again. He called a taxi and gave the address of the hotel where
Christine and her mother were staying.




CHAPTER III

THE TWO WOMEN

Christine was just crossing the hall of the hotel when Jimmy Challoner
entered it. She saw him at once, and stood still with a little flush
in her face.

"I was just thinking about you," she said. "I was just wondering if
you would come and see us to-day; somehow I didn't think you would."

She spoke very simply and unaffectedly. She was genuinely pleased to
see him, and saw no reason for hiding it. "Have you had lunch?" she
asked. "Mother and I are just going to have ours."

If he had given way to his own inclinations he would have gone without
lunch--without everything. He was utterly wretched. The kindness of
Christine's eyes brought a lump to his throat. He did not want her to
be kind to him. She was not the woman he wanted at all. Why, oh, why
was he here when his heart was away--God alone knew where--with Cynthia!

What was she doing? he was asking himself in an agony, even while he
followed Christine across the hall to the dining-room; had she really
meant him to accept that note of dismissal as final? or had it just