and lingering in quiet
contemplation of this suggestive little nick,--the only blemish in a
room of ancient colonial magnificence,--she thoughtfully remarked:

"Then she was a small woman?" adding with seeming irrelevance--"like
myself."

Roger winced. Something in the suggestion hurt him, and in the nod he
gave there was an air of coldness which under ordinary circumstances
would have deterred her from pursuing this subject further. But the
circumstances were not ordinary, and she allowed herself to say:

"Was she so very different from me,--in figure, I mean?"

"No. Why do you ask? Shall we not join your brother on the terrace?"

"Not till I have answered the question you put me a moment ago. You
wished to know my requirements. One of the most important you have
already fulfilled. You have given your servants a half-holiday and by
so doing ensured to us full liberty of action. What else I need in the
attempt I propose to make, you will find listed in this memorandum." And
taking a slip of paper from her bag, she offered it to him with a hand,
the trembling of which he would have noted had he been freer in mind.

As he read, she watched him, her fingers nervously clutching her throat.

"Can you supply what I ask?" she faltered, as he failed to raise his
eyes or make any move or even to utter the groan she saw surging up
to his lips. "Will you?" she impetuously urged, as his fingers closed
spasmodically on the paper, in evidence that he understood at last the
trend of her daring purpose.

The answer came slowly, but it came. "I will. But what--"

Her hand rose in a pleading gesture.

"Do not ask me, but take Arthur and myself into the garden and show us
the flowers. Afterwards, I should like a glimpse of the sea."

He bowed and they joined Arthur who had already begun to stroll through
the grounds.

Violet was seldom at a loss for talk even at the most critical moments.
But she was strangely tongue-tied on this occasion, as was Roger
himself. Save for a few observations casually thrown out by Arthur, the
three passed in a disquieting silence through pergola after pergola,
and around beds gorgeous with every variety of fall flowers, till they
turned a sharp corner and came in full view of the sea.

"Ah!" fell in an admiring murmur from Violet's lips as her eyes swept
the horizon. Then as they settled on a mass of rock jutting out from
the shore in a great curve, she leaned towards her host and softly
whisp