rose before me a vision of Rachel's
face when Will appeared unexpectedly on the scene; when she heard the
tones of his voice in the distance; when she watched him out of sight
after he had said "Good-bye." In his actual presence she was quiet and
precise, but at these moments her eyes would shine with a deep glow of
happiness, her lips would tremble, and her cheeks turn suddenly from
white to pink. Not love him--Rachel not love Will! Why, she adored
him! He was more to her than anything and everybody in the world put
together. She might be able to deceive him, but nothing could make me
believe that she had broken off the engagement for her own happiness.
She was thinking of someone else, not herself. Who was it? Ah, that
was the question. Her mother, or Will, Will and perhaps--me! Was it
possible that she had been conscious of what had happened on the
afternoon of the motor accident, and that, in consideration of our
feelings, she had kept her own counsel until a sufficient time had
elapsed to enable her to end her engagement in a natural manner? Anyone
who knew Rachel as I do would realise in a flash that it was just
exactly what she would do in the circumstances. Then, if this were
indeed the case, the nervous shock which prostrated her for so long was
not physical, but mental. Oh, poor Rachel! Yet you could smile at me,
and be sweet and gentle in the first moments of your agony! It was all
I could do to keep back the tears, as I thought of what she must have
endured during these last three months; but through all my agitation one
determination remained unshaken: I must not let Will see my suspicions;
Rachel's secret must be loyally guarded. He was talking incessantly--a
quick, excited stream of words. I came back from my dreams to pick up a
half-finished sentence--

"Too good to be true. She has filled so large a place in my life. I
have such a strong admiration for her that it would have been a real
pain to have parted coldly. But to keep her as my friend, to know that
her affection is unchanged, and yet to be free to seek my own happiness
is such a marvellous unravelling of the skein that I can hardly realise
my good fortune. I came back last night, and could hardly wait until
this morning to tell you my news. Una, you understand! I ask nothing
of you to-day, it is not the time to speak of ourselves. I shall go
back to my uncle, and stay with him for the next few months. He is very
frail, a