rceptibly, says to him,--

"I thank you for the courtesy already received sir; but we will no
longer trouble you for your escort: we prefer to seek our carriage
_alone_."

She sweeps him a terribly stiff little salute, and sails off, still
trembling and very pale, Miss Penelope, scarcely less pale, following in
her wake.

Desmond has barely time to grasp Monica's hand, and whisper, "Remember,"
in as mysterious a tone as the hapless Stuart, when she too is swept
away, and carried from his sight.

Not until the gates of Aghyohillbeg are well behind them do the Misses
Blake sufficiently recover themselves for speech. Terence, who has been
a silent witness of the whole transaction, creating a diversion by
making some remark about the day generally, breaks the spell that binds
them. His remark is passed over in silence, but still the spell is
broken.

"Whoever introduced you to that young man," begins Miss Priscilla,
solemnly, "did a wrong thing. Let us hope it was done in ignorance."

At this Monica shivers inwardly and turns cold, as she remembers that no
introduction has ever been gone through between her and "that young
man." What if her Aunt Priscilla persists, and asks the name of the
offending medium? Fortunately, Miss Blake loses sight of this idea,
being so much engrossed with a greater.

"For the future you must forget you ever spoke to this Mr. Desmond," she
says, her face very stern. "Happily he is an utter stranger to you, so
there will be no difficulty about it. You will remember this, Monica?"

"Yes, I will remember," says the girl, slowly, and with a visible
effort.

Then Moyne is reached in solemn silence so far as the Misses Blake are
concerned; in solemn silence, too, the two old ladies mount the oaken
staircase that leads to their rooms. Outside, on the corridor, they
pause and contemplate each other for a moment earnestly.

"He--he is very good-looking," says Miss Penelope at last, as though
compelled to make the admission even against her will.

"He is abominably handsome," says Miss Priscilla fiercely: after which
she darts into her room and closes the door with a subdued bang behind
her.

CHAPTER VIII.

How Brian, having instituted inquiries, condemns his Uncle
secretly--How Terry throws light upon a dark subject, and how, for
the third time, Love "finds out his way."

It is the evening of the next day, and dinner at Coole has just come to
an end. Mr. Kelly, who has be