to her that Helena had deliberately shown her own; that the act was part of the conflict which Lucy guessed at, but must not comment on, by word or look.  All the letters were the true expression of the man.  The first, in which he described in words, few; but singularly poignant, the death of his wife, his recognition of his son, and the faint beginnings of hope for the boy’s maimed life, had forced tears from Lucy.  Helena had read it dry-eyed.  But for several hours afterwards, on an evening of tempest, she had vanished out of ken, on the mountainside; coming back as night fell, her hair and clothes, dripping with rain, her cheeks glowing from her battle with the storm, her eyes strangely bright.

Her answers to her guardian’s letters had been, to Lucy’s way of thinking, rather cruelly brief; at least after the first letter written in her own room, and posted by herself.  Thenceforward, only a few post-cards, laid with Lucy’s letters, for her or any one else to read, if they chose.  And meanwhile Lucy was tolerably sure that she was slowly but resolutely making her own plans for the months ahead.

The little diary contained also the entry of Geoffrey French’s visit—­a long week-end, during which as far as Lucy could remember, Helena and he had never ceased “chaffing” from morning till night, and Helena had certainly never given him any opportunity for love-making.  She, Lucy, had had a few short moments alone with him, moments in which his gaiety had dropped from him, like a ragged cloak, and a despondent word or two had given her a glimpse of the lover he was not permitted to be, beneath the role of friend he was tired of playing.  He was coming again soon.  Helena had neither invited nor repelled him.  Whereas she had peremptorily bidden Peter Dale for this particular Sunday, and he had thrown over half a dozen engagements to obey her.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Friend.  Is Miss Pitstone at home?”

The speaker was a shaggy old fellow in an Inverness cape and an ancient wide-awake, carrying a portfolio and a camp-stool.  He had stopped in his walk outside the open window, and his disappointed look searched the inn parlour for a person who was not there.

“Oh, Mr. McCready, I’m so sorry!—­but Miss Pitstone is out, and I don’t know when she will be back.”

The artist undid his portfolio, and laid a half-finished sketch—­a sketch of Helena’s—­on the window-sill.

“Will you kindly give her this?  I have corrected it—­made some notes on the side.  Do you think Miss Helena will be likely to be sketching to-morrow?”

“I’m afraid I can’t promise for her.  She seems to like walking better than anything else just now.”

“Yes, she’s a splendid walker,” said the old man, with a sigh.  “I envy her strength.  Well, if she wants me, she knows where to find me—­just beyond that bend there.”  He pointed to the river.

“I’ll tell her—­and I’ll give her the sketch.  Good-bye.”