oor again and turned back into the darkness; and as he
did so the other door, on the land-side, swung inward, and he saw a
figure in the dim opening. Just enough light entered through the round
holes above the respective doors to reveal Mrs. Stilling's cloaked
outline, and to guide her to him as he advanced. But before they met she
stumbled and gave a little cry.

"What is it?" he exclaimed.

"My foot caught; the floor seemed to give way under me. Ah, of course--"
she bent down in the darkness--"I saw the men oiling it this morning."

Wrayford caught her by the arm. "Do take care! It might be dangerous if
it slid too easily. The water's deep under here."

"Yes; the water's very deep. I sometimes wish--" She leaned against him
without finishing her sentence, and he put both arms about her.

"Hush!" he said, his lips on hers.

Suddenly she threw her head back and seemed to listen.

"What's the matter? What do you hear?"

"I don't know." He felt her trembling. "I'm not sure this place is as
safe as it used to be--"

Wrayford held her to him reassuringly. "But the boatman sleeps down at
the village; and who else should come here at this hour?"

"Cobham might. He thinks of nothing but the launch.'"

"He won't to-night. I told him I'd seen the skipper put her shipshape,
and that satisfied him."

"Ah--he did think of coming, then?"

"Only for a minute, when the sky looked so black half an hour ago, and
he was afraid of a squall. It's clearing now, and there's no danger."

He drew her down on the bench, and they sat a moment or two in silence,
her hands in his. Then she said: "You'd better tell me."

Wrayford gave a faint laugh. "Yes, I suppose I had. In fact, he asked me
to."

"He asked you to?"

"Yes."

She uttered an exclamation of contempt. "He's afraid!"

Wrayford made no reply, and she went on: "I'm not. Tell me everything,
please."

"Well, he's chucked away a pretty big sum again--"

"How?"

"He says he doesn't know. He's been speculating, I suppose. The madness
of making him your trustee!"

She drew her hands away. "You know why I did it. When we married I
didn't want to put him in the false position of the man who contributes
nothing and accepts everything; I wanted people to think the money was
partly his."

"I don't know what you've made people think; but you've been eminently
successful in one respect. _He_ thinks it's all his--and he loses it as
if it were."

"There are worse thing