To avoid his now odious society--odious because of the unexplainable quarrel he had achieved between herself and the now absent Vivian--she would probably have quitted Craigengowan permanently, and taken up her residence with her maternal relation at Drumshoddy Lodge; but she preferred the more refined society of Lady Fettercairn, and did not affect that of the widow of the ex-Advocate and Indian Civilian, who was vulgarly bent on urging the interests of Shafto, and would have derided those of Hammersley in terms undeniably coarse had she discovered them. And Lady Drumshoddy, though hard by nature as gun-metal, was a wonderful woman in one way. She could back her arguments by the production of tears at any time. She knew not herself where they came from, but she could 'pump' them up whenever she had occasion to taunt her granddaughter with what she termed contumacy and perverseness of spirit. On the day Shafto returned Finella was in the drawing-room alone. She was posed in a listless attitude. Her slender hands lay idly in her lap; her face had grown thin and grave in expression, to the anxiety and surprise of her relatives. Her chair was drawn close to the window, and she was gazing, with unseeing eyes apparently, on the wintry landscape, where the lawn and the leafless trees were powdered with snow, and a red-breasted robin, with heart full of hope, was trilling his song on a naked branch. It was a cheerless prospect to a cheerless heart. She had drawn from her portemonnaie (wherein she always kept it) the bitter little farewell note of Hammersley, and, after perusing it once more, returned it slowly to its place of concealment. Where was he then? How employed--marching or fighting, in peril or in safety? Did he think of her often, and with anger? Would he ever come back to her, and afford a chance of explanation and reconciliation? Ah no! it was more than probable their paths in life would never cross each other again. Tears welled in her eyes as she went over in memory some episodes of the past. She saw again his eager eyes and handsome face so near her own, heard his tender and pleading voice in her ear, and recalled the touch of his lips and the clasp of his firm white hand. Another hand touched her shoulder, and she recoiled with a shudder on seeing Shafto. 'What is this I hear,' said he; 'that you think of leaving Craigengowan?' 'Yes,' she replied, curtly. 'Because I have returned, I presume?' 'Yes.' His countenance darkened as he asked: 'But--why so?' 'Because I loathe that the same roof should be over you and me. Think of what your infamous cunning has caused!' 'A separation,' said he, laughing malevolently, 'a quarrel between that fellow and you?' 'Yes,' she replied with flashing eyes. 'Can nothing soften this hostility towards me?' he asked after a pause. 'Nothing. I never wish to see your face or hear your voice again.'