of the objection of her father--"

"And of her sister Isabella--Mrs. Octagon that is; don't forget that,
Cuthbert. And I could scarcely run away with a girl who believed
stories about me."

"What sort of stories?" asked Mallow, remembering certain rumors.

"The sort that one always does tell of an unmarried man," retorted
Caranby. "Scandalous stories, which Isabella picked up and retailed to
Selina. But I never pretended to be a saint, and had Selina really
loved me she would have overlooked certain faults. I did love her,
Cuthbert. I did all in my power to prove my love. For a time I was
engaged to her, and when she expressed a wish that I should build her a
house after her own design, I consented."

"The house at Rexton!" exclaimed the young man.

"Exactly. I got an architect to build it according to designs
suggested by Selina. When our engagement was broken and I became--out
of pique, remember--engaged to Miss Saul, I still went on building the
house. Selina, I believe, was very angry. One week when I was out of
London she went down with her sister to see the house, and there met
Emilia."

"Ah! then there was trouble?"

"No; there was no time for a quarrel, if that is what you mean. When
the three met, Emilia was walking across a plank on the unfinished
second story. On seeing the Loach girls--this is Isabella's
tale--Emilia lost her footing and fell thirty feet. She was killed
almost instantaneously, and her face was much disfigured. This took
place during the dinner hour when the workmen were absent. When they
returned, the body was found and recognized by the clothes."

"Did not the girls remain?"

"No. They took fright at the accident and returned home. But here a
fresh disaster awaited them. Mr. Loach was dead. He died suddenly of
heart disease. Selina at once broke her engagement with the American,
and--"

"And returned to you?"

"Strangely enough she did not. I never saw her again. After the death
of the father the girls went to the Continent, and only came back after
two years abroad. Then Isabella, after vainly trying to get me to
marry her, became the wife of Saxon, then a rising barrister. Selina
went to Rexton and shut herself up in the house she now has."

"The house she did have," corrected Cuthbert, "you forget she is dead."

"Yes. I tried to see her, but she refused to look on my face again,
alleging that I had treated her badly by becoming engaged to Miss Sa