nally, and the vicar appeared two or
three times every week, ostensibly to play chess with Deede Dawson,
but in reality, Dunn thought, drawn there by Ella, who, however, seemed
quite unaware of the attraction she exercised over the good man.

Dunn did not find that he was expected to do very much work, and in
fact, he was left a good deal to himself.

Once or twice the car was taken out, and occasionally Deede Dawson
would come into the garden and chat with him idly for a few minutes on
indifferent subjects. When it was fine he would often bring out a little
travelling set of chessmen and board and proceed to amuse himself,
working out or composing problems.

One day he called Dunn up to admire a problem he had just composed.

"Pretty clever, eh?" he said, admiring his own work with much
complacence. "Quite an original idea of mine and I think the key move
will take some finding. What do you say? I suppose you do play chess?"

"Only a very little," answered Dunn.

"Try a game with me," said Deede Dawson, and won it easily, for in fact,
Dunn was by no means a strong player.

His swift victory appeared to delight Deede Dawson immensely.

"A very pretty mate I brought off there against you," he declared. "I've
not often seen a prettier. Now you try to solve that problem of mine,
it's easy enough once you hit on the key move."

Dunn thought to himself that there were other and more important
problems which would soon be solved if only the key move could be
discovered.

He said aloud that he would try what he could do, and Deede Dawson
promised him half a sovereign if he solved it within a week.

"I mayn't manage it within a week," said Dunn. "I don't say I will. But
sooner or later I shall find it out."

During all this time he had seen little of Ella, who appeared to come
very little into the garden and who, when she did so, avoided him in a
somewhat marked manner.

Her mother, Mrs. Dawson, was a little faded woman, with timid eyes and
a frightened manner. Her health did not seem to be good, and Ella looked
after her very assiduously. That she went in deadly fear of her husband
was fairly evident, though he seemed to treat her always with great
consideration and kindness and even with a show of affection, to which
at times she responded and from which at other times she appeared to
shrink with inexplicable terror.

"She doesn't know," Dunn said to himself. "But she suspects
--something."

Ella, he still