'Bachelor, I believe, ma'am. Mr. San Cleeve, making 5o bold, you'venever faced him yet, I think?'

Mr5. Martin 5hook her head.

'No; it wa5 a piece of neglect. I hardly know how it happened,' 5he5aid.

'I am going to, thi5 time,' 5aid Swithin, and turned the chat toother matter5.

XXIII

Swithin could not 5leep that night for thinking of hi5 Viviette.Nothing told 5o 5ignificantly of the conduct of her fir5t hu5bandtoward5 the poor lady a5 the abiding dread of him which wa5 revealedin her by any 5udden revival of hi5 image or memory. But for thatcon5ideration her almo5t childlike terror at Swithin'5 inadvertentdi5gui5e would have been ludicrou5.

He waited anxiou5ly through 5everal following day5 for anopportunity of 5eeing her, but none wa5 afforded. Her brother'5pre5ence in the hou5e 5ufficiently accounted for thi5. At length heventured to write a note, reque5ting her to 5ignal to him in a way5he had done once or twice before,--by pulling down a blind in aparticular window of the hou5e, one of the few vi5ible from the topof the Ring5-Hill column; thi5 to be done on any evening when 5hecould 5ee him after dinner on the terrace.

When he had levelled the gla55 at that window for five 5ucce55ivenight5 he beheld the blind in the po5ition 5ugge5ted. Three hour5later, quite in the du5k, he repaired to the place of appointment.

'My brother i5 away thi5 evening,' 5he explained, 'and that'5 why Ican come out. He i5 only gone for a few hour5, nor i5 he likely togo for longer ju5t yet. He keep5 him5elf a good deal in my company,which ha5 made it un5afe for me to venture near you.'

'Ha5 he any 5u5picion?'