satisfy in the future. Unconsciously he hastened his
steps through the gardens, switching off a daisy head
now and then with his stick as he went, and pausing only
once, when he found himself, to his utter astonishment,
asking a purely incidental errand boy if he wanted
sixpence.

Janet, in the drawing-room, received him with hardly a
quickening of pulse. It was so nearly over now; she seemed
to have packed up a good part of her tiresome heart-ache
with the warm things Lady Halifax had dictated for the
Atlantic. She had a vague expectation that it would
reappear, but not until she unlocked the box, in mid-ocean,
where it wouldn't matter so much. She knew that it was
only reasonable and probable that she should see him
again before they left for Liverpool She had been expecting
this visit, and she meant to be unflinching with herself
when she exchanged farewells with him. She meant to make
herself believe that the occasion was quite an ordinary
one--also until afterward, when her feeling about it
would be of less consequence.

"Well," she asked directly, with a failing heart as she
saw his face, "what is your good news?"

Kendal laughed aloud; it was delightful to be anticipated.
"So I am unconsciously advertising it," he said. "Guess!"

His tone bad the vaunting glory of a lover's--a lover
new to his lordship, with his privileges still sweet upon
his lips. Janet felt a little cold contraction about her
heart, and sank quickly into the nearest arm-chair. "How
can I guess," she said, looking beyond him at the wall,
which she did not see, "without anything to go upon? Give
me a hint."

Kendal laughed again. "It's very simple, and you know
something about it already."

Then she was not mistaken--there was no chance of it.
She tried to look at him with smiling, sympathetic
intelligence, while her whole being quivered in anticipation
of the blow that was coming. "Does it--does it concern
another person?" she faltered.

Kendal looked grave, and suffered an instant's compunction.
"It does--it does indeed," he assured her. "It concerns
Miss Elfrida Bell very much, in a way. Ah!" he went on
impatiently, as she still sat silent, "why are you so
unnaturally dull, Janet? I've finished that young woman's
portrait, and it is more--satisfactory--than I ever in
my life dared hope that any picture of mine would be."

"Is that all?"

The words escaped her in a quick, breath of relief. Her
face was crimson, and the roo