"I think you'd better go round and see some of the people in the village to-day.

I was rather sorry you went off straight to The Trellis House last evening.

You know how folks talked, even in the old days, in Beechfield ?" He looked uneasy--taken aback, and she felt, if a little ashamed, glad that she had made that "fishing" remark.
There was a pause, and then he said with a touch of formality: "Look here, Janet?
I'd like you to know that though I've become quite fond of Mrs.Crofton, I'm only fond--nothing more, you understand?
Perhaps I'll make my meaning clearer when I tell you that I was the only man in Egypt who knew her who wasn't in love with her." He saw her face change and, rather piqued, he asked: "Did you think I was ?" "I thought that you and she were great friends--" "Well, so we are in a way.

I saw a great deal of her in London." "And you went straight off to see her the moment you arrived here." "Well, perhaps I was foolish to do that." What an odd admission to make.

He certainly had changed amazingly in the last nine years! Then it was Janet who surprised him: "Don't make any mistake," she said quickly.