could guess by the interest in Lady Sybil's tone.

"It is a Mr. de Silva. Have you ever met him?"

"No, love, I've not. Is he a foreigner?"

"He's a Portuguese gentleman," said his wife's voice; "and he has been
most helpful and most generous."

"Bring him along," said Crotin heartily. "I'll be glad to meet him. How
has the sale been, love?"

"Very good indeed," she replied; "splendid, in fact--thanks to Mr. de
Silva."

John Crotin was dressing when his wife returned, and it was not until
half an hour later that he met Pinto Silva for the first time. Pinto was
a man who dressed well and looked well. John Crotin thought he was the
most impressive personality he had met, when he stalked into the
drawing-room and took the proffered hand of the mill-owner.

"This is Mr. de Silva," said his wife, who had been waiting for her
guest. "As I told you, John, Mr. de Silva has been awfully kind. I don't
know what you're going to do with all those perfectly useless things
you've bought," she added to the polished Portuguese, and Pinto
shrugged.

"Give them away," he said; "there must, for example, be a lot of poor
women in the country who would be glad of the linen I have bought."

At this point dinner was announced and he took Lady Sybil in. The meal
was approaching its end when she revived the question of the disposal of
his purchases.

"Are you greatly interested in charities, Mr. de Silva?"

Pinto inclined his head.

"Both here and in Portugal I take a very deep interest in the welfare of
the poor," he said solemnly.

"That's fine," said Mr. Crotin, nodding approvingly. "I know what these
poor people have to suffer. I've been amongst them----"

His wife silenced him with a look.

"It frequently happens that cases are brought to my notice," Pinto went
on, "and I have one or two cases of women in my mind where these
purchases of mine would be most welcome. For example," he said, "I heard
the other day, quite by accident, of a poor woman in Wales whose husband
deserted her."

Mr. Crotin had his fork half-way to his mouth, but put it down again.

"I don't know much about the case personally," said Pinto carelessly,
"but the circumstances were brought to my notice by a friend. I think
these people suffer more than we imagine; and I'll let you into a
secret, Lady Sybil," he said, speaking impressively. He did not look at
Crotin, but went on: "A few of my friends are thinking of buying a
mill."

"A woollen mill