It was intolerable, this dictation of their relation.

Elfrida desired a change--she should have it, but not at her caprice.

Janet's innate dominance rose up and asserted a superior right to make the terms between them, and all the hidden jar, the unacknowledged contempt, the irritation, the hurt and the stress of the year that had passed rushed in from banishment and gained possession of her.

She took just an appreciable instant to steady herself, and then her gray eyes regarded Elfrida with a calm remoteness in them which gave the other girl a quick impression of having done more than she meant to do, gone too far to return.

Their glances met, and Elfrida's eyes, unquiet and undecided, dropped before Janet's.