me
her help--sorely against her will. Don't think ill of her for it,
Mallard. I frightened he! by my violent manner. I haven't seen her
since; she can't know what the result has been. None of them at Pompeii
suspected--only a moment of privacy; there's no need to say any more
about it."

Mallard mused over this revelation. He felt inclined to scorn Elgar for
making it. It affected him curiously, and at once took a place among
his imaginings of Miriam.

"You shall promise me that you won't betray your knowledge of this,"
added Reuben. "At all events, not now. Promise me that. Your word is to
be trusted, I know."

"It's very unlikely that I should think of touching on the matter to
your sister. I shall make no promise."

"Have you seen Cecily herself?" Elgar asked, leaving the point aside in
his eagerness to come to what concerned him more deeply.

"No."

"I have waited for your permission to visit her. Do you mean to refuse
it?"

"No. If you call to-morrow morning, you will be admitted. Mrs.
Lessingham is willing that you should see her niece in private."

"Hearty thanks for that, Mallard! We haven't shaken hands yet, you
remember. Forgive me for treating you so ill."

He held out his band cordially, and Mallard could not refuse it, though
he would rather have thrust his fingers among red coals than feel that
hot pressure.

"I believe I can be grateful," pursued Elgar, in a voice that quivered
with transport. "I will do my best to prove it."

"Let us speak of things more to the point. What result do you foresee
of this meeting to-morrow!"

The other hesitated.

"I shall ask Cecily when she will marry me."

"You may do so, of course, but the answer cannot depend upon herself
alone."

"What delay do you think necessary?"

"Until she is of age, and her own mistress," replied Mallard, with
quiet decision.

"Impossible! What need is there to wait all that time?"

"Why, there is this need, Elgar," returned the other, more vigorously
than he had yet spoken. "There is need that you should prove to those
who desire Miss Doran's welfare that you are something more than a
young fellow fresh from a life of waste and idleness and everything
that demonstrates or tends to untrustworthiness. It seems to me that a
couple of years or so is not an over-long time for this, all things
considered."

Elgar kept silent.

"You would have seen nothing objectionable in immediate marriage?" said
Mallard.

"It is use