The Moon out of Reach

mensely by the utter lack of self-consciousness with which he assisted in the preparations for te

y contributed towards rubbing it off. Mallory appeared serenely unconscious of any incongruity in the fact of a man whose clothes breathed Savile Row and whose linen was immac

Ralph Fenton being invited to complete the party. Before long Peter was on a pleasant footin

cted by Nan, he was not the type of man to fall headlong in love. He was too fastidious, too critical, altogether too much master of himself. Few women caused him a single quickened heart-beat. But it is to

ry perceived-dimly and with a quaint resignation to the in

humorous philosophy with which he habitually looked life in the face a

ed to his; nor could he escape the heritage of charm bequeathed her by the fair and frail Angèle de Varincourt. Above all, he understood her. Her temperam

He appreciated the fact that she had just received a buffeting from fate, that her confidence was shaken and her pride hurt to breaking-point, and the thought

was no chance of his hurting Nan, he let himself love her, keeping his love tenderly in one of those sec

r with an atmosphere of homage and protection and adapt himself responsively to her varying moods.

music with suddenly renewed enthusiasm, secure in the knowledge that Peter was always at hand to help and criticise with kindly, unerring judg

likely to realise that something bigger and more enduring than mere comradeship lay at the back of it all. She, too, like Mallory, reassured herself with the fact

ntly one day. "And what is your

ps a bowl of sun-gold narcissus-Mallory habitua

to you for introducing

godsend all through thi

dded Nan, "is that he never jars

he's so far from being Philistine that he has a dread

y gu

ed anyone like that. He's the least assuming and most tender-hearted soul I know. You may be commo

garette with

s remarkable about Pe

ht through. Ver

and charitable, patte

er sweeping. There are heap

! But very few preux chevaliers. I only know two-

es my poor Ba

cross at her

a delightful overgrown s

*

ed up from the baking streets below. The flat was "at home" to-day, the festive occasion indicated by the quantities of flowers which adorned it-big bowls of golden-

ed in readiness for bridge, and sighing at the oppressive heat of the afternoon. First she opened the windows to

don't know which

y. "The bottomless pit would probably be refresh

e in white from head to foot and looking perfec

eat, when the rest of us look as though we had run in the wash, you giv

nking down into an arm-chair and unfurling a small fan. "I'm sim

a-table-smiles and things, you know"

y no

u? Peter's been an excellent antidote to

caution. "I think a married man-especially such an _un_ma

e's married! And they've bo

and unexpectedly, "love has nothing

at her in fr

rded you as the severely practical member of the

le, and a faint flush s

es avoiding Kitty's. "And my observations have led me to the c

if she'd fallen in love with Peter, knowing that there was a very much alive

ubled income Lord St. John is allowing her-I never knew anyone extract quite so much satisfaction as Nan from the act

with nervo

t think she c

moment before replyi

Consciously, I feel almost sure that Ma

he great attraction in him?

who has ever appealed to her at all. And as he has treated h

the affair at all. Rooke wa

t I think Maryon Rooke is what I s

round with women who aren't born s

brown eye

miting his horizo

y la

ious with him for hash

done," s

ther like a little hard, unopened bud. He's bruised the

you're not trying to fi

I think if the question of finance didn't enter into the matter he'd be ready to shoulder the matrimonial yoke. . . But I d

St. John to make that sti

of their own, as Nan has, would marry, do you suppose?" Penelope spoke heatedly. She was a modern of the moderns in her ideas. "Subconsciously it's the feeling of economical dependence

irmly to the point and declining to be led aside into one of Penelope's argumenta

Maryon isn't going to tie himself up with a woman whose income ceases when she marries. Besides"-drily-"an

e sacrificed?"

occupies the foreground in her mind, no other m

or something-would swe

" said Penelope soothingly. "So le

lver which she offered to Penelope. The latter slit open the envelope without glancing at the ad

eaned f

, Penny? No

rned Penelope shortl

used it i

his afternoon on chance o

we wanted to blow in h

he returne

into its envelope and r

d the maid quietly. "And explain th