which
we are certain of,' said Dr Porhoet. 'All works that deal with the Black
Arts are unanimous upon the supreme efficacy of the virginal condition.'

'But what is to be done?' asked Arthur is desperation. 'We can't leave
her in the hands of a raving madman.' He turned on a sudden deathly
white. 'For all we know she may be dead now.'

'Have you ever heard of Gilles de Rais?' said Dr Porhoet, continuing his
reflections. 'That is the classic instance of human sacrifice. I know the
country in which he lived; and the peasants to this day dare not pass at
night in the neighbourhood of the ruined castle which was the scene of
his horrible crimes.'

'It's awful to know that this dreadful danger hangs over her, and to be
able to do nothing.'

'We can only wait,' said Dr Porhoet.

'And if we wait too long, we may be faced by a terrible catastrophe.'

'Fortunately we live in a civilized age. Haddo has a great care of his
neck. I hope we are frightened unduly.'

It seemed to Susie that the chief thing was to distract Arthur, and she
turned over in her mind some means of directing his attention to other
matters.

'I was thinking of going down to Chartres for two days with Mrs
Bloomfield,' she said. 'Won't you come with me? It is the most lovely
cathedral in the world, and I think you will find it restful to wander
about it for a little while. You can do no good, here or in London.
Perhaps when you are calm, you will be able to think of something
practical.'

Dr Porhoet saw what her plan was, and joined his entreaties to hers that
Arthur should spend a day or two in a place that had no associations for
him. Arthur was too exhausted to argue, and from sheer weariness
consented. Next day Susie took him to Chartres. Mrs Bloomfield was no
trouble to them, and Susie induced him to linger for a week in that
pleasant, quiet town. They passed many hours in the stately cathedral,
and they wandered about the surrounding country. Arthur was obliged to
confess that the change had done him good, and a certain apathy succeeded
the agitation from which he had suffered so long. Finally Susie persuaded
him to spend three or four weeks in Brittany with Dr Porhoet, who was
proposing to revisit the scenes of his childhood. They returned to Paris.
When Arthur left her at the station, promising to meet her again in an
hour at the restaurant where they were going to dine with Dr Porhoet, he
thanked her for all she had done.

'I was in an a