There had been a week of clear skies and pure
sunshine, and an east wind blowing with sufficient
nippiness to keep the ice hard. Rose had been
skating every day with various neighbours, and



ROSE AND ROSE 57

she and two or three young fellows were now
walking up the drive jangling their skates and
laughing. Her high gaiters made her look unusu-
ally tall, and she came along with her easy long
stride like a conqueror, her face glowing under
the frost and her eyes alight with merriment. She
wore a fur cap and a fur jacket with a high collar,
and you know what furs can do for even a plain
woman. Rose's vivid animation was almost fire ;
but what struck me most was a new confidence,
unconscious but visible, and the deference and
competitive eagerness which were expressed in
her companions. When I had seen her last, at
lunch, she had been a girl ; now, only three hours
later, she was an influence.
I don't suggest that from that moment her life
was more mature ; I don't think that with any
steadiness it was ; but the dominant woman had
flashed out for a moment, and I never forgot the
apparition.
