e had time to finish the thought, he walked in,
confident and smiling as when she had left him a few minutes--or a few
years--ago; and in the wave of relief which overwhelmed her, Annesley
forgot Ruthven Smith's question and her answer. She remembered again,
only with the shock of hearing him address the newcomer by the name she
had given.

"I hear from Miss Grayle that we are namesakes," Mr. Ruthven Smith said,
as "Nelson Smith" sprang in and took the girl's bag from her ice-cold
hand.

"I--he asked me ... I told him," Annesley stammered, her eyes appealing,
seeking to explain, and begging pardon. "But if----"

"Quite right. Why _not_ tell?" he answered instantly, his first glance
of surprise turning to cheerful reassurance. "Now Mrs. Ellsworth is
eliminated, I'm no longer a secret. And I expect you'll like to meet Mr.
Ruthven Smith again when you have a house to entertain him in."

So speaking, he offered his hand with a smile to his "namesake"; and
Annesley realized from the outsider's point of view the peculiar
attraction of the man. Ruthven Smith felt it, as she had felt it, though
differently and in a lesser degree. Not only did he shake hands, but
actually came out to the taxi with them, asking Annesley if he should
tell his cousins of her engagement, or if she preferred to give the news
herself?

It flashed into the girl's mind that it would be perfect if she could be
married to her knight by Archdeacon Smith; but she had been imprudent too
often already. She dared not make such a suggestion without consulting
the other person most concerned, so she answered that she would write
Mrs. Smith or see her.

"To say that you, too, are going to be Mrs. Smith!" chuckled the
Archdeacon's cousin in his dry way, which made him seem even older than
he was. "Well, you can trust me with Mrs. Ellsworth. If she goes on as
she began to-night, I'm afraid I shall have to follow your example: 'fold
my tent like an Arab, and silently steal away.' Ha, ha! By the by, I dare
say she's owing you salary. I'll remind her of it if you like--tell her
you asked me. It may help with the trousseau."

"Thank you, but my wife won't need to remind Mrs. Ellsworth of her debt,"
the answer came before Annesley could speak. "And she _will_ be my wife
in a day or two at latest. Good-night! Glad to have met you, even if it
was an unpromising introduction."

Then they were off, they two alone together; and Annesley guessed that
the chauffeur m