on was good enough, but so far as the supper was concerned
Lavinia could not, to use Betty's words, "make much of a fist of it."
She was glad enough to escape the clack of tongues and the fire of
questions and crawl to her room.

Slowly the hours crept by, and when the early summer dawn broke Lavinia
was still awake watching the faint streaks of pale gold through the
little latticed window.

The rest in bed had not brought repose. Her mind was troubled. Lancelot
Vane's unexpected appearance and the story of his persecution strove for
mastery with the recollection of her triumph at the concert and had
overpowered it. All the old tenderness, the joy of being near him
revived. It was useless to ask why, useless to call herself weak and
silly to be drawn towards a man who had no force of character, whose
prospects were remote, whose health was undermined. The impression she
once had that he was faithless had not wholly disappeared, and she tried
to banish it. Her imagination found for him all manner of excuses. Yet
she could not decide that she wanted to see him again. One moment it
seemed as though the blank which had come into her life since their
rupture had been filled up now that he had come back, the next that it
would have been better if he had not. She had gradually come to regard
her profession and all it meant to her in the future as the only thing
that mattered, and now in a flash at the sight of him all was
uncertainty and distraction.

But for the second time Vane had risked his life for her! Mr. Gay said
it was on her account that he had fought with Dorrimore, and Mr. Gay
would not tell an untruth. After all, this was everything. How could she
think otherwise than kindly of a man in spite of his faults, who was
ever ready to champion her? And she dropped off to sleep no longer
saying that she would not meet him.

CHAPTER XXV

"MR. RICH HAS GIVEN ME AN ENGAGEMENT"

Lavinia slept late and was only aroused by Betty hammering at her door.

"Get up--get up, Miss Lavvy. A fine gentleman's a-waiting to see 'ee.
'Tis him as I see go out with 'ee last night from the concert."

"Mr. Gay," said Lavinia to herself. Then aloud: "I won't be long. What's
the time?"

"Pretty nigh mid-day. I didn't wake 'ee afore 'cause I knowed you was
tired. He's a nice pleasant gentleman, sure. I wanted to hurry granny
out o' the room, but he wouldn't hear of it. I left 'em a-talking about
play matters. Once get mother on