spense which they could hardly mask; and Miss Gardner, with whom he
had not yet made his peace, breathlessly awaited the next move of this
incomprehensible husband of hers. Mr. Pyecroft kept his eyes, for
the most part, upon the shrewd, fraud-penetrating features of the
unfoilable Mr. Mayfair--his own countenance the most truthful that son
of Adam ever wore.

"What Mrs. De Peyster has said is really very simple. As you know,
she left Paris two or three weeks ago on a long motor trip. During her
brief stay in Paris, one of her trunks was either lost or stolen,
she is not certain which. As she pays no personal attention to her
baggage, she was not aware of her loss for several days. So much is
fact. Now we come to mere conjecture. A plausible conjecture seems to
be that the gowns in the trunk were sold to a second-hand dealer, and
these gowns, being attractive, the dealer must have immediately resold
to various purchasers, and one of these purchasers must have--"

"Yes, yes! Plain as day!" exclaimed Mr. Mayfair.

"The face was unrecognizable," continued Mr. Pyecroft, "but since the
gown had sewn into it Mrs. De Peyster's name, of course--"

"Of course! The most natural mistake in the world!" cried Mr. Mayfair
excitedly. "Go on! Go on!"

Mrs. De Peyster had slowly turned a dazed countenance upward and was
gazing at the sober, plausible face of her young man of the sea.

"Mrs. De Peyster did not learn of what had happened till the day the
supposed Mrs. De Peyster was started homeward. The most sensible thing
for her to have done would have been to declare the mistake, and saved
her family and friends a great deal of grief. But the shock completely
unbalanced her. I will not attempt to describe her psychological
processes or explain her actions. You may call her course illogical,
hysterical, what you like; I do not seek to defend it; I am only
trying to give you the facts. She was so completely unnerved--But
a mere look at Mrs. De Peyster will show you how the shock unnerved
her."

The group gazed at Mrs. De Peyster's face. A murmur of sympathy and
understanding ran among them.

"In her hysterical condition," continued Mr. Pyecroft, "she had but
one thought, and that was to get home as quickly as she could. She
crossed to England, sailed on the Mauretania, kept to her stateroom,
and arrived here at the house heavily veiled about an hour ago. I may
add the details that she sailed under the name of Miss Harriman and