nd,'" he read in slow, cold tones as to a
child; "'the background for _his_ work no less than the wall-paper of
the one room where he can write; and I must be as quiet.'"

She stood there, thrown back fifteen years, a girl again before her
governess: and he little suspected that with those words he was killing
all her penitence and injuring her love.

"Anything sounds rubbish if you read it out," she suddenly blazed at
him in quite another mood.

He shut the little book with a mild glance of surprise. "Don't let's
have any scenes," he said once more. "This has just happened. It's
pretty ghastly; don't let's make it worse. You'd better go to bed when
you feel tired; I shall just sit and read--I want to know the worst.
Don't wait up for me. It'd be rather a mockery to wish each other
good-night!"

He moved towards the door. It was the time they always spent together,
the best of her day.

She stood by the mantel-piece, leaning for support on it, wondering how
any one could be so cruel--and feeling she deserved his cruelty.... It
was so awful, put as he had put it: yet she had never meant----

His hand was on the door. She moved a few steps forward.

"Hugh," she cried, as though the name must surely explain everything:
but he did not turn, even. He shut the door, quietly.

Helena threw herself face downwards on the sofa, but she could not cry.

CHAPTER XXII

THE IRON IN THE SOUL

To Helena the most terrible part about her husband's attitude was his
astounding calmness. If he had but raged and stormed, she could have
endured it. She might even have explained. What she could not bear
was this chill resignation.

"We had better talk as usual in front of Lily," was all he said,
coldly, before breakfast the next morning. "There's no reason why she
should guess that anything is different."

"Must it be different?" she brought herself to say, though even that
was difficult, with him like this.

As usual, he laughed contemptuously. "Do you expect it to be just the
same, when I know, everybody knows----" He broke off. "Well," he
said, "I suppose _most_ married couples spend their time living up to
their domestics. It's only we were lucky for a bit...."

They talked about the weather, then, and the day's news till Lily had
gone out; he even called her "dear," but she could not live up to that:
and when they were alone again, he gave a sigh which she interpreted to
mean relief and finally ret