footman again! The very presence of the automaton
chilled and dispirited the impatient visitor.

"Is Lady Vivian at home?"

"Her ladyship is indisposed and has retired, sir."

"Can I see Mademoiselle de Gramont?"

"Whom, sir?"

"The young lady who accompanies Lady Vivian."

"She is with Lady Vivian; but I will take your card, sir."

Maurice had no alternative and handed his card.

"Say that I earnestly beg to see her for a few moments."

Did he imagine that human machine could deliver a message which conveyed
the suggestion that any one very earnestly desired anything in creation?

The viscount was ushered into the drawing-room. A long interval, or one
Maurice thought long, elapsed before the messenger returned.

"The ladies will be happy to see you, sir, to-morrow, at two o'clock."

Another night and another morning to struggle through, haunted by the
murderous desire of killing that which could never be restored,--_time!_
But here, at least, was a definite appointment,--a fixed period when he
should certainly see Madeleine; this was a great step gained.

He had heard some gentlemen, at the hotel, loud in praise of Charles
Kean's impersonation of "King John," which was to be represented that
evening, and the recollection of their encomiums decided him to visit
the Princess' Theatre.

Our powers of appreciation are limited, governed, crippled or expanded,
by the mood of the moment, and a performance, which might have roused
him to a high pitch of enthusiasm at another time, now seemed dull and
tedious. But duller and more tedious still was the night that followed.
And when morning came, how was he to consume the hours between breakfast
and two o'clock? He must go somewhere; must keep on his feet; must give
his restless limbs free action. He bethought him of St. Paul's and
Westminster Abbey. These majestic edifices were associated with the
memory of those who had done with time, and might assist him in the
time-annihilating process which was then his chief object. He was
mistaken; he could not interest himself in monuments to the dead; he was
too closely pursued by a living phantom. He walked through the aisles,
the chapels, the crypt, with as much indifference as he had wandered
through Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens, and Hampton Court.

The appointed hour drew near, at last, and with rising excitement he
ordered the coachmen to drive to Grosvenor Square, number ----. It was
just two,--hardly two, pe