eches and his graceful actions.

Margaret passed a sleepless night. Her anger with Mr. Barker had not
been so much the mere result of the words he had spoken, though she
would have resented his sneer about Claudius sharply enough under any
circumstances. It was rather that to her keen intelligence, rendered
still more acute by her love for the Doctor, the whole scene constituted
a revelation. By that wonderful instinct which guides women in the most
critical moments of their lives, she saw at last the meaning of Barker's
doings, of his silence concerning Claudius, and of his coolness with the
latter before he had got rid of him. She saw Barker at the bottom of the
plot to send Claudius to Europe; she saw him in all the efforts made by
the Duke and Barker to keep Claudius and herself apart on board the
yacht; she saw his hand in it all, and she understood for the first time
that this man, whom she had of late permitted to be so much with her,
was her worst enemy, while aspiring to be her lover. The whole extent of
his faithlessness to Claudius came before her, as she remembered that it
had doubtless been to serve the Doctor that Barker had obtained an
introduction to her at Baden; that he had done everything to throw them
together, devoting himself to Miss Skeat, in a manner that drove that
ancient virgin to the pinnacle of bliss and despair, while leaving
Claudius free field to make love to herself. And then he had suddenly
turned and made up his mind that he should have her for his own wife.
And her anger rose higher and hotter as she thought of it.

Then she went over the scene of the evening at Mrs. Van Sueindell's
house--how she had not listened and not understood, until she was so
suddenly roused to the consciousness of what he was saying--how she had
faced him, and, in the inspiration of the moment, had boldly told him
that she loved his rival. In that thought she found satisfaction, as
well she might, for her love had been put to the test, and had not
failed her.

"I am glad I said it," she murmured to herself, and fell asleep. Poor
Claudius, far away over the sea, what a leap his heart would have given
could he have known what she had done, and that she was glad of it.

And Mr. Barker? He felt a little crushed when she left him there alone
in the Japanese boudoir, for he knew at once that he might as well throw
up the game. There was not the least chance for him any longer. He might
indeed suspect that the do