and is afraid of,' she answered. 'I once threatened him
with the Secret, and frightened him. You shall threaten him with the
Secret, and frighten him too.' Her face darkened, and a hard, angry
stare fixed itself in her eyes. She began waving her hand at me in a
vacant, unmeaning manner. 'My mother knows the Secret,' she said. 'My
mother has wasted under the Secret half her lifetime. One day, when I
was grown up, she said something to ME. And the next day your
husband----'"

"Yes! yes! Go on. What did she tell you about your husband?"

"She stopped again, Marian, at that point----"

"And said no more?"

"And listened eagerly. 'Hush!' she whispered, still waving her hand at
me. 'Hush!' She moved aside out of the doorway, moved slowly and
stealthily, step by step, till I lost her past the edge of the
boat-house."

"Surely you followed her?"

"Yes, my anxiety made me bold enough to rise and follow her. Just as I
reached the entrance, she appeared again suddenly, round the side of
the boat-house. 'The Secret,' I whispered to her--'wait and tell me
the Secret!' She caught hold of my arm, and looked at me with wild
frightened eyes. 'Not now,' she said, 'we are not alone--we are
watched. Come here to-morrow at this time--by yourself--mind--by
yourself.' She pushed me roughly into the boat-house again, and I saw
her no more."

"Oh, Laura, Laura, another chance lost! If I had only been near you she
should not have escaped us. On which side did you lose sight of her?"

"On the left side, where the ground sinks and the wood is thickest."

"Did you run out again? did you call after her?"

"How could I? I was too terrified to move or speak."

"But when you DID move--when you came out?"

"I ran back here, to tell you what had happened."

"Did you see any one, or hear any one, in the plantation?"

"No, it seemed to be all still and quiet when I passed through it."

I waited for a moment to consider. Was this third person, supposed to
have been secretly present at the interview, a reality, or the creature
of Anne Catherick's excited fancy? It was impossible to determine. The
one thing certain was, that we had failed again on the very brink of
discovery--failed utterly and irretrievably, unless Anne Catherick kept
her appointment at the boat-house for the next day.

"Are you quite sure you have told me everything that passed? Every word
that was said?" I inquired.

"I think so," she answered. "My pow