up to the house, I am
afraid," he said. "I am very sorry to give you so much trouble, Mr.
Ducaine."

"The trouble is nothing,". I answered, "but I am wondering how on earth
you managed to fall over the cliff."

"I myself, I scarcely know," he answered, as he sipped the brandy which
Grooton had produced. "I am subject to fits of giddiness, and one came
over me as I stood there looking down. I felt the ground sway, and
remember no more. I am very sorry to give you tall this trouble, but
indeed I fear that I cannot walk."

"We will send you down a cart," I declared. "You will have rather a
rough drive across the grass, but there is no other way."

"You are very kind," he declared. "I am in despair at my clumsiness."

I gave him my box of cigarettes. Lady Angela hesitated.

"I think," she said, "that I ought to stay with you, Prince, while Mr.
Ducaine goes up for the cart."

"Indeed, Lady Angela, you are very kind," he answered, "but I could not
permit it. I regret to say that I am in some pain, and I have a
weakness for being alone when I suffer. If I desire anything Mr.
Ducaine's servant will be at hand."

So we left him there. At any other time the prospect of that walk with
Lady Angela would have filled me with joy. But from the first moment of
leaving the cottage I was uneasy.

"What do you think of that man?" I asked her abruptly. "I mean
personally?"

"I hate him," she answered coolly. "He is one of those creatures whose
eyes and mouth, and something underneath his most respectful words, seem
always to suggest offensive things. I find it very hard indeed to be
civil to him."

"Do you happen to know what Colonel Ray thinks of him?" I asked her.

"I have no special knowledge of Colonel Ray's likes or dislikes," she
answered.

"Forgive me," I said. "I thought that you and he were very intimate,
and that you might know. I wonder whether he takes the Prince
seriously."

"Colonel Ray is one of my best friends," she said, "but I am not in his
confidence."

A slight reserve had crept into her tone. I stole a glance at her face;
paler and more delicate than ever it seemed in the gathering darkness.
Her lips were firmly set, but her eyes were kind. A sudden desire for
her sympathy weakened me.

"Lady Angela," I said, "I must talk to some one. I do not know whom to
trust. I do not know who is honest. You are the only person whom I
dare speak to at all."

She looked round cautiously. We were out of the pl