‘On that condition you may come; but, believe me, your own happiness would be better secured by your utter forgetfulness of a woman who may never be free to reward your fidelity. There are so many who would be proud of such a lover. Amongst them you might surely find one who would realise your ideal as well as, if not better than, I.’ ‘Never!’ protested Geoffrey, with warmth. ‘I never knew what a great love was till I knew you. I will never open my heart to a lesser love.’ Janet gave a little sigh, half regret, half satisfaction. After all, a woman does not easily relinquish such devotion. She has a duty to fulfil, and her little lecture, her few words of wise counsel, to pronounce; and having done that duty, she is hardly sorry if her foolish adorer refuses to hear. So they parted—not briefly, for little Flossie hung about Geoffrey, and impeded his departure; nay, at his and Flossie’s joint request, Janet walked half the length of the lane with Geoffrey and the child. They only parted within sight of the distant towers of Mardenholme. ‘How pleased Lady Baker would be if she knew you were so near!’ said Geoffrey. ‘Pray, don’t tell her. She was very good to me, and I was fond of her; but she would want me to go to that great house of hers, full of strange faces, and sing to her company, and be made a show of. I have contrived to keep very clear of her pathway so far, near as I am. Pray, do not betray me.’ ‘To hear is to obey. But you really do mean to stay here?’ inquired Geoffrey anxiously. ‘When I come a month hence to claim that cup of Pekoe, I sha’n’t find you fled, eh?’ ‘I promise that if anything should induce me to leave Foxley—that’s the name of our little village—I will write you a line to say where I am going. But my present intention is to stay here till November—just long enough for a thorough rest—and then go back to my pupils at Stillmington.’ Geoffrey sighed. The thought of those sol-fa classes, and the hard labour they involved, always smote him to the quick; and he was rioting in the Three per cents, as he told himself.