a great deal of mischief. But you--Is that really your wish?"

"I would sacrifice everything that I have ever held dear in life," he
declared, with his face aglow, "for its realization."

"But you would be a deserter from your country," she pointed out. "You
would never be able to return. Your estates would be confiscated. You
would be homeless."

"Home," he said softly, "is where one's heart takes one. Home is just
where love is."

Her eyes, as they met his, were for a moment suspiciously soft. Then
she began to talk very quickly of other things, to compare notes of
countries which they had both visited, even of people whom they had met.
They were obliged to leave early to catch their train. As they passed
down the crowded restaurant they once more found themselves within a few
feet of Sir Henry. His back was turned to them, and he was apparently
ignorant of their near presence. The party had become a partie Carrie,
another man, and a still younger and more beautiful woman having joined
it.

"Of course," Philippa said, as they descended the stairs, "I am behaving
like an idiot. I ought to go and tell Henry exactly what I think of him,
or pull him away in the approved Whitechapel fashion. We lose so much,
don't we, by stifling our instincts."

"For the next few minutes," he replied, glancing at his watch, "I think
we had better concentrate our attention upon catching our train."

They reached King's Cross with only a few minutes to spare. Grover,
however, had already secured a carriage, and Helen was waiting for them,
ensconced in a corner. She accepted the news of Lessingham's return with
resignation. Philippa became thoughtful as they drew towards the close
of their journey and the slow, frosty twilight began to creep down upon
the land.

"I suppose we don't really know what war is," she observed, looking
out of the window at a comfortable little village tucked away with a
background of trees and guarded by a weather-beaten old church. "The
people are safe in their homes. You must appreciate what that means, Mr.
Lessingham."

"Indeed I do," he answered gravely. "I have seen the earth torn and
dismembered as though by the plough of some destroying angel. A few
blackened ruins where, an hour or so before, a peaceful village stood;
men and women running about like lunatics stricken with a mortal fear.
And all the time a red glow on the horizon, a blood-red glow, and little
specks of grey or brown lying all ove