ons of his frame, and the
recollection I had of him struck me more forcibly than ever. I am not
superstitious, but I began to fancy that we must have met in some former
state, in some other sphere. He stood before the fire, rubbing his hands
and answering all manner of questions that were put to him. He appeared
to be an old friend of the family, to judge by the conversation, and yet
I was positively certain that I had never seen him at Carvel Place. He
knew all the family, however, and seemed familiar with their tastes and
pursuits: he inquired about John's manufacturing interests, and about
Mrs. Carvel's poor people; he asked Hermione several questions about the
recent exhibitions of flowers, and discussed with Chrysophrasia a sale
of majolica which had just taken place in London. After this round of
remarks I suspected that the professor would address himself to me, for
his gray eyes rested on me from time to time with a look of recognition.
But he held his peace, and we presently went to dinner.

Professor Cutter talked much and talked well, in a continuous,
consistent manner that was satisfactory for a time, but a little
wearisome in the long run. His ideas were often brilliant, and his
expression of them was always original, but he had an extraordinary
faculty of dominating the conversation. Even John Carvel, who knew a
great deal in his way, found it hard to make any headway against the
professor's eloquence, though I could sometimes see that he was far from
being convinced. The professor had been everywhere and had seen most
things; he talked with absolute conviction of what he had seen, and
avoided talking of what he had not seen, doubtless inferring that it was
not worth seeing. Nevertheless, he was not a disagreeable person, as
such men often are; on the contrary, there was a charm of manner about
him that was felt by every one present. I longed for the meal to be
over, however, for I intended to seize the first opportunity which
presented itself of asking him whether he remembered where we had met
before.

I was destined to remain in suspense for some time. We had no sooner
risen from dinner than John Carvel came up to me and spoke in a low
voice.

"Will you excuse me if I leave you alone, Griggs?" he said. "I have very
important business with Professor Cutter, which will not keep until
to-morrow. We will join you in the drawing-room in about an hour."

It was nothing to me if the two men had business to