I that the
life we are leading, Iris, can not go on like this forever. From the
first moment we met the attraction I felt toward you changed the whole
current of my life."

Iris hid her face in the bouquet of white hyacinths which she carried.

"It is too late to talk of that now," she murmured. "Your heart went
out to another before--before I met you."

"There is such a thing as affections waning when one discovers that
one's heart is not truly mated, Iris," he cried.

She did not answer; and thus emboldened by her silence, he went on,
huskily:

"Let me give you the whole history of my meeting with Dorothy Glenn,
from first to last, and you will understand the situation better. You
can realize, Iris, that an acquaintance which commences through a
flirtation, as it were, can never end in true love. Such an acquaintance
is not a lasting one. Come and sit down on this rustic seat, Iris, and
listen; and as we sit here in the dim, mellow light, you shall judge me,
and your decision shall seal my fate."

At the self-same moment in which Harry Kendal was beginning his
narrative, there was quite a commotion at the outer gate which guarded
the main entrance of Gray Gables.

One of the servants, lounging lazily at his post of duty, was suddenly
startled out of the doze into which he had fallen by the shadow of a
woman flitting hurriedly past him.

"Hold on, there! Hold on, I say! Who are you, and what do you want?"

A figure clad in a long dark cloak, hooded and veiled, stopped short
with a little exclamation, which he could not quite catch.

"Hold on, there! Where are you going?" he repeated, springing to her
side. "There is something going on here to-night. You can't enter these
grounds until I know who you are and what your business is."

"This is Gray Gables, is it not?" exclaimed a tremulous voice from
behind the veil.

"I should have supposed you would have found that out before you entered
the grounds," declared the man, suspiciously.

She saw her mistake, and started.

"I only wanted to make sure that I was right," she said, apologetically.
"I--I have business with the housekeeper; I want to see her."

Before she could utter another word he whistled sharply. His call
brought a small lad to his side.

"Tell Mrs. Kemp there's a young woman here who would like to see her.
What name, please?" he asked, abruptly, turning to the veiled figure.

"I--I am afraid she wouldn't know; but you might, mention the