and that the error and the calamity of her life lay
buried in his tomb.

His name was mentioned among us no more. Thenceforward, we shrank from
the slightest approach to the subject of his death, and in the same
scrupulous manner, Marian and I avoided all further reference to that
other subject, which, by her consent and mine, was not to be mentioned
between us yet. It was not the less present in our minds--it was
rather kept alive in them by the restraint which we had imposed on
ourselves. We both watched Laura more anxiously than ever, sometimes
waiting and hoping, sometimes waiting and fearing, till the time came.

By degrees we returned to our accustomed way of life. I resumed the
daily work, which had been suspended during my absence in Hampshire.
Our new lodgings cost us more than the smaller and less convenient
rooms which we had left, and the claim thus implied on my increased
exertions was strengthened by the doubtfulness of our future prospects.
Emergencies might yet happen which would exhaust our little fund at the
banker's, and the work of my hands might be, ultimately, all we had to
look to for support. More permanent and more lucrative employment than
had yet been offered to me was a necessity of our position--a necessity
for which I now diligently set myself to provide.

It must not be supposed that the interval of rest and seclusion of
which I am now writing, entirely suspended, on my part, all pursuit of
the one absorbing purpose with which my thoughts and actions are
associated in these pages. That purpose was, for months and months
yet, never to relax its claims on me. The slow ripening of it still
left me a measure of precaution to take, an obligation of gratitude to
perform, and a doubtful question to solve.

The measure of precaution related, necessarily, to the Count. It was
of the last importance to ascertain, if possible, whether his plans
committed him to remaining in England--or, in other words, to remaining
within my reach. I contrived to set this doubt at rest by very simple
means. His address in St. John's Wood being known to me, I inquired in
the neighbourhood, and having found out the agent who had the disposal
of the furnished house in which he lived, I asked if number five,
Forest Road, was likely to be let within a reasonable time. The reply
was in the negative. I was informed that the foreign gentleman then
residing in the house had renewed his term of occupation for