"Very!" responded Arbuthnot. "Unavoidable, in fact." And he laid upon the table the bit of hyacinth he had picked up in the boat and brought home with him. "If I carry it away," was his private thought, "I shall fall into the habit of sitting and weakening my mind over it. It is weak enough already." But he knew, at the same time, that Colonel Tredennis had done something toward assisting him to form the resolution. "A trivial masculine vanity," he thought, "not unfrequently strengthens one's position." In the meantime Tredennis went to Amory. He found him in the room which was, in its every part, so strong a reminder of Bertha. It wore a desolate look, and Amory had evidently been walking up and down it, pushing chairs and footstools aside carelessly, when he found them in his way. He had thrown himself, at last, into Bertha's own special easy-chair, and leaned back in it, with his hands thrown out over its padded arms. He had plainly not slept well the night before, and his dress had a careless and dishevelled look, very marked in its contrast with the customary artistic finish of his attire. He sprang up when he saw Tredennis, and began to speak at once. "I say!" he exclaimed, "this is terrible!" "You have been disappointed," said Tredennis. "I have been rui"--he checked himself; "disappointed isn't the word," he ended. "The whole thing has been laid aside--_laid aside_--think of it! as if it were a mere nothing; an application for a two-penny half-penny pension! Great God! what do the fellows think they are dealing with?" "Who do you think is to blame?" said the colonel, stolidly. "Blundel, by Jove!--Blundel, that fool and clown!" and he flung himself about the room, mumbling his rage and irritation. "It is not the first time such a thing has happened," said Tredennis, "and it won't be the last. If you continue to interest yourself in such matters you will find that out, as others have done before you. Take my advice, and give it up from this hour." Amory wheeled round upon him. "Give it up!" he cried, "I can't give it up, man! It is only laid aside for the time being. Heaven and earth shall be moved next year--Heaven and earth! The thing won't fail--it _can't_ fail--a thing like that; a thing I have risked my very soul on!" He dashed his hand through his tumbled hair and threw himself into the chair again, quite out of breath. "Ah, confound it!" he exclaimed, "I am too excitable! I am losing my hold on myself." Tredennis rose from his seat, feeling some movement necessary. He stood and looked down at the floor. As he gazed up at him Amory entered a fretful mental protest against his size and his air of being able to control himself. He was plainly deep in thought even when he spoke, for his eyes did not leave the floor. "I suppose," he said, "this is really no business of mine. I wish it was." "What do you mean?" said Amory. Tredennis looked up.