e relieved
at bidding him good-afternoon and thanking him for the service which he
had rendered him; and he wondered greatly that he excused himself at the
entrance gate, instead of accompanying him to the house, if he was as
intimate a friend of the family as he claimed to be.

The minister proceeded slowly up the wide stone walk, from which the
snow had been carefully brushed, with a very thoughtful expression on
his face.

Mrs. Varrick stood at the drawing-room window, and, noticing his
approach, hurriedly rang for a servant to admit him at once.

He found himself ushered into the wide corridor before he could even
touch the bell. Mrs. Varrick was on the threshold of the drawing-room,
waiting to greet him as he stepped forward.

"I thought I observed some one with you at the gate?" she said, as she
held out her white hand, sparkling with jewels, to welcome him. "Why did
you not bring your friend in with you?"

The minister bowed low over the extended white hand.

"You are very kind to accord me such a privilege," he declared,
gratefully; "but the person to whom you allude is an entire stranger to
me--a gentleman whom I met by the road-side, and whom I was obliged to
call upon for assistance, being suddenly attacked with my old enemy,
faintness. I may add, however, that he seemed to have been an
acquaintance of the family."

"Perhaps he is an acquaintance of my _son_; his friends are so numerous
that it is very hard for me to keep track of them," added Mrs. Varrick,
asking: "Why did he not come into the house with you?"

"He declined, stating no reason," was the reply.

Looking through the drawing-room window a few moments later, the
minister espied the stranger leaning against the gate, looking eagerly
toward the house, and he called Mrs. Varrick's attention to the fact at
once.

She touched the bell quickly, and to the servant who appeared, she gave
hurried instructions concerning the man.

"I have sent out to invite the gentleman to come into the house," she
explained. "Hubert will be in directly, and I know that this will meet
with his approval. He has very little time to spare to any one just
now," she explained, with a smile, "he is so wrapped up in his
_fiancee_, and will be, I suppose, from now on."

"Naturally," responded the minister, with a twinkle in his grave eyes.

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE MIDNIGHT VISITOR.

But we must now return to Gerelda. She fell back, pale and trembling,
among