thought it was now safe and advisable that she should know, namely,
that on her husband's side the marriage had been one of headlong desire
for herself, after having refused the bargain before he had seen her.
That would give her some bad moments of humiliation, he admitted, which
perhaps she had not deserved, though it would certainly bring her to her
knees and so, to Tristram's arms.

But for once, being really quite preoccupied with his own affairs and a
little unbalanced by love as well, he miscalculated the force of a
woman's pride. Zara's one idea now was to hide from Tristram the state
of her feelings, believing, poor, bruised, wounded thing, that he no
longer cared for her, believing that she herself had extinguished the
torch of love.



CHAPTER XXIX


There was an air of restrained excitement, importance and mystery among
the ladies at luncheon. They had got back to the house in time to have
their conclave before that meal, and everything was satisfactorily
settled. Lady Anningford, who had not accompanied them out shooting, had
thought out a whole scheme, and announced it upon their return amidst
acclamations.

They would represent as many characters as they could from the "Idylls
of the King," because the style would be such loose, hanging kinds of
garments, the maids could run up the long straight seams in no time. And
it would be so much more delightful, all to carry out one idea, than the