Oh, with that sa

s, and more tha

voice my soul

te, and follows

these the same, b

Brow

loors of the galleries of Hertford House. She put the tray beside the bed, drew back the curtains, and brought in the hot water, just as a housemaid might have done. Mrs. Mynors, rosy and beau

ready for his day's work, there was Pansy's breakfast to be thought of. Dainty toast, fresh tea, a spoonful of jam, were arranged on a pretty tray and carried upstairs. Then Virginia was at leisure to sit down for

e it harder t

ubbed before its dainty mistress could be friends with it again. Then there were beds to make, a room to sweep, three rooms to dust. Then her mothe

s room, the little cripple having been moved as usual to her invalid couch by the window. Virginia was so tired that she herse

on in response to Miriam's urgent invitation. She thought her hint might defeat itself. Now she was wondering whether, in view of her daughter's obtuseness, she would not have done well to let her know what was expected of her. She could see that the girl was out of heart, and she shrank, partly from cowardice, partly from affect

blue overall brought in the tea, there was

s from the solicitors who had foreclosed the mortgage, and well she

d trying to determine to face the necessary unpleasantness. At last, heaving a sigh o

zed with trembling, her heart beat suffocatingly, and with a bound she sprang from bed, rushed to her mi

of red in it! The teeth still perfect within the pretty lips, barely discernible crows' feet at the corners of the brilliant, expressive eyes! Plumper she was no d

s marvellous coincidence, this strange turn of fortune's wheel. What a good thing that she was a woman of experience, no longer a shy girl. She must not lose this

, young enough to enjoy! If she could not now take hold on circumstance, and wrest her defeat

ement was so great that she felt sure she would have to tell most of it. Thrills of anticipation coursed most agreeably through her being. How had she been able to bear it so far-this crushing, stifling existence in an odious little box in a horrid third-rate town? How patient she had

rapture of gratitude and devotion with which the girl would realise that her mother's charm, her mother's ability to hold a man's affection for twenty years and more, was to mend the family fortunes. She faced-only to disregard it-the fact that Vir

r glass in a drea

up on a tray. "I've brought your cold beef-tea jelly, dearest, as it is such a h

ined! I have had such extraordinary-such heart-searching

been home three days, and her mother had said nothing of it, but seemed flush of cash. Virginia had consulted the cheque-book

hing, as though she could not bear a fresh blow. It must be the he

l me all about i

sses, opened a small drawer, searched i

you came home," she faltered. "It would hav

enly cold hands, sank rather than seated herself upon a chai

hings-all were costly relics of bygone days, something to make a pillow between the dainty head of its mistress and the hard cold boards of poverty.

e letters-read

erything! Li

ds to her head.

was

n to be an errand boy. She, Virginia, must go into service.

life to keep up those payments, while Mrs. Myn

the effort to refrain from telling the pretty, golden-haired doll once for all what she thought of her. This mother, whom she had

iced her whole life to the service of her loved ones, had drudged and toiled that her mother might have eas

nd even annoyance, Virginia slip

nors actually got a wet sponge and laid it on her daughter's forehead. This not succeeding, she found eau-de-Cologne and applied that. After a time Virginia slowly returned t

s buying winter coats and bottles o

f hair. "You must see that I could not help spending that money, and also that I never dreamed what would be the result of

d nothing a

You lie there without a word of comfort-as if I had ruined you

face over and hi

od which accusing conscience made bitter,

. This morning I have had other news-the most extraordinary thing-the most unlikely coincidence-t

ery sudden, you know, and it is all so horrible-like falling over

the window, leaning out into the air.

said, playing nervously with the articles in her manicure set: "Did you ever hear me s

replied Virginia,

y; he had a shocking temper, and he didn't take his jilting at all peaceably. I know I was in fault, but what is a girl to do? He

h, had there always been so many others? Virginia recalled the familiar figures-Colonel Duke, and Major Gibson, the M.F.H., and Sir Edmund Hobbs. Certainly, for

voice. "He was too madly in love, I suppose, for any transfer of his affections to be possible. But the point of it a

, woful eyes o

week or two, and wants to get the business finished off. I have

rginia to her feet.

I caused him must long ago have been forgotten, and if I can only procure an interview

e you? It might be very painful for him. Have

tell me that there was not much chance of his coming into it. He was a fine fellow in his way, only difficult-so jealous, for one thing. H

e miniature that father had done of you the fir

altered strangely, he will not be cruel to the widow and the fatherless," she murmured p

st of it. Something in Virginia revolted from the idea; but she could not urge her objections. She fixed her purple-grey eyes upon the gay face in the mirror. It might have been that of

l the ingrained fidelity of her simple nature, the girl ha

remained she had, as it were, protected these dear ones from the raging flood. Now that the tide had swept them away, and

said, after a long pause,

"He was not at all well off when I knew him, though he was very ambitious. He wrote-essays and so on for the Press. He was certainly clever. Twenty-two years since I last saw him! How strange it seems! I used to be afr

, mother-if it is not asking too much of you to go and beg a favour

me see! Where-how could I meet him? A solicitor's office does not lend itself. Oh, Virgie, I have it! What a comfort, what a piece of good luck, that I became a life-member of the 'Sportswoman' three years ago! I will ask him to meet me there! I will write a note, to be given to h

*

unlocked a small drawer at the top of her tall-boy. There were several bundles of letters and papers in the drawer, and a small jewel-c

letter and the ring-box

. You never loved me; but for a whole year you have succeeded in deceiving me-in making me believe that you did. This is the thing I find unpardonable. Men have killed women for such treachery as yours. Were I to kill you, it would save poor Mynors a good many years of misery. But the code of civilised morals forbids

lt of the first part of the letter was nothing to her. There was h

lava-torrent of his boyish fury had no