you have already made up your mind."

"I have; for all that, I'm afraid. If I have bad luck, Helen will have
to pay. I know she was willing to marry Charnock, but she was very young
then and he was rich compared with me."

"Then I suppose a little money would be a useful help?"

"It would, in one way," Festing agreed. "The trouble is that I haven't
much; only enough to make a fair start if I'm economical."

For a moment Muriel looked amused, but her seriousness returned. "We'll
let that go. You seem to forget that you don't stand alone. I should
have found it hard to forgive Fred if he had decided whether he ought
to marry or not, without consulting me. It's a girl's right, not her
lover's, to say what she values most and how much she is willing to
bear. If Helen loves you, she's entitled to be given the choice."

"Ah," said Festing, "I don't know if she loves me yet!"

Muriel's eyes twinkled. "That is something you must find out for
yourself. But perhaps I have said enough."

She went back to the house and Festing sat still in the gathering dark.
He had made up his mind and felt encouraged, but he saw difficulties
that must be met.

Next day he went to the Scar and found that Helen was not at home, but
Mrs. Dalton and her sister received him, and for a time he talked about
things that did not matter. It was dull and damp outside, and a bright
wood fire burned in the grate. The low-ceilinged room was very warm,
its comfort seemed enervating, and he felt braced as he thought of the
windswept prairie. Then he knew his remarks were vague and disconnected.
It was a relief to plunge into the business he had come about.

"I had better tell you that I am going to ask Helen to marry me," he
said.

Mrs. Dalton did not look surprised, and he thought Miss Graham smiled.
Perhaps he had been abrupt, but he did not care.

"You have done what is proper in warning my sister first," Miss Graham
remarked; but Mrs. Dalton was silent for a few moments.

"You imply that Helen doesn't know," she said.

"She does not; I've been careful not to give her a hint," Festing
declared. "I was afraid to alarm her by, so to speak, rushing things.
You're not used to it in England."

Miss Graham's amusement was plainer. "The caution you exercised must
have cost you something."

"After all, you haven't known Helen long," Mrs. Dalton resumed.

"That's so, in a way, but five minutes was long enough. I knew I'd never
marry anybody else wh