r some few minutes, and when she did,
her words came in short and hurried gasps.

"You are kind," was what she said. "To be your--wife"--she had
difficulty in uttering the word, but it came at last--"would be an honor
and a protection. I appreciate both. But I am in no mood to-night to
listen to words of love from any man. Perhaps six months hence----"

But he already had her in his arms. The joy and relief he felt were so
great he could not control himself. "Imogene," he murmured, "my
Imogene!" And scarcely heeded her when, in a burst of subdued agony,
she asked to be released, saying that she was ill and tired, and must be
allowed to withdraw to her room.

But a second appeal woke him from his dream. If his worst fears were
without foundation; if her mind was pure of aught that unfitted her to
be his wife, there was yet much that was mysterious in her conduct, and,
consequently, much which he longed to have explained.

"Imogene," he said, "I must ask you to remain a moment longer. Hard as
it is for me to distress you, there is a question which I feel it
necessary to put to you before you go. It is in reference to the fearful
crime which took place to-day. Why did you take such an interest in it,
and why has it had such an effect upon you that you look like a changed
woman to-night?"

Disengaging herself from his arms, she looked at him with the set
composure of one driven to bay, and asked:

"Is there any thing strange in my being interested in a murder
perpetrated on a person whose name I have frequently heard mentioned in
this house?"

"No," he murmured, "no; but what led you to her home? It was not a spot
for a young lady to be in, and any other woman would have shrunk from so
immediate a contact with crime."

Imogene's hand was on the door, but she turned back.

"I am not like other women," she declared. "When I hear of any thing
strange or mysterious, I want to understand it. I did not stop to ask
what people would think of my conduct."

"But your grief and terror, Imogene? They are real, and not to be
disguised. Look in the glass over there, and you will yourself see what
an effect all this has had upon you. If Mrs. Clemmens is a stranger to
you; if you know no more of her than you have always led me to suppose,
why should you have been so unnaturally impressed by to-day's tragedy?"

It was a searching question, and her eye fell slightly, but her steady
demeanor did not fail her.

"Still," said sh