r well would have conjectured that she saw her way to making
somebody uncomfortable. But there was also an underlying nervousness
which seemed to hint at something beyond. She began by flattering her
visitor outrageously and indulging in a number of false statements
regarding her delight with the Journal and the amusement and instruction
she had gained from it; she even professed to have mastered the
Hygroxeric Method, observing that a note by the Editor put the whole
thing in a nutshell. Much pleased, yet vaguely disappointed, Mr Neeld
concluded that she had no more to say about the visit to Heidelberg.

The Imp turned over the pages leisurely while Neeld sipped his tea.

"I see you put little asterisk things where you leave out anything," she
observed. "That's convenient, isn't it?"

"I think it's usual," said he.

"And another thing you do--Oh, you really are a splendid editor!--you
put the date at the top of every page--even where Mr Cholderton's entry
runs over ever so many pages. He is rather long sometimes, isn't he?"

"I've always found the date at the top of the page a convenience in
reading myself," said Mr Neeld.

"Yes, it tells you just where you are--and where Mr Cholderton was." She
laughed a little. "Yes, look here, page 365, May 1875, he's at Berlin!
Then there are some asterisks"--Mr Neeld looked up from his tea--"and
you turn over the page" (the Imp turned over with the air of a
discoverer), "and you find him at Interlaken in--why, in August, Mr
Neeld!" An amiable surprise appeared on her face. "Where was he in
between?" she asked.

"I--I suppose he stayed at Berlin."

"Oh, perhaps. No--look here. He says, 'I had not previously met Sir
Silas Minting, as I left Berlin before he arrived in the beginning of
June.'"

The Imp laid down the Journal, leant back in her chair, and regarded
Neeld steadily.

"You told me right," she added; "I don't find any mention of my
mother--nor of Heidelberg. It's rather funny that he doesn't mention
Heidelberg."

She poured out a second cup of tea and--waited. The first part of her
work was done. She had made Neeld very uncomfortable. "Because," she
added, after she had given her previous remarks time to soak in,
"between May and August 1875 is just about the time I remember him at
Heidelberg--the time when he met Mrs Fitzhubert, you know."

She nodded her head slightly toward the window, the window that looked
down to the valley and gave a view of the house