FitzHenry; that in a moment of disappointment, you know, she might
be making some--well, some alteration in her will to the detriment
of the boy."

Susan stood for a moment in front of the lady, with a strange little
smile of amusement among the wrinkles of her face.

"Yes, that may be," she said, and quietly left the room.



CHAPTER II. A MAN DOWN.

Caress the favourites, avoid the unfortunate, and trust nobody.

The atmosphere of Mrs. Harrington's drawing-room seemed to absorb
the new-found manhood of the two boys, for they came forward shyly,
overawed by the consciousness of their own boots, by the conviction
that they carried with them the odour of cigarette smoke and
failure.

"Well, my dears," said the Honourable Mrs. Harrington, suddenly
softened despite herself by the sight of their brown young faces.
"Well, come here and kiss me."

All the while she was vaguely conscious that she was surprising
herself and others. She had not intended to treat them thus. Mrs.
Harrington was a woman who had a theory of life--not a theory to
talk about, but to act upon. Her theory was that "heart" is all
nonsense. She looked upon existence here below as a series of