Two well-dressed, middle-aged men entered the compartment, which, till then, Leonora and Milly had had to themselves; and while duly admiring Leonora, they could not refrain from looking continually at Millicent; they talked to one another gravely, and they made a pretence of reading newspapers, but their eyes always returned furtively to Milly’s corner.  The girl was not by any means confused by the involuntary homage, which merely heightened her restless vitality.  She chattered to her mother; she was pert; she looked out of the window; she tapped the floor with her brown shoes.  In the unconscious process of displaying her individuality for admiration, she was never still.  The fair, pretty face under the straw hat responded to each appreciative glance, and beneath her fine blue coat and skirt the muscles of the immature body and limbs played perpetually in graceful and free movement.  She was adorable; she knew it, Leonora knew it, the two middle-aged men knew it.  Nothing—­no pertness, no audacity, no silliness, no affectation—­could impair the extraordinary charm.  Leonora was exceedingly proud of her daughter.  And yet she reflected impartially that Millicent was a little fool.  She trembled for Millicent; she feared to let her out of sight; the idea of Millicent loose in the world, with no guide but her own rashness and no protection but her vanity, made Leonora feel sick.  Nevertheless, Millicent would soon be loose in the world, and at the best Leonora could only stand in the background, ready for emergency.

At Euston they were not surprised to see Harry.  The young man was more dandiacal and correct than ever, and he could cut a figure on the platform; but Leonora observed the pallor of his thin cheeks and the watery redness of his eyes.  He had come to meet them, and he insisted on escorting them to their hotel in South Kensington.

‘Look here,’ he said in the cab, ’I’ve one dying request to make before the luggage drops through the roof.  I want you both to come and dine with me at the Majestic to-night, and then we’ll go to the Regency.  Lewis has given me a box.  By the way, I told him he might rely on me to take you up to see him to-morrow.’

‘Shall we, mother?’ Milly asked carelessly; but it was obvious that she wished to dine at the Majestic.

‘I don’t know,’ said Leonora.  ’There’s Rose.  We’re going to fetch Rose from the hospital this afternoon, Harry, and she will spend the evening with us.’

‘Well, Rose must come too, of course,’ Harry replied quickly, after a slight hesitation.  ‘It will do her good.’

‘We will see,’ said Leonora.  She had known Harry from his infancy, and when she encountered him in these latter days she was always subject to the illusion that he could not really be a man, but was rather playing at manhood.  Moreover, she had warned Arthur Twemlow of their arrival and expected to find a letter from him at the hotel, and she could make no arrangements until she had seen the letter.