from me. Tell him I will see him to-morrow night--at--at midnight, down
by the brook-side. I can not, I dare not, come before that, lest I might
attract the attention of the inmates of the house. If--if he should
question you about my affairs, or, in fact, about anything, make answer
that you do not know to all inquiries--all questions. Be off at once,
Antoinette. Delays are dangerous, you know."

As soon as she found herself alone, young Mrs. Gardiner turned the key
in the lock, and flew at once to her writing-desk. Antoinette had laid
several letters upon it. The letters--the writing upon two of which
seemed rather familiar to her--were from the gentlemen who had loaned
her the money a short time before at Newport. One stated that he should
be in that vicinity at the end of the week, asking if she could find it
convenient to pay part of the loan he had made to her when he called
upon her. The other letter stated that the writer would be obliged if
she could pay the money to his daughter when it became due. "She is a
great friend of Miss Margaret Gardiner's," he went on to state, "and has
decided to accept an invitation to spend a fortnight at the mansion, and
would arrive there the following week."

Sally Gardiner tore both letters into shreds, and cast them from her
with a laugh that was terrible to hear.

"I shall trust my wit to see me safely through this affair," she
muttered. "I do not know just how it is to be done, but I shall
accomplish it somehow."

There was a tap at the door. Thrusting the letters quickly in her desk,
she closed the lid, securely locked it, and put the key in the pocket of
her dress.

She was about to say "Come in," when she suddenly remembered that she
had fastened the door. When she opened it, she found Andrew, her
husband's valet, standing there with a very white, troubled face.

"I am sorry to hurry you, my lady," he said in a tremulous voice; "but
master seems so much worse we are sore afraid for him. Miss Margaret
bids me summon you without a moment's delay."

"I shall be there directly," replied the young wife; and the valet
wondered greatly at the cool way in which she took the news of her
husband's serious condition.

"Those pretty society young women have no hearts," he thought,
indignantly. "She married my poor young master for his money, not for
love; that is quite evident to me."

Young Mrs. Gardiner was just about to leave her _boudoir_, when
Antoinette returned.