She held out her left hand, the fingers spread out a little, and he put his signet ring on her finger.

It was large for her and slipped round, so that only the plain gold band of the inside showed.

‘Prophetic,’ remarked Julian, and laughed slightly.

‘Yes,’ Alison said, but her voice was only a whisper, for an odd lump seemed to have lodged in her throat.

Then he drew her arm lightly through his, and they went out of the room together.

The first person they met was Uncle Theodore, who was crossing the hall.

‘Julian, I’m dreadfully sorry about this disgraceful business,’ he began. Then, as he noticed Alison’s insignificant presence: ‘Run along, Alison. I want to speak to Mr. Tyndrum a moment.’

She would have gone at once, used as she was to effacing herself, but Julian pressed his arm against his side so that she couldn’t withdraw her hand.

‘You really mustn’t distress yourself about it, Mr. Leadburn,’ he said pleasantly and casually. ‘I’m afraid you’ve heard only half of the story-especially since you suggest that Alison should leave us.’

‘Alison?’ Uncle Theodore had evidently never supposed that his niece counted for much in any domestic crisis.

‘Certainly.’ Julian was smiling a little now, and he calmly drew his arm away, to put it lightly round her. ‘Alison and I are engaged.’

‘Alison and you!’ Uncle Theodore looked stupefied, and Alison thought irrelevantly that she had never seen his expression change so often in so short a time.

‘Yes.’ Julian glanced down at her with an appearance of tenderness which shook her badly. ‘Rosalie’s-courageous frankness about her preference for Myrton served my happiness as well as hers. It left me free to admit that I too had made a mistake which I was anxious to repair.’

‘Rosalie’s what’?’ said Uncle Theodore contemptuously. ‘You know as well as I do that her motive was just selfish spite.’

‘But need we examine Rosalie’s motives so closely,’ Julian said mildly, ‘since we are all quite happy at what has happened?’

Alison marvelled at the calm way he withstood her uncle’s penetrating look. She herself trembled a little when it was turned to her.

‘And what have you to say about it, Alison?’ Her uncle’s tone was not unkindly; only puzzled.

‘I’m very happy,’ she said softly. And she supposed that in a sense that was true.

‘Hm! Been eating your heart out for Julian all along, I suppose?’ he said drily.

She couldn’t quite make herself answer that in words. It was too uncomfortably near the truth. So she just nodded, and stared hard at the ground.

‘Well’-her uncle turned back to Julian, his air not un-tinged with amusement-’I suppose I don’t need to tell you that I think you’re less to be pitied than Myrton.’

‘I assure you I don’t feel in any need of pity,’ Julian said, smiling. And Alison was oddly certain that it gave immense satisfaction to his battered self-respect to be able to say that.

‘Have you told my wife yet?’

‘No. Events followed too quickly on each other, you see.’ Julian was imperturbable still. ‘But I think we must go and tell her now.’

‘Yes, by all means let us go and tell her,’ agreed Uncle Theodore.

When they came into the room, a few couples were drifting about the floor to the strains of dance-music from the radio. But most of the company was gathered about Rosalie, laughing and talking.

For a second Alison felt Julian’s hand tightened unbearably on her arm. She gasped slightly, not so much with the pain of his grip as the pain of knowing that the very sight of another girl could move him so profoundly.

He murmured a word of apology, and at that moment Rosalie saw him. She was evidently taken aback at seeing him still there after his dismissal, but, recovering herself immediately, she addressed him a little defiantly across the room.

‘Won’t you come and drink to my happy engagement, too, Julian?’

In the startled, amused hush that fell upon the others, he came slowly forward.

‘Of course.’ He took the glass steadily from her fingers. ‘And in return you must drink to mine.’

‘What-do you mean?’

Rosalie’s own glass shook, so that some of the wine spilled and ran down over her fingers.

‘Simply that our mutual decision earlier in the evening left us both free to repair a-mutual mistake.’ Julian smiled full at her-not insolently, but with a sort of dangerous courtesy. ‘While I drink to your happiness with Myrton, you must drink to my happiness with Alison.’ And he bowed slightly to her over the rim of his glass.

‘Alison!’

Rosalie turned quite pale with shocked anger, while a little ripple of laughter and something like applause went round the group.

‘Are you surprised? Then I must have hidden my feelings better than I knew. But now you know, I’m sure you will not grudge us your congratulations. Your health and happiness, Rosalie-and you too, Myrton.’ And he turned for a moment to the blond youngster who was Rosalie’s latest acquisition.

‘Very well done,’ murmured Uncle Theodore to no one in particular. But Alison heard him.

She supposed she ought to find some sort of satisfaction in this turning of the tables on Rosalie. But she felt no such thing. Instead, there was just a scared distress in her heart, a cold sense of apprehension. For it was her engagement- her one precious, fragile link with Julian-that was the subject of this frightening duel.

It seemed an odd way to celebrate marriage, she thought unhappily.

As for Aunt Lydia ’s reaction, that was entirely unexpected-until Alison realised that she was doing her best to convert Rosalie’s blank and furious dismay into a decent retreat.

‘My dear child!’ Aunt Lydia bumped her cheek gently against Alison’s in simulation of a kiss. ‘Well, I must say I am exceedingly surprised. Aren’t you, Theodore?’

‘Not in the least,’ her husband said drily, and he glanced across at Rosalie with such patent dislike that even Aunt Lydia was checked for a moment in her flow of conventional eloquence.

‘Poor Aunt Lydia,’ thought Alison dispassionately. ‘Her family aren’t standing by her very well.’

‘I’m a good deal surprised myself, Aunt Lydia,’ she said timidly. ‘But-but it’s a very nice surprise.’

‘Very.’ Aunt Lydia ’s supply of synthetic sympathy was running out. ‘A little breathtaking, though,’ she added.

‘Rather like matrimonial "Family Coach",’ observed one of the guests. But Aunt Lydia only paid that the tribute of a very bleak smile.

‘It will have to be a very short engagement, won’t it?’ remarked someone else.

‘Oh, yes. But we don’t mind that.’ Julian put his arm round Alison again and drew her to his side. ‘Do we?’

Alison shook her head wordlessly.

Then he whispered, ‘Don’t tremble so.’ And his voice was so gentle that she suddenly wanted to weep.

Perhaps he guessed how overwrought she was, because he glanced round and said, ‘But we’re wasting all our evening, standing about talking. Why aren’t we dancing?’

And a moment later, Alison found herself swung away from the group to dance with Julian, and, when the others found that the tenseness of the crisis was passing, they soon followed suit.

‘Feeling better?’ His voice sounded quietly just above. her head.

‘Yes, thank you.’

‘Could you manage to smile a little, then?’

She looked up quickly and smiled unsteadily at him. It was curiously like the very first evening of all, only this time it was his pride that must be saved, she thought with fierce determination.

‘That’s better. You’re a good, brave child, Alison,’ he said. ‘You backed me up splendidly.’

‘I don’t think I did much,’ replied Alison honestly. ‘And anyway, I was terrified.’

‘Were you? Well, I think you might well be excused on the grounds of having used up all your courage in the library.’

She knew he was smiling a little at that, but she didn’t dare look up, because his words brought back that incredible scene so clearly.