But Elinor Leyton was not in the habit of breaking down. As soon as
she had started for her destination, she leaned her head upon the back
of the cab, closed her eyes and set her teeth fast together. Her face
grew deadly pale, and an observer would have noted the trembling of her
lips, and the ball which rose and fell in her throat. But she uttered
no sound, not even a sigh--her misery was too deep for words. Since she had returned to London, Margaret Pullen had stayed with
Doctor Phillips, for he had insisted that it should be so. The
telegram which had conveyed to Colonel Pullen the news of his little
daughter’s death, had been answered by one to say that he had applied
for immediate leave, and should join his wife as soon as he received
it. And Margaret was now expecting his arrival, every day--almost
every hour. She looked very sad in her deep mourning dress, as she
came forward to greet Elinor, but as soon as she caught sight of her
visitor’s face, she forgot her own trouble in her womanly sympathy for
her friend. “My dear Elinor!” she exclaimed, “what has brought you to town? You
have bad news for me--I can read it in your eyes. Nothing wrong with
Ralph, I hope!”

She kissed the girl affectionately, and held her hand, but Elinor did
not answer. She turned her white face towards her friend, and bit her
lips hard, but the words would not come. “You are suffering, my poor dear,” went on Margaret, tenderly, as she
made her sit down, and removed her hat and cloak. “Can’t you trust me
with your trouble? Haven’t I had enough of my own? Ah! cry, that’s
better. God sends us tears, in order that our hearts may not break! And
now, what is it? Is anyone ill at home?”

Elinor shook her head. The tears were rolling slowly one by one, down
her marble cheeks, but she jerked them away as they came, as though it
were a shame to weep. After a long pause, she swallowed something in her throat and commenced
in a husky voice:

“It concerns Ralph, Margaret! He has been untrue to me! All is over
between us!”

“Oh! surely not!” said Margaret, “have you had a full explanation with
him? Who told you he had been untrue? Has Ralph asked for a release
from his engagement?”

“No! but he shall have it!”

She then went on to tell the story of the finding of Harriet Brandt’s
letters in Captain Pullen’s grate--and of the interview she had had
with the girl that afternoon. “She did not attempt to deny it,” continued Elinor. “On the contrary
she declared that he had made love to her all the time he was at
Heyst--that he had said she was the only woman who had ever touched his
heart, and that no man with human feelings could be happy with such a
cold, reserved nature as mine! And if you could see her letters to him,
Margaret--I wish I had not given them to her, but she snatched them
from my hand--they were _too_ dreadful! I never read such letters from
a woman to a man. I did not know they could be written.”

“But, Elinor, it strikes me that all this time, you have only heard one
side of the question. What does it signify what Miss Brandt may say? The only thing of importance to you is, what Ralph will say.”

“But there were her letters--they told their own story! They were full
of nothing but ‘dearests’ and ‘darlings,’ and reminders of how he had
embraced her in one place, and what he had said to her in another--such
letters as I could not write to a man, if it were to save my life!”

“I can quite understand that! Miss Brandt and you possess two totally
different natures. And cannot you understand that a girl like that,
half educated, wholly ignorant of the usages of society, with a
passionate undeveloped nature and a bold spirit, might write as you
have described her doing, against the wishes of the recipient of her
letters? You say that Ralph threw her epistles in the grate just as
they were. Does that look as if he valued them, or felt himself to be
guilty concerning their reception?”

“But, Margaret, you know he _did_ make himself conspicuous with the
Gobellis and Miss Brandt at Heyst! I think everyone noticed their
intimacy!”

“I noticed it also, and I was very sorry for it, but, Elinor, my dear,
it was partly your own fault! You were so much opposed to the idea of
your engagement to Ralph being made public, that I feared it might
lead to some _contretemps_. And then,” she continued gently, “don’t be
offended if I say that your reserve with him, and your objection to
anything like love-making on his part is in itself calculated to drive
a young man to society he cares less for!”

“But--but--still--I love him!” said poor Elinor, with a tremendous
effort. “I know you do,” replied Margaret, kissing her again, “and better and
more faithfully, perhaps, than half the women who show their love so
openly--yet, men are but men, Elinor, and as a rule they do not believe
in the affection which is never expressed by caresses and fond words.”

“Well! whether I have been right or wrong, it is over now,” said Miss
Leyton, “and Ralph can go to Miss Brandt or anyone else he chooses
for amusement. I shall never stand in his way, but I cannot brook an
affront, so I shall write and release him from his promise to me at
once!”

“No, no, Elinor, you must not do anything so rash! I beg--I implore
you, to do nothing, until Ralph has had an opportunity of denying the
charges brought against him by this girl. They may be utterly untrue! She may be simply persecuting him. Depend upon it, you have only to
ask him for an explanation of those letters, and everything will be
satisfactorily cleared up.”

“You have more belief in him than I have, Margaret. Miss Brandt has
great confidence in her cause. She told me that she had not only taken
him from me, but she meant to keep him, and expressed her intention of
going down to Aldershot and confronting Ralph with the letters she had
written him!”

At this intelligence, Margaret grew alarmed for her friend’s peace of
mind. “No! no! that must never be,” she exclaimed, “that girl must not be
permitted to make a scandal in the Camp, and get your name perhaps
mixed up with it! It must be prevented.”

“I fancy you will find that a difficult task,” said Elinor; “she seems
the most determined young woman I have ever come across. She became so
vehement at last, that she frightened me, and I was only too glad to
get out of the house.”

“Elinor,” said Mrs. Pullen suddenly, “will you leave this matter in my
hands to settle in my own way?”

“What do you intend to do? See Miss Brandt yourself? I advise you not! She will only insult you, as she did me.”

“No! I shall not see her myself, I promise you that, but I will send a
proper ambassador to interview Miss Brandt and the Baroness. This sort
of thing must not be allowed to go on, and unless Ralph comes forward
to second the girl’s assertions (which I am sure he will never do),
she and her friend Madame Gobelli must be made to understand that if
they don’t behave themselves, the law will be called into requisition
to enforce obedience.