silence that could have lasted but a fraction of time, but there are seconds in which one experiences an infinitude of joy or sorrow.

“And you are going away—so soon! But we shall meet to-morrow?”

“Yes, we’ll have one day, at least; there is so much to say—”

Then, in a flash, I remembered the old man and Cassavetti,—the mystery that enshrouded them, and her.

“I may not be able to come early, darling,” I continued hurriedly. “I have to see that old man in the morning. He says he knows you,—that you are in danger; I could not make out what he meant. And he spoke of Cassavetti; he came to see him, really. That was why I dare not tell you the whole story just now—”

“Cassavetti!” she echoed, and I saw her eyes dilate and darken. “Who is he—what is he? I never saw him before, but he came up and talked to Mr. Cayley, and asked to be introduced to me; and—and I was so vexed with you, Maurice, that I began to flirt with him; and then—oh, I don’t know—he is so strange—he perplexes—frightens me!”

“And yet you gave him a flower,” I said reproachfully.

“I can’t think why! I felt so queer, as if I couldn’t help myself. I just had to give him one,—that one; [Pg 20]and when I looked at him,—Maurice, what does a red geranium mean? Has it—”

[Pg 20]

“Mrs. Dennis Sutherland’s carriage!” bawled a liveried official by the centre steps.

Mrs. Sutherland swept towards us.

“Come along, Anne,” she cried, as we moved to meet her. “Perhaps we shall see you later, Mr. Wynn? You’ll be welcome any time, up to one o’clock.”

I put them into the carriage, and watched them drive away; then started, on foot, for Whitehall Gardens. The distance was so short that I could cover it more quickly walking than driving.

The night was sultry and overcast; and before I reached my destination big drops of rain were spattering down, and the mutter of thunder mingled with the ceaseless roll of the traffic.

I was taken straight to Lord Southbourne’s sanctum, a handsomely furnished, but almost ostentatiously business-like apartment.

Southbourne himself, seated at a big American desk, was 

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