"You are going?"

"I must. Forgive me!"

She held out her hand.

"But--"

"No, don't come with me, please."

"If I go to St. Joseph's to-morrow, afterward may I see you again?"

"If you think it's worth while."

Her face twisted. Hastily she pulled down her veil, turned away and left
him.




VI


Malling went the next day to morning and evening service at St. Joseph's.
He was not invited to lunch in Onslow Gardens, and he did not see Lady
Sophia. On the whole, he was glad of this. He had enough to keep in his
mind that day. The matter in which he was interested seemed growing
before his eyes, like a thing coming out of the earth, but now beginning
to thrust itself up into regions where perhaps it would eventually be
hidden in darkness, with the great company of mysteries whose unraveling