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Perhaps it was that her talk put the subject in my mindThe womanneeded no such aid; she was always there; but when I locked ht, I half expected to find her in the rooan to readThe titlewas "On the Powers and Qualities of Diserammar," said I to the author, "is hardly attractive, but I ht apply to herI shall read your book"Beforesettling down to it, however, I thought I would have a look at thegardenSince the night of the visit the garden seeht seldo inSo I drew the great curtain and lookedout

The scene was beautiful, but allea cloudThe as rising, and the air was damp and coldIlooked round the room instinctively, and noticed that the fire was laidready for lighting, and that there were ss of wood piledbeside the hearthEver since that night I have had a fire laid readyI was teht it, but as I never have a fire unless I sleep inthe open, I hesitated to beginI went back to the , and, openingthe catch, stepped out on the terraceAs I looked down the white walkand let glistened as the ure flitting ast the shrubs and statuesThe whole scene ofthe former visit came back to me so vividly that I could hardly believethat any tiainlate in the eveningLife in Vissarion was prih not so late as on that night

As I looked I thought I caught a gliht coe of a cloudBut all the sae state of perturbationSoht of h I washypnotized by the situation or byof what I was doing, or being conscious of anyreason for it, I crossed the rooht to the fireThen I blewout the candle and caht bea foolish thing to do--to stand at a ith a light behind un with hi clothes, too, with my breast well marked by a white shirtIopened theand stepped out on the terraceThere I stood forover the gardenOnce I thought I sahite figureconscious that it was again beginning to rain, I steppedback into the room, shut the , and drew the curtainThen Irealized the co appearance of the fire, and went over and stoodbefore it

Hark!Onceat theI rushed overto it and drew the curtain

There, out on the rain-beaten terrace, stood the white shrouded figure, than everGhastly pale she looked, as before,but her eyes had an eager look which was newI took it that she wasattracted by the fire, which was by noell ablaze, and was throwing upjets of fla flalealea the starsthat lay in them

Without a word I threw open the , and, taking the white handextended to me, drew into the room the Lady of the Shroud

As she entered and felt the warlad lookspread over her faceShe made a movement as if to run to itBut shedrew back an instant after, looking round with instinctive cautionSheclosed theand bolted it, touched the lever which spread thegrille across the opening, and pulled close the curtain behind itThenshe went swiftly to the door and tried if it was lockedSatisfied as tothis, she ca before it,stretched out her numbed hands to the blazeAlan to steaThe precautions ofsecrecy in the --for that she did suffer was onlytoo painfully erThen andthere my mind was made up that there should no harm assail her that I byany means could fend offStill, the present must be attended to;pneumonia and other ills stalked behind such a chill as must infalliblycoain thedressing-gohich she had worn before and handed it to her, as I did so towards the screen which had -room for her onthe former occasionTo my surprise she hesitatedI waitedShewaited, too, and then laid down the dressing-gown on the edge of thestone fenderSo I spoke:

"Won't you change as you did before?Your--your frock can then be driedDo!It will be so much safer for you to be dry clad when you resume yourown dress"

"How can I whilst you are here?"

Her words made me stare, so different were they from her acts of theother visitI simply bowed--speech on such a subject would be at leastinadequate--and walked over to thePassing behind the curtain, Iopened theBefore stepping out on to the terrace, I looked intothe room and said:

"Take your own timeThere is no hurryI dare say you will find thereall you may wantI shall remain on the terrace until you su close the glass door behindme

I stood looking out on the dreary scene for what seemed a very shorttime, my mind in a whirlThere caure steal round the edge of the curtainA white hand wasraised, and beckonedthebehind before thefire with her hands outstretchedThe shroud was laid in partiallyopened folds on one side of the hearth, and was steaht over some cushions and pillows, and made a little pile of thembeside her

"Sit there," I said, "and rest quietly in the heat"Itheat, but there was a rich colour in her faceas she looked ateyesWithout a word, but with acourteous little bow, she sat down at onceI put a thick rug across hershoulders, and sat down myself on a stool a couple of feet away

For fully five or sixherhead towards me she said in a sweet, low voice:

"I had intended coracious courtesy to me, but circumstances were such that Icould not leave --"my abodeI amnot free, as you and others are, to do what I willMy existence issadly cold and stern, and full of horrors that appalBut I _do_ thankyouFor myself I am not sorry for the delay, for every hour showsand sympathetic you have been tomeI only hope that some day you may realize how kind you have been,and how much I appreciate it"