tions, Felicia fell in love with him in return,
in spite of (possibly because of) her former violent prejudice against
him. To expect a person to be a monster and then to find he is a man,
has very much the same effect as expecting a person to be a man and
finding him a fairy prince; we accord him our admiration for being so
much better than our fancy painted him, and we crave his forgiveness for
having allowed it to paint him in such false colours. Then we long to
make some reparation to him for our unjust judgment; and--if we happen
to be women--this reparation frequently takes the form of ordering his
dinner for the rest of his dining days, and of giving him the right to
pay our dressmakers' bills until such time as we cease to be troubled
with them.

Consequently that particular year the spring seemed to have come
specially for the benefit of Alan and Felicia. For them the woods were
carpeted with daffodils, and the meadows were decked in living green;
for them the mountains and hills broke forth into singing, and the trees
of the field clapped their hands. Most men and women have known one
spring-time such as this in their lives, whereof all the other
spring-times were but images and types; and, maybe, even that one
spring-time was but an image and a type of the great New Year's Day
which shall be Time's to-morrow.

But while these two were wandering together in fairyland, Elisabeth felt
distinctly left out in the cold. Felicia was her friend--Alan had been
her lover; and now they had drifted off into a strange new country, and
had shut the door in her face. There was no place for her in this
fairyland of theirs; they did not want her any longer; and although she
was too large-hearted for petty jealousies, she could not stifle that
pang of soreness with which most of us are acquainted, when our
fellow-travellers slip off by pairs into Eden, and leave us to walk
alone upon the dusty highway.

Elisabeth could no more help flirting than some people can help
stammering. It was a pity, no doubt; but it would have been absurd to
blame her for it. She had not the slightest intention of breaking
anybody's heart; she did not take herself seriously enough to imagine
such a contingency possible; but the desire to charm was so strong
within her that she could not resist it; and she took as much trouble to
win the admiration of women as of men. Therefore, Alan and Felicia
having done with her, for the time being, she turned