last few days -- he had long been convinced that they
intended to conquer Europe by force of arms! So
strong was this conviction of his that he had given
time, and yes, money too, to the propaganda carried
on by Lord Roberts in favour of National Service.

It was odd that a man whose suspicions of the
country which was to her so dear almost amounted
to a monomania, should have become her friend.
But so it was. In fact, Major Guthrie was her only
man friend. He advised her about all the things
concerning which men are supposed to know more
than women -- such as investments, for instance. Of
course she did not always take his advice, but it was
often a comfort to talk things out with him, and she
had come instinctively to turn to him when in any
little trouble. Few days passed without Major
Guthrie's calling, either by chance or in response to a
special invitation, at the Trellis House.

Unfortunately, or was it fortunately? the handsome
old mother, for whose sake Major Guthrie had
left the Army three years ago, didn't care for clerical
society. She only liked country people and Londoners.
As far as Mrs. Otway could dislike any one,
she disliked Mrs. Guthrie; but the two ladies seldom
had occasion to meet -- the Guthries lived in a pretty
old house in Dorycote, a village two miles from
Witanbury. Also Mrs. Guthrie was more or less
chair-ridden, and Mrs. Otway had no carriage.

The bells of the cathedral suddenly broke across
her troublesome, disconnected thoughts. Mrs. Otway
never heard those chimes without a wave of remembrance,
sometimes very slight, sometimes like today

[[23]]

p022 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p023w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p024

v?