s must be, a strong antagonism
between the two men, Cheniston was an honourable man; and the secret
upon which he had stumbled was one which a man of honour would
instinctively keep to himself.

That his secret was safe with Iris, Anstice knew beyond any question;
and as his car swept up the drive to the jasmine-covered door of Cherry
Orchard he told himself that it was only his conscience which made him
feel as though his absence on the previous evening must have looked odd,
unusual, even--he could not help the word--suspicious.

The door was opened to him by Hagyard, and there was no doubting the
sincerity of his welcome.

"Good morning, sir. I was looking out for you.... Miss Cherry's
awakened, they say, and is in a sad state."

His unusual loquacity was a proof of his mental disturbance, and Anstice
spoke sharply.

"Where is she? Shall I go upstairs?"

"If you please, sir. Here is Tochatti come for you, sir." And he stood
aside to allow the woman to approach.

"Will you come this way, signor?" Her foreign accent was more marked
than usual; and looking at her worn and sallow countenance Anstice
guessed she had not slept.

He followed her without asking any questions, and in another moment was
in Cherry's bedroom, the little white and pink room whose wall papers
and chintzes were stamped with the life-like bunches of cherries on
which he had once remarked admiringly, to the little owner's
gratification.

In the small white bed lay Cherry, her head swathed in bandages, one
little arm bandaged likewise; and beside her knelt Chloe Carstairs, her
face like marble, her silky black hair dishevelled on her brow, as
though she, too, had passed a sleepless night. Cherry's brown eyes were
widely opened with an expression of half-wondering pain in their usually
limpid depths, and from time to time she uttered little moans which
sounded doubly piteous coming from so self-controlled a child as she.

"Dr. Anstice--at last!" Chloe rose swiftly from her knees and came to
meet him with both hands outstretched. "I thought you were never
coming--that Dr. Willows had forgotten to tell you----"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Carstairs." He knew at once, with a relief which would
not be repressed, that Cheniston had kept his miserable secret. "I only
saw Dr. Willows half an hour ago, and came at once. How is Cherry this
morning--did she have any sleep?"

"Yes, thank God." Listening to her low voice, Anstice wondered why he
had ever thou