at had been in the
mind of the scheming man.

Cora brushed her handkerchief across her eyes and arose languidly. "I
must go to Mr. Arthur, poor man," she murmured, shaking out her
flounces. "He is terribly shocked, I fear."

Studiously avoiding the necessity of glancing in the direction of Mr.
Davlin, she glided from the room.

And so the news fell in Madeline's home, and its inmates were affected
no more than this:

With Cora a renewal of tenderness toward "Dear John," and an increased
stateliness toward Miss Arthur and the servants. More deference on
Miss Arthur's part towards her brother, and less on his part toward
her, as the possibility of being obliged to ask a small loan faded
away into the past of empty purses and closed up coffers.

Lucian took upon himself the responsibility of visiting the city and
calling at St. Mary's, there to be reassured of the fact that one
Martha Grey had died within its walls and been buried.

CHAPTER XIII.

MISS ARTHUR'S FRENCH MAID.

After this the days flew by very much alike.

Miss Arthur's maid arrived, and proved indeed a treasure, nor was she
as obnoxious to Mr. John Arthur as he had evidently intended to find
her. Perhaps Celine Leroque knew by instinct that the master of Oakley
cherished an aversion to French maids in particular; or perhaps she
was an exceptional French maid, and craved neither the smiles nor
slyly administered caresses, that fell to the lot of pretty _femmes de
chambre_, at least in novels. At any rate, certain it is that Miss
Arthur's maid manifested no desire to be seen by the inmates of the
household, and she had been domiciled for some weeks without having
vouchsafed to either John Arthur or Lucian Davlin more than a fleeting
glimpse of her maidship.

Things were becoming very monotonous to some of the occupants of the
Oakley manor; very, very dull and flavorless.

Cora was growing restless. Not that the astute lady permitted signs of
discontent to become manifest to the uninitiated, but Lucian Davlin
saw, with a mingled feeling of satisfaction and dismay, that the
_role_ of devoted wife had ceased to interest his blonde comrade in
iniquity.

The fact gave him a malicious pleasure because, as fate had dared to
play against him, he would have felt especially aggrieved if a few
thorns had not been introduced into the eider down that seemingly
enveloped his fair accomplice.

But he felt some dismay, for he knew by the swift flash