then a dejected figure pass into the twilight.




II.


'What a fright I am looking! I did not get to sleep till after two
o'clock; the heat was something dreadful, and to-day will be hotter
still. One doesn't know what to wear.'

She settled the ribbons in her white dress, and looked once again in
the glass to see if the soft, almost fluffy, hair, which the least
breath disturbed was disarranged. She smoothed it with her short white
hand. There was a wistful expression in her brown eyes, a little
pathetic won't-you-care-for-me expression which she cultivated,
knowing its charm in her somewhat short, rather broad face, which
ended in a pointed chin: the nose was slightly tip-tilted, her teeth
were white, but too large. Her figure was delicate, and with quick
steps she hurried along the passages and down the high staircase.
Harold was standing before the fireplace, reading the _Times,_ when
she entered.

'You are rather late, Mildred. I am afraid I shall lose the ten
minutes past nine.'

'My dear Harold, you have gone up to town for the last ten years by
that train, and every day we go through a little scene of fears and
doubts; you have never yet missed it, I may safely assume you will not