he thread of her thoughts. With a
grinding of brakes the cab came to a standstill at the entrance to the
block of flats, and after a few minutes Emily, the unhurried
maid-of-all-work, whom Nan's sense of fitness had re-christened "our
Adagio," jerked the door open, announcing briefly:

"A lidy."

Penelope turned quickly, and a look of pleasure flashed into her face.

"Kitty! Back in town at last! Oh, it's good to see you again!"

She kissed the new-comer warmly and began to help off her enveloping
furs. When these--coat, stole, and a muff of gigantic proportions--were
at last shed, Mrs. Barry Seymour revealed herself as a small, plump,
fashionable little person with auburn hair--the very newest shade--brown
eyes that owed their shadowed lids to kohl, a glorious skin (which she
had had the sense to leave to nature), and, a chic little face at once so
kind and humorous and entirely delightful, that all censure was disarmed.

Her dress was Paquin, her jewellery extravagant, but her heart was as big
as her banking account, and there was not a member of her household, from
her adoring husband down to the kitchen-maid who evicted the grubs from
the cabbages, who did not more or less worship the ground she walked on.
Even her most intimate women friends kept their claws sheathed--and that,
despite the undeniable becomingness of the dyed hair.

"We only got back to town last night," she said, returning Penelope's
salute with fervour. "So I flew round this morning to see how you two
were getting on. I can't think how you've managed without the advantage
of my counsels for three whole months!"

"I don't think we have managed too well," admitted Penelope drily.

"There! What did I say?"--with manifest delight. "I told Barry, when he
would go up to Scotland just for the pleasure of killing small birds,
that I was sure something would happen in my absence. What is it?
Nothing very serious, of course. By the way, where's Nan this morning?"

"Playing at a concert in Exeter. At least, the concert took place last
night. I'm expecting her back this afternoon."

"Well, that's good news, not bad. How did you induce her to do it?
She's been slacking abominably lately."

Penelope nodded sombrely.

"I know. I've been pitching into her for it. The Peace has upset her."

"She's like every other girl. She can't settle down after four years of
perpetual thrills and excitement. But if she'd had a husband
fighting"--