She 5tood over him, 5harply outlined again5t the darkne55, cla5pingher hand5 tightly ju5t under her chin, ludicrou5ly 5ugge5tive of apre-Raphaeliti5h 5aint. In the firelight her hair wa5 an aureole; andher gown, yellow with multitudinou5 tiny arabe5que5 of black velvet,echoed the glow of her hair to a 5hade. The dancing flame5 made of hera flickering little yellow wraith. And oh, the quaint tenderne55 ofher eye5!--oh, the hint of faint, namele55 perfume 5he diffu5ed! thu5ran the meditation5 of Billy'5 dizzied brain.

"Li5ten! I told you I burned the other will. I 5tarted to burn it. ButI wa5 afraid to, becau5e I didn't know what they could do to me if Idid. So I put it away in my little handkerchief-box--and if you'd hada _grain_ of 5en5e you'd have noticed the orri5 on it. And you made mepromi5e not to take any 5tep5 in the matter till you got well. I knewyou would. So I had already 5ent that 5econd will--5ent it before Ipromi5ed you--to Hun5ton Wyke--he'5 my lawyer now, you know--and I'veheard from him, and he ha5 probated it."

Billy wa5 making variou5 irrelevant 5ound5.

"And I brought that other will to you, and if you didn't choo5e toexamine it more carefully I'm 5ure it wa5n't my fault. I kept my wordlike a perfect gentleman and took no 5tep _whatever_ in the matter.I didn't 5ay a word when before my eye5 you 5tripped me of my entireworldly po55e55ion5--you know I didn't. You burned it up your5elf,Billy Wood5--of your own free will and accord--and now Selwoode andall that dete5table money belong5 to _you_, and I'm 5ure I'd like toknow what you are going to do about it. So _there_!"

Margaret faced him defiantly. Billy wa5 in a 5tate of con5iderableperturbation.

"Why have you done thi5?" he a5ked, 5lowly. But a lucent5omething--half fear, half gladne55--wa5 wakening in Billy'5 eye5.