little headway did he make, so fully was Margaret's mind taken
up with the new departure he had suggested, that when the carriage stopped
at the rectory to drop Helen--who wished to tell her father about the
dinner and to change her costume--he was strongly tempted to wriggle out
of the engagement.

Inclination pulled him to his quiet sitting-room in the County Hotel;
impulse bade him remain and make the most of the meagre opportunities
offered by the drift of conversation.

"I hope," said Helen, at parting, "that I may persuade you to come here
and dine with my father some evening when Mrs. Capella and I are in town.
If you take any interest in old coins he will entertain you for hours."

"Then I depend on you to bring an invitation to the Hall this evening. I
expect to be in Stowmarket next week."

"Are you leaving to-morrow?" inquired Mrs. Capella.

"I think so."

"Would you care to walk to the house with me now?"

"I will be delighted."

So the carriage was sent off, and the two followed on foot. Brett thought
that impulse had led him aright.

Once past the lodge gates, Margaret looked at him suddenly, with a quick,
searching glance. Hume was not in error when he spoke of her "Continental
tricks of manner."

"You wonder," she said, "why I do not trust you fully? You know that I am
keeping something back from you? You imagine that you can guess a good
deal of what I am endeavouring to hide?"

"To all those questions, I may generally answer 'Yes.'"

"Of course. You observe the small things of life. The larger events are
built from them. Well, I can be candid with you. My husband believes that
I not only deceived him in regard to my marriage, but he is, or was, very
jealous of me."

She paused, apparently unable to frame her words satisfactorily.

"Having said so much," put in the barrister gently, "you might be more
specific."

His cool, even voice reassured her.

"I hardly know how best to express myself," she cried. "Question me. I
will reply so far as I am able."

"Thank you. You have told me that you first met Mr. Capella on New Year's
Eve two years ago, at Covent Garden?"

"That is so."

"Had you ever heard of him before?"

"Never. He was brought to my party by an Italian friend."

"Did the acquaintance ripen rapidly?"

"Yes. We found that our tastes were identical in many respects. I did not
know of my brother's death until the 2nd of January. No one in Beechcroft
had my address, and