, and
cautioned not to discuss the matter with the servants.

"I knew nothing of the plot until it was all over--I swear to you I
did not," he said, when she began to express her indignation at the
affair. "I never would have permitted anything of the kind to have
been carried out in my house, if I had suspected it. It seems that
Correlli has been growing fond of her ever since he came. She has
refused him twice, but he swore that he would have her, in spite of
everything, and it seems that he concocted this plot to accomplish his
end."

"Well, sir, he is a dastardly villain, and, in my opinion, his sister
is no better than himself," Mrs. Weld exclaimed, in tones of hot
indignation, and then she swept past him and on up to Edith's room.

She opened the door and entered just as the poor girl heaved a long
sigh and unclosed her eyes, looking about with complete consciousness
for the first time since she fell to the floor in the parlor below.

The physician immediately administered a stimulant, for she was
naturally weak and her pulses still feeble.

As this began to take effect, memory also resumed its torturing work.

Lifting her eyes to the housekeeper, who went at once to her side, a
spasm of agony convulsed her beautiful features.

"Oh, Mrs. Weld!" she moaned, shivering from head to foot.

"Hush, child!" said the woman, bending over her and laying a gentle
hand upon her head; "it will all come right, so just shut your eyes
and try to go to sleep. I am going to stay with you to-night, and
nobody else shall come near you. Don't talk before the servants," she
added, in a swift whisper close to her ear.

An expression of intense relief swept over the fair sufferer's face at
this friendly assurance, and lifting a grateful look to the
housekeeper's face, she settled herself contentedly upon her pillow.

Dr. Arthur then drew Mrs. Weld to the opposite side of the room, where
he gave her directions for the night and what to do in case the
fainting should return--which, however, he said he did not anticipate,
as the action of the heart had become normal and the circulation more
natural.

A little later he took his leave, after which the housemaids were
dismissed and Edith was alone with her friend.

When the door closed after them the girl stretched forth her hands in
a gesture of helpless appeal to the woman.

"Oh, Mrs. Weld," she wailed, "must I be bound to that wretch during
the remainder of my life? I cannot