arsh & Company, as it was still called, preferring to
let all of the business cares fall upon the manager's already weighted
shoulders.

In less than a week it was noised about social circles that the young
man who had so suddenly dropped into millions of money was something of
a sport--a yachtsman whose magnificent yachting parties were the wonder
of the metropolis; a horseman whose racing stables were second to none
and were worth a handsome fortune; and it was hinted that he seemed no
stranger at cards and gambled sums of gold that would have purchased a
king's ransom at a single game--until those who looked on in speechless
wonder were sure he must have exhaustless wealth. Every one prophesied,
however, that this reckless extravagance must have an ending some time.
Meanwhile society held out its arms to the young millionaire, welcoming
him with its sweetest smiles.

The date which he had set to dine with the Fairfaxes, of Beechwood,
rolled around at last, and for once in his life Kendale, or rather the
bogus Lester Armstrong, was punctual in his appointment.

He was ushered into a drawing-room of such magnificence that for a
moment he fairly caught his breath in wonder.

"So this was the home of Faynie Fairfax, the girl whom I wedded in the
old church and who died so suddenly on her bridal eve," he soliloquized.
"Well, all this could be mine for the fighting for it as Faynie's
husband, who has survived her, but, as Halloran would say, 'It's a deal
easier getting the same fortune by marrying the stepmother's daughter,
who has come into it by Faynie's father cutting her off at the eleventh
hour.'

"I wonder what the girl Claire is like."

There was a portrait of a young girl done in water colors over the
mantel. He stepped over to examine it.

"If this is Claire's portrait she's certainly not bad looking," he
mused, "but she is one I should not care to cross."

The figure was slight, draped in a gown of some light, airy fabric. The
head was small, crowned in a mass of waving dark hair. The contour of
the face was perfect; a pair of deep gray eyes looked out of it straight
at you; the lips were small, but a little too compressed, showing that
the owner of them had certainly a will of her own, which it was neither
wise nor best to cross.

He was startled from his contemplation by the sound of silken robes
rustling across the carpet, and, wheeling suddenly about, he was
confronted by a tall, slim, magnificent