“You behaved beautifully, dear.  It was such a comfort to have you.  Your uncle and I are going to lunch.”

“All right,” said Val; “I shall have time to go and see that fellow.”  And, parting from them abruptly, he ran down the stairs and out into the air.  He bolted into a hansom, and drove to the Goat’s Club.  His thoughts were on Holly and what he must do before her brother showed her this thing in to-morrow’s paper.

*******************************

When Val had left them Soames and Winifred made their way to the Cheshire Cheese.  He had suggested it as a meeting place with Mr. Bellby.  At that early hour of noon they would have it to themselves, and Winifred had thought it would be ‘amusing’ to see this far-famed hostelry.  Having ordered a light repast, to the consternation of the waiter, they awaited its arrival together with that of Mr. Bellby, in silent reaction after the hour and a half’s suspense on the tenterhooks of publicity.  Mr. Bellby entered presently, preceded by his nose, as cheerful as they were glum.  Well! they had got the decree of restitution, and what was the matter with that!

“Quite,” said Soames in a suitably low voice, “but we shall have to begin again to get evidence.  He’ll probably try the divorce—­it will look fishy if it comes out that we knew of misconduct from the start.  His questions showed well enough that he doesn’t like this restitution dodge.”

“Pho!” said Mr. Bellby cheerily, “he’ll forget!  Why, man, he’ll have tried a hundred cases between now and then.  Besides, he’s bound by precedent to give ye your divorce, if the evidence is satisfactory.  We won’t let um know that Mrs. Dartie had knowledge of the facts.  Dreamer did it very nicely—­he’s got a fatherly touch about um!”

Soames nodded.

“And I compliment ye, Mrs. Dartie,” went on Mr. Bellby; “ye’ve a natural gift for giving evidence.  Steady as a rock.”

Here the, waiter arrived with three plates balanced on one arm, and the remark:  “I ‘urried up the pudden, sir.  You’ll find plenty o’ lark in it to-day.”

Mr. Bellby applauded his forethought with a dip of his nose.  But Soames and Winifred looked with dismay at their light lunch of gravified brown masses, touching them gingerly with their forks in the hope of distinguishing the bodies of the tasty little song-givers.  Having begun, however, they found they were hungrier than they thought, and finished the lot, with a glass of port apiece.  Conversation turned on the war.  Soames thought Ladysmith would fall, and it might last a year.  Bellby thought it would be over by the summer.  Both agreed that they wanted more men.  There was nothing for it but complete victory, since it was now a question of prestige.  Winifred brought things back to more solid ground by saying that she did not want the divorce suit to come on till after the summer holidays had begun at Oxford, then the boys would have forgotten about it before Val