othing."

"But you've already implied--"

"But implications, my dear Miss Banborough, are not evidence."

"You leave me no other course but to accede to your request," she said.

"Ah, then you promise?"

"I promise."

"The word of a woman in your position and of your high moral standard I
know is sacred."

She nodded.

"Well, then," he continued, "please answer me this question. Where was
your brother the first week in May?"

"In Scotland."

"Why did he go?"

"For absolute rest. He was worried and run down."

"You heard from him frequently?"

"No, not once during the whole time. Sir Joseph Westmoreland, the great
London nerve specialist, who advised the change, even prohibited
correspondence."

"You're sure he was in Scotland?"

"Really, Mr. Marchmont, why do you ask?"

"Because I saw the Bishop of Blanford in the United States in the first
week of May on his way to Montreal, Canada."

"Impossible!"

"I'm certain of it."

"I cannot credit what you tell me!"

"What I tell you is quite true. You say he was absent for a month. Might
he not have gone to the States and returned in that time?"

His sister nodded. Then, as a sudden thought occurred to her, she
flushed red with anger, exclaiming:

"And this girl, this Miss Arminster! Was she in Montreal also?"

"She was," replied Marchmont. "I saw her."

"The hussy!" cried Miss Matilda, rising. "She shan't remain in my house
another hour!"

"Hold on!" he exclaimed. "You forget your promise!"

"But after what you've said!"

"I haven't said anything. Miss Arminster's being in Montreal might have
been merely a coincidence."

"But do you know something about her?"

"I've investigated her career," he replied, "and have found nothing
objectionable in it, beyond the fact that she's rather fond of getting
married."

"Getting married! But surely she calls herself _Miss_ Arminster?"

"Ah, yes; but that's very common on the--I mean, not unusual in such
cases."

"She has been married, then, more than once?"

"I know of a dozen different occasions on which she has had the service
performed."

"Infamous!"

"Oh, no. There's no evidence of her ever having been through the divorce
court. Indeed, she may never have been married to more than one man at
the same time."

"But how to account--"

"For the mortality in husbands? Well, fortunately, we're not required to
do that."

"I will not have my dear brother stricken down in his prime!" gasped