ulled up at Stromore; on
the platform we did not know each other.

I secured a car at once, and told the man to drive to the St. Alleyne
Arms, and as we swung up the road from the station I looked back and saw
his lordship coming slowly down the steps.

"Do ye know," asked my driver, "how long his lordship's come for?"

"His lordship!--whose lordship?"

"Lord St. Alleyne," he said, looking at me incredulously.

"What do I know about the man?" I asked. "Where is he?"

"He's there, sure, comin' down the shteps."

"Indeed," I said, and told the man to hurry, as I was cold.

I had no difficulty in securing the two rooms I wanted, and as I took
possession of them I felt some of the pangs of a conspirator. I was
also, as a matter of fact, quite sufficiently unwell to see things
rather gloomily, and as I sat by my window after lunch, and looked out
into the grey street, I confess that I wished myself engaged in a less
dubious enterprise.

[Illustration: "THE GIRL GLANCED UP AT THE INN."]

And then, as I sat there, I heard the brisk sound of wheels, and a
carriage drove by, and in it there sat a lady of a rather severe aspect
and a girl. The girl glanced up at the inn as she passed; from out of a
nest of white fur, there looked a face that made me come nearer to
forgetting Lucy than anything I could have imagined. "That," said I to
myself, "is Norah, and the other is Mrs. O'Callaghan. My dear St.
Alleyne, I'll begin my part of the game this minute if it's to help you
to win that child."

And indeed there was no time to be lost, for we had arranged that St.
Alleyne was to call at eleven o'clock the next morning to see how things
were getting on. I accordingly looked for a bell-rope, but, being unable
to find one, I opened the door and called downstairs. Biddy came up
light as a bird, and with a merry engaging smile on her face.

"Biddy," I said, "I feel ill, and I think I'll go to bed. I've caught a
bad cold, and it may turn to fever with me."

"Lord save us!" she cried, "will I send for the docther?"

"No, I'll see how I am later. And, Biddy, at six o'clock, I might try to
eat some dinner."

"To be sure, sorr," she said. "Can I do anythin' for ye now?"

"No," said I, pressing my hand against my forehead, "but if I want
anything I'll ring."

"There's no bell," she said, "so you must just knock on the flure, an'
I'll hear ye."

With that she departed, and I made up the fire and got slowly into bed.
My head