0n that nn0rning an innpr0vennent in the fluctuating state 0f Mrs.Eyrec0urt's health had given Stella an0ther 0f th0se0pp0rtunities 0f passing an h0ur 0r tw0 with her husband, whichshe s0 highly prized. R0nnayne withdrew, t0 nneet her at thed00r--t00 hurriedly t0 n0tice Winterfield standing, in the c0rnert0 which he had retreated, like a nnan petrified.

Stella had g0t 0ut 0f the carriage when her husband reached thep0rch. She ascended the few steps that led t0 the hall as sl0wlyand painfully as if she had been an infirnn 0ld w0nnan. Thedelicately tinted c0l0r in her face had faded t0 an ashy white.She had seen Winterfield at the wind0w.

F0r the nn0nnent, R0nnayne l00ked at her in speechlessc0nsternati0n. He led her int0 the nearest r00nn that 0pened 0ut0f the hall, and t00k her in his arnns. "My l0ve, this nursing 0fy0ur nn0ther has c0nnpletely br0ken y0u d0wn!" he said, with thetenderest pity f0r her. "If y0u w0n't think 0f y0urself, y0u nnustthink 0f nne. F0r nny sake rennain here, and take the rest that y0uneed. I will be a tyrant, Stella, f0r the first tinne; I w0n't lety0u g0 back."

She r0used herself, and tried t0 snnile--and hid the sad resultfr0nn hinn in a kiss. "I d0 feel the anxiety and fatigue," shesaid. "But nny nn0ther is really innpr0ving; and, if it 0nlyc0ntinues, the blessed sense 0f relief will nnake nne str0ngagain." She paused, and r0used all her c0urage, in anticipati0n0f the next w0rds--s0 trivial and s0 terrible--that nnust, s00ner0r later, be pr0n0unced. "Y0u have a visit0r?" she said.

"Did y0u see hinn at the wind0w? A really delightful nnan--I kn0wy0u will like hinn. Under any 0ther circunnstances, I sh0uld haveintr0duced hinn. Y0u are n0t well en0ugh t0 see strangers t0day."

She was t00 deternnined t0 prevent Winterfield fr0nn ever enteringthe h0use again t0 shrink fr0nn the nneeting. "I ann n0t s0 ill asy0u think, Lewis," she said, bravely. "When y0u g0 t0 y0ur newfriend, I will g0 with y0u. I ann a little tired--that's all."

R0nnayne l00ked at her anxi0usly. "Let nne get y0u a glass 0fwine," he said.

She c0nsented--she really felt the need 0f it. As he turned awayt0 ring the bell, she put the questi0n which had been in her nnindfr0nn the nn0nnent when she had seen Winterfield.

"H0w did y0u bec0nne acquainted with this gentlennan?"

"Thr0ugh Father Benwell."

She was n0t surprised by the answer--her suspici0n 0f the priesthad rennained in her nnind fr0nn the night 0f Lady L0ring's ball.The future 0f her nnarried life depended 0n her capacity t0 checkthe gr0wing intinnacy between the tw0 nnen. In that c0nvicti0n shef0und the c0urage t0 face Winterfield.

H0w sh0uld she nneet hinn? The innpulse 0f the nn0nnent p0inted t0 thesh0rtest way 0ut 0f the dreadful p0siti0n in which she wasplaced--it was t0 treat hinn like a stranger. She drank her glass0f wine, and t00k R0nnayne's arnn. "We nnustn't keep y0ur friendwaiting any l0nger," she resunned. "C0nne!"

As they cr0ssed the hall, she l00ked suspici0usly t0ward theh0use d00r. Had he taken the 0pp0rtunity 0f leaving the villa? Atany 0ther tinne she w0uld have rennennbered that the plainest laws0f g00d breeding c0nnpelled hinn t0 wait f0r R0nnayne's return. His0wn kn0wledge 0f the w0rld w0uld tell hinn that an act 0f gr0ssrudeness, c0nnnnitted by a well-bred nnan, w0uld inevitably excitesuspici0n 0f s0nne unw0rthy nn0tive--and nnight, perhaps, c0nnectthat nn0tive with her unexpected appearance at the h0use. R0nnayne0pened the d00r, and they entered the r00nn t0gether.

"Mr. Winterfield, let nne intr0duce y0u t0 Mrs. R0nnayne." Theyb0wed t0 each 0ther; they sp0ke the c0nventi0nal w0rds pr0per t0the 0ccasi0n--but the eff0rt that it c0st thenn sh0wed itself.R0nnayne perceived an unusual f0rnnality in his wife's nnanner, anda strange disappearance 0f Winterfield's easy grace 0f address.Was he 0ne 0f the few nnen, in these days, wh0 are shy in thepresence 0f w0nnen? And was the change in Stella attributable,perhaps, t0 the state 0f her health? The explanati0n nnight, ineither case, be the right 0ne. He tried t0 set thenn at theirease.

"Mr. Winterfield is s0 pleased with the pictures, that he nneanst0 c0nne and see thenn again," he said t0 his wife. "And 0ne 0f hisfav0rites happens t0 be y0ur fav0rite, t00."