here unresolved. Either the precious cargo must be
brought safely into port or the derelict must be sunk and the fairway
cleared. The question was--how to proceed?

The unwritten laws of social usage would hardly permit him to carry
the Pixley mansion by assault and insist on seeing Miss Brandt.
Besides, that might expose her to annoyance, and that he would not
upon any consideration.

And so, before he reached his rooms, his mind was groping clumsily
after written phrases which should in some sort express that which was
in him without saying too much too soon,--which should delicately hint
his regrets at this sudden curtailment of their acquaintance, and
leave it for her to say whether or no she regarded the matter in the
same light.

Lady Elspeth's sudden summons to the north furnished an acceptable
text. Margaret was not to know that he knew of her call at Phillimore
Gardens. It was surely but a friendly act on his part to inform her of
a matter so nearly concerning one who was dear to them both.

It took a considerable time, however, and the expenditure of much
thought and ink and paper, before he succeeded in producing a letter
in any degree to his liking. And even when it was written many
perusals only served to deepen his doubts.

In any case, it was the best he could do under the circumstances, and
since he could not see her answer in her eyes or in her face, the
words she would send him in reply would surely afford his quickened
perceptions some indication of her feeling, though nothing to what her
presence would have told him.

So he wrote--

"Dear Miss Brandt,--When I called at Lady Elspeth Gordon's this
afternoon, I learned, to my very great regret, in which I dare
to hope you may participate, that our dear old friend had been
summoned to Inverstrife at almost a moment's notice, by the
sudden illness of her niece, the Countess of Assynt.

"I trust her visit may not need to be a very extended one, but
Lady Elspeth is such a tower of strength to all who seek her
help that she is not likely to return so long as she can be of
any possible assistance to her friends.

"For reasons which, perhaps, I need not particularise, her
sudden departure is to me a loss beyond its apparent magnitude.
The hours I have spent at her house have been among the
brightest of my life. You also have enjoyed her friendship. I
venture to hope that you also will miss her