A passing shadow of sadness clouded his bright young face.
The two elder men looked at him in silence, feeling (in widely different ways) the same compassionate interest.

What was the life that lay before him?
And--God help him!--what would he do with it?
"Where did I leave off ?" he asked, rousing himself suddenly.
"You left Miss Mellicent, sir, in the Common Room--the venerable citizen with the white eyebrows being suitably engaged in moralizing on her." In those terms the ever-ready Rufus set the story going again.
"Quite right," Amelius resumed.

"There she was, poor thing, a little thin timid creature, in a white dress, with a black scarf over her shoulders, trembling and wondering in a room full of strangers.

The Elder Brother took her by the hand, and kissed her on the forehead, and bade her heartily welcome in the name of the Community.

Then the women followed his example, and the men all shook hands with her.