asantly the next time. Good-night, my beautiful
sweetheart. _Au revoir_ for the present, obstinate though fairest of all
sweethearts."

Ere Bernardine had time to divine his intention, he had caught her in
his arms, pressed her close to his throbbing heart, and although she
struggled all she knew how, he succeeded in covering her face, her neck,
her brow with his hot, wine-tainted kisses, the while laughing
hilariously as he noted how loathsome they were to the lovely young
girl.

Bernardine, with a wild shriek, broke at last from his grasp, and dashed
madly from the sitting-room to her own apartment, which she reached in
time to fall fainting in Miss Rogers' arms, the sting of those bitter
kisses burning her lips like flame.

As Jasper Wilde leisurely put on his hat and walked out of the
sitting-room, Miss Rogers suddenly confronted him.

"I would like a word with you, Jasper Wilde," she said, brusquely,
barring his way.

"Who are you, and what do you want with me?" he demanded, with a harsh
imprecation on his lips, thinking her one of his father's tenants.

"I want to intercede with you for poor Bernardine Moore," she said,
simply. "Let me plead with you to forego this marriage, which I
earnestly assure you is most hateful to her, for she loves another."

The flashing fire in his hard black eyes might have warned her that he
was an edged tool, and that it was dangerous to encounter him.

"Out of my way, you cursed old fool!" he cried, savagely; "or I'll take
you by the neck and fling you to the bottom of the stairs!"

Miss Rogers was sorely frightened, but she nobly held her ground.

"Your bullying does not terrify me in the least, Jasper Wilde," she
said, calmly. "I have seen such men as you before. I would have talked
with you quietly; but since you render that an impossibility, I will end
my interview with one remark, one word of warning. Attempt to force
Bernardine Moore into this hateful marriage, and it will be at your
peril. Hear me, and understand what I say: She shall never wed you!"

"I should be as big a fool as you are, woman, if I lost time bandying
words with you!" he cried, sneeringly. "If Bernardine has deputized you
to waylay me and utter that nonsensical threat, you may go back and tell
her that her clever little plan has failed ignominiously. I am proof
against threats of women."

Miss Rogers looked after him with wrathful eyes.

"If there was ever a fiend incarnate, that man is one,"