--should
the whole world pronounce you guilty,--I would still believe you
innocent; and I think," she added, quickly, "that is your object in
employing a detective: by finding the real murderer, you will
establish your own entire innocence."

"May God grant it!" he replied, with a fervor she could not
understand. "I thank you, Miss Carleton, for your kind words; I
shall never forget them; and, however the battle goes, I can feel
there is one, at least, whose friendship and confidence are mine,
can I not?"

"Most assuredly, Mr. Mainwaring. But why do you speak as though
there were a possibility of defeat or failure? I am so confident
that you will win, after the story of your life that you have given
me, that I am all impatience to learn the outcome of the contest,
just as having read one chapter in some thrilling romance I am eager
for the next."

He smiled at her comparison. "Real life, as well as romance,
sometimes contains startling surprises, Miss Carleton. The next
chapter might prove less pleasant."

She looked keenly into his face for a moment, and her manner became
as serious as his own.

"There must be something," she said, "of which you have not told me;
if so, I will not ask your confidence until you choose to bestow it,
nor do I trust you, personally, any the less. It only seemed to me,
with your prospects of success, and the great wealth and enviable
position so soon to become yours, there could be no unpleasant
anticipations for the future."

A bitter smile crossed his face, as he inquired in low, tense tones,
"Of what avail are wealth and position to one who finds an
insurmountable barrier placed between himself and all that he holds
most precious on earth?"

"I fear I do not understand you," she replied. "I cannot imagine
any barriers surrounding you; and did they exist, my judgment of
you would be that you would find some way to surmount or destroy
them."

"There are some barriers, some fetters," he said, gently, "against
which humanity, even at its best, is powerless."

"Yes," she answered, a touch of sadness in her voice; "and there are
sometimes sorrows and troubles in which even the closest and warmest
friendship is powerless to aid or comfort."

"Don't allow yourself to think that of your friendship for me," he
said, quickly. "Assured of your confidence and sympathy, I shall
be ten times stronger to face whatever the future may bring. If I
succeed in what I am about to unde