claire.  I need you badly!  No one else could help me as you can!"
+
+Claire's lips quivered, but still she hung back, standing away from him
+at the length of her stretched arms.
+
+"I've no money.  I'm a--a school-mistress.  Your friends will think--"
+
+"I am not considering what my friends will think."
+
+"Your mother thought--"
+
+"I am not asking you to marry my mother.  Mothers of only sons are hard
+to please, but you know as well as I can tell you that the mater is fond
+of you at heart, and that she will grow fonder still.  She had her own
+ideas, and she fought for them, but she won't fight any more.  You
+mustn't be hard on the mater, Claire.  She has done her best for me to-
+day."
+
+"I know!  I know!  I was sorry for her.  Sorrier than I was for myself.
+It's so hard that I should have come between you two!"
+
+At that Erskine laughed, a short, impatient laugh.
+
+"Oh, Claire, Claire, how long are you going to waste time in discussing
+other people's feelings, before you tell me about your own?  Darling,
+I'm in love with you!--I'm in love for the first time in my life.  I'm
+impatient.  I'm waiting.  There's no one in the world for me at this
+moment but just yourself; I'm waiting for you to forget every one but
+me.  Do you love me, Claire?"
+
+"You know I do!  You know I do!  Oh!" cried Claire, yielding to the
+strength of the strong arms, and resting her head on the broad shoulder
+with an unspeakable rush of joy and rest.  "Oh, but you don't know how
+much!  I can't tell you--I can't put it into words, but it's my whole
+heart, my whole life!  Oh, every _thought_ has been with you for such a
+long, long time."
+
+"My darling!  My own sweet, brave little girl!  And my thoughts with
+you!  Thank God, we shall be together now.  We have had enough of
+separation and chance meetings.  There must be an end of that.  You'll
+have to marry me at once!"
+
+This was rushing ahead with a vengeance!  Claire shook her head, with a
+little laugh sweet as a chime of joy bells.
+
+"You ridiculous--boy!  I can't.  It's impossible.  You forget my work.
+There's all next term.  I couldn't possibly leave without giving
+notice."
+
+"Couldn't you!  We'll see to that.  Do you seriously believe that I'm
+going to let you go back to that drudgery, and kick my heels waiting for
+four months?  You don't understand the kind of man you are marrying, my
+lass!"
+
+Claire loved the sound of that "my lass," loved the close grip of the
+arms, the feel of the rough cheek against her own.  For a few minutes
+neither spoke, too utterly, completely absorbed in each other's
+presence.  To Claire, as to Erskine, a four months' delay seemed an aeon
+of time through which to wade before the consummation of a perfect
+happiness, but it seemed impossible that it could be avoided.
+
+"Miss Farnborough would never let me off.  She would be indignant with
+me for asking."
+
+"I'll tackle Miss Farnborough.  Leave Miss Farnborough to me!" returned
+Erskine with so confident an air that Claire shook with amusement,
+seeing before her a picture of her lover seated _tete-a-tete_ with the
+formidable "Head," breaking to her the news that one of her staff
+intended to play truant.
+
+"It's very easy to say that.  You don't know her.  She thinks everything
+in the world comes second to education."
+
+"What if she does?  I'll agree with her.  You're the most precious
+darling in all the world, but you can't honestly believe that there
+aren't a thousand other mistresses who could teach those flappers as
+well, or better!  Whereas for _me_--well! it's Claire, or no one.  I'll
+throw myself on the good lady's tender mercies, and ask for your release
+as a favour to myself, and I bet you anything you like that I succeed.
+Miss Farnborough was a woman before she was a school-mistress.  She'll
+set you free all right!"
+
+"Perhaps--perhaps possibly at the half term."
+
+"Rubbish--the half term!  We'll be married and settled down before we
+get near then...  Where will you go for our marriage, Claire?  To Mrs
+Willoughby?  I'm sure she'd be willing."
+
+"No!--no!"  Claire marvelled at the obtuseness of men; at the utter
+unconsciousness of this particular man of the reason why Mrs
+Willoughby's house should be the last one on earth from which his
+marriage should take place.  And then in the midst of these
+questionings, to her own surprise a sudden pricking of tears came to her
+eyes, and she cried sharply, "I want mother!  I must have mother.  She
+must come home.  She'll come at once, when she hears--"
+
+"We'll cable to-day.  That will be best of all.  I'm longing to meet
+your mother, and you ought to have her with you, little lass!  Poor,
+little, lonely lass!  Please God, you shall never be lonely any more."
+
+"Ah, Erskine darling, but the _other women_!"  Claire cried, and there
+was the sharpness of pain in her voice.
+
+From within the shelter of her lover's arms her heart went out in a wave
+of tenderness towards her sisters who stood apart from the royal feast;
+towards Cecil with her blighted love, Sophie with her blighted health,
+with the thousand others for whom they stood as types; the countless
+hordes of women workers for whom life was a monotonous round of grey-
+hued days, shadowed by the prospect of age and want.  From the shelter
+of her lover's arms, Claire Gifford vowed herself to the service of her
+working sisters.  From the bottom of her heart she thanked God for the
+year of work which had taught her to _understand_.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Independence of Claire, by 
+Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey
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