great wide stone hearth; quaint furniture made from the gnarled
branches of trees; skins on the floor; and the walls adorned with
antlers, great horns, and various trophies of the chase. And amongst
them Leonard, in a picturesque suit, lolling back just as at present
and smiling with a loving look in his eyes as she handed him a great
blue-and-white Munich beer mug topped with cool foam. There was a
soft mystery in her voice as she answered:

'Perhaps, Leonard, there will some day be such a place here!' He
seemed to grumble as he replied:

'I wish it was here now. Some day seems a long way off!'

This seemed a good opening for Stephen; for the fear of the situation
was again beginning to assail her, and she felt that if she did not
enter on her task at once, its difficulty might overwhelm her. She
felt angry with herself that there was a change in her voice as she
said:

'Some day may mean--can mean everything. Things needn't be a longer
way off than we choose ourselves, sometimes!'

'I say, that's a good one! Do you mean to say that because I am some
day to own Brindehow I can do as I like with it at once, whilst the
governor's all there, and a better life than I am any day? Unless
you want me to shoot the old man by accident when we go out on the
First.' He laughed a short, unmeaning masculine laugh which jarred
somewhat on her. She did not, however, mean to be diverted from her
main purpose, so she went on quickly: