see her mother first, as he had wished, all this might have been averted. When would she see him again? The future loomed before her like a thick shadow, without one ray of sunshine. She wished wildly that she had gone with him at the last moment when he had asked her to. She had never felt so lonely in her life. It seemed a long time before Mrs. Ledley came downstairs again. She came into the room where Faith sat, and looked at her with hard eyes. "This man you say you have married?" she asked. "Where is he?" "He has gone to America," said Faith. "He went this morning; he won't be back for seventeen days." Then the full pathos of her position overcame her and she broke down into tears. "I did it for your sake," she sobbed. "I thought you would be so glad. I hated to see you look tired. I hated to see you work so hard, and he promised me he would give you a house in the country and send the twins to school. When he comes back he'll tell you himself." There was a little silence. "Faith," said Mrs. Ledley painfully, "do you think he ever will come back?" Faith's tears were dried in a scorching flush. She raised her little head proudly. "I know he will," she said. Mrs. Ledley's face softened. She came over to where the girl sat, and bending, kissed her. "Tell me all about it," she said. Faith told her the little she knew--of their first meeting, right down to the strange marriage that morning in the registrar's dingy office, but she carefully kept to herself the things that Peg Fraser had said. They were too preposterous to mention! She showed the letter for Mr. Shawyer, the lawyer, and Mrs. Ledley's face cleared a little as she took it and read the few lines. "We will go and see him," she said. "On Monday we will go and see him, Faith, you and I." Faith looked up eagerly. "And you will believe in him then, won't you?" she asked. "If Mr. Shawyer tells you that it is all right you will believe in him, won't you?" Mrs. Ledley took the girl's eager face in her hands. "Do you love him--very much?" she asked rather sadly. Faith echoed the words vaguely. "Love him? Who do you mean?..." "I mean this man--your husband." Faith looked away across the room, and there was a little frown between her eyes. "I don't know," she said hesitatingly. "I don't think I've ever thought about it. He's very kind--nobody has ever been so kind to me before." Mrs. Ledley gripped the girl's hand. "Faith, if you don't love him, why did you marry him?" she asked.Faith raised her brown eyes. "I told you," she said. "For you and the twins."

John Shawyer looked across his paper-strewn table at Faith's mother and smiled indulgently. "I really don't think there is any need for you to be so alarmed," he said kindly. "I have known Mr. Forrester 

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