hange could be imagined than the one
proposed. From Eve's own point of view, that was to say! For Dempster
it was a different matter. The relations felt it their duty to argue
with him, to point out that he was recklessly shattering his life. But
Dempster smiled, and persisted.

Very well, then! let him have his way. So Rupert and Eve were married,
and immediately after set sail for Egypt.

One midsummer afternoon two years later, Rupert Dempster walked along an
exquisite stretch of road in North Wales which divides the rocky course
of the river Dee from a sleepy canal with fern-covered banks, and an
overhanging arch of green. After the blazing Eastern lands in which the
past years had been spent, the dewy loveliness of the scene was a
delight to the senses. On every side rose the crests of green, smiling
hills; the river broke into ripples of foam round the scattered rocks
which strewed its bed. Along the still stream to the left floated a
miniature barge, carrying a gay awning overhead. This was the omnibus
of the neighbourhood, plying up and down the stream several times a day,
and even as Rupert watched, its slow course was stayed, and one of the
passengers alighted and walked slowly towards him.

She was a slightly-made girl with a noticeable daintiness of movement.
Under her wide-brimmed hat her face showed small and pale, and her hair
was of a light flaxen hue. Rupert knitted his brow, and his pace
quickened instinctively. The girl walked with her eyes on the ground,
oblivious of his approach. Another moment and they were side by side,
and Rupert gave a cry of recognition.

"Lilith! It is Lilith! What an extraordinary chance, to meet you here!
My dear Lilith, I am so pleased to see you."

And indeed there was unmistakable pleasure in his voice; the somewhat
worn face lightened with animation. He gripped the girl's hand with
eager fingers, and she smiled back at him, a calm, unperturbed smile, as
though she had parted from him but an hour before.

"How do you do, Rupert? Are you staying down here? Is Mrs Dempster
with you?"

"Yes. We have taken the house just behind those trees. Do you know it?
You cross the next bridge, and follow the lane to the left."

"Yes, I know it. I'm staying at the Inn."

Lilith walked by his side, her eyes quietly searching his face, but
having vouchsafed these bare words of information, she added nothing
more. The silence lasted for several minutes, nevert