ing to end, Jekyl. I 'd back you
against the field, my boy."

The other shook his head with an air of supreme innocence.

"Then George knows it?" added Norwood, half asserting, half asking the
question.

"He may, my Lord, for aught I can tell."

"If so, he's treating me unfairly," said Norwood, rising and pacing
the room. "As his friend in this affair, there should be no reserve or
concealment with me. You can surely say that much, Jekyl, eh? What a
close fellow you are!"

"It is so easy not to blab when one has nothing to tell," said Jekyl,
smiling.

"Come, there is something you can tell me. Where does that small
corridor behind George's apartment lead to? There is a door at the end
of it, and, I fancy, a stair beyond it."

"That, if I mistake not, leads up to Lady Hester. No, I remember now; it
leads to Miss Dalton's room."

"Just so; I could have sworn it."

"Why so, my Lord?" asked Jekyl, whose curiosity was now excited to the
utmost.

"That 's my secret, Master Jekyl."

"But the door is always locked and bolted from within," said Jekyl, "and
there is no keyhole on the outside."

"I'll not stand pumping, Jekyl. If you had been frank with me, perhaps I
should have been as open with you."

For an instant Jekyl hesitated what course to follow. It might be that
Norwood really knew something of great importance. It might be that his
discovery was valueless. And yet, if it concerned Kate in any way, the
information would be all-important, his great game being to make her a
princess, and yet preserve such an ascendancy over her as would render
her his own slave.

"She's a strange girl, that Dalton," said Norwood. "I wish she had about
forty thousand pounds."

"She may have more than that yet, my Lord," said Jekyl, dryly.

"How do you mean, Jekyl? Is there any truth in that story about the
Irish property? Has she really a claim on the estate? Tell me all you
know, old fellow, and I 'll be on the square with you throughout."

Jekyl, who in his remark had darkly alluded to the prospect of Kate's
marriage with Midchekoff, now saw that Norwood had totally misconceived
his meaning, and like a shrewd tactician, determined to profit by the
blunder.

"Come, Jekyl, be frank and aboveboard. What are her prospects?"

"Better than I have told you, my Lord," replied he, coolly. "If I
cannot--for I am not at liberty to explain why--I am quite ready to
pledge my word of honor to the truth of what I say, or, what