irritating to me. Not only did I regard the man as an intolerable bore,
but I could not help fancying that he was something more than an old
friend of Mr. Maryon's; in fact, I was led to judge, by Mr. Maryon's
strange conduct, that this Bludyer had some power over him which might
be exercised to the detriment of the Maryon family, and I was convinced
there was some mystery it was my business to penetrate.

The following day I went up to The Mere to see if Miss Maryon was
desirous of renewing her skating lesson. I found the party in the
billiard-room, Agnes marking for her father and the Colonel. Mr. Maryon,
whom I knew to be an exceptionally good player, seemed incapable of
making a decent stroke; the Colonel, on the other hand, could evidently
give a professional fifteen, and beat him easily. We all went down to
the lake together. I had no chance of any quiet conversation with Agnes;
the Colonel was perpetually beside us.

I returned home disgusted. For two whole days I did not go near The
Mere. On the third day I went up, hoping that the horrid Colonel would
be gone. It was beginning to snow when I left The Shallows at about two
o'clock in the afternoon, and Mrs. Balk foretold a heavy storm, and bade
me not be late returning.

The black winter darkness in the sky deepened as I approached The Mere.
I was ushered again into the billiard-room. Agnes was marking, as upon
the previous occasion, but two days had worked a sad difference in her
face. Mr. Maryon hardly noticed my entrance; he was flushed, and playing
eagerly; the Colonel was boisterous, declaring that John had never
played better twenty years ago. I relieved Agnes of the duty of marking.
The snow fell in a thick layer upon the skylight, and the Colonel became
seriously anxious about my return home. As I did not think he was the
proper person to give me hints, I resolutely remained where I was,
encouraged in my behavior by the few words I gained from Agnes, and by
the looks of entreaty she gave me. I had always considered Mr. Maryon to
be an abstemious man, but he drank a good deal of brandy and soda during
the long game of seven hundred up, and when he succeeded in beating the
Colonel by forty-three, he was in roaring spirits, and insisted upon my
staying to dinner. Need I say that I accepted the invitation?

I made such toilet as I could in a most unattainable chamber that was
allotted to me, and hurried back to the drawing-room in the hope that I
might g