ought I had no chance!"

"I had not heard your evidence. The very afternoon I did hear it, and
had no longer any doubt about the issue in my own mind, I also heard of
this wreck. The very thing! I waited till next morning for the list of
the saved; luckily there were plenty of them; and I picked out the name
of a married woman travelling alone, and therefore very possibly a
widow, from the number. Then I went to the manager. The daughter whom I
expected had been wrecked, but she was saved, and would arrive that
night. As a matter of fact, the survivors were picked up by a passing
North German Lloyd, and they did reach London on Saturday night.
Meanwhile I had impressed it upon the manager to keep the matter as
quiet as possible, for many excellent reasons, which I need not go into
now."

"But the reason for so elaborate a pretence?"

And the keen, dark face was searched with a scrutiny worthy of itself.
Steel set his mouth in another visible resolution to tell the truth.

"I thought you might not be sorry to cease being Mrs. Minchin--the Mrs.
Minchin who had become so cruelly notorious through no fault of her
own--if only for a day or two, or a single night. That was most easily
to be effected by your arriving here minus possessions, and plus a very
definite story of your own."

"You made very sure of me!" said Rachel, dryly.

"I trusted to my own powers of persuasion, and it was said you had no
friends. I will confess," added Steel, "that I hoped the report was
true."

"Did it follow that I could have no pride?"

"By no means; on the contrary, I knew that you were full of pride; it
is, if I may venture to say so, one of your most salient
characteristics. Nothing was more noticeable at your trial; nothing
finer have I ever seen! But," added Steel, suppressing a burst of
enthusiasm that gained by the suppression, "but, madam, I hoped and
prayed that you would have the sense to put your pride in the second
place for once."

"Well," said Rachel, "and so far I have done so, Heaven knows!"

"And that is something," rejoined Steel, impressively. "Even if it ends
at this--even if you won't hear me out--it is something that you have
had one night and one morning free from insult, discomfort, and
annoyance."

Rachel felt half frightened and half indignant. Steel was standing up,
looking very earnestly down upon her. And something that she had dimly
divined in the very beginning--only to chide herself for the mere