By the grave of Mrs. Hannaford (he stood there only after
the burial) he was touched again by the advancing shadow of life's
dial, and it marked the end of youth. For youth is a term relative
to heart and mind. At six-and-twenty many a man has of manhood only
the physique; many another is already falling through experience to
a withered age. Piers had the sense of transition; the middle years
were opening before him. The tears he shed for his friend were due
in part to the poignant perception of utter severance with boyhood.
But a few weeks ago, talking with Mrs. Hannaford, he could revive
the spirit of those old days at Geneva, feel his identity with the
Piers Otway of that time. It would never be within his power again.
He might remember, but memory showed another than himself.
A note from John Jacks summoned him to Queen's Gate. Not till
afterwards did he understand that Mr. Jacks' real motive in sending
for him was to get light upon the rupture between Arnold and Miss
Derwent. Piers' astonishment at what he heard caused his friend to
quit the subject.
In the night that followed, Piers for the first time in his life
felt the possibility of base action. The experience has come to all
men, and, whatever the result, always leaves its mark. Looking at
the fact of Irene's broken engagement, he could explain it only in
one way; the cause must be Mrs. Hannaford--the doubt as to her
behaviour, the threatened scandal.
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