ly lips.

"Lucetta has a plan," was the hardly distinguishable answer. "I am to
take----"

That was all I could hear; a closing door shut off the remainder.
Something, then, was going on in this house, of a dark if not mysterious
character, and the attempts made by these two interesting and devoted
girls to cover up the fact, by explanations founded on their poverty,
had been but subterfuges after all. Grieved on their account, but
inwardly grateful to the imprudence of their more than reckless brother,
for this not-to-be-mistaken glimpse into the truth, I slowly descended
the stairs, in that state of complete self-possession which is given by
a secret knowledge of the intentions formed against us by those whose
actions we have reason to suspect.

Henceforth I had but one duty--to penetrate the mystery of this
household. Whether it was the one suspected by Mr. Gryce or another of a
less evil and dangerous character hardly mattered in my eyes. While the
blight of it rested upon this family, eyes would be lowered and heads
shaken at their name. This, if I could help it, must no longer be. If
guilt lay at the bottom of all this fear, then this guilt must be known;
if innocence--I thought of the brother's lowering brow and felt it
incompatible with innocence, but remembering Mr. Gryce's remarks on this
subject, read an instant lecture to myself and, putting all conclusions
aside, devoted the few minutes in which I found myself alone in the
dining-room to a careful preparation of my mind for its duty, which was
not likely to be of the simplest character if Lucetta's keen wits were
to be pitted against mine.

IX

A NEW ACQUAINTANCE

When my mind is set free from doubt and fully settled upon any course, I
am capable of much good nature and seeming simplicity. I was therefore
able to maintain my own at the breakfast-table with some success, so
that the meal passed off without any of the disagreeable experiences of
the night before. Perhaps the fact that Loreen presided at the
coffee-urn instead of Lucetta had something to do with this. Her calm,
even looks seemed to put some restraint upon the boisterous outbursts to
which William was only too liable, while her less excitable nature
suffered less if by any chance he did break out and startle the decorous
silence by one of his rude guffaws.

I am a slow eater, but I felt forced to hurry through the meal or be
left eating alone at the end. This did not put me in