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"Why, Mary, what a gruesolethorp "Itrave Oh, there'sCynthia!"
A young girl in V A D uniforhtly across the lawn
"Why, Cynthia, you are late to-day This is Mr Hastings--Miss Murdoch"
Cynthia Murdoch was a fresh-looking young creature, full of life andvigour She tossed off her little V A D cap, and I adreatloose waves of her auburn hair, and the smallness and whiteness of thehand she held out to claim her tea With dark eyes and eyelashes shewould have been a beauty
She flung herself down on the ground beside John, and as I handed her aplate of sandwiches she smiled up at me
"Sit down here on the grass, do It's ever so much nicer"
I dropped down obediently
"You work at Tadminster, don't you, Miss Murdoch?"
She nodded
"For my sins"
"Do they bully you, then?" I asked, s
"I should like to see thenity
"I have got a cousin who is nursing," I remarked "And she is terrifiedof 'Sisters'"
"I don't wonder Sisters _are_, you know, Mr Hastings They simp--ly_are_! You've no idea! But I'm not a nurse, thank heaven, I work in thedispensary"
"How
Cynthia smiled too
"Oh, hundreds!" she said
"Cynthia," called Mrs Inglethorp, "do you think you could write a fewnotes for me?"
"Certainly, Aunt Emily"
She ju in her manner reminded lethorp, kind as sheet it
My hostess turned to me
"John will show you your room Supper
is at half-past seven We havegiven up late dinner for some time now Lady Tadminster, our Mehter--does the sarees with me that one must set an exa is wasted here--every scrap of waste paper, even,is saved and sent away in sacks"
I expressed my appreciation, and John took ht and left half-way to different wingsof the building My roo, and looked out over thepark
John left slowly across the grass arlethorp call "Cynthia" iirl started and ran backto the house At the same moment, a man stepped out from the shadow ofa tree and walked slowly in the same direction He looked about forty,very dark with a melancholy clean-shaven face So hinized hied much in the fifteen years thathad elapsed since we last er brother, LawrenceCavendish I wondered what it was that had brought that singularexpression to his face
Then I dismissed him from my mind, and returned to the contemplation ofmy own affairs
The evening passed pleasantly enough; and I dreamatical woman, Mary Cavendish
The next ht and sunny, and I was full of theanticipation of a delightful visit
I did not see Mrs Cavendish until lunch-time, when she volunteered totakein thewoods, returning to the house about five
As we entered the large hall, John beckoned us both into thes disturbing hadoccurred We followed him in, and he shut the door after us
"Look here, Mary, there's the deuce of a lethorp, and she's off"
"Evie? Off?"
John nodded gloomily
"Yes; you see she went to the mater, and--Oh, here's Evie herself"
Miss Howard entered Her lips were set griether, and she carrieda shtly onthe defensive
"At any rate," she burst out, "I've spoken my mind!"
"My dear Evelyn," cried Mrs Cavendish, "this can't be true!"
Miss Howard nodded grimly
"True enough! Afraid I said soive in a hurry Don't mind if they've only sunk in a bit Probablywater off a duck's back, though I said right out: 'You're an old woman,Emily, and there's no fool like an old fool The er than you, and don't you fool yourself as to what he married youfor Money! Well, don't let hiot a very pretty young wife Just ask your Alfred how ry Natural! I went on, 'I'to warn you, whether you like it or not That man would as soon murderyou in your bed as look at you He's a bad lot You can say what youlike to me, but remember what I've told you He's a bad lot!'"
"What did she say?"
Miss Howard rimace
"'Darling Alfred'--'dearest Alfred'--'wicked calumnies'--'wickedlies'--'wicked woman'--to accuse her 'dear husband'! The sooner I lefther house the better So I'm off"
"But not now?"
"This minute!"
For a mohis persuasions of no avail, went off to look up the trains His wifefollowed hilethorp tothink better of it
As she left the rooerly
"Mr Hastings, you're honest I can trust you?"
I was a little startled She laid her hand on my arm, and sank her voiceto a whisper
"Look after her, Mr Hastings My poor Emily They're a lot ofsharks--all of the about There isn'tone of theet money out of her I'veprotected her as much as I could Now I'm out of the way, they'll imposeupon her"
"Of course, Miss Howard," I said, "I'll do everything I can, but I'ht"
She interrupted er
"Young er than youhave All I ask you is to keep your eyes open You'll see what I mean"
The throb of the h the open , and Miss Howardrose and moved to the door John's voice sounded outside With her handon the handle, she turned her head over her shoulder, and beckoned tome
"Above all, Mr Hastings, watch that devil--her husband!"
There was no tierchorus of protests and good-byes The Inglethorps did not appear
As the motor drove away, Mrs Cavendish suddenly detached herself froroup, and moved across the drive to the lawn tofor the house The colour rose in hercheeks as she held out her hand to him
"Who is that?" I asked sharply, for instinctively I distrusted the man
"That's Dr Bauerstein," said John shortly
"And who is Dr Bauerstein?"
"He's staying in the village doing a rest cure, after a bad nervousbreakdown He's a London specialist; a very cleverexperts on poisons, I believe"
"And he's a great friend of Mary's," put in Cynthia, the irrepressible
John Cavendish frowned and changed the subject
"Cos This has been a ue, but there is no stauncher friend in Englandthan Evelyn Howard"
He took the path through the plantation, and alked down to thevillage through the woods which bordered one side of the estate
As we passed through one of the gates on our way ho in the opposite direction bowed andsmiled
"That's a pretty girl," I remarked appreciatively
John's face hardened
"That is Mrs Raikes"
"The one that Miss Howard----"
"Exactly," said John, with rather unnecessary abruptness
I thought of the white-haired old lady in the big house, and that vividwicked little face that had just s crept over me I brushed it aside
"Styles is really a glorious old place," I said to John
He nodded rather gloomily
"Yes, it's a fine property It'll be hts, if my father had only made a decent will And then Ishouldn't be so damned hard up as I am now"
"Hard up, are you?"
"My dear Hastings, I don'tyou that I'm at my wits' end formoney"
"Couldn't your brother help you?"
"Lawrence? He's gone through every penny he ever had, publishing rottenverses in fancy bindings No, we're an iood to us, I e, of course----" he broke off, frowning
For the first tione from the atmosphere Her presence had speltsecurity Now that security was removed--and the air seemed rifewith suspicion The sinister face of Dr Bauerstein recurred tofilledevil