, she beat into herself
endurance; she was in a new world, in a world with roads and cities,
mountains, rivers, seas and forests that had to be traversed by her, to
be learnt and remembered and conquered, and for the success of this she
must have her own spirit absolutely aloof and firm and brave. She loved
him. That must be enough for her, and meanwhile she need not lose her
common sense and vision of everyday life ...But meanwhile it hurt. She
was now twice as lonely as she had been before because she did not know
what he intended to do, and always with her now there was something
strange and unknown that might at any moment be stronger than she.

But by next morning she had conquered herself. She would see him at
Chapel that night and perhaps have a word with him, and so already she
had arrived at her now lover's calendar of dates and seasons. There was
the time before she would see him and the time after--no other time
than that.

The trouble that weighed upon her most heavily was her deceitfulness to
the aunts. Fifty times that day she was on the edge of speaking and
telling them all, but she was held back by the vagueness of her
relations to Martin. Were they engaged? Did he even love her? He had
only kissed her. He had said nothing. No, she must wait, but with this
definite sense of her wickedness weighing upon her--not wickedness to
herself, for that she cared nothing, but wickedness to them--she tried,
on this day, to be a pattern member of the household, going softly
everywhere that she was told, closing doors behind her, being punctual
and careful. Unhappily it was a day of misfortune, it was one of Aunt
Anne's more worldly hours and she thought that she would spend it in
training Maggie. Very good--but Maggie dropped a glass into which
flowers were to have been put, she shook her pen when she was
addressing some envelopes so that some drops of ink were scattered upon
the carpet, and, in her haste to be punctual, she banged her bedroom
door so loudly that Aunt Anne was waked from her afternoon nap.

A scene followed. Aunt Anne showed herself very human, like any other
aunt justly exasperated by any other niece.

"I sometimes despair of you, Maggie. You will not think of others. I
don't wish to be hard or unjust, but selfishness is the name of your
greatest weakness."

Maggie, standing with her hands behind her, a spot of ink on her nose
and her short hair ruffled, was hard and unrepentant.

"You must s