e was out of town, but didn't know when he went,
or when he might be expected to return. The poor man was grievously
dissatisfied; he looked at me as if I were in a base plot against him.
It was an immense relief when he went away, after begging me to respect
his confidence.

'I write very hurriedly, as you see. That I _ought_ to write is, I
think, clear--though I may be doing lamentable mischief. I cannot
credit this charge against Mrs. Widdowson; there must surely be some
explanation. If you have already left Seascale, no doubt this letter
will be forwarded.--Ever yours, dear Rhoda,

MARY BARFOOT.'

Everard laughed bitterly. The completeness of the case against him in
Rhoda's eyes must be so overwhelming, and his absolute innocence made
it exasperating to have to defend himself. How, indeed, was he to
defend himself?

The story was strange enough. Could he be right in the interpretation
which at once suggested itself to his mind--or perhaps to his vanity?
He remembered the meeting with Mrs. Widdowson near his abode on Friday.
He recollected, moreover, the signs of interest in himself which, as he
now thought, she had shown on previous occasions. Had the poor little
woman--doubtless miserable with her husband--actually let herself fall
in love with him? But, even in that case, what a reckless thing to
do--to come to his rooms! Why, she must have been driven by a despair
that blinded her to all sense of delicacy! Perhaps, had he been at
home, she would have made a pretence of wishing to speak about Rhoda
Nunn. That was imprudent behaviour of his, making such a person his
confidante. But he was tempted by his liking for her.

'By Jove!' he muttered, overcome by the thought. 'I'm glad I was _not_
at home!'

But then--he had told her that he was going away on Saturday. How could
she expect to find him? The hour of her visit was not stated; probably
she hoped to catch him before he left. And was her appearance in the
neighbourhood on Friday--her troubled aspect--to be explained as an
abortive attempt to have a private interview with him?

The queerest affair--and maddening in its issues! Rhoda was raging with
jealousy. Well, he too would rage. And without affectation. It was
strange that he felt almost glad of a ground of quarrel with Rhoda. All
day he had been in an irritable temper, and so far as he could
understand himself it was due to resentment of his last night's defeat.
He though of Rhoda as ardently as eve