and
rose to her feet.

"Come out on to the terrace," she invited. "You are not afraid of cold?"

He followed her without a word. She opened the French windows, and they
stepped out on to the long, broad stone promenade. The night was dark,
and there was little to be seen. The light was burning at the entrance
to the waterway; a few lights were twinkling from the village. The soft
moaning of the sea was distinctly audible. She moved to the edge of the
palisading. He followed her closely.

"You are right, Mr. Hamel," she said. "I think that I am more afraid of
him than any woman ever was of any man in this world."

"Then why do you live here?" he protested. "You must have other
relations to whom you could go. And your brother--why doesn't he do
something--go into one of the professions? He could surely leave easily
enough?"

"I will tell you a secret," she answered calmly. "Perhaps it will help
you to understand. You know my uncle's condition. You know that it was
the result of an accident?"

"I have heard so," he replied gravely.

She clutched at his arm.

"Come," she said.

Side by side they walked the entire length of the terrace. When they
reached the corner, they were met with a fierce gust of wind. She
battled along, and he followed her. They were looking inland now.
There were no lights visible--nothing but dark, chaotic emptiness. From
somewhere below him he could hear the wind in the tree-tops.

"This way," she directed. "Be careful."

They walked to the very edge of the palisading. It was scarcely more
than a couple of feet high. She pointed downwards.

"Can you see?" she whispered.

By degrees his eyes faintly penetrated the darkness. It was as though
they were looking down a precipice. The descent was perfectly sheer for
nearly a hundred feet. At the bottom were the pine trees.

"Come here again in the morning," she whispered. "You will see then. I
brought you here to show you the place. It was here that the accident
happened."

"What accident?"

"Mr. Fentolin's," she continued. "It was here that he went over. He was
picked up with both his legs broken. They never thought that he would
live."

Hamel shivered a little. As his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness,
he saw more distinctly than ever the sheer fall, the tops of the bending
trees below.

"What a horrible thing!" he exclaimed.

"It was more horrible than you know," she continued, dropping her voice
a little, almost whisperin