way but in others, a very evident distaste to reenter her own house.
Now, whatever hold I still retain upon her is of so slight a nature that
I am afraid every day she will leave me."

"Leave you!"

My fingers paused; my astonishment had got the better of me.

"Yes; it is as bad as that. I don't know what day you will send me a
telegram of three words, 'She has gone.' Yet she loves me, really and
truly loves me. That is the mystery of it. More than this, her very
heart-strings are knit up with those of our child."

"Mayor Packard,"--I had resumed work,--"was any letter delivered to her
that day?"

"That I can not say."

Fact one for me to establish.

"The wives of men like you--men much before the world, men in the
thick of strife, social and political--often receive letters of a very
threatening character."

"She would have shown me any such, if only to put me on my guard. She is
physically a very brave woman and not at all nervous."

"Those letters sometimes assume the shape of calumny. Your character may
have been attacked."

"She believes in my character and would have given me an opportunity
to vindicate myself. I have every confidence in my wife's sense of
justice."

I experienced a thrill of admiration for the appreciation he evinced in
those words. Yet I pursued the subject resolutely.

"Have you an enemy, Mayor Packard? Any real and downright enemy capable
of a deep and serious attempt at destroying your happiness?"

"None that I know of, Miss Saunders. I have political enemies, of course
men, who, influenced by party feeling, are not above attacking methods
and possibly my official reputation; but personal ones--wretches willing
to stab me in my home-life and affections, that I can not believe. My
life has been as an open book. I have harmed no man knowingly and, as
far as I know, no man has ever cherished a wish to injure me."

"Who constitute your household? How many servants do you keep and how
long have they been with you?"

"Now you exact details with which only Mrs. Packard is conversant. I
don't know anything about the servants. I do not interest myself much
in matters purely domestic, and Mrs. Packard spares me. You will have to
observe the servants yourself."

I made another note in my mind while inquiring:

"Who is the young man who was here just now? He has an uncommon face."

"A handsome one, do you mean?"

"Yes, and--well, what I should call distinctly clever."

"He is c