t before I left it at your house."

Mrs. Gallilee listened in silence, conscious that she had committed
another error. She had carefully excluded from her confidence a man
who was already in possession of her secrets! Mr. Le Frank's courteous
sympathy forbade him to take advantage of the position of superiority
which he now held.

"I will do myself the honour of calling again," he said, "when you are
better able to place the right estimate on my humble offers of service.
I wouldn't fatigue you, Mrs. Gallilee, for the world! At the same time,
permit me to put one last question which ought not to be delayed. When
Miss Carmina left you, did she take away her writing-desk and her keys?"

"No."

"Allow me to suggest that she may send for them at any moment."

Before it was possible to ask for an explanation, Joseph presented
himself again. Mr. Null was waiting downstairs. Mrs. Gallilee arranged
that he should be admitted when she rang her bell. Mr. Le Frank
approached the sofa, when they were alone, and returned to his
suggestion in a whisper.

"Surely, you see the importance of using your niece's keys?" he resumed.
"We don't know what correspondence may have been going on, in which
the nurse and the governess have been concerned. After we have already
intercepted a letter, hesitation is absurd! You are not equal to the
effort yourself. I know the room. Don't be afraid of discovery; I have a
naturally soft footfall--and my excuse is ready, if somebody else has a
soft footfall too. Leave it to me."

He lit a candle as he spoke. But for that allusion to the nurse, Mrs.
Gallilee might have ordered him to blow it out again. Eager for any
discovery which might, by the barest possibility, place Teresa at her
mercy, she silently submitted to Mr. Le Frank. "I'll call to-morrow," he
said--and slipped out of the room.

When Mr. Null was announced, Mrs. Gallilee pushed up the shade over
the globe of the lamp. Her medical attendant's face might be worth
observing, under a clear light.

His timid look, his confused manner, when he made the conventional
apologies, told her at once that Teresa had spoken, and that he knew
what had happened. Even he had never before been so soothing and so
attentive. But he forgot, or he was afraid, to consult appearances
by asking what was the matter, before he felt the pulse, and took the
temperature, and wrote his prescription. Not a word was uttered by
Mrs. Gallilee, until the medical formali