little chance of her serving breakfast earlier than her declared time of seven

thirty.

 

Now, in these quiet moments as I wait for the world about to awake, I find

myself going over in my mind again passages from Miss Kenton's letter.

Incidentally, I should before now have explained myself as regards my referring

to 'Miss Kenton'. 'Miss Kenton' is properly speaking 'Mrs Benn' and has been for

twenty years.

 

However, because I knew her at close quarters only during her maiden years and

have not seen her once since she went to the West Country to become 'Mrs Benn',

you will perhaps excuse my impropriety in referring to her as I knew her, and in

my mind have continued to call her throughout these years. Of course, her letter

has given me extra cause to continue thinking of her as 'Miss Kenton', since it

would seem, sadly, that her marriage is finally to come to an end. The letter

does not make specific the details of the matter, as one would hardly expect it

to do, but Miss Kenton states unambiguously that she has now, in fact, taken the

step of moving out of Mr Benn's house ill Helston and is presently lodging with

an acquaintance in the nearby village of Little Compton.

 

It is of course tragic that her marriage is now ending in failure. At this very

moment, no doubt, she is pondering with regret decisions made in the far-off

past that have now left her, deep in middle age, so alone and desolate. And it

is easy to see how in such a frame of mind, the thought of returning to

Darlington Hall would be a great comfort to her. Admittedly, she does not at any