owever, died shortly afterwards, without ever
regaining her memory, or learning of the fate which had befallen the man
whom she had once loved, or the daughter of whose existence she had
forgotten since the day of her birth.

It took some time to settle up all the details of "Harker's Ltd." Jasper
Vermont had died intestate; and although advertisements were inserted in
various papers, seeking his next-of-kin, no answers were received. The
money, therefore, reverted to the Crown; and Mr. Harker, taking up his
real name of Goodwin, settled in Kingston with his daughter and her
husband, who now, thanks to Lord Barminster, owned a flourishing
business.

Lady Merivale never visited Barminster Castle again. She had succeeded
in convincing her husband of the harmless nature of her flirtation with
Adrien, and patiently bore the brunt of his very natural resentment at
the publicity accorded to his name at the trial; though he acknowledged
that under the circumstances she could have done nothing else but come
forward to exonerate Leroy. Then her ladyship retired into the country
with her husband, who was greatly gratified in the dutiful interest she
showed in him and his farm. All love of intrigue seemed to have died out
when her flirtation with Adrien ended, nor was it ever revived.

Society also lost its fashionable monarch, as far as Leroy was
concerned. The vow that he had registered beside the dead body of the
girl who had so loved him, was religiously kept. He disappeared from his
former place in the world of amusement, and the devotees of pleasure
knew him no more.

After the funeral, he stayed on at Barminster Castle for a time, with
his father and Lady Constance; but, with the consent of both, he
departed a few months later for Africa, on a big-game shooting
expedition. Living the simple but arduous life of the hunters and
trappers, he sought to bury the folly of the past, and restore his hopes
of a brighter and better future.

One day, about six months after the death of Vermont, Lord Barminster
sat in the dining-room of Barminster Castle. His eyes, their expression
no less keen, but far more gentle than in former years, were bent,
sometimes on the cheerful fire, sometimes on the calm face of his ward,
where she stood in the deep embrasure of the window, gazing out over the
snow.

A book was in her hand, but it was closed; and the wistful look in her
sweet eyes showed that her thoughts had flown from the pages