ove to her. Therefore he must ask her to marry him. Marriage!
Whew--w--w!

"Oh, you vacillating ass!" he groaned to himself, getting up and
stretching his arms as if to free himself from the enmeshing subtleties.
"Why can't you be content to believe yourself in love and go straight
ahead now that the path is clear? Why can't you be an ordinary, sane,
matter-of-fact lover, and ask the dear woman if she'll marry you and
help you to help her, the world and yourself? Yourself, who need it
badly. Why--why--why can't you be reasonable?" He shook his fist
savagely at the heavens. "Why worry your brain about these intricate
analyses? Why? _Because_, my boy, she deserves certainly, and, by
George, she shall have it!"

He sat down and read the telegram once more. "Poor old chap!" he
thought. "Dead ... and of measles. Lord! it's hard not to laugh. A man
who plotted and shook the chancelleries, in daily danger of poison or
the sword, to die of _measles_! What a world of oddities! Poor
devil ... I wonder how she takes it?"

The remembrance of the forced marriage led him to think that she could
not feel it too cruelly. No doubt she had liked him--had even felt
affection for him. But the compulsion of wedlock and the death of her
only son would not but make the tie more light than usual. "Let's hope
so, anyway," he growled to himself, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.
"Lionel, you were selfish to talk of love so soon. More especially when
you don't know yet if you love her or not."

Miss Arkwright came across the lawn. There had been no more talk of his
departure. Since his noble rescue--five nights agone--it had been
impossible to be harsh. There had been an interview next morning in
which considerable frankness had been displayed on both sides. Miss
Arkwright had asked him to repeat his explanation of Mizzi's presence in
his bedroom, and this he had done cheerfully enough. In return, he had
inquired what Mizzi was doing there, and had accused his hostess of
conspiracy. "I feel," he had said, "that it is time we understand each
other. Cards on the table, please. As you may know or guess, I came here
to watch you, believing you to be in the service of the Turks."

"Absurd!" Winifred had replied. "I can not explain all now, but my
sister is mistaken. Mizzi applied for a situation through a registry
office, and only came the night you discovered her. I have questioned
her, and though I believe your explanation of her presence, i