328 272^ Real Charlotte. 



visitor had put her gloves on, and was making her farewells 

 to her hostess. 



" No, Roddy," she said, " I must be off now. I'm like 

 the beggars, ' tay and turn out ' is my motto. But suppos- 

 ing now that you bring this young lady over to lunch with 

 me to-morrow — no, not to-morrow, that's Sunday — come on 

 Monday. How would that suit your book ? " 



Lambert assented with a good grace that struck Francie 

 as being wonderfully well assumed, and followed Miss 

 Mullen out to put her in her phaeton. 



Francie closed the door behind them, and sat down. 

 She was glad she had met Hawkins and got it over, and as 

 she reviewed the incidents of his visit, she thought that on 

 the whole she had come very near her own ideal of behavi- 

 our. Cool^ sarcastic, and dignified, even though she had, 

 for one moment, got a little red, he could not but feel that 

 she had acted as became a married lady, and shown him 

 his place once for all. As for him, he had been horrible, 

 she thought bitterly ; sitting up and talking to her as if he 

 had never seen her before, and going on as if he had never 

 — she got up hastily as if to escape from the hateful memo- 

 ries of last year that thrust themselves suddenly into her 

 thoughts. How thankful she was that she had shown him 

 she was not inconsolable ; she wished that Roddy had come 

 in while he was there, and had stood over him, and over- 

 shadowed him with his long legs and broad shoulders, and 

 his air of master of the house. Why on earth had Charlotte 

 praised him ? Gurthnamuckla must have had the most 

 extraordinarily sweetening effect upon her, for she seemed 

 to have a good word for everybody now, and Roddy's notion 

 that she would waat to be coaxed into a good temper was 

 all nonsense, and conceited nonsense too, and so she would 

 tell him. It was not in Francie's light, wholesome nature 

 to bear malice ; the least flutter of the olive branch, the 

 faintest glimmer of the flag of truce, was enough to make 

 her forgive an injury and forget an insult. 



When her husband came back she turned towards him 

 with a sparkle in her eye. 



" Well, Roddy, I hope you squeezed her hand when you 

 were saying good-bye ! I daresay now you'll want me to 

 believe that it's all in honour of you that she's asked us 



