a strange
look, easily enough to be understood by me now, I only laughed at his
abstraction, and indulged in a fresh caress to make him more mindful of
my presence.

"These keys were the ones which Mrs. Van Burnam's husband had dropped,
and which he had picked up before meeting me; and after he had put them
back into his pocket he became more talkative than before, and more
systematically lover-like. I think he had not seen his way clearly till
this moment, the dark and dreadful way which was to end, as he supposed,
in my death.

"But I feared nothing, suspected nothing. Such deep and desperate
wickedness as he was planning was beyond the wildest flight of my
imagination. When he insisted upon sending for a complete set of
clothing for me, and when at his dictation I wrote a list of the
articles I wanted, I thought he was influenced by his wish as my husband
to see me dressed in articles of his own buying. That it was all a plot
to rob me of my identity could not strike such a mind as mine, and when
the packages came and were received by him in the sly way already known
to the public, I saw nothing in his caution but a playful display of
mystery that was to end in my romantic establishment in a home of love
and luxury.

"Or rather it is thus that I account for my conduct now, and yet the
precaution I took not to change the shoes in which my money was hidden,
may argue that I was not without some underlying doubt of his complete
sincerity. But if so, I hid it from myself, and, as I have every reason
to believe, from him also, doubtless excusing my action to myself by
considering that I would be none the worse off for a few dollars of my
own, even if he was my husband, and had promised me no end of pleasure
and comfort.

"That he did intend to make me happy, he had assured me more than once.
Indeed, before we had been long in this hotel room, he informed me that
great experiences lay before me; that he had prospered much in the last
five years and had now a house of his own to offer me and a large circle
of friends to make our life in it agreeable.

"'We will go to our house to-night,' said he. 'I have not been living in
it lately, and you may find it a little uncomfortable, but we will
remedy that to-morrow. Anything is better than staying here under a
false name and I cannot take you to my bachelor apartment.'

"I had doubted some of his previous statements, but this one I
implicitly believed. Why should not so