n the kitchen,--she who was so clever at probing others.

* * * * *

This day of violent emotions was followed by a sullen and sorrowful
gloom.

Mrs. Gaunt kept her bedroom, and admitted nobody; till, at last, the
servants consulted together, and sent little Rose to knock at her door,
with a basin of chocolate, while they watched on the stairs.

"It's only me, mamma," said Rose.

"Come in, my precious," said a trembling voice; and so Rose got in with
her chocolate.

The next day she was sent for early; and at noon Mrs. Gaunt and Rose
came down stairs; but their appearance startled the whole household.

The mother was dressed all in black, and so was her daughter, whom she
led by the hand. Mrs. Gaunt's face was pale, and sad, and stern,--a
monument of deep suffering and high-strung resolution.

* * * * *

It soon transpired that Griffith had left his home for good; and friends
called on Mrs. Gaunt to slake their curiosity under the mask of
sympathy.

Not one of them was admitted. No false excuses were made. "My mistress
sees no one for the present," was the reply.

Curiosity, thus baffled, took up the pen; but was met with a short,
unvarying formula: "There is an unhappy misunderstanding between my
husband and me. But I shall neither accuse him behind his back, nor
justify myself."

Thus the proud lady carried herself before the world; but secretly she
writhed. A wife abandoned is a woman insulted, and the wives--that are
not abandoned--cluck.

Ryder was dejected for a time, and, though not honestly penitent,
suffered some remorse at the miserable issue of her intrigues. But her
elastic nature soon shook it off, and she felt a certain satisfaction at
having reduced Mrs. Gaunt to her own level. This disarmed her hostility.
She watched her as keenly as ever, but out of pure curiosity.

One thing puzzled her strangely. Leonard did not visit the house; nor
could she even detect any communication between the parties.

At last, one day, her mistress told her to put on her hat, and go to
Father Leonard.

Ryder's eyes sparkled; and she was soon equipped. Mrs. Gaunt put a
parcel and a letter into her hands. Ryder no sooner got out of her sight
than she proceeded to tamper with the letter. But to her just
indignation she found it so ingeniously folded and sealed that she could
not read a word.

The parcel, however, she easily undid, and it containe