Somehow Freda
learnt about that will, and, being no bread-and-butter miss, content
meekly to adore her fiance and deem him faultless, she 'up and
spake' on the subject, and I fancy poor Lawrence must have had
another mauvais quart d'heure. It was not this, however, which led
to a final breach between them; it was something which Sir Richard
discovered with regard to Lawrence's life at Dover. The engagement
was instantly broken off, and Freda, I am sure, felt nothing but
relief. She went abroad for some time, however, and we did not see
her till long after Lawrence had been comfortably married to 1,500
pounds a year and a middle-aged widow, who had long been a hero-
worshipper, and who, I am told, never allowed any visitor to leave
the house without making some allusion to the memorable battle of
Saspataras Hill and her Lawrence's gallant action.
For the two years following after the Major's death, Derrick and I,
as I mentioned before, shared the rooms in Montague Street. For me,
owing to the trouble I spoke of, they were years of maddening
suspense and pain; but what pleasure I did manage to enjoy came
entirely through the success of my friend's books and from his
companionship.
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