ed to the Duchess for some time did
he discover that the hard-smitten child lying half-lifeless in her bed
was the very young heroine of the quite favourite scandal. The knowledge
gave him furiously to think. It was Coombe who had interested the
Duchess in her. The Duchess had no doubt taken her under her protection
for generously benign reasons. He pursued his questioning delicately.

"Has she had any young friends? She seems to have taken her walks alone
and even to have gone into the country by herself."

"The life of the young people in its ordinary sense of companionship and
amusement has been stopped by the War. There may be some who go on in
the old way but she has not been one of them," the Duchess said.

"Visits to old women in remote country places are not stimulating
enough. Has she had _no_ companions?"

"I tried--" said the Duchess wearily. She was rather pale herself. "The
news of the Sarajevo tragedy arrived on the day I gave a small dance for
her--to bring some young people together." Her waxen pallor became even
more manifest. "How they danced!" she said woefully. "What living things
they were! Oh!" the exclamation broke forth at a suddenly overwhelming
memory. "The beautiful boy--the splendid lad who was blown to atoms--the
news came only yesterday--was there dancing with the rest!"

Dr. Redcliff leaned forward slightly.

"To hear that _any_ boy has been blown to atoms is a hideous thing," he
said. "Who brought the news? Was Miss Lawless in the room when it was
brought?"

"I think so though I am not sure. She comes in and goes out very
quietly. I am afraid I forgot everything else. The shock was a great
one. My old friend Lord Coombe brought the news. The boy would have
succeeded him. We hear again and again of great families becoming
extinct. The house of Coombe has not been prolific. The War has taken
its toll. Donal Muir was the last of them. One has felt as though it was
of great importance that--that a thing like that should be carried on."
She began to speak in a half-numbed introspective way. "What does it
matter really? Only one boy of thousands--perhaps hundreds of thousands
before it is over? But--but it's the youngness--the power--the potential
meaning--wasted--torn--scattered in fragments." She stopped and sat
quite still, gazing before her as though into space.

"She is very young. She has been absorbed in war work and living in a
highly charged atmosphere for some time." Dr. Redcl