he had
purposely chosen a path of life of which she knew he would disapprove,
principally in order to annoy him; and then she had refused to forgive
him for feeling the annoyance which she had gone out of her way to
inflict. From the purely feminine standpoint her behaviour was
thoroughly consistent; a man, however, might in his ignorance have
accused her of inconsistency. But men know so little about some things!

The following afternoon Cecil Farquhar came to see Elisabeth, as she had
bidden him; and she smiled grimly to herself as she realized the
difference between what she had intended to say to him when she told him
to come, and what she was actually going to say. As for him, he was full
of hope. Evidently Elisabeth meant to marry him and make him into a rich
man; and money was the thing he loved best in the world. Which of us
would not be happy if we thought we were about to win the thing we loved
best? And is it altogether our own fault if the thing we happen to love
best be unworthy of love, or is it only our misfortune?

Because he was triumphant, Cecil looked handsomer than usual, for there
are few things more becoming than happiness; and as he entered the
room, radiant with that vitality which is so irresistibly attractive,
Elisabeth recognised his charm without feeling it, just as one sees
people speaking and gesticulating in the distance without hearing a word
of what is said.

"My dear lady, you are going to say _yes_ to me; I know that you are;
you would not have sent for me if you were not, for you are far too
tender-hearted to enjoy seeing pain which you are forced to give."

Elisabeth looked grave, and did not take his outstretched hand. "Will
you sit down?" she said; "there is much that I want to talk over with
you."

Cecil's face fell. In a superficial way he was wonderfully quick in
interpreting moods and reading character; and he knew in a moment that,
through some influence of which he was as yet in ignorance, such slight
hold as he had once had upon Elisabeth had snapped and broken since he
saw her last. "Surely you are not going to refuse to marry me and so
spoil my life. Elisabeth, you can not be as cruel as this, after all
that we have been to each other."

"I am going to refuse to marry you, but I am not going to spoil your
life. Believe me, I am not. There are other things in the world besides
love and marriage."

Cecil sank down into a seat, and his chin twitched. "Then you have
p