Jean offered no comment on the wisdom or the unwisdom of the match, but she told me the young Mrs.Jardine had sent for her (Jean was then a schoolgirl of fourteen) and had given her a good time in London before she sailed with her husband for India.

Rather unusual when you come to think of it! It isn't every young wife who has thought on the honeymoon for schoolgirl stepdaughters, and Jean had seen that it was kind and unselfish, and was grateful.

The Jardines sailed for India, and were hardly landed when Mr.Jardine died of cholera.

The young widow stayed on--I suppose she liked the life and had little to bring her back to England--and when the first year of her widowhood was over she married a young soldier, Gervase Taunton.

I'm almost sure I remember meeting him about--good-looking, perfect dancer, crack polo player.