st have in order to win
distinction for his wife's sake. Therefore, summoning his secretary,
Neville to his aid, he plunged headlong into the seething, turgid waters
of English politics, and shut himself up in his library day after day,
studying blue-books, writing and answering letters, and drawing up
addresses,--and with the general proneness of the masculine mind to
attend to one thing only at a time, he grew so absorbed in his work that
his love for Thelma, though all unchanged and deep as ever, fell
slightly into the background of his thoughts. Not that he neglected
her,--he simply concerned himself more with other things. So it happened
that a certain indefinable sense of loss weighed upon her,--a vague,
uncomprehended solitude began to encompass her,--a solitude even more
keenly felt when she was surrounded by friends than when she was quite
alone,--and as the sweet English June drew to its end, she grew languid
and listless, and her blue eyes often filled with sudden tears. Her
little watch-dog, Britta, began to notice this, and to wonder concerning
the reason of her mistress's altered looks.

"It is this dreadful London," thought Britta. "So hot and
stifling--there's no fresh air for her. And all this going about to
balls and parties and shows--no wonder she is tired out!"

But it was something more than mere fatigue that made Thelma's eyes look
sometimes so anxious, so gravely meditative and earnest. One day she
seemed so much abstracted and lost in painful musings that Britta's
loving heart ached, and she watched her for some moments without
venturing to say a word. At last she spoke out bravely--

"Froeken!"--she paused,--Thelma seemed not to hear her. "Froeken!--has
anything vexed or grieved you today?"

Thelma started nervously. "Vexed me--grieved me?" she repeated. "No,
Britta--why do you ask?"

"You look very tired, dear Froeken," continued Britta gently. "You are
not as bright as you were when we first came to London."

Thelma's lips quivered. "I--I am not well, Britta," she murmured, and
suddenly her self-control gave way, and she broke into tears. In an
instant Britta was kneeling by her, coaxing and caressing her, and
calling her by every endearing name she could think of, while she wisely
forbore from asking any more questions. Presently her sobs grew
calmer,--she rested her fair head against Britta's shoulder and smiled
faintly. At that moment a light tap was heard outside, and a voice
calle