aint
for all that. But Rendel would not have forgotten it. He accepted the
lot he had chosen, unspeakably grateful to Rachel for having bestowed
such happiness on him, ready and determined to fulfil his part of the
compact, to carry out, even at the cost of a daily and hourly sacrifice,
the bargain he had made. And, after all, as long as he made up his mind
that it did not signify, he could well afford, in the great happiness
that had fallen to his lot, to disregard the minor annoyances. His life,
his standards, should be arranged on a scale that would enable him to
disregard them. If one is only moving along swiftly enough, one has
impetus to glide over minor impediments without being stopped or turned
aside by them. For Rachel's sake all would be possible, it would be
almost easy. At any rate, it should be done. Rendel's will felt braced
and strengthened by his resolve, and he knew that he would be master of
his fate. There are certain moments in our lives when we stop at a
turning, it may be, to take stock of our situation, when we look back
along the road we have come--how interminable it seemed as we began
it!--and look along the one we are going to travel, prepared to start
onward again with a fresh impulse of purpose and energy. That night, as
Rendel looked on into the future, he felt like the knight who, lance in
rest but ready to his hand, rides out into the world ready to embrace
the opportunity that shall come to him.

CHAPTER X

The opportunity that came that night was ushered in somewhat
prosaically, not by the sound of a foeman's horn being wound in the
distance, but by the postman's knock. There was only one letter, but
that was an important looking one addressed to Rendel, in a big, square
envelope with an official signature in the corner. It was, however,
marked "private and confidential," and was not written in an official
capacity. Rendel as he looked at it, saw that the signature was
"Belmont." In an instant as he unfolded the page his hopes leapt to meet
the words he would find there. Yes, Lord Belmont was going to be
Governor of Zambesiland; that was the beginning. And what was this that
followed? He asked Rendel whether, if offered the post of Governor's
Secretary, practically the second in command, he would accept it and go
out to Africa with him. The offer, which meant a five years'
appointment, was flatteringly worded, with a mention of Lord
Stamfordham's strong recommendation which h