too," she
said to herself a little grimly and a little tenderly also--"All too
sensational to be true," she thought. "There's a little bit of unreality
in him all the way through."

Mrs. Rand said: "What do you think of alligators, Miss Beaminster? Don't
you agree with me that they must be most unpleasant to meet? I always
dislike their sluggish ways when I see them in the Zoological Gardens."

Then upon them all broke the little maid with a husky "Miss Beaminster's
carriage, please, mem."

Rachel, as she said good-bye, was aware of him again as "her scandalous
cousin." He too was now awkward and embarrassed. They said good-bye
hurriedly and there was between them both a consciousness that no word
of the family or their relationship had been mentioned.

"Well," said Mrs. Rand, when the door was closed, "no one in the world
could have been pleasanter...."

III

They did not arrive at the opera that night until the beginning of the
second act. It was Lady Carloes' box and she and Uncle John and Roddy
Seddon were Rachel's companions.

All the way home in the carriage Rachel had been silent and Lord John,
perceiving uneasily that some of the old Rachel was back again, had said
very little.

Her mind was confused. At one moment she felt that she did not want to
see him again, that he disturbed her peace and worried her with memories
that were better forgotten. At another moment she could have returned,
then and there, to ask him questions, to know whether he felt this or
that: had he ever pictured such a place? Had he...?

And then sharply she dismissed such thoughts. She would think of him no
more--and yet he did not look a villain. How delightful to persuade the
family to take him back. Why should she not help towards a
reconciliation? She was herself so happy now that she could not bear
that anyone should feel outcast or lonely--they were all very hard upon
him.

It was not until she heard the voices of the apprentices that thought of
her cousin left her. As she groped her way in the dark box and heard
Lady Carloes' stuffy whisper (she had the voice of a cracknel biscuit),
"You sit there, my dear--Lord John here. That's right--I knew you'd be
late because ..." she was gloriously aware that quite close to her the
music that she loved best in all the world was transforming existence.
She touched Roddy's hand and then surrendered herself.

She had been to Covent Garden now on four or five occasions and from t