m, and
walked him away gently. The "business," I was sure, referred to the
question of the signature. They were speaking of Laura and of me
beyond a doubt. I felt heart-sick and faint with anxiety. It might be
of the last importance to both of us to know what they were saying to
each other at that moment, and not one word of it could by any
possibility reach my ears.

I walked about the house, from room to room, with the lawyer's letter
in my bosom (I was afraid by this time even to trust it under lock and
key), till the oppression of my suspense half maddened me. There were
no signs of Laura's return, and I thought of going out to look for her.
But my strength was so exhausted by the trials and anxieties of the
morning that the heat of the day quite overpowered me, and after an
attempt to get to the door I was obliged to return to the drawing-room
and lie down on the nearest sofa to recover.

I was just composing myself when the door opened softly and the Count
looked in.

"A thousand pardons, Miss Halcombe," he said; "I only venture to
disturb you because I am the bearer of good news. Percival--who is
capricious in everything, as you know--has seen fit to alter his mind
at the last moment, and the business of the signature is put off for
the present. A great relief to all of us, Miss Halcombe, as I see with
pleasure in your face. Pray present my best respects and
felicitations, when you mention this pleasant change of circumstances
to Lady Glyde."

He left me before I had recovered my astonishment. There could be no
doubt that this extraordinary alteration of purpose in the matter of
the signature was due to his influence, and that his discovery of my
application to London yesterday, and of my having received an answer to
it to-day, had offered him the means of interfering with certain
success.

I felt these impressions, but my mind seemed to share the exhaustion of
my body, and I was in no condition to dwell on them with any useful
reference to the doubtful present or the threatening future. I tried a
second time to run out and find Laura, but my head was giddy and my
knees trembled under me. There was no choice but to give it up again
and return to the sofa, sorely against my will.

The quiet in the house, and the low murmuring hum of summer insects
outside the open window, soothed me. My eyes closed of themselves, and
I passed gradually into a strange condition, which was not waking--for
I knew n