'I have felt it to be my duty. Remember that I can't consider myself alone. I found that I must either devote myself wholly to music or give it up altogether. You girls can't very well understand. When one is a wife and a mother--I thought it all over during my illness. I had been neglecting my husband and Hughie, and it was too bad--downright selfishness. Art and housekeeping won't go together; I thought they might, butt found my mistake. Of course, it cost me a struggle, but that's over. I have learnt to _renounce_.' 'It's very noble of you!' murmured Dora Leach. 'I never heard anything so noble!' said her sister. Alma flushed with pleasure. 'And yet you know,' Dora pursued, 'artists have a duty to the world.' 'I can't help questioning,' said Gerda, 'whether you had a _right_ to sacrifice yourself.' Alma smiled thoughtfully. 'You can't quite see it as I do. When one has children----' 'It must make a great difference'--'Oh, a great difference!'--responded the sisters. And again they exclaimed at the spectacle of such noble devotedness. By natural transition the talk turned to Mrs. Carnaby. The girls spoke of her compassionately, but Alma soon perceived that they did not utter all their thoughts. 'I'm afraid,' she said, 'that some people take another view. I have heard--but one doesn't care to repeat such things.' Dora and Gerda betrayed a lively interest. Yes, they too had heard disagreeable gossip; what a shame it was! 'Of course, you see her?' said Dora. Alma shook her head, and seemed a trifle embarrassed. 'I don't even know whether she still lives there.' 'Oh yes, she does,' replied Miss Leach eagerly. 'But I've been told that very few people go. I wondered--we rather wished to know whether _you_ did.' Again Alma gently shook her head. 'I haven't even heard from her. I suppose she has her reasons. To tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure that my husband would like me to call. It isn't a pleasant subject, is it? Let us talk of something else.' So, when Dora and Gerda went away, they carried with them the conviction that Mrs. Carnaby was an 'impossible' person and of course lost no opportunity of imparting it to their friends.