d
do, but for one of the servants in the house, who is an excellent
creature--who sympathizes with me, and helps me." She stopped, and lifted
her head inquiringly. "Where _is_ the servant?" she asked.

I had forgotten the woman who had brought her into the room. She must
have delicately left us together after leading Lucilla in. When I looked
up, she was not to be seen.

"The servant is no doubt waiting down-stairs," I said. "Go on."

"But for that good creature," Lucilla resumed, "I should never have got
here. She brought me your letter, and read it to me, and wrote my reply.
I arranged with her to slip out at the first opportunity. One chance was
in our favor--we had only the cousin to keep an eye on us. Oscar was not
in the house."

She suddenly checked herself at the last word. A slight sound at the
lower end of the room, which had passed unnoticed by me, had caught her
delicate ear, "What is that noise?" she asked. "Anybody in the room with
us?"

I looked up once more. While she was talking of the false Oscar, the true
Oscar was standing listening to her, at the other end of the room.

When he discovered that I was looking at him, he entreated me by a
gesture not to betray his presence. He had evidently heard what we had
been saying to each other, before I detected him--for he touched his
eyes, and lifted his hands pityingly in allusion to Lucilla's blindness.
Whatever his mood might be, that melancholy discovery must surely have
affected him--Lucilla's influence over him now, _could_ only be an
influence for good. I signed to him to remain--and told Lucilla that
there was nothing to be alarmed about. She went on.

"Oscar left us for London early this morning," she said. "Can you guess
what he has gone for? He has gone to get the Marriage License--he has
given notice of the marriage at the church. My last hope is in you. In
spite of everything that I can say to him, he has fixed the day for the
twenty-first--in two days more! I have done all I could to put it off; I
have insisted on every possible delay. Oh, if you knew----!" Her rising
agitation stifled her utterance at the moment. "I mustn't waste the
precious minutes; I must get back before Oscar returns," she went on,
rallying again. "Oh, my old friend, you are never at a loss; you always
know what to do! Find me some way of putting off my marriage. Suggest
something which will take them by surprise, and force them to give me
time!"

I looked towards