ly; and, picking up one of the massive candlesticks,
moved towards the door.

For an instant Milbanke lingered in the dining-room, grown dimmer with
the departing lights; then, hearing his name in his host's voice, he
hurried after him into the hall.

Asshlin was standing at the foot of the stairs, the glowing candles
held aloft. Above him, the high ceiling loomed shadowy and indistinct;
behind him, the dark wainscoted wall threw his figure into bold relief.

It would have demanded but a slight stretch of fancy to picture him as
his satin-coated great-grandfather grown to a dissipated maturity, as
he stood there, the master spirit in this house of fallen greatness. As
Milbanke reached his side, he laughed once more, precisely as Anthony
Asshlin might have laughed, standing at the foot of the same staircase
nearly a hundred years ago. The taint of heredity seemed to wrap him
round--to gleam in his unnaturally bright eyes, to reverberate in his
voice.

"Up with you, James!" he cried. "I needn't put your hand on the
banister, like I have to do with some of my guests. You never yet drank
a swerve into your steps. Well, I don't blame you for it. It's men like
you that keep heaven a going concern, while poor devils like me are
paving the lower regions. Good-night to you!"

With a fresh laugh he thrust the great candlestick into the other's
hand and turned on his heel.

Milbanke remained motionless, while Asshlin passed across the hall and
opened the door, letting in a breath of fresh, damp air that set the
candle-flames dancing; then, as the door closed again, he turned and
put his hand on the banister.

It was with a feeling of unreality, mingled with the borrowed
excitement still at work within him, that he began his ascent of the
stairs. The natural fatigue consequent on the day's journey had been
temporarily dispelled, and sleep seemed something distant and almost
unattractive. As he mounted the creaking steps, moving cautiously out
of consideration for the sleeping household, he found himself wishing
incontinently that he had offered his company to his host in his stroll
towards the sea.

As the desire came to him, he paused. He could still overtake Asshlin!
He hesitated, glancing from the closed door of his bedroom to the hall
lying below him in a well of shadow. Then suddenly he raised his head,
attracted by a sound, subdued and yet distinct, that came to him
through the silence of the house--the sound of lig