ceived."

"Mr. Curtis couldn't have known of this when he was here, little more
than half an hour ago."

"He knew it two hours ago. Not only he, but Mr. Steingall knew it.
Did neither of them tell you?"

In utter despair, broken-hearted now not by reason of her own plight,
but rather because of a shattered faith, Hermione appealed to the Earl.

"Father, is this true?"

"Absolutely true, every syllable. I really think you ought to confirm
Mr. Schmidt's statement by inquiry at the Central Hotel."

"And publish my unhappy story more widely! . . . Will you kindly leave
me now? I must think, and act."

"One word, your ladyship, and I have done," said the lawyer, speaking
with a slow seriousness that could not fail to be convincing. "The
mischief is not irreparable--at present. But you must not remain here.
You are registered in the books of the hotel as the wife of John
Delancy Curtis, and, if I may say it with respect, your own sense of
what is right and proper will forbid the notion that you can abide in
the hotel until to-morrow. I pledge my reputation that it will
immensely facilitate the legal steps necessary to secure the annulment
of the marriage if you dissever yourself from your so-called husband at
the earliest moment after you have discovered his tort."

Hermione was not the type of woman who faints in an emergency, though
gladly now would she have found in unconsciousness a respite from the
bitter pain that was rending her innermost fiber.

"I think--I understand," she said brokenly. "Will you please go?"

"But will you not come with me, Hermione?" said her father. "I give
you my word of honor there will be no recriminations."

"I must be alone--to-night," she cried, flaring into a passionate
vehemence. "Marcelle and I will return to my apartment. You know
where it is. Come there in the morning, at any hour you choose, but go
now, this instant, or I shall refuse to leave the hotel, no matter what
the consequences."

Her voice rose almost to a scream, and Schmidt, a profound student of
human nature, realized that any extra pressure would be fatal. He had
succeeded. This girl would keep her promise, of that he was well
assured, but if her high-strung temperament was subjected to undue
force she would put her back against the wall and defy law and
convention alike.

"Come," he said to the Earl, and, with a courteous bow to Hermione, he
literally pulled her father from the room.

Hermi