near
a certain belt of evergreens, the shadows of two persons, whose forms
were hidden from his sight. Being both curious and concerned, he halted
before coming too close and, listening, heard Mr. Urquhart's voice, and
presently that of Miss Leighton, both speaking very earnestly.

"'Will you undertake it? Can you go through with it without shrinking?'
was what the former had said.

"'I will undertake it, and I can go through with it,' was what the
latter had replied.

"Frightened at a discovery which might mean nothing and which might mean
misery to a mistress the day of whose marriage was scarcely a month
away, the negro held his breath, determined to hear more. He was
immediately rewarded by catching the words: 'You are a brave girl and
my queen!' and then something like a prayer for a kiss, or some such
favor, as a seal to their compact. But to this she returned a vigorous
'No,' followed by the mysterious sentence: 'I shall give you nothing
till I am dead, and then I will give you everything.'

"After which they made a move as if to separate, which action so alarmed
the now deeply disconcerted negro that he drew back in haste, hiding
behind some neighboring bushes till they had passed him and disappeared,
he out of the gate, and she through the small side entrance into the
house. This was the previous night, and for nearly twenty-four hours the
poor negro had tortured himself as to what he should do with the
information thus surreptitiously gained. He lacked the courage to tell
his mistress, and finally he had thought of me, who was her best friend,
and who must have known there was something amiss with Miss Leighton, or
why had I not married her when everything was ready and the minister
waiting with his book in his hand?

"Not answering this insinuation, I put to him one or two of the many
questions that were burning in my brain. Had he told any of the other
servants what he had seen? And did Miss Dudleigh look as if she
suspected there was anything wrong?

"He answered that he had not dared to speak a word of it even to his
wife; and as for Miss Dudleigh, she was ill so much of the time that it
was hard to tell whether she had any other cause for uneasiness or not.
He only knew that she was greatly changed since this miserable deceiver
came into the house.

"I believed him, and amid all my struggle and wrath tried to fix my mind
upon her alone. I succeeded only partially, but enough to enable me to
write