lean brown hand gripped the back of the chair in which she had been sitting. She carried away with her into the Victorian drawing-room, with its odor of faded lavender, a queer sense of having been brought into momentary association with stronger and more vital things in life.

Sir Robert preferred to join his wife and sister-in-law in the drawing-room after luncheon. The Marquis, with a courteous word of invitation, led his remaining guest across the grey stone hall into the library beyond--a sparsely furnished and yet imposing looking apartment, with its great tiers of books and austere bookcases. On his way, he drew attention carelessly to one or two paintings by old masters and pointed out a remarkable statue presented by a famous Italian sculptor to his great-grandfather and now counted amongst the world's treasures. His guest watched and observed in silence. There was nothing of the uncouth sight-seer about him, still less of the fulsome dilettante. They settled themselves in comfortable chairs in a pleasant corner of the apartment. A footman served them with coffee, a second man handed cigars, and the butler himself carried a tray of liqueurs. The Marquis assumed an attitude of complete satisfaction with the world in general. "I am pleased to have this opportunity of a few words with you, Mr. Thain," he said. "You are quite comfortable in that chair, I trust?" "Perfectly, thank you." "And my Larangas are not too mild? You will find darker-colored cigars in the cabinet by your side." "Thank you," David Thain replied, "I smoke only mild tobacco." "Personally," the Marquis sighed, "I can go no further than cigarettes. A vice, perhaps," he added, watching the blue smoke curl upwards, "but a fascinating one. So you came across this man Vont on the steamer. Might I ask under what circumstances?" "Richard Vont, as I think he called himself," was the quiet reply, "shared a cabin in the second class with my servant. I was over there once or twice and talked with him." "That is very interesting," the Marquis observed. "He traveled second class, eh? And yet the man has many thousands to throw away in these absurd lawsuits with me." "He may have money," Thain pointed out, "and yet feel more at home in the second class. I understood that he had been a gamekeeper in England and was returning to his old home." "Did he speak of his purpose in doing so?" "On the contrary, he was singularly taciturn. All that I could gather from him was that he was returning to fulfill some purpose which he had kept before him for a great many years." The Marquis sighed. On his high, shapely forehead could be traced the lines of a regretful frown. "I was sure of it," he groaned. "The fellow is returning to make himself a nuisance 

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