r reception of him, she
made an effort to speak with some appearance of composure.

"I lead a lonely life," she said; "and I can well understand that my
face shows it. You are one of my very few friends, Mr. Morris"--the
tears rose again; it discouraged her to see him standing irresolute,
with his hat in his hand, fearful of intruding on her. "Indeed, indeed,
you are welcome," she said, very earnestly.

In those sad days her heart was easily touched. She gave him her hand
for the second time. He held it gently for a moment. Every day since
they had parted she had been in his thoughts; she had become dearer to
him than ever. He was too deeply affected to trust himself to answer.
That silence pleaded for him as nothing had pleaded for him yet. In
her secret self she remembered with wonder how she had received his
confession in the school garden. It was a little hard on him, surely, to
have forbidden him even to hope.

Conscious of her own weakness--even while giving way to it--she felt the
necessity of turning his attention from herself. In some confusion, she
pointed to a chair at her side, and spoke of his first visit, when he
had left her letters at the door. Having confided to him all that she
had discovered, and all that she had guessed, on that occasion, it
was by an easy transition that she alluded next to the motive for his
journey to the North.

"I thought it might be suspicion of Mrs. Rook," she said. "Was I
mistaken?"

"No; you were right."

"They were serious suspicions, I suppose?"

"Certainly! I should not otherwise have devoted my holiday-time to
clearing them up."

"May I know what they were?"

"I am sorry to disappoint you," he began.

"But you would rather not answer my question," she interposed.

"I would rather hear you tell me if you have made any other guess."

"One more, Mr. Morris. I guessed that you had become acquainted with Sir
Jervis Redwood."

"For the second time, Miss Emily, you have arrived at a sound
conclusion. My one hope of finding opportunities for observing Sir
Jervis's housekeeper depended on my chance of gaining admission to Sir
Jervis's house."

"How did you succeed? Perhaps you provided yourself with a letter of
introduction?"

"I knew nobody who could introduce me," Alban replied. "As the event
proved, a letter would have been needless. Sir Jervis introduced
himself--and, more wonderful still, he invited me to his house at our
first interview."

"Sir Jervis