ove, you are cold!" he said.

She made no rejoinder.

He stepped in beside her, after a word with the chauffeur, and
shut the door.

Almost instantly they were in motion, and in another moment were shooting
forward swiftly down the long, ill-lighted street.

Anne Carfax sank back in her corner and lay motionless. The glare of the
little electric lamp upon her face showed it white and tired. Her eyes
were closed.

The man beside her sat bolt upright, his eyes fixed unblinkingly upon the
window in front, his jaw set grimly. He held the gloves he had worn all
the evening between his hands, and his fingers worked at them
unceasingly. He was rending the soft kid to ribbons.

They left the desolate street behind and came into total darkness.

Suddenly, but very quietly, Anne spoke. "This is very kind of you,
Mr. Errol."

He turned towards her. She had opened her eyes to address him, but the
lids drooped heavily.

"The kindness is on your side, Lady Carfax," he said deliberately. "If
you manage to inspire it in others, the virtue is still your own."

She smiled and closed her eyes again. It was evident that she did not
desire to talk.

He looked away from her, glanced at his torn gloves, and tossed them
impatiently from him.

For ten minutes neither spoke. The car ran smoothly on through the night
like an inspired chariot of the gods. There was no sound of wheels. They
seemed to be borne on wings.

For ten minutes the man sat staring stonily before him, rigid as a
statue, while the woman lay passive by his side.

But at the end of that ten minutes the speed began to slacken. They came
softly to earth and stopped.

Errol opened the door and alighted. "Have you a key?" he said, as he gave
her his hand.

She stood above him, looking downwards half-dreamily as one emerging from
a deep slumber.

"Do you know," she said, beginning to smile, "I thought that you were the
Knave of Diamonds?"

"You've been asleep," he said rather curtly.

She gave a slight shudder as the night air brought her back, and in a
moment, like the soft dropping of a veil, her reserve descended upon her.

"I am afraid I have," she said, "Please excuse me. Are we already at the
Manor? Yes, I have the key."

She took his hand and stepped down beside him.

"Good night, Mr. Errol," she said. "And thank you."

He did not offer to accompany her to the door. A light was burning
within, and he merely stood till he heard the key turn in th