it were my fault. As if I were not as great
a sufferer as anybody. As if I hadn't had
enough to shake my nerves already." And
Myrrha began to sob.

"There, there," said Mr. Stewart soothingly.
" I beg your pardon if I was un-gentle.
Now be a good, sensible girl,
Myrrha, forget yourself for once, and just
tell me what there is to tell. Not much I
expect. It will prove to be a much-ado-
about-nothing sort of story. Come, just
tell me all you know." He took her hand,
drew it through his arm, and led her to a
garden- seat. Myrrha dried her eyes and
sat down.

"It was a letter did it, Mr. Stewart, a
letter that came this morning—of this I
feel quite sure. But she told me nothing,
she never trusted me. I know nothing.
But I'm sure it's something very bad. I
believe we shall never see her again. I
fancy, I've an impression, that she's gone
away to drown herself."

Here Myrrha, who was vaguely alarmed,
and had a very genuine consciousness of
the discomfort of her own position, began
to sob again.

"I want neither your beliefs, nor fancies,
nor impressions, nor any such nonsense as
you have just spoken. Just tell me, from
the beginning, what took place. First,
when you say it was a letter did it, what
do you mean by ' did it'?"

"I mean frightened her so that she ran
away."

"Ran away, pshaw! Possibly she heard
of the illness of some friend, and is gone
for the day, to be back at night."

"Mr. Stewart, it was much more than
that!" Myrrha said, with angry solemnity.
"She is not coming back. She told me as
good as that she was not coming back."

"Her words—tell me in what words she
said she was not coming back." Quite
unintentionally he slightly shook Myrrha's
arm as he spoke. Myrrha withdrew it
indignantly.

"How rough, how unkind you are!" she
exclaimed. " You might have some feeling
for me, Mr. Stewart; I'm sure I'm to
be pitied. What can I do? What will
become of me? I can't, young as I am,
stay here alone, and where am I to go?"

"We will settle all that afterwards: the
first thing is for me to know all I can about
your Aunt Daisy. What were her words
when she ' as good as told you ' she was
not coming back?"

"She said that if she didn't come back,
I was to ask you for advice; that you would
be a true friend to me."

"Was that this morning, or last night?"

"This morning."

"And about the letter? It came by
post?"

"I suppose so; the post was in when I
came down. I was late this morning, for
I didn't sleep well last night, and I woke
with a headache; one of my very-bad
headaches. I've been subject to them ever
since—— "

"Never mind about your headaches
just now. Your aunt had read this letter,
to which you attach so much importance,
when you came down?"

"No; and I don't think she had seen
it. It lay under one for me."

"You saw nothing different from usual
in your Aunt Daisy till she read that
letter?"

"No. She flushed up when I gave it
to her. I didn't suppose it could be
interesting, and I was surprised to see her
flush."

"Why didn't you suppose it could be
interesting?"

"It didn't look like a gentleman's letter,
or a lady's. I didn't pay any particular
attention to her as she read the letter,
because my own letter was very interesting,"
(with a conscious air), " and it was long.
I didn't notice Aunt Daisy till I'd finished
it, and then—— "

"Well?"

"Then I looked up, and was going to
tell her something" (this spoken with that
same conscious air), " but I saw her looking
so that she frightened me."

"How did she look?"

"She looked awful, just like a person
coming out of a bad swoon."

"What did she say?"

"Of course I asked her what was the
"matter. At first she didn't seem alive
enough to speak. The first thing she did
say was just to ask me to ring the bell for
Mrs. Moss."

"Well? when Mrs. Moss came, what did
your Aunt Daisy say to her?"

"She just told her she'd had bad news,
and must go away."

"Go away for a day or so, she said, of
course?"

"She said nothing of the sort. She
only told Mrs. Moss to pack a few things
for her as quickly as possible, and to send
at once to the village to order the fly."

"To take her where?"

"To the station."

"Well, go on."

"That is all."

"You have nothing more to tell me?"