he noble
gravity that marked every line of Dino's traits. They stood and looked
at each other for a moment--Dino, wrapped in admiration; Hugo, lost in a
thought of dark significance.

"So you are the man!" he was saying to himself. "You call yourself my
cousin, do you? And you want the Strathleckie and the Luttrell estates?
Be warned and go back to Italy, my good cousin, while you have time; you
will never reach Scotland alive, I promise you. I shall kill you first,
as I should kill a snake lying in my path. Never in your life, Mr. Dino
Vasari, were you in greater danger than you are just now."

CHAPTER XXI.

A FLASK OF ITALIAN WINE.

"I am Brian Luttrell's cousin," said Hugo, quietly, "and I come from
him."

"Then you know--you know----" Dino stammered, and he looked eagerly into
Hugo's face.

"I know all."

"You know where he is now?"

"I do. I have brought you a letter from him--a sort of introduction,"
said Hugo, with a faint smile. "I trust that you will find it
satisfactory."

"No introduction is necessary," was Dino's polite reply. "I have heard
him speak of you."

Hugo's eyes flashed an interrogation. What had Brian said of him? But
Dino's tones were so courteous, his face so calmly impassive, that Hugo
was reassured. He bowed slightly, and placed a card and a letter on the
table. Dino made an apology for opening the letter, and moved away from
the table whilst he read it.

There was a pause. Hugo's face flushed, his hands twitched a little. He
was actually nervous about the success of his scheme. Suppose Dino were
to doubt the genuineness of that letter!

It consisted of a few words only, and they were Italian:--

"Dino mio," it began, "the bearer of this letter is my cousin Hugo, who
knows all the circumstances and will explain to you what are my views. I
am ill, and cannot come to London. Burn this note.

"Brian Luttrell."

Dino read it twice, and then handed it to Hugo, who perused it with as
profound attention as though he had never seen the document before. When
he gave it back, he was almost surprised to see Dino take it at once to
the grate, deposit it amongst the coals, and wait until it was consumed
to ashes before he spoke. There was a slight sternness of aspect, a
compression of the lips, and a contraction of the brow, which impressed
Hugo unfavourably during the performance of this action. It seemed to
show that Dino Vasari might not be a man so easy to deal with as