ual and out
of keeping with the genial manner in which he broke the silence by
saying: "I consider it very lucky we trapped you into staying, Grahame.
I have scarcely seen you since you arrived, and I would like to have a
friendly chat before we come to that elevator business. I shall be back
from St. Louis on Sunday and we can talk about the loan on Monday."

It was a surprise to Marion to learn that her husband and Duncan were
evidently so intimate. She thought they were scarcely acquainted.

"Any time will do me, Sanderson," answered Duncan, and then the party
began to take their soup in silence. Francois poured out the sherry;
Duncan took up his glass and drained it at one draught. As he put it
down, he looked at Marion with an amused expression of triumph, then,
glancing toward her husband, he shrugged his shoulders in a manner which
conveyed contempt. Marion felt a sense of resentment toward Duncan for
assuming such an attitude. His entire manner seemed to give the
impression that he felt quite as much at home as the master of the
house, and as the dinner progressed he treated her husband with the easy
familiarity of one who felt the superiority of his position. Marion
noticed that Roswell had never once changed the friendly tone of his
manner, yet she could not help feeling that this extreme affability was,
in some measure, assumed. The conversation was confined mainly to the
two men, and Roswell seemed to lead it into channels where it was
difficult for Duncan to follow, while the familiarity her husband
showed with the great questions of current interest was astonishing to
Marion. She had spent so little time with him that she was unfamiliar
with his tastes, and the keenness with which he argued, together with
the delicate manner in which he seemed to lay bare Duncan's ignorance,
surprised her greatly.

Marion was glad to be a listener, as it gave her time to think. She
seemed to be seized now with a dispassionate calmness, which permitted
her to view her actions in a way she had never done before. The subtle
spell which had bound her to Duncan seemed fast breaking, and although
scarce an hour before she had been ready to confess to him the full
warmth of her love, she now appeared to be at a great distance from him
and looking at the past as in the pages of some book. Again and again
she glanced toward him and wondered why he seemed so changed. She
observed that he was drinking too much wine, and when he occ