‘It would not be possible, and he would not like it,’ he said significantly; and Gladys flushed all over, and flung up her head with a gesture of defiance.

‘He shall not dictate to me,’ she said proudly.  ’Well, if you will go, you will, I suppose, but you shall not walk; on that point I am determined.’  She rang the bell, gave her order for the carriage, and looked at him whimsically, as if rejoicing in her own triumph.  ’I am afraid I am becoming quite autocratic, Walter, so many people have to do exactly as I tell them.  If you will not come, will you write to me occasionally, then?  It would be delightful to get letters from you, I think.’

Never was man so subtlely flattered, so tempted.  Again he bit his lip, and without answering, he took a handsome frame from the piano, and glanced indifferently at the photograph he held.

‘Is this the man?’ he asked at hazard, and when Gladys nodded, he looked at it again with keener interest.  It was the same picture of George Fordyce in his hunting-dress which Gladys had first seen in the drawing-room at Bellairs Crescent.

‘A grand gentleman,’ he said, with a faint note of bitterness in his tone.  ‘Well, I hope you will be happy.’

This stiff, conventional remark appeared to anger Gladys somewhat, and for the first time in her life she cast a reproach at him.

’You needn’t look so resigned, Walter.  Just cast your memory back, and think of some of the kind things you have said to me when we have met since I have left Colquhoun Street.  If you think I can forget, then you are mistaken.  They will always rankle in my mind, and it is only natural that I should feel grateful, if nothing else, to those who are a little kinder and more attentive to me.  A woman does not like to be ignored.’

At that moment a servant appeared to say the carriage waited, and Walter held out his hand to say good-bye.  Hope was for ever quenched in his heart, and something in his eyes went to the heart of Gladys, and for the moment she could not speak.  She turned silently, motioned him to follow her from the room, and then stood in the hall, still silently, till he put on his greatcoat.  Woman-like, in the midst of her strange agitation she did not fail to notice that every detail of his attire was in keeping, and that pleased well her fastidious taste.  When the servant at last opened the door, the cool wind swept in and ruffled the girl’s hair upon her white brow.

‘Good-bye, then.  You will write?’ she said quickly, and longing, she did not know why, to order the servant to withdraw.

‘If there is anything to write about, perhaps I will,’ he answered, gripped her hand like a vice, and dashed out.  Then Miss Graham, quite regardless of the watchful eyes upon her, went out to the outer hall, and her sweet voice sounded through the darkness, ’Good-bye, dear Walter,’ and, putting her white fingers to her lips, she threw a kiss after him, and ran into the house, all trembling, and when she reached the drawing-room she dropped upon her knees by a couch and fell to weeping, though she did not know why she wept.