LADY GERTRUDE'S POINT OF VIEW It was a cheerless morning.

Gusts of fine, sprinkling rain drove hither and thither on a blustering wind, while overhead hung a leaden sky with patches of black cloud scudding raggedly across it.
Nan, coming slowly downstairs to breakfast, regarded the state of the weather as merely in keeping with everything else.

The constant friction of her visit to Trenby had been taking its daily toll of her natural buoyancy, and last night's interview with Roger had tried her frayed nerves to the uttermost.

This morning, after an almost sleepless night, she felt that to remain there any longer would be more than she could endure.

She must get away--secure at least a few days' respite from the dreadful atmosphere of disapprobation and dislike which Lady Gertrude managed to convey.
The consciousness of it was never absent from her.