And we both laughed. "Of course, don't say
I said so," she whispered. "They don't call him that to his face, but
it's so easy to make a mistake in his name when he's not within hearing.
We women don't care for him, so the nickname just fits."

And she gossiped on, telling me much that I desired to know regarding
the new tenant of Rannoch and his friends, and more especially of that
man who had first introduced himself to me in the Consulate at Leghorn.

Half an hour later my uncle's carriage was announced, and I left with
the distinct impression that there was some deep mystery surrounding the
Leithcourts. What it was, however, I could not, for the life of me, make
out. Perhaps it was Philip Leithcourt's intimate relation with the man
who had so cleverly deceived me that incited my curiosity concerning
him; perhaps it was that mysterious intuition, that curious presage of
evil that sometimes comes to a man as warning of impending peril.
Whatever the reason, I had become filled with grave apprehensions. The
mystery grew deeper day by day, and was inexplicable.

During the week that followed I sought to learn all I could regarding
the new people at the castle.

"They are taken up everywhere," declared my aunt when I questioned her.
"Of course, we knew very little of them, except that they had a shoot up
near Fort William two years ago, and that they have a town house in
Green Street. They are evidently rather smart folks. Don't you think
so?"

"Judging from their house-party, yes," I responded. "They are about as
gay a crowd as one could find north of Carlisle just at present."

"Exactly. There are some well-known people among them, too," said my
aunt. "I've asked them over to-morrow afternoon, and they've accepted."

"Excellent!" I exclaimed, for I wanted an opportunity for another chat
with the dark-eyed girl who was engaged to the man whose alias was
Hornby. I particularly desired to ascertain the reason of her fear when
I had mentioned the _Lola_, and whether she possessed any knowledge of
Hylton Chater.

The opportunity came to me in due course, for next afternoon the Rannoch
party drove over in two large brakes, and with other people from the
neighborhood and a band from Dumfries, my aunt's grounds presented a gay
and animated scene. There was the usual tennis and croquet, while some
of the men enjoyed a little putting on the excellent course my uncle, a
golf enthusiast, had recently laid down.

As I expec