Pete went off, and then Kate and Philip sat down to tea. While tea lasted it was not hard to fill the silences with commonplaces. After it was over she brought him a pipe, and they lapsed into difficult pauses. Philip puffed vigorously and tried to look happy. Kate struggled not to let Philip see that she was ill at ease. Every moment their imagination took a new turn. He began to read a book, and while they sat without speaking she thought it was hardly nice of him to treat her with indifference. When he spoke she thought he was behaving with less politeness than before. He went over to the piano and they sang a part song, “Oh, who will o'er the downs so free?” Their voices went well enough together, but they broke down. The more they tried to forget the past the more they remembered it. He twiddled the backs of his fingertips over the keyboard; she swung on one foot and held to the candle-bracket while they talked of Pete. That name seemed to fortify them against the scouts of passion. Pete was their bulwark. It was the old theme, but played as a tragedy, not as a comedy, now. “It is delightful to see you settled in this beautiful home,” he said. “_Isn't_ it beautiful?” she answered. “You ought to be very happy.” “Why should I not be happy?” with a little laugh. “Why, indeed? A home like a nest and a husband that worships you-----” She laughed again because she could not speak. Speech was thin gauze, laughter was rolling smoke; so she laughed and laughed. “What a fine hearty creature he is!” said Philip. “Isn't he?” said Kate. “Education and intellect don't always go together.” “Any wife might love such a husband,” said Kate. “So simple, so natural, so unsuspicious-----” But that was coming to quarters too close, so they fell back on silence. The silence was awful; the power of it was pitiless. If they could have spoken the poorest commonplaces, the spell might have dissolved. Philip thought he would rise, but he could not do so. Kate tried to turn away, but felt herself rooted to the spot. With faces aside, they remained some moments where they were, as if a spirit had passed between them.