he
found her hand being warmly shaken. Then the man took the chair reserved
for Mr. Smith, just as she realized fully that he wasn't Mr. Smith. Her
heart was beating fast, her eyes--fixed on the man's face, waiting for
some explanation--were dilated.

"Thank you," he said, leaning toward her, in his hand a menu which the
waiter had placed before the girl while she was still alone. She noticed
that the hand was brown and nervous-looking, the hand of a man who might
be a musician or an artist. He was pretending to read the menu, and to
consult her about it. "You're a true woman, the right sort--brave. I
swear I'm not here for any impertinence. Now, will you go on helping me?
Can you keep your wits and not give me away, whatever happens?"

"I think so," answered the new Annesley. "What do you want me to do?" She
took the pitch of her tone from his, speaking quietly, and wondering if
she would not wake up in her ugly brown bedroom at Mrs. Ellsworth's, as
she had done a dozen times when dreaming in advance of her rendezvous at
the Savoy.

"It will be a shock when I tell you," he answered. "But for Heaven's
sake, don't misunderstand. I shouldn't ask this if it weren't absolutely
necessary. In case a man comes to this table and questions you, you must
let him suppose that you are my wife."

"Oh!" gasped Annesley. Her eyes met the eyes that seemed to have been
waiting for her look, and they answered with an appeal which she could
not refuse.

She did not stop to think that if the dark eyes had not been so handsome
they might have been easier to resist. She--the suppressed and timid
girl, never allowed to make up her mind--let herself go with the wave
of strong emotion carrying her along, and reached a resolve.

"It means trusting you a great deal," she answered. "But you say you're
in danger, so I'll do what you ask. I think you can't be wicked enough to
pay me back by trying to hurt me."

"You think right," the man said, and it struck her that his accent was
not quite English. She wondered if he were Canadian or American. Not that
she knew much about either. "A woman like you _would_ think right!" he
went on. "Only one woman out of ten thousand would have the nerve and
presence of mind and the humanity to do what you're doing. When I came
into this room and saw your face I counted on you."

Annesley blushed again in a rush of happiness. She had always longed to
do something which would really matter to another soul. S