d a military training; he was a most
adroit swordsman and a notorious shot; he would not be one to make a
quarrel difficult.

When Orange reached the house in Vigo Street, it was still early in the
day. As he mounted the stairs, he noticed a fellow-lodger, still in his
evening clothes, entering a room on the second floor. He did not see the
man's face, but he was struck by something familiar in his build. This
impression was not haunting, it passed almost immediately, and the young
man settled down with resolution to his work. At one o'clock he went to
Brookes's, had his lunch, met a few acquaintances who studied his face
with curiosity, and a few colleagues who tried to persuade each other
that he was a man who could play a deep game. He returned to his rooms
and resumed work till about six o'clock, when his landlord informed him
that a lady, who would not give her name, wished to see him. The lady
was tall, handsomely dressed, darkly veiled. What, he thought, if it
should be Brigit? What joy! What rashness! Robert went out into the hall
to meet the strange visitor. She made a gesture signifying silence, and,
on greeting her, he did not utter her name. It was Lady Sara.

She did not speak until she had entered the shabbily furnished
sitting-room and closed the door.

"This is a mad thing on my part," she said; "a mad thing. I know it. Of
course, I might have asked you to come to me, but I couldn't wait so
long. And I don't trust letters. Some news can't be written. It is not
about Mrs. Parflete," she added, hastily, "you need not fear that. It is
about Beauclerk. He came to see me this afternoon. He is going to throw
you over. He is going to fail you at the Meeting. You are to test public
opinion while he sits under shelter--to profit by your experience. What
do you think of that?"

"You are very good to come. But I hope you are mistaken all the same. He
may throw me over. I am sure he will send me a word of warning."

"That was his first intention. He gave it up, because he knew you
wouldn't act without him. And he wants you to act--for the reason I have
given. Oh, I'm so ashamed, so humiliated to think that any friend of
mine could be such a traitor."

She unpinned her veil, and seemed all the handsomer for her scornful
expression and flashing eyes.

"You must be the first to retire," she continued. "I won't have you
treated in this contemptuous way: I won't endure it. I want you to write
to the Committee at