eet for tea. And somewhat to Dinah's surprise he had
yielded the point.

They met for tea in a Bond Street restaurant and here Sir Eustace took
away his _fiancee's_ breath by presenting her with a pearl necklace to
wear at her wedding.

She was almost too overwhelmed by the gift to thank him. "Oh, it's too
good--it's too good!" she said, awestruck by its splendour.

"Nothing is too good for my wife," he said in his imperial fashion.

Isabel smiled the smile that never reached her shadowed eyes. "A chain of
pearls to bind a bride!" she said.

And the thought flashed upon Dinah that there was truth in her words.
Whether with intention or not, by every gift he gave her he bound her the
more closely to him. An odd little sensation of dismay accompanied it,
but she put it resolutely from her. Bound or not, what did it
matter--since she had no desire to escape?

She thanked him again very earnestly that night in the conservatory, and
he pressed her to him and kissed the neck on which his pearls rested with
the hot lips of a thirsty man. But he had himself under control, and when
she sought to draw herself away he let her go. She wondered at his
forbearance and was mutely grateful for it.

At Isabel's suggestion she went up to her room early. She was certainly
weary, but she was radiantly happy. It had been a wonderful day. The
beauty of the pearls dazzled her. She kissed them ere she laid them out
of sight. He was good to her. He was much too good.

There came a knock at the door just as she was getting into bed, and
Biddy came softly in, her brown face full of mystery and, Dinah saw at a
glance, of anxiety also.

She put up a warning finger as she advanced. "Whisht, Miss Dinah darlint!
For the love of heaven, don't ye make a noise! I just came in to ask ye a
question, for it's worried to death I am."

"Why what's the matter, Biddy?" Dinah questioned in surprise.

"And ye may well ask, Miss Dinah dear!" Tragedy made itself heard in
Biddy's rejoinder. "Sure it's them letters of Miss Isabel's that's
disappeared entirely, and left no trace. And what'll I do at all when she
comes to ask for them? It's not meself that'll dare to tell her as
they've gone, and she setting such store by them. She'll go clean out of
her mind, Miss Dinah, for sure, they've been her only comfort, poor lamb,
these seven years."

"But, Biddy!" Impulsively Dinah broke in upon her, her eyes round with
surprise and consternation. "They can't be