"Come along, Ruthie," said Mark Easter. "We'll walk with you part of the way if we may, Miss Farmer."
The teacher looked pleased, and they followed Miss Sandiloe and her admirer, Mark adjusting his long, easy stride to the very obvious limitations of Miss Farmer's patent-leather shoes.
Edna looked after them, wearing a rather exhausted expression.
"I am very tired, Julian. I shall go to the boudoir and enjoy the silence till it's time to dress. Nothing is so restful as complete silence, after all."
Julian honoured the assertion by making no reply to it whatever.
"I have been told," said Edna, with gentle solemnity, "that my spirit is burning itself away. I know you don't sympathise with that necessity for pouring out, Julian—this afternoon, for instance, has taken a great deal out of me—but I noticed that you gave out nothing at all—not one spark. Isn't it rather a pity? One can do so little, materially, but the things of the spirit.... Ah, well, I grudge none of it."
She went upstairs, however, very slowly, and leaning heavily upon the banisters.
Julian's gaze did not follow her.
IV
"We've found a treasure," Mark Easter enthusiastically told Sir Julian. "Miss Marchrose is the best worker I've ever struck. And she'll do anything—doesn't mind what she turns her hand to. You'll have to see her, Sir Julian—dashed good-looking girl into the bargain."