. His plans were still unformed
when the day came for Lady Harman's release, and indeed beyond an idea
that he would have her met at the prison gates by an enormous bunch of
snowy-white and crimson chrysanthemums he had nothing really concrete at
all in his mind.

She had, however, been released stealthily a day before her time, and
this is what she had done. She had asked that--of all improbable
people!--Sir Isaac's mother should meet her, the biggest car had come to
the prison gates, and she had gone straight down with Mrs. Harman to her
husband--who had taken a chill and was in bed drinking Contrexeville
water--at Black Strand.

As these facts shaped themselves in answer to the blanched inquiries of
Mr. Brumley his amazement grew. He began to realize that there must have
been a correspondence during her incarceration, that all sorts of things
had been happening while he had been dreaming, and when he went round to
Lady Beach-Mandarin, who was just packing up to be the life and soul of
a winter-sports party at a nice non-Lunnite hotel at Lenzerheide, he
learnt particulars that chilled him to the marrow. "They've made it up,"
said Lady Beach-Mandarin.

"But how?" gasped Mr. Brumley, with his soul in infinite distress. "But
how?"

"The Ogre, it seems, has come to see that bullying won't do. He's given
in tremendously. He's let her have her way with the waitress strike and
she's going to have an allowance of her own and all kinds of things.
It's settled. It's his mother and that man Charterson talked him over.
You know--his mother came to me--as her friend. For advice. Wanted to
find out what sort of things we might have been putting in her head. She
said so. A curious old thing--vulgar but--_wise_. I liked her. He's her
darling--and she just knows what he is.... He doesn't like it but he's
taken his dose. The thought of her going to prison again----! He's let
her do anything rather than that...."

"And she's gone to him!"

"Naturally," said Lady Beach-Mandarin with what he felt to be deliberate
brutality. Surely she must have understood----

"But the waitress strike--what has it got to do with the waitress
strike?"

"She cared--tremendously."

"_Did_ she?"

"Tremendously. And they all go back and the system of inspection is
being altered, and he's even forgiven Babs Wheeler. It made him ill to
do it but he did."

"And she's gone back to him."

"Like Godiva," said Lady Beach-Mandarin with that sweeping a