me," answered Browne. "I should have liked you to have
seen my face when I read your letter. I firmly believe I was the most
miserable man in Europe."

She offered no reply to this speech, and perhaps that was why a little
old gentleman, the same old man in the threadbare black cloak and
old-fashioned hat who haunts the galleries, and who entered at that
moment, imagined that they were quarrelling.

"Come," said the young man at last, "let us find a place where we can
sit down and talk unobserved. Then we'll thrash the matter out
properly."

"But it will be no use," replied Katherine. "Believe me, I have
thought it out most carefully, and have quite made up my mind what I
must do. Please do not ask me to break the resolutions I have made."

"I will not ask you to do anything but love me, dear," returned Browne.
"The unfortunate part of it is, you see, I also have made resolutions
that you, on your side, must not ask me to break. In that case it
seems that we have come to a deadlock, and the only way out of it is
for us to start afresh, to discuss the matter thoroughly, and so arrive
at an understanding. Come along; I know an excellent corner, where we
can talk without fear of being disturbed. Let us find it."

Seeing that to protest would be useless, and deriving a feeling of
safety from his masterfulness, she allowed him to lead her along the
galleries until they reached the corner to which he had referred. No
one was in sight, not even the little old man in the cloak, who was
probably gloating, according to custom, over the "Venus del Pardo" in
Room VI.

"Now let us sit down," said Browne, pointing to the seat, "and you must
tell me everything. Remember, I have a right to know; and reflect also
that, if there is any person in this wide world who can help you, it is
I, your husband in the sight of God, if not by the law of man."

He took her hand, and found that it was trembling. He pressed it
within his own as if to give her courage.

"Tell me everything, darling," he said--"everything from the very
beginning to the end. Then I shall know how to help you. I can see
that you have been worrying yourself about it more than is good for
your health. Let me share the responsibility with you."

She had to admit to herself that, after all, it was good to have a man
to lean upon, to feel that such a pillar of strength was behind her.
For this reason she unconsciously drew a little closer to him, as
tho