said Vivian; "would you mind giving me your name and
address?"

The man's name was Somers: he was the captain of a small trading vessel,
and was likely to be in London for some weeks.

"But if you have anything more to ask me, sir," he said, "I shall be
pleased to come and answer any of your inquiries at your own house, if
you wish. It's a long tramp for you to come my way."

"Thank you," said Vivian. "If it is not troubling you too much, I think
I had better come to you. Your time is valuable, no doubt, and mine is
not."

"You'll find me in between three and five almost any time," said Captain
Somers, and with these words they parted.

Rupert fell into a brown study as soon as the captain had left them, and
Angela did not interrupt the current of his thoughts. Presently he
said:--

"What sort of face had that man, Angela?"

"A very honest face, I think," she said.

"He seemed honest. But one can tell so much from a man's face that does
not come out in his manner. This is the sort of interview that makes me
feel what a useless log I am."

"You must not think that, Rupert."

"But I do think it. I wish I could find something to do--something that
would take me out of myself and these purely personal troubles of mine.
At my age a man certainly ought to have a career. But what am I talking
about? No career is open to me now." And then he sighed; and she knew
without being told that he was thinking of his dead wife and of Kitty
Heron, as well as of his blindness.

Little by little he had told her the whole story; or rather she had
pieced it together from fragments--stray words and sentences that he let
fall; for Rupert was never very ready to make confidences. But at
present he was glad of her quiet sympathy; and during the past few weeks
she had learnt more about her brother than he had ever allowed her to
learn before. But she never alluded to what he called his "purely
personal troubles" unless he first made a remark about them of his own
accord; and he very seldom indulged himself by referring to them.

He had not informed the Herons of a fact that was of some importance to
him at this time. He had never been without fair means of his own; but
it had recently happened that a distant relative died and left him a
large fortune. He talked at first to Angela about purchasing the old
house in Devonshire, which had been sold in the later years of his
father's life; but during the last few weeks he had not menti