bewitched?"

That roused her. She suddenly realized that she was on dangerous ground,
that to blind him she must recall the child who had vanished so
inexplicably. And so for the first time she deliberately set herself to
deceive this man who till now had ever impelled her to a certain measure
of honesty. She did it with a sick heart--but she did it.

She laid her hands on the front of his coat, grasping it nervously,
lifting pleading eyes to his.

"No, I'm not bewitched. I'm only pretending not to be frightened. Trevor,
don't be vexed. I'm very sorry about it. Really I couldn't help it."

"It's all right, dear," he said at once, and his hands closed instantly
and reassuringly upon hers. He smiled into her eyes. "It's very naughty,
of course, but I'm glad you have told me. How much do you want?"

She hesitated momentarily. "I--I'm afraid rather a lot, Trevor."

"How much?" he repeated; and then, as she still hesitated, his hold
tightened and his face grew grave. He looked straight down into her eyes.
"Chris," he said, "you haven't forgotten, have you, that it is against my
wish that you should let your brothers have money?"

She met the look unflinching. "No, Trevor."

He released her without further question. "Then you need not be afraid to
tell me how much."

She made a little grimace. The part was getting easier to play. She was
beginning to feel almost natural. But the other woman--the woman of the
world who surely had never been Chris Wyndham--was still there in the
background watching the farce and smiling cynically. Chris was beginning
to be afraid of this new personality of hers. It was infinitely more
formidable than her husband had ever been.

"How much, dear?" Mordaunt asked quietly.

She started slightly. "Thirty pounds," she said.

"Your account is overdrawn to that amount?"

"Yes." She glanced at him nervously. "I am very sorry," she said again.

He remained grave, but perfectly kind. "I will pay in fifty pounds
to-morrow," he said. "That will take you to the end of the month."

"Oh, thank you, Trevor!" She threw him a quick smile of gratitude. "I
will pay you back as soon as ever I can."

"No, it isn't a loan," he said.

"Oh, don't give it me!" Impulsively she broke in upon his words. It was
growing strangely easy, this part she had to play. Or had she indeed been
bewitched for those few dreadful seconds? Was she in reality herself
again, the quick-hearted Chris he knew, and that othe