in her heart all the time."

"I was a coward," Douglas said decidedly. "Even now I cannot understand
why for a moment I ever accepted such an impossible situation."

Cicely showed all her teeth--she had fine, white teeth--in a brilliant
smile.

"Joan would be quite handsome," she said, "if she were decently
dressed."

"Some people might think so," he answered. "She wouldn't be my style.
I think I agreed, because in those days we all seemed to do exactly what
your Father ordered. Besides, the thing was sprung upon me so suddenly.
It took my breath away.

"That was rather like Father," she remarked. "He liked taking us by
storm. Now I want to hear how you have got on, and what you are doing.
Let us drop the past for a little while, at any rate."

He poured her out a glass of wine, and found time to notice how pretty
she was, with her slightly flushed cheeks and bright eyes.

"I am on a newspaper," he said, "the _Daily Courier_. I got on quite by
chance, and they are going to keep me."

She looked at him with keen interest.

"How delightfully fortunate!" she exclaimed. "It is what you wanted all
your life, isn't it? And the _Ibex_ story?