It was just what he knew she could and would do; and he foresaw for Byng, if he wanted it, a peerage in the not distant future.

Alice Tynemouth was no gossip, and she was not malicious.

She had a good, if wayward, heart, was full of sentiment, and was a constant and helpful friend.

He, therefore, accepted her invitation now to spend the next week-end with her and her husband; and then, with letters to two young nephews in his pocket, he prepared to sally forth to buy them presents, and to get some sweets for the children of a poor invalid cousin to whom for years he had been a generous friend.

For children he had a profound love, and if he had married, he would not have been content with a childless home--with a childless home like that of Rudyard Byng.