wn on
the couch; he had flatly refused to take possession of Malcolm's bed.

"I could not rest quietly in bed," he said piteously; "let me lie here
while you write your letter;" for it had been arranged between them
that Malcolm should send a note to Dinah by the early post; but long
before the letter was written the worn-out lad was sleeping heavily.
Malcolm covered him up with rugs before he slipped out to the post.
Malcolm did not write a very long letter.

"I found Cedric here on my return home," he wrote. "He was very excited
and unhappy, and I had great difficulty in bringing him to a reasonable
frame of mind; but he is calmer now, and is at present asleep on my
couch. I am going with him to Oxford to-morrow, and shall probably
remain with him for a day or two. It will never do to leave him alone,
or that fellow Jacobi will get hold of him again. I find he has already
lent him money. I have been questioning Cedric, and I find that Saul
Jacobi trumped up a false excuse for him to make to the Dean. Cedric
was a little incoherent on the subject, but I understood him to say
that he had begged for a three days' excuse on account of a sister's
illness."

"As far as I can make out, Jacobi merely intended to have the marriage
ceremony performed, and to allow Cedric to return to Oxford the next
day. He had pacified him by promising to bring down his sister later,
and to take lodgings for a week or two; but it is impossible to guess
what the fellow really meant. As far as I can judge, there will be no
further trouble with the authorities, but Cedric must not be left to
himself."

"I know some excellent lodgings not a stone's throw from St. John's. Do
you not think it would be a good thing if you and your sister were to
take possession of them for a week or two? Cedric is not fit to be
alone, and you will be a comfort to him. It seems to me that there is
nothing else to be done. I cannot possibly remain beyond a night or
two. If you wire I will engage the rooms, and they shall be in
readiness for you." And when this letter was safely in the post,
Malcolm sought the rest he needed so urgently, and was soon sleeping
the heavy sleep of exhaustion.

Elizabeth was at the Manor House when Dinah received her letter, but
she answered it and sent off her telegram without an hour's delay.

"I told him to take the rooms, Betty," she said, as she handed the
letter to her sister the next day. "I have packed my things and shall
go