must be wondering why he had stayed away so long. He tried to soften his words.

“I’ll look in to-night, if I may. Sorry to be such a bear.”

61

She answered rather dispiritedly that it was all right, that she was sorry he felt ill. It was a relief when she rang off. He took his hat and went off to call on Esther.

He felt that he could settle to nothing till he had seen her again; there was a curious jealousy in his heart about Ashton; he would have given anything he possessed to be able to disillusion her, but knew it was impossible without hopelessly compromising himself.

It was a bitter disappointment to find that she was out when he reached the boarding-house; his face fell absurdly when he turned and walked away.

He wondered if she really was out, or only out to him.

After a moment he laughed at himself. A few days ago he had not known there was such a person as Esther Shepstone in the world, and yet now here he was, consumed with jealousy because she was not in when he called.

He took a taxicab back to the West End; he walked about for half an hour staring aimlessly into shop windows, then went back to his rooms. He could not understand his extraordinary restlessness; he had only once before felt anything like it in all his life, and that had been the first time he ever backed a horse, and was waiting a wire from the course to say if the brute had won.

He recalled the fever of impatience that had consumed him then, and laughed; after all, it had been nothing compared with this.

Driver came into the room.

“If you please, sir, Miss Mason has been on the ’phone. She said would I ask you to meet her for tea.”

Micky did not look enthusiastic; he liked June awfully, but to-day every one and everything seemed a bore.

“Tea! Where?” he asked vaguely.

“Miss Mason said that you would know, sir; the same place as usual.”

“Oh, all right!”

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