d.

Yours sincerely,
NEIL J. BATHURST.

Constance heaved a sigh of relief, as she finished the perusal of this
note, and after a moment's reflection, she said:

"Tell Mr. Bathurst that I will obey his instructions, and that Mr.
Belknap will be dismissed from my service to-day."

"Yes, madam. Now if you will please to select some of these things for
the sake of appearance."

"Of course. You are very thoughtful. Are you a young detective too?"

The boy looked up with a gleam of pride in his eyes.

"I have been in Mr. Bathurst's service two years, madam."

"Oh, then I have no fears as to your discretion; so I will ask you a
question, knowing that you are wise enough to refuse me an answer if I
am asking too much."

The boy smiled, and stood attentive.

"May I ask if Mr. Bathurst is really now in W----, and when he arrived?"

The boy laughed an odd laugh, and full of mischief.

"Mr. Bathurst is here," he said. "I can't tell just _when_ he did
arrive."

"Then you did not come together?"

"We! Oh, no, indeed!" laughing again. "Mr. Bathurst is too smart for
that."

Constance smiled with a returning feeling of ease and restfulness.

"Ah, I see I can trust Mr. Bathurst--and you, and lest I ask the wrong
question if I continue, I will not ask another one; tell Mr. Bathurst I
rely on him to straighten all the tangles; and that I like his messenger
almost as much as his message."

"My, but ain't she a rum young lady," mused the boy, as he trudged away
from Wardour Place with his lightened tray of ivories, "and handsome!
jingo! if I was Mr. Bathurst I'd work for her, just to see her smile,
and no pay; but Lord, _he_ don't care, he don't; he'll work just as hard
for any old crone; he's another rum one."

"Ah, what a relief," breathed Constance, reading for the third time
Bathurst's reassuring note. "I begin to feel like myself once more. Now
I am ready for you, Mr. private detective Belknap."

And, truly, Constance _was_ herself once more. Poor Mrs. Aliston,
sitting aloof, and almost abandoned during the days of her niece's
perturbation of mind, was the first to receive the benefit of the
returning sunshine. Constance, for reasons which any woman can guess,
had kept her anxiety, concerning Doctor Heath, a profound secret from
this good lady; and she, watching the signs of the times, made no
comments, but speculated profoundly--and, wide of the mark.

"You should have gone with me to drive, yesterda