it came to pass that by the time the harness had been tied
together and the conveyance got without accident as far as the first
stable on the outskirts of the town, where it was left with the groom,
Barker had received a goodly meed of thanks and praise. And when
Margaret proposed that they should walk as far as the hotel, Barker
tried a few steps and found he was too lame for such exercise, his left
leg having been badly bruised by the pole of the carriage in his late
exploit; which injury elicited a further show of sympathy from
Margaret. And when at last he left her with a cab at the door of her
hotel, he protested that he had enjoyed a very delightful drive, and
went away in high spirits. Margaret, in her gratitude for such an
escape, and in unfeigned admiration of Barker's daring and coolness, was
certainly inclined to think better of him than she had done for a long
time. Or perhaps it would be truer to say that he was more in her
thoughts than he had been; for, in the reign of Claudius, Barker had
dwindled to a nearly insignificant speck in the landscape, dwarfed away
to nothing by the larger mould and stronger character of the Swede.

Margaret saw the Duke in the evening. He gave her a document, unsealed,
in a huge envelope, bidding her keep it in a safe place, for the use of
their mutual friend, in case he should need it. She said she would give
it to Claudius when he came back; and then she told the Duke about her
drive with Barker and the accident. The Duke looked grave.

"Of course," he said, "I introduced Barker to you, and it would seem
very odd if I were to warn you against him now. All the same, Countess,
I have had the honour of being your friend for some time, and I must say
I have sometimes regretted that I brought him to your house." He
reddened a little after he had spoken, fearing she might have
misunderstood him. "I wish," he added, to make things clearer, "that I
could have brought you Claudius without Barker." Then he reddened still
more, and wished he had said nothing. Margaret raised her eyebrows.
Perhaps she could have wished as much herself, but she dropped the
subject.

"When are you coming back from the West, Duke," she asked, busying
herself in arranging some books on her table. The hotel sitting-room was
so deadly dreary to the eye that she was trying to make it look as if it
had not been lately used as a place of burial.

"It may be two months before I am here again. A--about the tim