The maid disappeared, and the two girls made their way across the open space. Both looked nervous and ill at ease, both dreaded the coming _tete-a-tete_, yet felt that it was a thing to be faced. Janet led the way to a table in the farthest corner of the room, and they talked trivialities until the ordered dishes were set on the table, and the waiter had taken his departure. Claire had ordered coffee, and drank eagerly, hoping that the physical refreshment would help to steady her nerves. Janet played with her knife and fork, and said, without looking up-- "You have left the Fanshawes, then! I heard that you were staying on." "Yes. Yesterday I--came back." The very lameness of the answer made it significant. Janet's freckled face turned noticeably pale. "Erskine went straight home after he left Scotland?" "Yes." "And before he arrived, you had promised to stay on?" "Mrs Fanshawe asked me, before he came, if I could stay for another week, and I was very glad to accept. I had no other engagement." "And then?" "Oh, then things were different. She didn't need company, and--and-- things happened. My friend, Miss Rhodes--" Janet waved aside "my friend, Miss Rhodes," with an impatient hand. "And Erskine? What did _he_ say to your leaving?" The colour flamed in Claire's cheek; she stammered in hopeless confusion, and, in the midst of her stammering, Janet laid both hands on the table, and, leaning forward so that the two faces were only a few inches apart, spoke a few startling words-- "Has he--_proposed_ to you? I must know! You must tell me!" It was a command, rather than an appeal, and Claire automatically replied-- "He--he did! Yes, but--" "And you?" "I--couldn't. I said no!" "You said no! Erskine asked you to be his wife, and you _refused_?" Janet stared in incredulous bewilderment. A spark of indignation shone in her brown eyes. "But why? You care for him. Any girl might be proud to marry Erskine Fanshawe. _Why_?" "I can't tell you. It's so difficult. His mother--she didn't want me. She would have hated it. She almost turned me out." "His _mother_! Mrs Fanshawe!" Janet's voice was full of an ineffable surprise. "You refused Erskine because of _her_ prejudice? But she is always changing; she is the most undependable woman on the face of the earth! She is charming, and I'm fond of her, but I should not take her advice about a pair of gloves. Nothing that she could say would possibly have the slightest influence on my life. She's irresponsible; she sees entirely from her own standpoint. And Erskine--Erskine is a rock!" She paused, pressing her lips together to still their trembling, and Claire answered with a note of apology in her voice. "Janet, I _know_! Don't think I don't appreciate him. Wait till you hear how it happened... He followed me to the station; it was the very last moment, just as the train was starting. There was time for only one word, and--I was sore and angry!"