aware that his stepmother was using every
means to make him fall in love with her. He tried to ignore the fact,
he sought excuses to take him away, but this led to reproaches which
made him still more uncomfortable. Beyond a certain point one cannot
pretend denseness, and he was in an agony of dread lest his father
would see what Therese was up to. She had begun kissing him
good-night, and now more and more warmth crept into the embrace until
he found himself trying to avoid it. He was no prig, and Therese was
attractive, yet the distaste he felt for the situation neutralised her
power to lure him. Moreover, she showed him a side which convinced him
of what he had hitherto suspected--that Therese had all the instincts
of a _cocotte_. Whether she actually was one or not was a matter of
opportunity.

The climax came one night during an absence of his father in London.
Therese deliberately came into his room when she knew he was in bed.
It was a painful thing, and even after six years it embarrassed him to
think of it. It was her bad taste that revolted him, the calm
assumption that he was ready to enter light-heartedly into a liaison
with his father's wife! He was filled with disgust. She had placed
him in a position where whatever he did would be wrong; consequently he
let his temper get the better of him and, taking her by the shoulders,
put her out of the room. Naturally, she never forgave him.

Since that night he had seen little of her. He had moved into
Manchester, on the excuse of being nearer the factory, while she, in
turn, took to spending more and more time abroad. Three years ago his
father had been persuaded to give up work and try the South of France
for his health. That had made things easier.

"I'm afraid I shall have to turn you out now. We have to be strict."

He glanced up quickly, then jumped to his feet. The screen which
guarded the door had kept him ignorant of the nurse's quiet entrance
until she was beside him.

"Have I stayed too long?"

"Oh, no, and I'm glad to see he's resting quietly. You can come in
again for a little while this afternoon, if he's going on well."

Roger took leave of the invalid, who opened his sunken eyes for a
moment, then closed them again.

"Come outside a moment," he whispered to the nurse when he reached the
door.

She followed him into the hall, looking up inquiringly.

"Do you consider he's very ill?" asked Roger.

She looked at him earne