says; and
my father will rush to the 'Varsity Library, and break the spirit of
the Pemmer Dons. He'll have the time of his life; but he deserves a
treat--he really wrote me a very decent letter. By George, though,
these emotional experiences are not in my line, though they reveal the
worth of suffering, as the Chaplain said in his Hospital Sermon last
Sunday."

Howard wrote a further note, saying that he hoped that Mr. Sandys and
Maud would be able to come; and it was soon arranged that they should
spend the inside of a week at Cambridge, before the May week, as the
Vicar said he had little taste for social pleasures, and had some
matters of considerable importance to turn up in the Library, to say
nothing of the intellectual stimulus he anticipated.

XVI

THE VISIT

THE visit began on the usual lines of such visits, the home team, so to
speak--Howard and Jack--having to fit a round of festivities into a
life which under normal circumstances was already, if anything, too
full, with the result that, at all events, Howard's geniality was
tense, and tended to be forced. Only in youth can one abandon oneself
to high spirits; as one grows older one desires more to contemplate
one's own mirth, and assure oneself that it is genuine.

Jack met them at the station, and they had tea in his rooms, Howard
refusing firmly to come.

"You must just give them a chance of a private word or two!" he said.

"Why, that's exactly what I want to avoid!" said Jack. "Besides, my
family is never private--we haven't any company manners. But I expect
you are right. Father will want one innings, and I think it's fair he
should have it!"

They were, however, to dine with Howard, who, contrary to his wont,
lavished some care on flowers and decorations, to make the place
unobtrusively pretty and home-like, and he determined that he would be
as quiet and straightforward as he could, but promised himself at least
one afternoon with Maud strolling round the place. But this was all to
happen as if by chance, and with no scheming or diplomacy.

They came; and Howard saw at once that Maud was timid and somewhat out
of spirits; she looked tired, and this, so far from diminishing her
charm, seemed to Howard to make it almost intolerably appealing to him.
He would have desired to take her in his arms, like a child, to pet and
caress her into happiness. Jack was evidently feeling the weight of his
responsibilities, and was frankly bored; bu