Rachel also had suddenly come to a determination on hearing her husband's mother's footstep. She recognised the fact that the future might depend on her present attitude towards Mrs. Greville, and was resolved for the sake of her love for Luke to make the best of it. She there-fore met her mother-in-law with a smile and outstretched hand. She was not quite prepared for the hearty kiss that was given, but she was pleased, as it seemed to put her in the right position of a daughter-in-law rather than as her son's unsatisfactory wife. "How kind of you to come," she said. "I promised Luke that I would do everything in my power to make his wife feel at home," answered Mrs. Greville, taking Rachel's hand and drawing her on to the sofa, "and when I found that he was going out to-night I was afraid you might be feeling a little forlorn; so I made up my mind to run round. I think he ought to have arranged better than to have a meeting the first evening." The fact that Rachel had been conscious herself of a feeling of disappointment and of surprise that he should leave her so soon, made her wince at the words, and colour. Her pride was touched. "But of course," she said, "he could not shirk his duty. He knew that I should have objected to him doing so." And as she made this remark, she imagined that she was saying the truth. So easy is it to deceive ourselves, particularly when our enemy pride is to the front. "I'm glad to hear you are so sensible," said Mrs. Greville, "or I am afraid you would have to suffer continual disappointment. Luke's work is the first thing with him, and always will be. Neither mother nor wife will be allowed to come in its way. He is the hardest worker that I know. But just because of this he has to be looked after well." "How do you mean?" "Creature comforts are nothing to him. If he lived by himself I really don't know when he would think of food. If ever I went away for a week or two I found him looking shockingly ill on my return and generally discovered that he had not been punctual at his meals, and would have been quite happy to have gone without them altogether. You will have to look after him Rachel. By-the-bye, what did he have for his meal before going out?" "You kindly sent round some eggs." "Ah yes. Of course there was no time to cook anything else. But you will have to be careful about the eggs. They are 4d each at present. And," she added warily, "if I were you, my dear, I should not burn more than one light in this small room. Three are quite unnecessary. Electric light is extremely expensive unless you are careful. Of course you know that you ought to put it out every time you leave the room, even though it may be only for a minute or two."