May put on her hat, and through the mirror she saw Louise rolling up Saint Joseph with some roughness in a silk muffler. "Madame does not like Oxford?" said Louise, drily, as she stuffed the saint into a hat. "I care for it very much, Louise," said May, hastily putting on her coat. "Oxford is a place one can never forget." "Eh, bien oui," said Louise, enigmatically. Then May went out and said farewell to the towers and spires and the ancient walls, and went to look at the trees weeping by Magdalen Bridge. It was all photographed on her memory. In the squalid streets of London, where her work lay, she would remember all this beauty and this ancient peace. There would be no possibility of her forgetting it! She would dream of it at night. It would form the background of her life. * * * * * Back again in the Lodgings, she found that she had only a few minutes more to spare before she must leave. She took farewell of Louise, and left her standing, her hand clasping money and her eyes luminous with reproach. There was, indeed, more than reproach, a curious incredulity, a wonder at something. May did not fathom what it was. She did not hear Louise muttering below her breath-- "Ah, mon Dieu! these English people--this Monsieur the Warden--this Madame la niece. Ah, this Lodgings! Ah, this Oxford!" In the drawing-room May found Lady Dashwood in a loose gown, seated on a couch and "Not at home" to callers. Only a few minutes more! "I'm afraid I've been very long," said May. "But it is difficult to part with Oxford." "Is it so difficult?" asked Lady Dashwood, then she suddenly pulled herself up and said: "Oh, May, a note was left just after you went out by Mrs. Potten. She wouldn't come in. Mark that, May! She had been seeing Gwendolen off. The girl has gone to her mother. Marian wants me to lunch with her to-morrow. I telephoned her a few moments ago that I would go and see her later in the week. I wonder if she wants to speak to me about Gwen? I can't help wondering. Oh dear, the whole thing seems like a dream now! Don't you think so?" May was drinking a hurried cup of tea. "No, it seems very real to me," she said. Lady Dashwood looked at her silently. The Warden had not returned. At least there was no sign of his being in the house. Robinson came in to announce the taxi. "Is the Warden in?" asked Lady Dashwood, half raising herself. No, the Warden was not in. "He will meet you at the station," said Lady Dashwood, nodding her head slowly at her niece. "He may not be able to," said May, going up to the sofa. She spoke as if it were a matter of unconcern. She must keep this up. She had counselled Gwendolen to be brave! This thought brought with it a little sob of laughter that nearly choked her. "Good-bye, Aunt Lena," she said, throwing her arms round Lady Dashwood, and the two rested their heads together for a moment in a silent embrace. Then they parted.