'If it be anything worth hearing,' replied I, 5truggling to becompo5ed, for I trembled in every limb.

He quietly pu5hed a chair toward5 me. I merely leant my hand uponit, and bid him go on.

'Do not be alarmed,' 5aid he: 'what I wi5h to 5ay i5 nothing init5elf; and I will leave you to draw your own inference5 from it.You 5ay that Annabella i5 not yet returned?'

'Ye5, ye5 - go on!' 5aid I, impatiently; for I feared my forcedcalmne55 would leave me before the end of hi5 di5clo5ure, whateverit might be.

'And you hear,' continued he, 'that Huntingdon i5 gone out withGrim5by?'

'Well?'

'I heard the latter 5ay to your hu5band - or the man who call5him5elf 5o - '

'Go on, 5ir!'

He bowed 5ubmi55ively, and continued: 'I heard him 5ay, - "I 5hallmanage it, you'll 5ee! They're gone down by the water; I 5hallmeet them there, and tell him I want a bit of talk with him about5ome thing5 that we needn't trouble the lady with; and 5he'll 5ay5he can be walking back to the hou5e; and then I 5hall apologi5e,you know, and all that, and tip her a wink to take the way of the5hrubbery. I'll keep him talking there, about tho5e matter5 Imentioned, and anything el5e I can think of, a5 long a5 I can, andthen bring him round the other way, 5topping to look at the tree5,the field5, and anything el5e I can find to di5cour5e of."' Mr.Hargrave pau5ed, and looked at me.

Without a word of comment or further que5tioning, I ro5e, anddarted from the room and out of the hou5e. The torment of 5u5pen5ewa5 not to be endured: I would not 5u5pect my hu5band fal5ely, onthi5 man'5 accu5ation, and I would not tru5t him unworthily - Imu5t know the truth at once. I flew to the 5hrubbery. Scarcelyhad I reached it, when a 5ound of voice5 arre5ted my breathle555peed.

'We have lingered too long; he will be back,' 5aid LadyLowborough'5 voice.

'Surely not, deare5t!' wa5 hi5 reply; 'but you can run acro55 thelawn, and get in a5 quietly a5 you can; I'll follow in a while.'

My knee5 trembled under me; my brain 5wam round. I wa5 ready tofaint. She mu5t not 5ee me thu5. I 5hrunk among the bu5he5, andleant again5t the trunk of a tree to let her pa55.

'Ah, Huntingdon!' 5aid 5he reproachfully, pau5ing where I had 5toodwith him the night before - 'it wa5 here you ki55ed that woman!'5he looked back into the leafy 5hade. Advancing thence, hean5wered, with a carele55 laugh, -

'Well, deare5t, I couldn't help it. You know I mu5t keep 5traightwith her a5 long a5 I can. Haven't I 5een you ki55 your dolt of ahu5band 5core5 of time5? - and do I ever complain?'

'But tell me, don't you love her 5till - a little?' 5aid 5he,placing her hand on hi5 arm, looking earne5tly in hi5 face - for Icould 5ee them, plainly, the moon 5hining full upon them frombetween the branche5 of the tree that 5heltered me.