Page 582 - of-human-bondage-

ple at the boarding-house. I wanted cheering up after seeing
nobody all these months. It was dull sometimes.’
She looked very smart in her new hat, a large black straw
with a great many inexpensive flowers on it; and round her
neck floated a long boa of imitation swansdown. She was
still very thin, and she stooped a little when she walked (she
had always done that,) but her eyes did not seem so large;
and though she never had any colour, her skin had lost the
earthy look it had. They walked down to the sea. Philip, re-
membering he had not walked with her for months, grew
suddenly conscious of his limp and walked stiffly in the at-
tempt to conceal it.
‘Are you glad to see me?’ he asked, love dancing madly
in his heart.
‘Of course I am. You needn’t ask that.’
‘By the way, Griffiths sends you his love.’
‘What cheek!’
He had talked to her a great deal of Griffiths. He had
told her how flirtatious he was and had amused her often
with the narration of some adventure which Griffiths un-
der the seal of secrecy had imparted to him. Mildred had
listened, with some pretence of disgust sometimes, but gen-
erally with curiosity; and Philip, admiringly, had enlarged
upon his friend’s good looks and charm.
‘I’m sure you’ll like him just as much as I do. He’s so jolly
and amusing, and he’s such an awfully good sort.’
Philip told her how, when they were perfect strangers,
Griffiths had nursed him through an illness; and in the tell-
ing Griffiths’ self-sacrifice lost nothing.

1