“You?”

She sat up and looked at him.  Her eyes began to shine, and the colour came into her cheeks.

“Perhaps the best thing would be to get it over, and then you’d come back to me.”

Now that he had made the suggestion he was sick with anguish, and yet the torture of it gave him a strange, subtle sensation.  She stared at him with open eyes.

“Oh, how could we, on your money?  Harry wouldn’t think of it.”

“Oh yes, he would, if you persuaded him.”

Her objections made him insist, and yet he wanted her with all his heart to refuse vehemently.

“I’ll give you a fiver, and you can go away from Saturday to Monday.  You could easily do that.  On Monday he’s going home till he takes up his appointment at the North London.”

“Oh, Philip, do you mean that?” she cried, clasping her hands.  “If you could only let us go—­I would love you so much afterwards, I’d do anything for you.  I’m sure I shall get over it if you’ll only do that.  Would you really give us the money?”

“Yes,” he said.

She was entirely changed now.  She began to laugh.  He could see that she was insanely happy.  She got up and knelt down by Philip’s side, taking his hands.

“You are a brick, Philip.  You’re the best fellow I’ve ever known.  Won’t you be angry with me afterwards?”

He shook his head, smiling, but with what agony in his heart!

“May I go and tell Harry now?  And can I say to him that you don’t mind?  He won’t consent unless you promise it doesn’t matter.  Oh, you don’t know how I love him!  And afterwards I’ll do anything you like.  I’ll come over to Paris with you or anywhere on Monday.”

She got up and put on her hat.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to ask him if he’ll take me.”

“Already?”

“D’you want me to stay?  I’ll stay if you like.”

She sat down, but he gave a little laugh.

“No, it doesn’t matter, you’d better go at once.  There’s only one thing:  I can’t bear to see Griffiths just now, it would hurt me too awfully.  Say I have no ill-feeling towards him or anything like that, but ask him to keep out of my way.”

“All right.”  She sprang up and put on her gloves.  “I’ll let you know what he says.”

“You’d better dine with me tonight.”

“Very well.”

She put up her face for him to kiss her, and when he pressed his lips to hers she threw her arms round his neck.

“You are a darling, Philip.”

She sent him a note a couple of hours later to say that she had a headache and could not dine with him.  Philip had almost expected it.  He knew that she was dining with Griffiths.  He was horribly jealous, but the sudden passion which had seized the pair of them seemed like something that had come from the outside, as though a god had visited them with it, and he felt himself helpless.  It seemed so natural that they should love one another.  He saw all the advantages that Griffiths had over himself and confessed that in Mildred’s place he would have done as Mildred did.  What hurt him most was Griffiths’ treachery; they had been such good friends, and Griffiths knew how passionately devoted he was to Mildred:  he might have spared him.