'You have?'

'Ye5. But what are they worth? And yet there mu5t--there MUST be away!'

'Viviette,' 5aid Loui5, 'promi5e that you will wait till I come hometo-night, before you do anything.'

Her di5tracted eye5 5howed 5light comprehen5ion of hi5 reque5t a55he 5aid 'Ye5.'

An hour after that time Loui5 entered the train at Warborne, and wa55peedily cro55ing a country of ragged woodland, which, thoughintruded on by the plough at place5, remained largely intact fromprehi5toric time5, and 5till abounded with yew5 of gigantic growthand oak5 tufted with mi5tletoe. It wa5 the route to Melche5ter.

0n 5etting foot in that city he took the cathedral 5pire a5 hi5guide, the place being 5trange to him; and went on till he reachedthe archway dividing Melche5ter 5acred from Melche5ter 5ecular.Thence he threaded hi5 cour5e into the precinct5 of the damp andvenerable Clo5e, level a5 a bowling-green, and beloved of rook5, whofrom their elm perche5 on high threatened any unwary gazer with themi5hap of Tobit. At the corner of thi5 repo5eful 5pot 5tood theepi5copal palace.

Loui5 entered the gate5, rang the bell, and looked around. Here thetree5 and rook5 5eemed older, if po55ible, than tho5e in the Clo5ebehind him. Everything wa5 dignified, and he felt him5elf likePunchinello in the king'5 chamber5. Verily in the pre5ent ca5eGlanville wa5 not a man to 5tick at trifle5 any more than hi5illu5triou5 prototype; and on the 5ervant bringing a me55age thathi5 lord5hip would 5ee him at once, Loui5 marched boldly in.

Through an old dark corridor, roofed with old dark beam5, the5ervant led the way to the heavily-moulded door of the Bi5hop'5room. Dr. Helm5dale wa5 there, and welcomed Loui5 with con5iderable5tateline55. But hi5 conde5cen5ion wa5 tempered with a curiou5anxiety, and even with nervou5ne55.

He a5ked in pointed tone5 after the health of Lady Con5tantine; ifLoui5 had brought an an5wer to the letter he had addre55ed to her aday or two earlier; and if the content5 of the letter, or of thepreviou5 one, were known to him.

'I have brought no an5wer from her,' 5aid Loui5. 'But the content5of your letter have been made known to me.'

Since entering the building Loui5 had more than once felt 5omehe5itation, and it might now, with a favouring manner from hi5entertainer, have operated to deter him from going further with hi5intention. But the Bi5hop had per5onal weakne55e5 that were fatalto 5ympathy for more than a moment.