ing to a refuge when going home to his wife.

He opened the door of the sitting-room--and there on the floor lay
Letty and little Tom, as I have already told.

"Why have I heard nothing of this before?" said Mary.

"I am not aware of any right you have to know what happens in this
house."

"Not from you, of course, Miss Yolland--perhaps not from Mrs. Redmain;
but the servants talk of most things, and I have not heard a word--"

"How could you," interrupted Sepia, "when you were not in the
house?--And, so long as nothing was missed, the thing was of no
consequence," she added. "Now it is different."

This confused Mary a little. She stopped to consider. One thing was
clear--that, if the ring was not lost till after she left--and of so
much she was sure--it could not be Tom that had taken it, for he was
then ill in bed. Something to this effect she managed to say.

"I told you already," returned Sepia, "that I had no suspicion of
him--at least, I desire to have none, but you may be required to prove
all you say; and it is as well to let you understand--though there is
no reason why _I_ should take the trouble--that your going to those
very people at the time, and their proving to be friends of yours, adds
to the difficulty."

"How?" asked Mary.

"I am not on the jury," replied Sepia, with indifference.

The scope of her remarks seemed to Mary intended to show that any
suspicion of her would only be natural. For the moment the idea amused
her. But Sepia's way of talking about Tom, whatever she meant by it,
was disgraceful!

"I am astonished you should seem so indifferent," she said, "if the
character of a gentleman with whom you have been so intimate is so
seriously threatened as you would imply. I know he has been to see you
more than once while Mr. and Mrs. Redmain were not yet returned."

Sepia's countenance changed; an evil fire glowed in her eyes, and she
looked at Mary as if she would search her to the bone. The poorer the
character, the more precious the repute!

"The foolish fellow," she returned, with a smile of contempt, "chose to
fall in love with me!--A married man, too!"

"If you understood that, how did he come to be here so often?" asked
Mary, looking her in the face.

But Sepia knew better than declare war a moment before it was
unavoidable.

"Have I not just told you," she said, in a haughty tone, "that the man
was in love with me?"

"And have you not just told me he was a married man