n. His first thought had been, could
this last discovery be accountable for what he had seen that afternoon?
Doubtless, after the information reached the police it would not be long
in being conveyed to Henshaw. And he was now making use of it to put the
screw on, using the hold he had gained over Edith Morriston to bend her
to his will. What was that? Marriage? To Gifford the thought was
monstrous; yet if it should be that Henshaw had information which put
the girl in his power, what could she do? That she had consented to meet
him secretly and listen to him went to show that she felt her position to
be weak. If so she might need help, an adviser, a man to stand between
her and her persecutor.

Thinking out the situation strenuously Gifford determined to seek a
private interview with Edith Morriston and offer himself as her
protector. At the worst she could but snub him, and the chances were, he
thought, greatly in favour of her accepting his offer of help. For from
her character he judged she was not a girl to make a stronger appeal to
him than the casual invoking of his assistance which had already taken
place. He had a very cogent reason for believing that he could be of
assistance, although there were certain elements in the mystery which
might, in his ignorance of them, upset his calculations.

Anyhow in consideration of the trust Edith Morriston had shown in him he
would seek an interview with her and chance what it might bring forth.

CHAPTER XVI

AN EXPLANATION

In pursuance of this plan Gifford proposed to his friend that they should
call at Wynford Place on the next day. Kelson had returned from the
Tredworths in high spirits, the news he carried there having lifted a
weight off his fiancee's mind and indeed restored the happiness of the
whole family. There was no cloud over the engagement now, and they could
all look forward to the marriage without a qualm.

If Kelson might, in ordinary circumstances, have wondered at the motive
for his friend's proposal, which was but thinly disguised, he was in too
happy a state of preoccupation to trouble his head about it.

"I'm your man," he responded promptly. "It so happens that Muriel is
lunching at Wynford to-morrow, so it will suit me well enough. I
shouldn't be surprised if we get a note in the morning asking us to
lunch there too."

The morning, however, brought no note of invitation; a failure
which rather surprised Kelson, although Gifford thou