"But what to do?" The ring of his question made his anger at Mona almost resemble for a minute an anger at Fleda; and this resemblance in turn caused our young lady to observe how handsome he looked when he spoke, for the first time in her hearing, with that degree of heat, and used, also for the first time, such a term as "perpetrated." In addition, his challenge rendered still more vivid to her the mere flimsiness of her own aid. "Yes, you've been perfect," she said. "You've had a most difficult part. You've had to show tact and patience, as well as firmness, with your mother, and you've strikingly shown them. It's I who, quite unintentionally, have deceived you. I haven't helped you at all to your remedy."!

"I must take it on trust," the girl pursued. "And what if Mona doesn't give you up?" she added. The girl hesitated. "What do people say of that? I mean the 'world.'"

"About the contents of the house. Aren't you looking after them for him?" "Not a whisper, not a step, in all the eight days. Perhaps they don't know. Perhaps they're crouching for a leap." "It was near it, I was told, an hour ago—the fury of the flames had got such a start. I was there myself at six, the very first I heard of it. They were fighting it then, but you couldn't quite say they had got it down."