!"

It was a case of between two stools, and Clifford Marsh did not like
the bump. From that dinner with Elgar he came home hilariously
dismayed; when his hilarity had evaporated with the wine that was its
cause, dismay possessed him wholly. Miss Doran was not for him, and in
the meantime he had offended Madeline beyond forgiveness. With what
countenance could he now turn to her again? Her mother would welcome
his surrender--and it was drawing on towards the day when submission
even to his stepfather could no longer be postponed--but he suspected
that Madeline's resolve to have done with him was strengthened by
resentment of her mother's importunities. To be sure, it was some sort
of consolation to know that if indeed he went his way for good,
bitterness and regrets would be the result to the Denyer family, who
had no great facility in making alliances of this kind; in a few years
time, Madeline would be wishing that she had not let her pride
interfere with a chance of marriage. But, on the other hand, there was
the awkward certainty that he too would lament making a fool of
himself. He by no means liked the thought of relinquishing Madeline; he
had not done so, even when heating his brain with contemplation of
Cecily Doran. In what manner could he bring about between her and
himself a drama which might result in tears and mutual pardon?

But whilst he pondered this, fate was at work on behalf. On the day
which saw the departure of the Bradshaws, there landed at Naples, from
Alexandria, a certain lean, wiry man, with shoulders that stooped
slightly, with grizzled head and parchment visage; a man who glanced
about him in a keen, anxious way, and had other nervous habits. Having
passed the custom-house, he hired a porter to take his luggage--two
leather bags and a heavy chest, all much the worse for wear--to that
same hotel at which Mallard was just now staying. There he refreshed
himself, and, it being early in the afternoon, went forth again, as if
on business; for decidedly he was no tourist. When he had occasion to
speak, his Italian was fluent and to the point; he conducted himself as
one to whom travel and intercourse with every variety of men were
life-long habits.

His business conducted him to the Mergellina, to the house of Mrs.
Gluck, where he inquired for Mrs. Denyer. He was led upstairs, and into
the room where sit Mrs. Denyer and her daughters. The sight of him
caused commotion. Barbara, Madeline, and Z