d upon our leaving her--in fact, she turned
us all out of the room and bolted the door."

"Isn't she a lovely girl, Mr. Jones?"

"Oh! yes, indeed--yes--very, indeed!" and Mrs. Meredith was delighted
to have an excuse for dilating on her visitor's charms of person and
character; while Cardo set himself to work to deliver himself of every
message which Dr. Belton had entrusted to him.

He bore Colonel Meredith's cross-examination with unflinching patience,
and even suggested fresh topics of inquiry, for, while he had carried
Valmai up the stairs he had come to the determination to leave the
house before he saw her again. The strain of the situation was more
than he could bear. To live under the same roof with her, and not to
claim her for his own was impossible--to adhere to the terms of his
promise, never to allude to his former acquaintance with her was
utterly beyond his power. "Base--dishonourable!" Could it have been
Valmai who spoke to him in these terms? or was he the victim of some
strange hallucination?

When at last the evening came to an end, he thankfully lighted his
candle at the hall table, the whole family hovering round with various
hopes that "he would sleep well," "that he didn't mind a feather-bed,"
"that he didn't mind the sun shining in in the morning." "You can
close the shutters, you know. Good-night."

"What time does the post come in the morning?" he asked.

"Oh! at seven o'clock; you can have your letters brought up if you
wish; but we always like to have them on our plates at breakfast. Bob
will bring yours up."

"If it's no trouble," said Cardo.

There was a whole chorus of "certainly not!" "of course not!" under
cover of which he made his way safely round the turning on the
stair-case. He stepped wearily up the second flight of stairs; there
was her room! and he groaned almost audibly as he turned into his own.

Inside that bolted door, a listening ear had caught every vibration of
his footstep, every tone of his voice, and a tear-stained face was now
raised in agonised prayer, over folded hands which held in their clasp
a ring hung on a white satin ribbon.

The exclamations of disappointment and regret next morning, when
Cardo's empty seat at the breakfast table disclosed their guest's
absence, were loud as they were sincere.

"How unfortunate!" said Colonel Meredith. "I meant to have taken him
out fishing to-day; there was a little rain in the night and the Ithon
would