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"And they brought her in guilty?"

"Yes, and the Judge sentenced her I don't like to accuse one of His Majesty's judges of allowing his judg," said Sir Richard slowly; "but it has always seemed to me that Chloe's h the case did not interest her vitally--was in some subtle fashion an affront to the man His remarks to her seemed to me unnecessarily severe, and he certainly did not err on the side of leniency"

"I should think not! Twelve months--why, it's an Eternity!"

"What irl!" Sir Richard spoke pitifully "I used to fancy she would die in prison--I could not irading surroundings You know, not only had she been lapped in luxury, as they say, all her life, but, more important still, she had been used to boundless love and affection from all around her"

"You find her much altered?"

"Yes I can't say exactly in what the alteration consists," returned Sir Richard thoughtfully "It's not oes deeper than that I called her posée just now Well, I don't know if that's the right word Sometimes I think that frozen manner of hers isn't a pose after all, it's natural to her nowadays She seeh Where she used to be all syid, passionless The girl's barely twenty-five, but upon ht be a woman of fifty for all the youth there is about her--except in her looks, and there I believe she's handsoar was smoked out; but there was one question he must ask before he took his leave

"And her husband--Major Carstairs? He--I gather he was inclined to agree with the verdict?"

Sir Richard hesitated, and when he spoke there was a note of pain in his voice

"I a himself to believe in his wife's innocence He was in India at the tiot ho on Heaven knows on what grounds he bases his doubts of her One would have thought it impossible for a man to live with a woman like Chloe and not know her incapable of the deed But hu----" He broke off