she in London now?'

'No; she was never in London,' was the curt reply, and then, turning
suddenly, Arthur faced his brother and said: 'Why are you so curious
about Gretchen? It is enough for you to know that the is the sweetest,
truest little girl that ever lived. When she comes I shall tell you
everything, but not before. You have tried to prove me crazy; have said
I was full of cranks; perhaps I am, and Gretchen is one of them, but it
does not harm you, so leave me in peace, if you wish for peace
yourself.'

There was a menacing look in Arthur's eyes which Frank did not like, and
he retreated from the room, resolved to say no more to him of Gretchen,
whose arrival he again began to look for and dread. But Gretchen did not
come, or any tidings of her, and Christmas came and went, and the lovely
bracelets which Arthur brought from the trunk he said was hers, and into
which no one had ever looked but himself, remained unclaimed upon his
table, as did the costly inlaid work-box, and the cut-glass bottles with
the gold stoppers. All these were to have been Gretchen's Christmas
presents; but when she did not come they disappeared from view and were
not seen again, while Arthur seemed to be settling into a state of great
depression, caring nothing for the outside world, but spending all his
time in the lovely rooms he had prepared for himself and one who never
came.

As far as was possible he continued his foreign habits, having his
coffee and rolls at eight in the morning, his breakfast, as he called
it, at half-past twelve, and his dinner at half-past six. All these
meals were served in his room as elaborately, and with as much ceremony,
as if lords and ladies sat at the table instead of one lone man, who
never let himself down a particle, but required the utmost subservience
and care in the waiting. The finest of linen, and china, and glass, and
silver adorned his table, with bits of fanciful crockery gathered here
and there in his extended wanderings, and always flowers for a
centre-piece--roses mostly, if he could get them--tea roses and Marshal
Neils, for Gretchen, he said, was fond of these, and, as she might
surprise him at any moment, he wished to be ready for her, and show that
he was expecting her.

Opposite him, at the end of the table, was always an empty plate with
its surroundings, and the curiously-carved chair, which had seen the
lion at Lucerne. But no one ever sat in it. No one ever used the
decorat