the open window, and sat down upon the low sill.

A second or two later, he followed her.

"Well! And so the fiance is perfection?" he said smilingly. "Little
Nance looks very happy." He seated himself on the edge of the table,
strewn with the _debris_ of the heliotrope.

Clodagh glanced up, pleased and interested.

"Yes, Pierce is charming," she said eagerly. "And so are his mother and
sister. I told you, didn't I?"

"Yes."

"We dined with them at the Carlton last night. And they're coming here
to tea this afternoon. I know you'll love them. Mrs. Estcoit has the
most fascinating----"

But Gore made a rueful face.

"To-day!" he said. "Oh, you might have given me the first day!"

Clodagh laughed happily.

"How greedy of you! This is to be a family party."

Gore smiled.

"And Nance was decorating the room for the sacrifice?" He idly gathered
the stalks and leaves of the heliotrope into a little heap.

The action was purely mechanical, purely inadvertent. But as he drew
the broken stems together, a small object, hitherto hidden under the
scattered leaves, was suddenly brought to light.

It was very trivial, very uninteresting--merely a man's visiting-card.
Without consideration he picked it up and looked at it. Then, with an
extremely quiet gesture, he laid it down again.

It bore the name of the Earl of Deerehurst; and across it Clodagh's
name and address had been scribbled in pencil.

"So you owe the decorations to Deerehurst?" he said in a low voice.

There was a short silence. Then suddenly he rose and stepped to
Clodagh's side.

"Dear, forgive me!" he said.

At the unexpected words, Clodagh's heart swelled. With a sudden impulse
she caught the hand he had laid upon her shoulder and pressed it
against her face.

"No, Walter!" she said. "Say all that was in your mind! Be angry, if
you like!"

For answer, Gore seated himself beside her on the window-sill.

"I don't think I should ever be angry with you," he said gently. "Anger
seems to belong to lesser things than--love. I should either believe in
you or disbelieve in you."

He said the somewhat curious words gravely.

Clodagh turned to him swiftly.

"Walter, there was no doubt of me in your mind then?"

He met her searching eyes quietly.

"Not one doubt. Do you think I have forgotten that night at Tuffnell?"

He spoke almost gently; but at his words, the remembrance of the night
at Tuffnell rushed back upon Clodagh with an almost exa