till, as ever, her eyes answered him with that strange deep content
that seemed to wrap them both around as with a garment of immortality.
One gathers dimly something of what he felt from the look that would
unconsciously come into his eyes when speaking of that enchanted
journey, from the sudden dumbness with which the commonplace words
would die away upon his lips. Well for him that his lesser self kept
firm hold upon the wheel or maybe a few broken spars, tossing upon the
waves, would have been all that was left to tell of a promising young
aviator who, on a summer night of June, had thought he could reach the
stars.

Half-way across the dawn came flaming up over the Needles, and later
there stole from east to west a long, low line of mist-enshrouded land.
One by one headland and cliff, flashing with gold, rose out of the sea,
and the white-winged gulls flew out to meet them. Almost he expected
them to turn into spirits, circling round Malvina with cries of welcome.

Nearer and nearer they drew, while gradually the mist rose upward as
the moonlight grew fainter. And all at once the sweep of the Chesil
Bank stood out before them, with Weymouth sheltering behind it.

It may have been the bathing-machines, or the gasometer beyond the
railway station, or the flag above the Royal Hotel. The curtains of
the night fell suddenly away from him. The workaday world came
knocking at the door.

He looked at his watch. It was a little after four. He had wired them
at the camp to expect him in the morning. They would be looking out
for him. By continuing his course he and Malvina could be there about
breakfast-time. He could introduce her to the colonel: "Allow me,
Colonel Goodyer, the fairy Malvina." It was either that or dropping
Malvina somewhere between Weymouth and Farnborough. He decided,
without much consideration, that this latter course would be
preferable. But where? What was he to do with her? There was Aunt
Emily. Hadn't she said something about wanting a French governess for
Georgina? True, Malvina's French was a trifle old-fashioned in form,
but her accent was charming. And as for salary--- There presented
itself the thought of Uncle Felix and the three elder boys.
Instinctively he felt that Malvina would not be Aunt Emily's idea. His
father, had the dear old gentleman been alive, would have been a safe
refuge. They had always understood one another, he and his father.
But his mother! He wa