She came down to breakfast, but she ate nothing, and hardly uttered a

word.

After breakfast she wandered listlessly from room to room--then suddenly

roused herself, and opened the piano. The music she selected to play was

of the most scandalously profane sort, associated with performances on

the stage which it curdles one's blood to think of. It would have been

premature to interfere with her at such a time as this. I privately

ascertained the hour at which Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite was expected, and

then I escaped the music by leaving the house.

Being out alone, I took the opportunity of calling upon my two resident

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friends. It was an indescribable luxury to find myself indulging in

earnest conversation with serious persons. Infinitely encouraged and

refreshed, I turned my steps back again to the house, in excellent time

to await the arrival of our expected visitor. I entered the dining-room,

always empty at that hour of the day, and found myself face to face with

Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite!

He made no attempt to fly the place. Quite the contrary. He advanced to

meet me with the utmost eagerness.

"Dear Miss Clack, I have been only waiting to see you! Chance set me

free of my London engagements to-day sooner than I had expected, and I

have got here, in consequence, earlier than my appointed time."

Not the slightest embarrassment encumbered his explanation, though this

was his first meeting with me after the scene in Montagu Square. He was

not aware, it is true, of my having been a witness of that scene. But

he knew, on the other hand, that my attendances at the Mothers'

Small-Clothes, and my relations with friends attached to other

charities, must have informed me of his shameless neglect of his Ladies

and of his Poor. And yet there he was before me, in full possession of

his charming voice and his irresistible smile!

"Have you seen Rachel yet?" I asked.

He sighed gently, and took me by the hand. I should certainly have

snatched my hand away, if the manner in which he gave his answer had not

paralysed me with astonishment.

"I have seen Rachel," he said with perfect tranquillity. "You are aware,

dear friend, that she was engaged to me? Well, she has taken a sudden

resolution to break the engagement. Reflection has convinced her that

she will best consult her welfare and mine by retracting a rash promise,

and leaving me free to make some happier choice elsewhere. That is the

only reason she will give, and the only answer she will make to every

question that I can ask of her."

"What have you done on your side?" I inquired. "Have you submitted."

"Yes," he said with the most unruffled composure, "I have submitted."

His conduct, under the circumstances, was so utterly inconceivable, that

I stood bewildered with my hand in his. It is a piece of rudeness

to stare at anybody, and it is an act of indelicacy to stare at a

gentleman. I committed both those improprieties. And I said, as if in a

dream, "What does it mean?"




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