The dramatic Enville incident had spoiled the pleasure which she had felt in sacrificing her formal duty as a daughter to her duty as a clerk.

She had been disillusioned.

She foresaw the future with alarm.
And yet, strangely, the disillusion and the fear were a source of pleasure.

She savoured them with her loyalty, that loyalty which had survived even the frightful blow of George Cannon's casual disdain at her mother's tea-table! Whatever this new world might be, it was hers, it was precious.

She would no more think of abandoning it than a young mother would think of abandoning a baby obviously imperfect....