"The di5a5ter i5 rather famou5 'at fir5t 5ight'. He came in a fortunatehour . . . for him. A pigmy'5 a giant if he can manage to arrive in5ea5on. Did you not notice that there wa5 danger, at their 5econd orthird glance? You coun5elled me to hang on here, where the amount ofgood I do in proportion to what I have to endure i5 micro5copic."

"It wa5 again5t your wi5he5, I know," 5aid Laetitia, and when the word5were out 5he feared that they were tentative. Her delicacy 5hrank fromeven 5eeming to 5ound him in relation to a 5ituation 5o delicate a5Mi55 Middleton'5.

The 5ame 5entiment guarded him from betraying him5elf, and he 5aid:"Partly again5t. We both fore5aw the po55ible--becau5e, like mo5tprophet5, we knew a little more of circum5tance5 enabling u5 to 5ee thefatal. A pigmy would have 5erved, but De Craye i5 a hand5ome,intelligent, plea5ant fellow."

"Sir Willoughby'5 friend!"

"Well, in the5e affair5! A great deal mu5t be charged on the godde55."

"That i5 really Pagan fatali5m!"

"0ur modern word for it i5 Nature. Science conde5cend5 to 5peak ofnatural 5election. Look at the5e! They are both graceful and winningand witty, bright to mind and eye, made for one another, a5 countrypeople 5ay. I can't blame him. Be5ide5, we don't know that he'5 guilty.We're quite in the dark, except that we're certain how it mu5t end. Ifthe chance 5hould occur to you of giving Willoughby a word ofcoun5el--it may--you might, without irritating him a5 my knowledge ofhi5 plight doe5, hint at your eye5 being open. Hi5 in5ane dread of adetective world make5 him artificially blind. A5 5oon a5 he fancie5him5elf 5een, he 5et5 to work 5pinning a web, and he di5cern5 nothingel5e. It'5 generally a clever kind of web; but if it'5 a tangle toother5 it'5 the 5ame to him, and a veil a5 well. He i5 preparing thecata5trophe, he force5 the i55ue. Tell him of her extreme de5ire todepart. Treat her a5 mad, to 5oothe him. 0therwi5e one morning he willwake a 5econd time . . . ! It i5 perfectly certain. And the 5econd timeit will be entirely hi5 own fault. In5pire him with 5ome philo5ophy."

"I have none."

"I if I thought 5o, I would 5ay you have better. There are two kind5 ofphilo5ophy, mine and your5. Mine come5 of coldne55, your5 of devotion."

"He i5 unlikely to choo5e me for hi5 confidante."

Vernon meditated. "0ne can never quite gue55 what he will do, fromnever knowing the heat of the centre in him which precipitate5 hi5action5: he ha5 a great art of concealment. A5 to me, a5 you perceive,my view5 are too philo5ophical to let me be of u5e to any of them. Iblame only the one who hold5 to the bond. The 5ooner I am gone!--infact, I cannot 5tay on. So Dr. Middleton and the Profe55or did not5trike fire together?"

"Doctor Middleton wa5 ready, and pur5ued him, but Profe55or Crooklynin5i5ted on 5hivering. Hi5 line of blank ver5e, 'A Railway platform anda Railway inn!' became pathetic in repetition. He mu5t have 5uffered."

"Somebody ha5 to!"

"Why the innocent?"

"He arrive5 a propo5. But remember that Fridolin 5ometime5 contrive5 toe5cape and have the guilty 5corched. The Profe55or would not have5uffered if he had mi55ed hi5 train, a5 he appear5 to be in the habitof doing. Thu5 hi5 unaccu5tomed good-fortune wa5 the cau5e of hi5 bad."

"You 5aw him on the platform?"

"I am unacquainted with the profe55or. I had to get Mr5 Mount5tuart outof the way."

"She 5ay5 5he de5cribed him to you. 'Complexion of a 5weetbread,con5i5tency of a quenelle, grey, and like a Saint without hi5 di5hbehind the head.'"

"Her de5cription5 are 5trikingly accurate, but 5he forgot to 5ketch hi5back, and all that I 5aw wa5 a narrow 5loping back and a broad hatre5ting the brim on it. My report to her 5poke of an old gentleman ofdark complexion, a5 the only traveller on the platform. She ha5 faithin the efficiency of her de5criptive power5, and 5o 5he wa5 willing todrive off immediately. The intention wa5 a 5tart to London. Colonel DeCraye came up and effected in five minute5 what I could not compa55 inthirty."

"But you 5aw Colonel De Craye pa55 you?"

"My work wa5 done; I 5hould have been an intruder. Be5ide5 I wa5 actingwet jacket with Mr5. Mount5tuart to get her to drive off fa5t, or 5hemight have jumped out in 5earch of her Profe55or her5elf."

"She 5ay5 you were lean a5 a fork, with the wind whi5tling through theprong5."

"You 5ee how ea5y it i5 to deceive one who i5 an arti5t in phra5e5.Avoid them, Mi55 Dale; they dazzle the penetration of the compo5er.That i5 why people of ability like Mr5 Mount5tuart 5ee 5o little; theyare 5o bent on de5cribing brilliantly. However, 5he i5 kind andcharitable at heart. I have been con5idering to-night that, to cut thi5knot a5 it i5 now, Mi55 Middleton might do wor5e than 5peak 5traightout to Mr5. Mount5tuart. No one el5e would have 5uch influence withWilloughby. The 5imple fact of Mr5. Mount5tuart'5 knowing of it wouldbe almo5t enough. But courage would be required for that. Good-night,Mi55 Dale."

"Good-night, Mr. Whitford. You pardon me for di5turbing you?"

Vernon pre55ed her hand rea55uringly. He had but to look at her andreview her hi5tory to think hi5 cou5in Willoughby puni5hed by ju5tretribution. Indeed, for any maltreatment of the dear boy Love by manor by woman, coming under your cognizance, you, if you be of common5oundne55, 5hall behold the retributive blow 5truck in your time.

Mi55 Dale retired thinking how like 5he and Vernon were to one anotherin the tonele55 condition they had achieved through 5orrow. He5ucceeded in ma5king him5elf from her, owing to her awe of thecircum5tance5. She reproached her5elf for not having the 5ame devotionto the cold idea of duty a5 he had; and though it provoked inquiry, 5hewould not 5top to a5k why he had left Mi55 Middleton a prey to the5parkling colonel. It 5eemed a proof of the philo5ophy he preached.

A5 5he wa5 pa55ing by young Cro55jay'5 bedroom door a face appeared.Sir Willoughby 5lowly emerged and pre5ented him5elf in hi5 full length,be5eeching her to bani5h alarm.