't you going to sit down?"

Julian sat down.

Louis reflected that women were astonishing and incalculable, and the
discovery seemed to him original, even profound. Imagine her tackling
Julian in this fashion, with no preliminaries! She might have seen
Julian last only on the previous day! The odalisque had vanished in
this chill and matter-of-fact housewife.

"And why were you at the 'Three Tuns'?" she went on.

Julian replied with extraordinary bitterness--

"I was at the 'Three Tuns' because I was at the 'Three Tuns.'"

"I see you've grown a beard," said Rachel.

"Happen I have," said Julian. "But what I say is, I've got something
to tell you two. I've written it all down and I thought to post it to
ye. But after I'd written it I says to myself, 'I'll tell 'em face to
face or I'll die for it.'"

"Is it about that money?" Rachel inquired.

"Aye!"

"Then Mr. Batchgrew did write and tell you about it. Won't you take
that great, thick overcoat off?"

Julian jumped up as if in fury, pulled off the overcoat with violent
gestures, and threw in on the Chesterfield. Then he sat down again,
and, sticking out his chin, stared inimically at Louis.

Louis' throat was now so tight that he was nervously obliged to make
the motion of swallowing. He could look neither at Rachel nor at
Julian. He was nonplussed. He knew not what to expect nor what
he feared. He could not even be sure that what he feared was an
accusation. "I am safe. I am safe," he tried to repeat to himself,
deeply convinced, nevertheless, against his reason, that he was not
safe. The whole scene, every aspect of it, baffled and inexpressibly
dismayed him.

Julian still stared, with mouth open, threatening. Then he slapped his
knee.

"Nay!" said he. "I shall read it to ye." And he drew some sheets of
foolscap from his pocket. He opened the sheets, and frowned at them,
and coughed. "Nay!" said he. "There's nothing else for it. I must
smoke."

And he produced a charred pipe which might or might not have been
the gift of Mrs. Maldon, filled it, struck a match on his boot,
and turbulently puffed outrageous quantities of smoke. Louis, with
singular courage, lit a cigarette, which gave him a little ease of
demeanour, if not confidence.

II

And then at length Julian began to read--

"'Before I went to South Africa last autumn I found myself in
considerable business difficulties. The causes of said difficulties
were bad trade, unfair competitio