CHAPTER XVI.
THE RETURN.
As long as he could, Charlton kept Katy at Glenfield.

He amused her by every means in his power; he devoted himself to her; he sought to win her away from Westcott, not by argument, to which she was invulnerable, but by feeling.

He found that the only motive that moved her was an emotion of pity for him, so he contrived to make her estimate his misery on her account at its full value.

But just when he thought he had produced some effect there would come one of Smith Westcott's letters, written not as he talked (it is only real simpleheartedness or genuine literary gift that can make the personality of the writer felt in a letter), but in a round business hand with plenty of flourishes, and in sentences very carefully composed.

But he managed in his precise and prim way to convey to Katy the notion that he was pining away for her company.