d to your career. For you cannot play with a woman's physical
nature without touching, how remotely soever, her spiritual constitution
as well; and, as Browning assures us, it is indeed "an awkward thing to
play with souls, and matter enough to save one's own."

Sydney Campion, however, concerned himself very little with his own
soul, or the soul of anybody else. He went up to Milly and greeted her
with a smile that brought the color to her face.

"Well, Milly," he said, "are you taking your walks abroad to-night? Is
your mistress pretty well? I was just going to Maple Cottage."

"Yes, sir, mistress is pretty well; but I don't think Miss Lettice is,"
said Milly, falling back into her old way of speaking of the rector's
daughter. "She mentioned that she was going to bed early. You had better
let me go back first and open the door for you."

"Perhaps it would be best. Not well, eh? What is the matter?"

"I don't know, but I think Miss Campion has a bad headache. I am sure
she has been crying a great deal." Milly said this with some hesitation.

"I am sorry to hear that."

"I am afraid Mr. Walcott brought her bad news in the morning, for she
has not been herself at all since he left."

"Do you say that Mr. Walcott was there this morning?"

Sydney spoke in a low tone, but with considerable eagerness, so that the
girl knew she had not thrown her shaft in vain.

"Milly, this concerns me very much. I must have a little talk with you,
but we cannot well manage it here. See! there is no one in the
waiting-room; will you kindly come with me for a minute or two? It is
for your mistress' good that I should know all about this. Come!"

So they went into the dreary room together, and they sat down in a
corner behind the door, which by this time was almost dark. There Sydney
questioned her about Alan Walcott, with a view to learning all that she
might happen to know about him. Milly required little prompting, for she
was quite ready to do all that he bade her, and she told him at least
one piece of news which he was not prepared to hear.

Five minutes would have sufficed for all that Milly had to say; but the
same story may be very long or very short according to the circumstances
in which it is told. Half-an-hour was not sufficient to-night: at any
rate, it took these two more than half-an-hour to finish what they had
to say. And even then it was found that further elucidations would be
necessary in the future, and an app