seemed to show that the younger lady must at least be thirty. He
would have liked to ask more, but was afraid to be too inquisitive,
for fear of exciting suspicion. On the whole, he was very well
satisfied with the information which he had gained; yet there still
remained far more to be done, and there was the necessity of
continued watching in person. To this necessity he devoted himself
with untiring and zealous patience.

For several days longer he watched thus, and learned that on
alternate days Lord Chetwynde was accustomed to ride in at the chief
gate, while on the other days he would leave his horse behind and
walk in at a little private gate at the nearer end of the park, and
some considerable distance from the main entrance. This at once
excited his strongest suspicions, and his imagination suggested many
different motives for so very clandestine yet so very methodical a
system of visiting. Of course he thought that it had reference to a
lady, and to nothing else. Then the question arose once more--what to
do. It was difficult to tell; but at length his decision was made. He
saw that the only way to get at the bottom of this mystery would be
to enter the grounds and follow Lord Chetwynde. Such an enterprise
was manifestly full of danger, but there was positively no help for
it. He could not think of going back to Hilda until he had gained
some definite and important information; and; all that he had thus
far discovered, though very useful as far as it went, was still
nothing more than preliminary. The mystery had not yet been solved.
He had only arrived at the beginning of it. The thought of this
necessity, which was laid upon him, determined him to make the bold
resolution of running all risks, and of tracking Lord Chetwynde
through the smaller gate.

So on one of those days when he supposed that Lord Chetwynde would be
coming there he entered the little gate and concealed himself in the
woods, in a place from which he could see any one who might enter
while he himself would be free from observation.

He was right in his conjectures. In about half an hour the man whom
he was expecting came along, and entering the gate, passed close
beside him. Gualtier waited for a time, so as to put a respectful
distance between himself and the other. Then he followed watchfully
and stealthily, keeping always at the same distance behind. For a
hundred yards or so the path wound on so that it was quite easy to
follow with