'Yes, that's done with real delicacy,' said Kendal. Not a word of the
pecuniary advantages of her offer, though she must know that almost any
author would give his eyes just now for such a proposal. Well, we shall
see. If I can't make the thing look less attractive to her without
rousing her suspicions, and if you can't screw up your courage to
refuse--why, you must sign the agreement, my dear fellow, and make the
best of it; you will find something else to inspire you before long.'

'It's most awkward,' sighed Wallace, as though making up his perplexed
mind with difficulty. 'The great chance is that by Agnes's account she is
very much inclined to regard your opinion as a sort of intellectual
standard; she has two or three times talked of remarks of yours as if
they had struck her. Don't quote me at all, of course. Do it as
impersonally as you can--'

'If you give me too many instructions,' said Kendal, returning the letter
with a smile, 'I shall bungle it. Don't make me nervous. I can't promise
you to succeed, and you mustn't bear me a grudge if I fail.'

'A grudge! No, I should think not. By the way, have you heard from Agnes
about the trains to-morrow?'

'Yes, Paddington, 10 o'clock, and there is an 8.15 train back from
Culham. Mrs. Stuart says we're to lunch in Balliol, run down to Nuneham
afterwards, and leave the boats there, to be brought back.'

'Yes, we lunch with that friend of ours--I think you know him--Herbert
Sartoris. He has been a Balliol don for about a year. I only trust the
weather will be what it is to-day.'