by all this
uproar."

The bell pealed again.

"This must cease," cried the Prophet. "This must and shall cease. I will
bring it all to an end once and for ever!"

And, with sudden desperate decision, he shut the window, burst out of
the pantry and came upon Madame, who was standing in a somewhat furtive
manner by the door that opened into the cellars of the mansion.

"Mr. Vivian," she began, in a rather subdued voice, "that isn't a comet,
that's a copper!"

The bell rang again.

"D'you think--d'you think that can be my husband?" continued Madame,
still seeming subdued. "I should like him--Do you think it's him?"

"What?"

"The bell."

"I will very soon see," replied the Prophet, in a most determined
manner.

"But Mr. Viv--"

"Don't hold me, if you please. Kindly let me pass!"

And, breaking from the lady's anxious grasp, the Prophet rushed into
the hall just as Gustavus appeared, descending the front stairs from
the landing before Mrs. Merillia's door, where he had been in close
conference with Mrs. Fancy.

"Stand back, Gustavus," said the Prophet.

"Sir!"

"Stand back!"

"But, sir, there is someone--"

"I know there is. I am about to answer the door myself."

"If you please, sir, Mrs. Merillia is greatly alarmed by the constant
ringing, and Mrs. Fancy thinks--"

"Gustavus," said the Prophet in an awful voice, "you may retire, but
first let me tell you one thing."

"Certainly, sir," said the footman, beginning to tremble.

"The circumstances that have rendered a hitherto peaceful household more
disordered than an abode of madmen are about to be brought to an end for
ever. There is a point at which a gentleman must either cease to be a
gentleman or cease to be a man. I have reached that point, Gustavus, and
I am about to cease to be a gentleman."

And, with this terrible statement, the Prophet advanced with a sort of
appalling deliberation and threw the front door wide open.

Upon the doorstep stood Lady Enid wrapped in a pink opera cloak and Sir
Tiglath Butt shrouded in the Inverness. The Prophet faced them with a
marble demeanour.

"I thought you'd be here, Mr. Vivian," began Lady Enid in a bright
manner.

"I am here," said the Prophet, speaking in a voice that might well have
issued from a statue.

"Where is he?" roared Sir Tiglath. "Where is he? Oh-h-h-h!"

"Sir Tiglath means Malkiel," explained Lady Enid. "He is most anxious to
meet him."

"Why?" said the Prophet, still in th