om. But as she was closing the door, he interfered.

"Excuse me--I don't want that lady to go away until I have seen her
again."

Mrs. Wade none the less closed the door, holding herself with
imperturbable politeness.

"She is resting in the next room. I give you my word, Mr. Northway,
that you will find her there when our conversation is over."

He looked about him with sullen uneasiness, but could not resist this
lady's manner.

"Pray sit down. Quite a spring day, isn't it?"

Her tone was melancholy, tempered with the consideration of a hostess.
Northway seated himself much as if he were in church. He tried to
examine Mrs. Wade's face, but could not meet her look. She, in the
meantime, had got the young man's visage by heart, had studied the
meaning of every lineament--narrow eyes, sunken cheeks, forehead
indicative of conceited intelligence, lips as clearly expressive of
another characteristic. Here, at all events, was a creature she could
manage--an instrument--though to what purpose she was not yet perfectly
clear.

"Mr. Northway, I have been listening to a sad, sad story."

"Yes, it is sad," he muttered, feeling his inferiority to this
soft-spoken woman, and moving his legs awkwardly.

"I must mention to you that my name is Mrs. Wade. I have known Lilian
since she came to live at Polterham--only since then. That's a very
short time ago, but we have seen a good deal of each other, and have
become intimate friends. I need not tell you that I never had the
faintest suspicion of what I have just learnt."

This was said certainly not in a voice of indignation but with a
sadness which implied anything but approval. Northway, after trying to
hold his hat in a becoming way, placed it on the floor, clicking with
his tongue the while and betraying much nervousness.

"You are of course aware," pursued the lady, "that Mr. Denzil Quarrier
is Liberal candidate for this borough?"

"Yes, I know."

"Until to-day, he had every prospect of being elected. It is a shocking
thing--I hardly know how to express myself about it."

"If this gets known," said Northway, "I suppose he has no chance?"

"How would it be possible to vote for a man who has outraged the law on
which all social life is based? He would retire immediately--no doubt."

Regarding this event as certain in any case, the listener merely nodded.

"That, I dare say, doesn't interest you?"

"I take no part in politics."

"And it is quite a matter of i