letters. At eleven o'clock, if
that hour was convenient, he would do himself the honour of waiting on
Miss Fairlie and Miss Halcombe.

My eyes were on Laura's face while the message was being delivered. I
had found her unaccountably quiet and composed on going into her room
in the morning, and so she remained all through breakfast. Even when
we were sitting together on the sofa in her room, waiting for Sir
Percival, she still preserved her self-control.

"Don't be afraid of me, Marian," was all she said; "I may forget myself
with an old friend like Mr. Gilmore, or with a dear sister like you,
but I will not forget myself with Sir Percival Glyde."

I looked at her, and listened to her in silent surprise. Through all
the years of our close intimacy this passive force in her character had
been hidden from me--hidden even from herself, till love found it, and
suffering called it forth.

As the clock on the mantelpiece struck eleven Sir Percival knocked at
the door and came in. There was suppressed anxiety and agitation in
every line of his face. The dry, sharp cough, which teases him at most
times, seemed to be troubling him more incessantly than ever. He sat
down opposite to us at the table, and Laura remained by me. I looked
attentively at them both, and he was the palest of the two.

He said a few unimportant words, with a visible effort to preserve his
customary ease of manner. But his voice was not to be steadied, and
the restless uneasiness in his eyes was not to be concealed. He must
have felt this himself, for he stopped in the middle of a sentence, and
gave up even the attempt to hide his embarrassment any longer.

There was just one moment of dead silence before Laura addressed him.

"I wish to speak to you, Sir Percival," she said, "on a subject that is
very important to us both. My sister is here, because her presence
helps me and gives me confidence. She has not suggested one word of
what I am going to say--I speak from my own thoughts, not from hers. I
am sure you will be kind enough to understand that before I go any
farther?"

Sir Percival bowed. She had proceeded thus far, with perfect outward
tranquillity and perfect propriety of manner. She looked at him, and
he looked at her. They seemed, at the outset, at least, resolved to
understand one another plainly.

"I have heard from Marian," she went on, "that I have only to claim my
release from our engagement to obtain that release