ere not surprised. That was the fact which, for Vanna,
stood out in conspicuous relief. They were grieved, sympathetic,
unspeakably tender towards her; but she divined that if they felt any
surprise, it was not that Piers had found his present position
untenable, but rather that he should have been able to endure it so
long. That they should feel so, who were her dearest, most admiring
friends, planted a sharp stab in Vanna's heart, yet it was to them that
she owed what poor comfort was to be found during the long intolerable
weeks before Piers's departure.

Jean said little. In her own hour of blackness she had discovered the
futility of words, but in a hundred quiet, exquisitely tactful ways she
forced upon Vanna the importance of what remained: of the place which
she occupied in so many lives; of her own love and need.

"You will never know what you have been to me, Vanna! I have often
wanted to tell you; but it isn't easy to speak of these things. I think
after one has married and settled down, one needs a woman friend more
than ever. There is so much that even the best and tenderest of men
can't understand. You've been my safety-valve and my prop. Multiply my
gratitude by the number of all the poor souls whom you have nursed and
tended, and you will realise your riches. Thoughts _help_, Vanna--I'm
convinced of that--loving, thankful thoughts going out towards you from
all parts of the land. It's impossible that your life should be cold or
bald--"

"Is it, Jean, is it? It sounds very sweet, dear, and very lofty; but
put yourself in my place. Would all the gratitude in the world cheer
you if Robert went away?"

The colour flooded Jean's face, then slowly ebbed away, leaving her pale
and wan.

"No," she sighed, breathlessly. "No; nothing! There would be no
comfort. He is everything to me--everything! More, a thousand times
more, than when we were married; but, Vanna, can you believe it? there
have been times during these last years when I have envied _you_. The
balance hasn't been _all_ on my side. To be well; to be strong; to be
able to run about, and plan out one's life; to say `I will do this, I
will do that'; to shut up house at a day's notice, shake off
responsibilities, and go away for long, lovely rests--oh, it has seemed
so _good_! When we were young we took health for granted: one has to be
ill to realise how it counts; how desperately it counts. Love is said
to triumph over all; bu