dings of the evening were for the most part a repetition of
the proceedings during the morning walk. Noel Vanstone vibrated between
his admiration of Magdalen's beauty and his glorification of his
own possessions. Captain Wragge's inexhaustible outbursts of
information--relieved by delicately-indirect inquiries relating to
Mrs. Lecount's brother--perpetually diverted the housekeeper's jealous
vigilance from dwelling on the looks and language of her master. So the
evening passed until ten o'clock. By that time the captain's ready-made
science was exhausted, and the housekeeper's temper was forcing its way
to the surface. Once more Captain Wragge warned Magdalen by a look,
and, in spite of Noel Vanstone's hospitable protest, wisely rose to say
good-night.

"I have got my information," remarked the captain on the way back. "Mrs.
Lecount's brother lives at Zurich. He is a bachelor; he possesses a
little money, and his sister is his nearest relation. If he will only
be so obliging as to break up altogether, he will save us a world of
trouble with Mrs. Lecount."

It was a fine moonlight night. He looked round at Magdalen, as he said
those words, to see if her intractable depression of spirits had seized
on her again.

No! her variable humor had changed once more. She looked about her
with a flaunting, feverish gayety; she scoffed at the bare idea of
any serious difficulty with Mrs. Lecount; she mimicked Noel Vanstone's
high-pitched voice, and repeated Noel Vanstone's high-flown compliments,
with a bitter enjoyment of turning him into ridicule. Instead of running
into the house as before, she sauntered carelessly by her companion's
side, humming little snatches of song, and kicking the loose pebbles
right and left on the garden-walk. Captain Wragge hailed the change in
her as the best of good omens. He thought he saw plain signs that the
family spirit was at last coming back again.

"Well," he said, as he lit her bedroom candle for her, "when we all meet
on the Parade tomorrow, we shall see, as our nautical friends say, how
the land lies. One thing I can tell you, my dear girl--I have used my
eyes to very little purpose if there is not a storm brewing tonight in
Mr. Noel Vanstone's domestic atmosphere."

The captain's habitual penetration had not misled him. As soon as the
door of Sea-view Cottage was closed on the parting guests, Mrs. Lecount
made an effort to assert the authority which Magdalen's influence was
threaten