she never could resist before Lily came and took away the tea.
She waved it at him without shame.

"Hullo!" she said. "Why what's brought you back?"

He smiled indulgently. He liked her to be young.

"Look here, Helena," he said, "I've been feeling I was a bit of a brute
about those causeries of yours. I could easily spare an evening some
day, if you'd like me to. Let's see the list and then we'll fix on
one."

Many modern wives, again, might have been tiresome about an amende
honourable indeed but so obviously planned. Not Helena, however. She
leapt to get the circular, all thrilled excitement and babbling
gratitude.

Hubert ran a proud finger down the list. "Hullo," he said in
unflattering surprise. "They've got some quite good men."

He had always utterly ignored her ventures in self-education. He did
not, for one thing, approve of them; and he had vaguely thought they
were connected with the parish church, Pleasant Sunday Evenings, and
everything like that.

"I'm so glad you're pleased," she put in, quite without irony.

"That's the one we'll do together," he said, and read out--"'January
29: Art as a Religion.--G. K. Shaw.' And only ten days off, too!"

It was the best, far, on the list; he would perhaps be called on, as a
local author, to make some remarks; and he might meet the lecturer....

"Oh, but how splendid!" she cried, duly grateful. "Just the very one I
wanted you to come to. You really _are_ a dear! And that's a late one
too, at eight o'clock, because the lecturer objected, so your old work
won't suffer after all!"

She talked of it for days to come, what great fun it would be, till
Hubert felt even more guilty. He had never realised how much she felt
the fact of his not coming. He had not ever heard, you see, dear Mrs.
Boyd say: "What! No husband again? I don't think you keep him in at
_all_ good order; does she, Kenneth?"--as one who should say, "You have
no power over him, at all!" He did not guess how lonely she had felt
sometimes when Geoffrey Alison could not escort her. Still he saw her
great keenness now and told himself he would have gone to these
lectures before--if only he had known they were not University
Extension.

He was distinctly flattered by the way she harped upon this small
concession. Little things like that had a curious power of making
Hubert Brett well satisfied with life.

She could see that afresh, six mornings later.

He was opening his l