reminded him of elephants; who nibbled such quantities of holes in nice green leaves; and smelled, as he thought, horrid.  He sat down on a chintz-covered windowseat whence he could see the drive, and get what air there was; and the dog Balthasar who appreciated chintz on hot days, jumped up beside him.  Over the cottage piano a violet dust-sheet, faded almost to grey, was spread, and on it the first lavender, whose scent filled the room.  In spite of the coolness here, perhaps because of that coolness the beat of life vehemently impressed his ebbed-down senses.  Each sunbeam which came through the chinks had annoying brilliance; that dog smelled very strong; the lavender perfume was overpowering; those silkworms heaving up their grey-green backs seemed horribly alive; and Holly’s dark head bent over them had a wonderfully silky sheen.  A marvellous cruelly strong thing was life when you were old and weak; it seemed to mock you with its multitude of forms and its beating vitality.  He had never, till those last few weeks, had this curious feeling of being with one half of him eagerly borne along in the stream of life, and with the other half left on the bank, watching that helpless progress.  Only when Irene was with him did he lose this double consciousness.

Holly turned her head, pointed with her little brown fist to the piano—­for to point with a finger was not ’well-brrred’—­and said slyly: 

“Look at the ‘lady in grey,’ Gran; isn’t she pretty to-day?”

Old Jolyon’s heart gave a flutter, and for a second the room was clouded; then it cleared, and he said with a twinkle: 

“Who’s been dressing her up?”

“Mam’zelle.”

“Hollee!  Don’t be foolish!”

That prim little Frenchwoman!  She hadn’t yet got over the music lessons being taken away from her.  That wouldn’t help.  His little sweet was the only friend they had.  Well, they were her lessons.  And he shouldn’t budge shouldn’t budge for anything.  He stroked the warm wool on Balthasar’s head, and heard Holly say:  “When mother’s home, there won’t be any changes, will there?  She doesn’t like strangers, you know.”

The child’s words seemed to bring the chilly atmosphere of opposition about old Jolyon, and disclose all the menace to his new-found freedom.  Ah!  He would have to resign himself to being an old man at the mercy of care and love, or fight to keep this new and prized companionship; and to fight tired him to death.  But his thin, worn face hardened into resolution till it appeared all Jaw.  This was his house, and his affair; he should not budge!  He looked at his watch, old and thin like himself; he had owned it fifty years.  Past four already!  And kissing the top of Holly’s head in passing, he went down to the hall.  He wanted to get hold of her before she went up to give her lesson.  At the first sound of wheels he stepped out into the porch, and saw at once that the victoria was empty.