anything would mean when they were
apart. The thought of separation was like bending from a sunny world
over a well of darkness. Claire cried a little, but not very much. She
never dared let herself really cry because of what might happen to Winn.

It surprised him sometimes how little she tried to influence his future
life. She did not make him promise anything except to go to see Dr.
Gurnet. He wondered afterward why she had left so much to his discretion
when he had made so many plans, and urgent precautions for her future;
and yet he knew that when she left him he would be desperate enough to
break any promises and never desperate enough to break her trust in him.
Suddenly he said to her as the darkness of the pass swallowed them:

"Look here, I won't take to drink. I'd like to, but I won't." And Claire
leaned toward him and kissed him, and he said a moment later, with a
little half laugh:

"D'you know, I rather wish you hadn't done that. You never have before,
and I sha'n't be able to forget it. You put the stopper on to that
intention."

And Claire said nothing, smiling into the darkness.

CHAPTER XXV

Claire had never been alone with Miss Marley before; she had known her
only as an accompaniment to Winn; but she had been aware, even in these
partial encounters, that she was being benevolently judged. It must be
owned that earlier in the day she had learned, with a sinking of the
heart, that she must give up the evening to Miss Marley. When every hour
counted as a victory over time, she could not understand how Winn could
let her go; and yet he had said quite definitely: "I want you to go to
Miss Marley this evening. She'd like to talk to you, and I think you'd
better."

But something happened which changed her feelings. Miss Marley was a
woman despite the Cresta and there are times when only a woman's
judgment can satisfy the heart of a girl. Claire was startled and
perturbed by Maurice's sudden intervention. Maurice said:

"That chap Staines is getting you talked about. Pretty low down of him,
as I believe he's married." She was pulled up short in the golden stream
of her love. She saw for the first time the face of opinion--that
hostile, stupid, interfering face. Claire had never thought that by any
malign possibility they could be supposed to be doing wrong. She could
not connect wrong with either her love or Winn's. If there was one
quality more than another which had distinguished it, it had