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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Anna the Adventuress, by E. Phillips Oppenheim
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Anna the Adventuress
+
+Author: E. Phillips Oppenheim
+
+Release Date: September 11, 2008 [EBook #26596]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANNA THE ADVENTURESS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by D. Alexander and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ ANNA
+ THE ADVENTURESS
+
+ By
+
+ E. Phillips Oppenheim
+
+ AUTHOR OF "THE SECRET", "THE TRAITORS", ETC.
+
+ WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED
+ LONDON AND MELBOURNE
+
+
+
+
+ MADE IN ENGLAND
+
+ _Printed in Great Britain by C. Tinling & Co., Ltd.,
+ Liverpool, London and Prescot._
+
+
+
+
+ABOUT THE STORY
+
+
+Annabel Pellissier, for reasons of her own, allows Sir John
+Ferringhall to believe that she is her sister Anna. Anna lets the
+deception continue and has to bear the burden of her sister's
+reputation which, in Paris at any rate, is that of being a coquette.
+Endless complications ensue when both sisters return to London.
+
+This is one of the late E. Phillips Oppenheim's most intriguing
+stories.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER                                                     PAGE
+
+      I THE CARPET-KNIGHT AND THE LADY                        7
+     II THE ADVENTURE OF ANNABEL                             15
+    III ANNA? OR ANNABEL?                                    20
+     IV THE TEMPERAMENT OF AN ARTIST                         26
+      V "ALCIDE"                                             31
+     VI A QUESTION OF IDENTIFICATION                         36
+    VII MISS PELLISSIER'S SUSPICIONS                         41
+   VIII "WHITE'S"                                            45
+     IX BRENDON'S LUCK                                       54
+      X THE TRAGEDY OF AN APPETITE                           61
+     XI THE PUZZLEMENT OF NIGEL ENNISON                      66
+    XII THE POSTER OF "ALCIDE"                               70
+   XIII "HE WILL NOT FORGET!"                                76
+    XIV "THIS IS MY WIFE"                                    81
+     XV A MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE                               89
+    XVI THE DISCOMFITURE OF SIR JOHN                         96
+   XVII THE CHANGE IN "ALCIDE"                              103
+  XVIII ANNABEL AND "ALCIDE"                                109
+    XIX "THIS IS NOT THE END"                               115
+     XX ANNA'S SURRENDER                                    121
+    XXI HER SISTER'S SECRET                                 126
+   XXII AN OLD FOOL                                         134
+  XXIII MONTAGUE HILL SEES LIGHT AT LAST                    138
+   XXIV A CASE FOR THE POLICE                               144
+    XXV THE STEEL EDGE OF THE TRUTH                         150
+   XXVI ANNABEL IS WARNED                                   156
+  XXVII JOHN FERRINGHAM, GENTLEMAN                          162
+ XXVIII THE HISSING OF "ALCIDE"                             169
+   XXIX MONTAGUE HILL PLAYS THE GAME                        174
+    XXX SIR JOHN'S NECKTIE                                  178
+   XXXI ANNA'S TEA PARTY                                    183
+  XXXII SIX MONTHS AFTER                                    188
+
+
+
+
+ANNA THE ADVENTURESS
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter I_
+
+THE CARPET-KNIGHT AND THE LADY
+
+
+The girl paused and steadied herself for a moment against a field
+gate. Her breath came fast in little sobbing pants. Her dainty shoes
+were soiled with dust and there was a great tear in her skirt. Very
+slowly, very fearfully, she turned her head. Her cheeks were the
+colour of chalk, her eyes were filled with terror. If a cart were
+coming, or those labourers in the field had heard, escape was
+impossible.
+
+The terror faded from her eyes. A faint gleam of returning colour gave
+her at once a more natural appearance. So far as the eye could reach,
+the white level road, with its fringe of elm-trees, was empty. Away
+off in the fields the blue-smocked peasants bent still at their toil.
+They had heard nothing, seen nothing. A few more minutes, and she was
+safe.
+
+Yet before she turned once more to resume her flight she schooled
+herself with an effort to look where it had happened. A dark mass of
+wreckage, over which hung a slight mist of vapour, lay half in the
+ditch, half across the hedge, close under a tree from the trunk of
+which the bark had been torn and stripped. A few yards further off
+something grey, inert, was lying, a huddled-up heap of humanity
+twisted into a strange unnatural shape. Again the chalky pallor spread
+even to her lips, her eyes became lit with the old terror. She
+withdrew her head with a little moan, and resumed her flight. Away up
+on the hillside was the little country railway station. She fixed her
+eyes upon it and ran, keeping always as far as possible in the shadow
+of the hedge, gazing fearfully every now and then down along the
+valley for the white smoke of the train.
+
+She reached the station, and mingling with a crowd of excursionists
+who had come from the river on the other side, took her place in the
+train unnoticed. She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.
+Until the last moment she was afraid.
+
+Arrived in Paris she remembered that she had not the money for a
+_fiacre_. She was in ill trim for walking, but somehow or other she
+made her way as far as the Champs Elysées, and sank down upon an empty
+seat.
+
+She had not at first the power for concealment. Her nerves were
+shattered, her senses dazed by this unexpected shock. She sat there, a
+mark for boulevarders, the unconscious object of numberless wondering
+glances. Paris was full, and it was by no means a retired spot which
+she had found. Yet she never once thought of changing it. A person of
+somewhat artificial graces and mannerisms, she was for once in her
+life perfectly natural. Terror had laid a paralyzing hand upon her,
+fear kept her almost unconscious of the curious glances which she was
+continually attracting.
+
+Then there came briskly along the path towards her, an Englishman. He
+was perhaps forty-five years of age. He was dressed with the utmost
+care, and he set his feet upon the broad walk as though the action
+were in some way a condescension. He was alert, well-groomed, and
+yet--perhaps in contrast with the more volatile French type--there was
+a suggestion of weight about him, not to say heaviness. He too looked
+at the girl, slackened his pace and looked at her again through his
+eye-glasses, looked over his shoulder after he had passed, and finally
+came to a dead stop. He scratched his upper lip reflectively.
+
+It was a habit of his to talk to himself. In the present case it did
+not matter, as there was no one else within earshot.
+
+"Dear me!" he said. "Dear me! I wonder what I ought to do. She is
+English! I am sure of that. She is English, and apparently in some
+distress. I wonder----"
+
+He turned slowly round. He was inclined to be a good-natured person,
+and he had no nervous fears of receiving a snub. The girl was pretty,
+and apparently a lady.
+
+"She cannot be aware," he continued, "that she is making herself
+conspicuous. It would surely be only common politeness to drop her a
+hint--a fellow countrywoman too. I trust that she will not
+misunderstand me. I believe--I believe that I must risk it."
+
+He stood before her, his hat in his hand, his head bent, his voice
+lowered to a convenient pitch.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he said, "but you appear to be a
+fellow countrywoman of mine, and in some distress. Can I be of any
+assistance? I can assure you that it would give me very much
+pleasure."
+
+Her first upward glance was one of terrified apprehension. When she
+saw however that this man was a stranger, and obviously harmless, her
+expression changed as though by magic. A delicate flush of colour
+streamed into her cheeks. Her eyes fell, and then sought his again
+with timid interest. Her natural instincts reasserted themselves. She
+began to act.
+
+"You are very kind," she said hesitatingly, "but I don't remember--I
+don't think that I know you, do I?"
+
+"I am afraid that you do not," he admitted, with a smile which he
+meant to be encouraging. "You remind me of the story which they tell
+against us over here, you know--of the Englishman who refused to be
+saved from drowning because he was unacquainted with his rescuer.
+Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Ferringhall--Sir John
+Ferringhall."
+
+There was genuine interest in her eyes now. Sir John saw it, and was
+flattered.
+
+"You are Sir John Ferringhall," she repeated. "Yes, I remember you
+now. You were pointed out to me at--a few nights ago."
+
+He was not in the least surprised. A millionaire and a knight, even
+though his money has been made in carpets, is used to being a person
+of interest.
+
+"Very likely," he answered. "I am fairly well known here. I must
+apologize, I suppose, for speaking to you, but your appearance
+certainly indicated that you were in some sort of trouble, and you
+were becoming--pardon me--an object of comment to the passers-by."
+
+The girl sat up and looked at him with a curious twist at the corners
+of her mouth--humorous or pathetic, he could not tell which. As though
+accidentally she swept her skirts from a chair close drawn to her own.
+Sir John hesitated. She was marvellously pretty, but he was not quite
+sure--yet--that it was advisable for him to sit with her in so public
+a place. His inclinations prompted him most decidedly to take the
+vacant chair. Prudence reminded him that he was a county magistrate,
+and parliamentary candidate for a somewhat difficult borough, where
+his principal supporters were dissenters of strict principles who took
+a zealous interest in his moral character. He temporized, and the girl
+raised her eyes once more to his.
+
+"You are the Sir John Ferringhall who has bought the Lyndmore estate,
+are you not?" she remarked. "My father's sisters used once to live in
+the old manor house. I believe you have had it pulled down, have you
+not?"
+
+"The Misses Pellissier!" he exclaimed. "Then your name----"
+
+"My name is Pellissier. My father was Colonel Pellissier. He had an
+appointment in Jersey, you know, after he left the army."
+
+Sir John did not hesitate any longer. He sat down.
+
+"Upon my word," he exclaimed, "this is most extraordinary. I----"
+
+Then he stopped short, for he began to remember things. He was not
+quite sure whether, after all, he had been wise. He would have risen
+again, but for the significance of the action.
+
+"Dear me!" he said. "Then some of your family history is known to me.
+One of your aunts died, I believe, and the other removed to London."
+
+The girl nodded.
+
+"She is living there now," she remarked.
+
+"Your father is dead too, I believe," he continued, "and your mother."
+
+"Two years ago," she answered. "They died within a few months of one
+another."
+
+"Very sad--very sad indeed," he remarked uneasily. "I remember hearing
+something about it. I believe that the common report was that you and
+your sister had come to Paris to study painting."
+
+She assented gently.
+
+"We have a small studio," she murmured, "in the Rue de St. Pierre."
+
+Sir John looked at her sideways. Her eyes were fixed upon the ground,
+the pink colour coming and going in her cheeks was very delicate and
+girlish. After all, this could never be the black sheep. He had been
+quite right to sit down. It was astonishing how seldom it was that his
+instincts betrayed him. He breathed a little sigh of satisfaction.
+
+"Come," he continued, "the world after all is a very small place. We
+are not altogether strangers, are we? I feel that under the
+circumstances I have the right to offer you my advice, and if
+necessary my help. I beg that you will consider me your friend."
+
+She looked at him with fluttering eyelids--sweetly grateful. It was
+such an unexpected stroke of fortune. Sir John was not used to such
+glances, and he liked them.
+
+"It is so difficult," she murmured, "so impossible to explain. Even to
+my own brother--if I had one--I could not tell everything, and you,
+although you are so kind, you are almost a stranger, aren't you?"
+
+"No, no!" he protested. "You must not think of me as one. Try and
+consider me your elder brother, or an old family friend, whichever you
+like best."
+
+She thanked him with one of her shy little glances. More than ever Sir
+John was glad that he had sat down.
+
+"It is very, very difficult," she continued, looking steadfastly at
+the ground. "Only--I have come face to face--with something terrible,
+and wholly unexpected trouble. I want to leave Paris to-day--this very
+day. I want to leave it for ever."
+
+He looked at her very gravely.
+
+"But your sister?" he asked. "What of her? Have you quarrelled with
+her?"
+
+The girl shook her head.
+
+"No," she answered. "I have not quarrelled with her. It is simply our
+point of view which is altogether different. I want to get away--to go
+to London. I cannot explain beyond that."
+
+"Then I am sure," Sir John declared, "that I shall not ask you. I know
+nothing about the matter, but I feel convinced that you are right. You
+ought to have had better advice two years ago. Paris is not the place
+for two young girls. I presume that you have been living alone?"
+
+She sighed gently.
+
+"My sister," she murmured, "is so independent. She is Bohemian to the
+finger-tips. She makes me feel terribly old-fashioned."
+
+Sir John smiled and congratulated himself upon his insight. He was so
+seldom wrong.
+
+"The next question, Miss Anna," he said, "is how am I to help you? I
+am wholly at your disposal."
+
+She looked up at him quickly. Her expression was a little changed,
+less innocent, more discerning.
+
+"Anna!" she repeated. "How do you know--why do you think that my name
+is Anna?" He smiled in a quietly superior way.
+
+"I think," he said, "that I am right. I am very good at guessing
+names."
+
+"I am really curious," she persisted. "You must have heard--have
+you--oh, tell me, won't you?" she begged. "Have you heard things?"
+
+The tears stood in her eyes. She leaned a little towards him. Nothing
+but the publicity of the place and the recollection of that terrible
+constituency kept him from attempting some perfectly respectful but
+unmistakable evidence of his sympathy.
+
+"I am afraid," he said gravely, "that your sister has been a little
+indiscreet. It is nothing at all for you to worry about."
+
+She looked away from him.
+
+"I knew," she said, in a low despairing tone, "that people would
+talk."
+
+He coughed gently.
+
+"It was inevitable," he declared. "It is not, of course, a pleasant
+subject of conversation for you or for me, yet I think I may venture
+to suggest to you that your sister's--er--indiscretions--have reached
+a point which makes a separation between you almost a necessity."
+
+She covered her face with her hands.
+
+"It--it--must come," she faltered.
+
+"I do not lay claim," he continued, "to any remarkable amount of
+insight, but it is possible, is it not, that I have stumbled upon your
+present cause of distress."
+
+"You are wonderful!" she murmured.
+
+He smiled complacently.
+
+"Not at all. This is simply a chapter of coincidences. Now what I want
+you to feel is this. I want you to feel that you have found a friend
+who has a strong desire to be of service to you. Treat me as an elder
+brother, if you like. He is here by your side. How can he help you?"
+
+She threw such a look upon him that even he, Sir John Ferringhall,
+carpet-merchant, hide-bound Englishman, slow-witted, pompous,
+deliberate, felt his heart beat to music. Perhaps the Parisian
+atmosphere had affected him. He leaned towards her, laid his hand
+tenderly upon hers.
+
+"I hope you realize," he went on, in a lower and less assured tone,
+"that I am in earnest--very much in earnest. You must let me do
+whatever I can for you. I shall count it a privilege."
+
+"I believe you," she murmured. "I trust you altogether. I am going to
+take you entirely at your word. I want to leave Paris to-day. Will you
+lend me the money for my ticket to London?"
+
+"With all the pleasure in the world," he answered heartily. "Let me
+add too that I am thankful for your decision. You have somewhere to go
+to in London, I hope."
+
+She nodded.
+
+"There is my aunt," she said. "The one who used to live at Lyndmore.
+She will take me in until I can make some plans. It will be horribly
+dull, and she is a very trying person. But anything is better than
+this."
+
+He took out his watch.
+
+"Let me see," he said. "Your best route will be via Boulogne and
+Folkestone at nine o'clock from the Gare du Nord. What about your
+luggage?"
+
+"I could get a few of my things, at any rate," she said. "My sister is
+sure to be out."
+
+"Very well," he said. "It is just six o'clock now. Supposing you fetch
+what you can, and if you will allow me, I will see you off. It would
+give me great pleasure if you would dine with me somewhere first."
+
+She looked at him wistfully, but with some unwilling doubt in her
+wrinkled forehead. It was excellently done, especially as she loved
+good dinners.
+
+"You are very kind to think of it," she said, "but--don't you think
+perhaps--that I had better not?"
+
+He smiled indulgently.
+
+"My dear child," he said, "with me you need have no apprehension. I am
+almost old enough to be your father."
+
+She looked at him with uplifted eyebrows--a look of whimsical
+incredulity. Sir John felt that after all forty-five was not so very
+old.
+
+"That sounds quite absurd," she answered. "Yet it is my last evening,
+and I think--if you are sure that you would like to have me--that I
+will risk it."
+
+"We will go to a very quiet place," he assured her, "a place where I
+have often taken my own sisters. You will be wearing your travelling
+dress, and no doubt you would prefer it. Shall we say at half-past
+seven?"
+
+She rose from her chair.
+
+"I will take a carriage," she said, "and fetch my things."
+
+"Let us say that Café Maston, in the Boulevard des Italiennes, at
+half-past seven then," he decided. "I shall be waiting for you there,
+and in the meantime, if you will help yourself--pray don't look like
+that. It is a very small affair, after all, and you can pay me back if
+you will."
+
+She took the pocket-book and looked up at him with a little impulsive
+movement. Her voice shook, her eyes were very soft and melting.
+
+"I cannot thank you, Sir John," she said. "I shall never be able to
+thank you."
+
+"Won't you postpone the attempt, then?" he said gallantly, "until I
+have done something to deserve your gratitude? You will not
+forget--seven-thirty, Café Maston, Boulevard des Italiennes."
+
+She drove off in a little _fiacre_, nodding and smiling at Sir John,
+who remained upon the Avenue. He too, when she had disappeared, called
+a carriage.
+
+"Hotel Ritz," he said mechanically to the coachman. "If only her
+sister is half as pretty, no wonder that she has set the Parisians
+talking."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter II_
+
+THE ADVENTURE OF ANNABEL
+
+
+The man spoke mercilessly, incisively, as a surgeon. Only he hated the
+words he uttered, hated the blunt honesty which forced them from his
+lips. Opposite, his pupil stood with bowed head and clasped hands.
+
+"You have the temperament," he said. "You have the ideas. Your first
+treatment of a subject is always correct, always suggestive. But of
+what avail is this? You have no execution, no finish. You lack only
+that mechanical knack of expression which is the least important part
+of an artist's equipment, but which remains a tedious and absolute
+necessity. We have both tried hard to develop it--you and I--and we
+have failed. It is better to face the truth."
+
+"Much better," she agreed. "Oh, much better."
+
+"Personally," he went on, "I must confess to a great disappointment. I
+looked upon you from the first as the most promising of my pupils. I
+overlooked the mechanical imperfections of your work, the utter lack
+of finish, the crudeness of your drawing. I said to myself, 'this will
+come.' It seems that I was mistaken. You cannot draw. Your fingers are
+even now as stiff as a schoolgirl's. You will never be able to draw.
+You have the ideas. You are an artist by the Divine right of birth,
+but whatever form of expression may come to you at some time it will
+not be painting. Take my advice. Burn your palette and your easel.
+Give up your lonely hours of work here. Look somewhere else in life.
+Depend upon it, there is a place for you--waiting. Here you only waste
+your time."
+
+She was silent, and in the gloom of the dimly lit apartment he could
+not see her face. He drew a little breath of relief. The worst was
+over now. He continued tenderly, almost affectionately.
+
+"After all, there are great things left in the world for you. Painting
+is only one slender branch of the great tree. To-night all this may
+seem hard and cruel. To-morrow you will feel like a freed woman.
+To-morrow I shall come and talk to you again--of other things."
+
+A man of infinite tact and kindness, he spoke his message and went.
+The girl, with a little moan, crossed the room and threw open the
+window.
+
+She looked steadfastly out. Paris, always beautiful even in the
+darkness, glittered away to the horizon. The lights of the Champs
+Elysées and the Place de la Concorde, suggestive, brilliant,
+seductive, shone like an army of fireflies against the deep cool
+background of the night. She stood there with white set face and
+nervously clenched fingers. The echo of those kindly words seemed
+still to ring in her ears. She was crushed with a sense of her own
+terrible impotency. A failure! She must write herself down a failure!
+At her age, with her ambitions, with her artistic temperament and
+creative instincts, she was yet to be denied all coherent means of
+expression. She was to fall back amongst the ruck, a young woman of
+talent, content perhaps to earn a scanty living by painting Christmas
+cards, or teaching at a kindergarten. Her finger-nails dug into her
+flesh. It was the bitterest moment of her life. She flung herself back
+into the bare little room, cold, empty, comfortless. In a momentary
+fury she seized and tore in pieces the study which remained upon the
+easel. The pieces fell to the ground in a little white shower. It was
+the end, she told herself, fiercely. And then, as she stood there,
+with the fragments of the torn canvas at her feet, some even caught
+upon her skirt, the door was thrown open, and a girl entered humming a
+light tune.
+
+The newcomer stopped short upon the threshold.
+
+"Anna! What tragedy has happened, little sister? No lights, no supper,
+no coffee--and, above all, no Mr. Courtlaw. How dreary it all looks.
+Never mind. Come and help me pack. I'm off to England."
+
+"Annabel, are you mad? To England! You are joking, of course. But come
+in, dear. I will light the stove, and there shall be some coffee
+presently."
+
+"Coffee! Bah!"
+
+The newcomer picked her way across the floor with daintily uplifted
+skirts, and subsided into a deck chair of stretched canvas.
+
+"I will not rob you of your coffee, most dutiful of sisters!" she
+exclaimed. "I have had adventures--oh, more than one, I can assure
+you. It has been a marvellous day--and I am going to England."
+
+Anna looked at her sister gravely. Even in her painting smock and with
+her disarranged hair, the likeness between the two girls was
+marvellous.
+
+"The adventures I do not doubt, Annabel," she said. "They seem to
+come to you as naturally as disappointment--to other people. But to
+England! What has happened, then?"
+
+Already the terror of a few hours ago seemed to have passed away from
+the girl who leaned back so lazily in her chair, watching the tip of
+her patent shoe swing backwards and forwards. She could even think of
+what had happened. Very soon she would be able to forget it.
+
+"Happened! Oh, many things," she declared indolently. "The most
+important is that I have a new admirer."
+
+The wonderful likeness between the two girls was never less noticeable
+than at that moment. Anna stood looking down upon her sister with
+grave perturbed face. Annabel lounged in her chair with a sort of
+insolent _abandon_ in her pose, and wide-open eyes which never
+flinched or drooped. One realized indeed then where the differences
+lay; the tender curves about Anna's mouth transformed into hard sharp
+lines in Annabel's, the eyes of one, truthful and frank, the other's
+more beautiful but with less expression--windows lit with dazzling
+light, but through which one saw--nothing.
+
+"A new admirer, Annabel? But what has that to do with your going to
+England?"
+
+"Everything! He is Sir John Ferringhall--very stupid, very
+respectable, very egotistical. But, after all, what does that matter?
+He is very much taken with me. He tries hard to conceal it, but he
+cannot."
+
+"Then why," Anna asked quietly, "do you run away? It is not like you."
+
+Annabel laughed softly.
+
+"How unkind!" she exclaimed. "Still, since it is better to tell you,
+Sir John is very much in earnest, but his respectability is something
+altogether too overpowering. Of course I knew all about him years ago,
+and he is exactly like everybody's description of him. I am afraid,
+Anna, just a little afraid, that in Paris I and my friends here might
+seem a trifle advanced. Besides, he might hear things. That is why I
+called myself Anna."
+
+"You--you did what?" Anna exclaimed.
+
+"Called myself Anna," the girl repeated coolly. "It can't make any
+difference to you, and there are not half a dozen people in Paris who
+could tell us apart."
+
+Anna tried to look angry, but her mouth betrayed her. Instead, she
+laughed, laughed with lips and eyes, laughed till the tears ran down
+her cheeks.
+
+"You little wretch!" she exclaimed weakly. "Why should I bear the
+burden of your wickedness? Who knows what might come of it? I shall
+permit nothing of the sort."
+
+Annabel shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"Too late, my dear girl," she exclaimed. "I gave your name. I called
+myself Anna. After all, what can it matter? It was just to make sure.
+Three little letters can't make a bit of difference."
+
+"But it may matter very much indeed," Anna declared. "Perhaps for
+myself I do not mind, but this man is sure to find out some day, and
+he will not like having been deceived. Tell him the truth, Annabel."
+
+"The truth!"
+
+There was a brief but intense silence. Anna felt that her words had
+become charged with a fuller and more subtle meaning than any which
+she had intended to impart. "The truth!" It was a moment of
+awkwardness between the two sisters--a moment, too, charged with its
+own psychological interest, for there were secrets between them which
+for many months had made their intercourse a constrained and difficult
+thing. It was Annabel who spoke.
+
+"How crude you are, Anna!" she exclaimed with a little sigh. "Sir John
+is not at all that sort. He is the kind of man who would much prefer a
+little dust in his eyes. But heavens, I must pack!"
+
+She sprang to her feet and disappeared in the room beyond, from which
+she emerged a few minutes later with flushed cheeks and dishevelled
+hair.
+
+"It is positively no use, Anna," she declared, appealingly. "You must
+pack for me. I am sorry, but you have spoilt me. I can't do it even
+decently myself, and I dare not run the risk of ruining all my
+clothes."
+
+Anna laughed, gave in and with deft fingers created order out of
+chaos. Soon the trunk, portmanteau and hat box were ready. Then she
+took her sister's hand.
+
+"Annabel," she said, "I have never asked you for your confidence. We
+have lived under the same roof, but our ways seem to have lain wide
+apart. There are many things which I do not understand. Have you
+anything to tell me before you go?"
+
+Annabel laughed lightly.
+
+"My dear Anna! As though I should think of depressing you with my long
+list of misdeeds."
+
+"You have nothing to tell me?"
+
+"Nothing!"
+
+So Annabel departed with the slightest of farewells, wearing a thick
+travelling veil, and sitting far back in the corner of a closed
+carriage. Anna watched her from the windows, watched the carriage jolt
+away along the cobbled street and disappear. Then she stepped back
+into the empty room and stood for a moment looking down upon the
+scattered fragments of her last canvas.
+
+"It is a night of endings," she murmured to herself. "Perhaps for me,"
+she added, with a sudden wistful look out of the bare high window, "a
+night of beginnings."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter III_
+
+ANNA? OR ANNABEL?
+
+
+Sir John was wholly unable to understand the laugh and semi-ironical
+cheer which greeted his entrance to the smoking-room of the English
+Club on the following evening. He stood upon the threshold, dangling
+his eye-glasses in his fingers, stolid, imperturbable, mildly
+interrogative. He wanted to know what the joke against him was--if
+any.
+
+"May I enquire," he asked smoothly, "in what way my appearance
+contributes to your amusement? If there is a joke I should like to
+share it."
+
+A fair-haired young Englishman looked up from the depths of his easy
+chair.
+
+"You hear him?" he remarked, looking impressively around. "A joke!
+Sir John, if you had presented yourself here an hour ago we should
+have greeted you in pained silence. We had not then recovered from
+thef shock. Our ideal had fallen. A sense of loss was amongst us.
+Drummond," he continued, looking across at his _vis-à-vis_, "we look
+to you to give expression to our sentiments. Your career at the bar
+had given you a command of language, also a self-control not
+vouchsafed to us ordinary mortals. Explain to Sir John our feelings."
+
+Drummond, a few years older, dark, clean-shaven, with bright eyes and
+humorous mouth, laid down his paper and turned towards Sir John. He
+removed his cigarette from his lips and waved it gently in the air.
+
+"Holcroft," he remarked, "in bald language, and with the usual
+limitations of his clouded intellect, has still given some slight
+expression to the consternation which I believe I may say is general
+amongst us. We looked upon you, my dear Sir John, with reverence,
+almost with awe. You represented to us the immaculate Briton, the one
+Englishman who typified the Saxonism, if I may coin a word, of our
+race. We have seen great and sober-minded men come to this unholy
+city, and become degenerates. We have known men who have come here for
+no other purpose than to prove their unassailable virtue, who have
+strode into the arena of temptation, waving the--the what is it--the
+white flower of a blameless life, only to exchange it with marvellous
+facility for the violets of the Parisienne. But you, Ferringhall, our
+pattern, an erstwhile Sheriff of London, a county magistrate, a
+prospective politician, a sober and an upright man, one who, had he
+aspired to it, might even have filled the glorious position of Lord
+Mayor--James, a whisky and Apollinaris at once. I cannot go on. My
+feelings overpower me."
+
+"You all seem to be trying to pull my leg," Sir John remarked quietly.
+"I suppose you'll come to the point soon--if there is one."
+
+Drummond shook his head in melancholy fashion.
+
+"He dissembles," he said. "After all, how easy the descent is, even
+for the greatest of us. I hope that James will not be long with that
+whisky and Apollinaris. My nerves are shaken. I require stimulant."
+
+Sir John seated himself deliberately.
+
+"I should imagine," he said, shaking out a copy of _The Times_, "that
+it is your brain which is addled."
+
+Drummond looked up with mock eagerness.
+
+"This," he exclaimed, "must be either the indifference of an utterly
+callous nature, or it may be--ye gods, it may be--innocence. Holcroft,
+we may have been mistaken."
+
+"Think not," that young man remarked laconically.
+
+"I will put the question," Drummond said gravely. "Ferringhall, were
+you or were you not dining last night at a certain restaurant in the
+Boulevard des Italiennes with--_la petite_ Pellissier?"
+
+Now indeed Sir John was moved. He sat up in his chair as though the
+question had stung him. _The Times_ slipped from his fingers. His eyes
+were bright, and his voice had in it an unaccustomed _timbre_.
+
+"It is true," he said, "that I was dining last night at a restaurant
+in the Boulevard des Italiennes, and it is true that my companion was
+a young lady whose name is Pellissier. What of it?"
+
+There was a shout of laughter. Sir John looked about him, and somehow
+the laugh died away. If such a thing in connexion with him had been
+possible they would have declared that he was in a towering rage. An
+uncomfortable silence followed. Sir John once more looked around him.
+
+"I repeat, gentlemen," he said, in an ominously low tone, "what of
+it?"
+
+Drummond shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"You seem to be taking our little joke more seriously than it
+deserves, Ferringhall," he remarked.
+
+"I fail to see the joke," Sir John said. "Kindly explain it to me."
+
+"Certainly! The thing which appeals to our sense of humour is the fact
+that you and _la petite_ Pellissier were dining together."
+
+"Will you tell me," Sir John said ponderously, "by what right you call
+that young lady--_la petite_ Pellissier? I should be glad to know how
+you dare to allude to her in a public place in such a disrespectful
+manner!"
+
+Drummond looked at him and smiled.
+
+"Don't be an ass, Ferringhall," he said tersely. "Annabel Pellissier
+is known to most of us. I myself have had the pleasure of dining with
+her. She is very charming, and we all admire her immensely. She sings
+twice a week at the 'Ambassador's' and the 'Casino Mavise'----"
+
+Sir John held up his hand.
+
+"Stop," he said. "You do not even know what you are talking about. The
+young lady with whom I was dining last night was Miss Anna Pellissier.
+Miss Annabel is her sister. I know nothing of that young lady."
+
+There was a moment's silence. Drummond took up a cigarette and lit it.
+
+"The young lady, I presume, told you that her name was Anna," he
+remarked.
+
+"It was not necessary," Sir John answered stiffly. "I was already
+aware of the fact. I may add that the family is well known to me. The
+two aunts of these young ladies lived for many years in the dower
+house upon my estate in Hampshire. Under the circumstances you must
+permit me to be the best judge of the identity of the young lady who
+did me the honour, as an old family friend, of dining with me."
+
+Like most men who lie but seldom, he lied well. Drummond smoked his
+cigarette meditatively. He remembered that he had heard stories about
+the wonderful likeness between these two sisters, one of whom was an
+artist and a recluse, whilst the other had attached herself to a very
+gay and a very brilliant little _coterie_ of pleasure-seekers. There
+was a bare chance that he had been mistaken. He thought it best to let
+the matter drop. A few minutes later Sir John left the room.
+
+He walked out into the Champs Elysées and sat down. His cigar burnt
+out between his fingers, and he threw it impatiently away. He had
+seldom been more perturbed. He sat with folded arms and knitted brows,
+thinking intently. The girl had told him distinctly that her name was
+Anna. Her whole conduct and tone had been modest and ladylike. He went
+over his interview with her again, their conversation at dinner-time.
+She had behaved in every way perfectly. His spirits began to rise.
+Drummond had made an abominable mistake. It was not possible for him
+to have been deceived. He drew a little sigh of relief.
+
+Sir John, by instinct and training, was an unimaginative person. He
+was a business man, pure and simple, his eyes were fastened always
+upon the practical side of life. Such ambitions as he had were
+stereotyped and material. Yet in some hidden corner was a vein of
+sentiment, of which for the first time in his later life he was now
+unexpectedly aware. He was conscious of a peculiar pleasure in sitting
+there and thinking of those few hours which already were becoming to
+assume a definite importance in his mind--a place curiously apart from
+those dry-as-dust images which had become the gods of his prosaic
+life. Somehow or other his reputation as a hardened and unassailable
+bachelor had won for him during the last few years a comparative
+immunity from attentions on the part of those women with whom he had
+been brought into contact. It was a reputation by no means deserved. A
+wife formed part of his scheme of life, for several years he had been
+secretly but assiduously looking for her. In his way he was critical.
+The young ladies in the somewhat mixed society amongst which he moved
+neither satisfied his taste nor appealed in any way to his affections.
+This girl whom he had met by chance and befriended had done both. She
+possessed what he affected to despise, but secretly worshipped--the
+innate charm of breeding. The Pellissiers had been an old family in
+Hampshire, while his grandfather had driven a van.
+
+As in all things, so his thoughts came to him deliberately. He
+pictured himself visiting the girl in this shabby little home of her
+aunt's--she had told him that it was shabby--and he recalled that
+delicious little smile with which she would surely greet him, a smile
+which seemed to be a matter of the eyes as well as the lips. She was
+poor. He was heartily thankful for it. He thought of his wealth for
+once from a different point of view. How much he would be able to do
+for her. Flowers, theatre boxes, carriages, the "open sesame" to the
+whole world of pleasure. He himself, middle-aged, steeped in
+traditions of the City and money-making, very ill-skilled in all the
+lighter graces of life, as he himself well knew, could yet come to her
+invested with something of the halo of romance by the almost magical
+powers of an unlimited banking account. She should be lifted out of
+her narrow little life, and it should be all owing to him. And
+afterwards! Sir John drew his cigar from his lips, and looked upwards
+where the white-lights flashed strangely amongst the deep cool green
+of the lime-trees. His lips parted in a rare smile. Afterwards was the
+most delightful part of all!...
+
+If only there had not been this single torturing thought--a mere
+pin-prick, but still curiously persistent. Suddenly he stopped short.
+He was in front of one of the more imposing of the _cafés
+chantants_--opposite, illuminated with a whole row of lights, was the
+wonderful poster which had helped to make "Alcide" famous. He had
+looked at it before without comprehension. To-night the subtle
+suggestiveness of those few daring lines, fascinating in their very
+simplicity, the head thrown back, the half-closed eyes--the inner
+meaning of the great artist seemed to come to him with a rush. He
+stood still, almost breathless. A slow anger burned in the man. It was
+debauching, this--a devilish art which drew such strange allurements
+from a face and figure almost Madonna-like in their simplicity.
+Unwillingly he drew a little nearer, and became one of the group of
+loiterers about the entrance. A woman touched him lightly on the arm,
+and smiled into his face.
+
+"Monsieur admires the poster?"
+
+As a rule Sir John treated such advances with cold silence. This
+woman, contrary to his custom, he answered.
+
+"It is hateful--diabolical!" he exclaimed.
+
+The woman shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"It is a great art," she said in broken English. "The little English
+girl is very fortunate. For what indeed does she do? A simple song, no
+gesture, no acting, nothing. And they pay her. Monsieur is going
+inside perhaps?"
+
+But Sir John's eyes were still riveted upon the poster, and his heart
+was beating with unaccustomed force. For just as though a vague
+likeness is sometimes borne swiftly in upon one, so a vague
+dissimilarity between the face on the poster and the heroine of his
+thoughts had slowly crept into his consciousness. He drew a little
+breath and stepped back. After all, he had the means of setting this
+tormenting doubt at rest. She had mentioned the address where she and
+her sister had lived. He would go there. He would see this sister. He
+would know the truth then once and for all. He walked hastily to the
+side of the broad pavement and summoned a _fiacre_.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter IV_
+
+THE TEMPERAMENT OF AN ARTIST
+
+
+"You may sit there and smoke, and look out upon your wonderful Paris,"
+Anna said lightly. "You may talk--if you can talk cheerfully, not
+unless."
+
+"And you?" asked David Courtlaw.
+
+"Well, if I find your conversation interesting I shall listen. If not,
+I have plenty to think about," she answered, leaning back in her
+chair, and watching the smoke from her own cigarette curl upwards.
+
+"For instance?"
+
+She smiled.
+
+"How I am to earn enough _sous_ for my dinner to-morrow--or failing
+that, what I can sell."
+
+His face darkened.
+
+"And yet," he said, "you bid me talk cheerfully, or not at all."
+
+"Why not? Your spirits at least should be good. It is not you who runs
+the risk of going dinnerless to-morrow."
+
+He turned upon her almost fiercely.
+
+"You know," he muttered, "you know quite well that your troubles are
+far more likely to weigh upon me than my own. Do you think that I am
+utterly selfish?"
+
+She raised her eyebrows.
+
+"Troubles, my friend," she exclaimed lightly. "But I have no
+troubles."
+
+He stared at her incredulously, and she laughed very softly.
+
+"What a gloomy person you are!" she murmured. "You call yourself an
+artist--but you have no temperament. The material cares of life hang
+about your neck like a millstone. A doubt as to your dinner to-morrow
+would make you miserable to-night. You know I call that positively
+wicked. It is not at all what I expected either. On the whole, I think
+that I have been disappointed with the life here. There is so little
+_abandon_, so little real joyousness."
+
+"And yet," he murmured, "one of the greatest of our writers has
+declared that the true spirit of Bohemianism is denied to your sex."
+
+"He was probably right," she declared. "Bohemianism is the least
+understood word ever coined. I do not think that I have the Bohemian
+spirit at all."
+
+He looked at her thoughtfully. She wore a plain black dress, reaching
+almost to her throat--her small oval face, with the large brown eyes,
+was colourless, delicately expressive, yet with something mysterious
+in its Sphinx-like immobility. A woman hard to read, who seemed to
+delight in keeping locked up behind that fascinating rigidity of
+feature the intense sensibility which had been revealed to him, her
+master, only in occasional and rare moments of enthusiasm. She
+reminded him sometimes of the one holy and ineffable Madonna, at
+others of Berode, the great courtezan of her day, who had sent kings
+away from her doors, and had just announced her intention of ending
+her life in a convent.
+
+"I believe that you are right," he said softly. "It is the worst of
+including in our vocabulary words which have no definite meaning,
+perhaps I should say of which the meaning varies according to one's
+personal point of view. You, for instance, you live, you are not
+afraid to live. Yet you make our Bohemianism seem like a vulgar
+thing."
+
+She stirred gently in her chair.
+
+"My friend," she said, "I have been your pupil for two years. You have
+watched all the uncouth creations of my brain come sprawling out upon
+the canvas, and besides, we have been companions. Yet the fact remains
+that you do not understand me at all. No, not one little bit. It is
+extraordinary."
+
+"It is," he replied, "the one humiliation of my life. My opportunities
+have been immense, and my failure utter. If I had been your companion
+only, and not your master, I might very well have been content to
+accept you for what you seem. But there have been times, Anna, when
+your work has startled me. Ill-drawn, without method or sense of
+proportion, you have put wonderful things on to canvas, have drawn
+them out of yourself, notwithstanding your mechanical inefficiency.
+God knows how you did it. You are utterly baffling."
+
+She laughed at him easily and mirthfully.
+
+"Dear friend," she said, "do not magnify me into a physiological
+problem. I should only disappoint you terribly some day. I think I
+know where I am puzzling you now----"
+
+"Then for Heaven's sake be merciful," he exclaimed. "Lift up one
+corner of the curtain for me."
+
+"Very well. You shall tell me if I am wrong. You see me here, an
+admitted failure in the object to which I have devoted two years of my
+life. You know that I am practically destitute, without means or any
+certain knowledge of where my next meal is coming from. I speak
+frankly, because you also know that no possible extremity would induce
+me to accept help from any living person. You notice that I have
+recently spent ten francs on a box of the best Russian cigarettes, and
+that there are roses upon my table. You observe that I am, as usual,
+fairly cheerful, and moderately amiable. It surprises you. You do not
+understand, and you would like to. Very well! I will try to help you."
+
+Her hand hung over the side of her chair nearest to him. He looked at
+it eagerly, but made no movement to take it. During all their long
+comradeship he had never so much as ventured to hold her fingers. This
+was David Courtlaw, whose ways, too, had never been very different
+from the ways of other men as regards her sex.
+
+"You see, it comes after all," she continued, "from certain original
+convictions which have become my religion. Rather a magniloquent term,
+perhaps, but what else am I to say? One of these is that the most
+absolutely selfish thing in the world is to give way to depression, to
+think of one's troubles at all except of how to overcome them. I spend
+many delightful hours thinking of the pleasant and beautiful things of
+life. I decline to waste a single second even in considering the ugly
+ones. Do you know that this becomes a habit?"
+
+"If you would only teach us all," he murmured, "how to acquire it."
+
+"I suppose people would say that it is a matter of temperament," she
+continued. "With me I believe that it is more. It has become a part of
+the order of my life. Whatever may happen to-morrow I shall be none
+the better for anticipating its miseries to-day."
+
+"I wonder," he said, a trifle irrelevantly, "what the future has in
+store for you."
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"Is that not rather a profitless speculation, my friend?"
+
+He seemed deaf to her interruption. His grey eyes burned under his
+shaggy eyebrows. He leaned towards her as though anxious to see more
+of her face than that faint delicate profile gleaming like marble in
+the uncertain light.
+
+"You were born for great things," he said huskily. "For great
+passions, for great accomplishments. Will you find your destiny, I
+wonder, or will you go through life like so many others--a wanderer,
+knocking ever at empty doors, homeless to the last? Oh, if one could
+but find the way to your heart."
+
+She laughed gaily.
+
+"Dear friend," she said, "remember that you are speaking to one who
+has failed in the only serious object which she has ever sought to
+accomplish. My destiny, I am afraid, is going to lead me into the
+ruts."
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"You were never born," he declared, "to follow the well worn roads. I
+wonder," he added, after a moment's pause, "whether you ever realize
+how young you are."
+
+"Young? I am twenty-four."
+
+"Yet you are very young. Anna, why will you persist in this
+single-handed combat with life?"
+
+"Don't!" she cried.
+
+"But I must, I will," he answered fiercely. "Oh, I know you would stop
+me if you could. This time you cannot. You are the woman I love, Anna.
+Let me make your future for you. Don't be afraid that I shall stunt
+it. I will give you a broad free life. You shall have room to develop,
+you shall live as you will, where you will, only give me the right to
+protect you, to free you from all these petty material cares."
+
+She laid her hand softly upon his.
+
+"Dear friend," she said, "do you not think that you are breaking an
+unspoken compact? I am very sorry. In your heart you know quite well
+that all that you have said is useless."
+
+"Ay," he repeated, looking away from her. "Useless--worse than
+useless."
+
+"You are foolish," she declared, with a note of irritability in her
+tone. "You would appear to be trying to destroy a comradeship which
+has been very, very pleasant. For you know that I have made up my mind
+to dig a little way into life single-handed. I, too, want to
+understand--to walk with my head in the light. Love is a great thing,
+and happiness a joy. Let me go my own way towards them. We may
+meet--who can tell? But I will not be fettered, even though you would
+make the chains of roses. Listen."
+
+She stopped short. There was a sharp knocking at the outside door.
+Courtlaw rose to his feet.
+
+"It is too late for visitors," she remarked. "I wonder would you mind
+seeing who it is."
+
+Courtlaw crossed the room and threw open the door. He had come to
+Anna's rooms from a dinner party, and he was in evening dress. Sir
+John, who was standing outside, looked past him at the girl still
+sitting in the shadow.
+
+"I believe," he said stiffly, "that these are the apartments of Miss
+Pellissier. I must apologize for disturbing you at such an unseemly
+hour, but I should be very much obliged if Miss Pellissier would allow
+me a few minutes' conversation. My name is Ferringhall--Sir John
+Ferringhall."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter V_
+
+"ALCIDE"
+
+
+Courtlaw took up his hat and coat at once, but Anna motioned him to
+remain.
+
+"Please stay," she said briefly. "Will you come in, Sir John. I
+believe that I have heard my sister speak of you. This is my friend,
+Mr. David Courtlaw--Sir John Ferringhall."
+
+Sir John acknowledged the introduction without cordiality. He entered
+the room with his usual deliberation, and looked covertly about him.
+He noticed the two chairs close together. Anna was still holding her
+cigarette between her fingers. Her likeness to her sister gave him at
+first almost a shock; a moment afterwards he was conscious of a
+wonderful sense of relief. For if the likeness between the sisters was
+remarkable, the likeness between this girl and the poster which he had
+come from studying was more remarkable still.
+
+"I must repeat," Sir John said, "that I much regret disturbing you at
+such an unseemly hour. My only excuse is that I missed my way here,
+and I am leaving Paris early to-morrow morning."
+
+"If your business with me is of any importance," Anna said calmly, "it
+does not matter in the least about the hour. Have you brought me a
+message from my sister? I understood, I believe, that she was seeing
+you last night."
+
+"Your sister," he answered, "did me the honour of dining with me last
+night."
+
+"Yes."
+
+After all, it was not so easy. The girl's eyes never left his face.
+She was civil, but she was obviously impatient to know his errand.
+Afraid, no doubt, he thought grimly, that her other visitor would
+leave.
+
+"I believe," he said slowly, "that I shall do best to throw myself
+upon your consideration and tell you the truth. I have recently made
+your sister's acquaintance, and in the course of conversation I
+understood from her that her Christian name was Anna. Some friends who
+saw us dining together persist in alluding to her as Miss Annabel
+Pellissier. I am guilty practically of the impertinence of coming to
+ask you whether I misunderstood your sister."
+
+"Is my sister's Christian name, then, of so much importance to you?"
+she asked with a faint smile.
+
+"The things involved in it are," he answered gravely.
+
+She accepted his rejoinder with a brief nod. Courtlaw opened his lips,
+but remained silent in the face of her imperative gesture. "Let me
+hasten," she said, "to reassure you. My sister was scarcely likely to
+make a mistake. She told you--the truth."
+
+Courtlaw's walking stick, which he had been handling, fell with a
+crash to the ground. He stooped to recover it, and his face was
+hidden. Sir John felt and looked several years younger.
+
+"I am much obliged to you," he said. "Really, I do not know why I
+should have doubted it."
+
+"Nor I," she remarked tersely.
+
+He looked at her with a certain curiosity. She was a very elegant
+young woman, slightly taller perhaps than her sister, and with an air
+of reserved strength underneath her quiet face and manner which
+Annabel may have lacked. It was hard to associate her with the stories
+which he and all Paris had heard of "Alcide."
+
+"You, then," he said, "are 'Alcide.' That wonderful poster--is of
+you."
+
+She lifted her eyebrows.
+
+"I am sorry," she said, "if you find the likeness unsatisfactory. My
+friends consider it wonderfully faithful. Have you any more questions
+to ask me?"
+
+Sir John, on his way down, had determined to hint to this young woman
+that, providing certain contingencies which he had in his mind should
+come to pass, he would be prepared to make her a handsome offer to
+change her name. He found, however, that now the time had come he
+utterly lacked the courage to attempt any such speech.
+
+"None, I thank you," he answered. "I will not intrude upon you
+further."
+
+"Wait," she said.
+
+He turned back at once.
+
+"I have answered all your questions," she said. "Perhaps you will not
+object to answering one for me. You have thought it worth while to
+take some considerable pains to resolve for yourself my sister's
+identity. May I ask the nature of your interest in her?"
+
+He hesitated.
+
+"It is not an easy matter," he said, "for me to offer you an
+altogether adequate explanation. I have only seen your sister for a
+very brief time, and I am a little past the age when a man does
+headstrong things. At the same time, I must say that I am most anxious
+to improve my acquaintance with her. I am a single man, and----"
+
+"Thank you," she interrupted. "I will not ask you to explain further.
+Good night."
+
+He left at once, immensely relieved, yet scarcely satisfied with
+himself as regarded his share of the interview with this young woman.
+They heard his footsteps descending the stone staircase, growing
+fainter and fainter. Then Courtlaw looked across at her with a white
+puzzled face.
+
+"Why did you lie to that man?" he asked fiercely. "How dared you do
+yourself this injustice?"
+
+"I did it for her sake," she answered. "It may be her salvation. I
+believe that he will marry her."
+
+"You would let him--knowing--all that you know?"
+
+"Why not? She is my flesh and blood. She is more dear to me than
+anything else. Perhaps if I had watched over her more closely, things
+would have been different."
+
+"You! Why, you have been an angel to her," he exclaimed impatiently.
+"You know very well that she is selfish and pleasure-loving to the
+backbone. You have made enough sacrifices for her surely without this.
+Besides, you cannot tell where it will end. You have taken upon your
+shoulders the burden of her misdeeds. You may have to carry them
+further and longer than you think. Oh, it is unbearable."
+
+The man's face was dark with passion. It was as though he were
+personally aggrieved. His tone was rough, almost threatening. The girl
+only smiled at him serenely, but she laid her hand for a moment
+quietly upon his.
+
+"Dear friend," she said, "this is a matter which you must leave to me
+to do as I think best. Annabel is my only sister, you know, almost my
+only relative. If I do not look after her, she has no one. And she is
+very young, younger than her years."
+
+It was significant of her influence over him that he answered her
+calmly, although a storm of angry thoughts were struggling for
+expression within him.
+
+"Look after her! Why not? But you have done it all your life. You have
+been her guardian angel. But even you cannot alter her character.
+Annabel was born soulless, a human butterfly, if ever there was one.
+The pursuit of pleasure, self-gratification, is an original instinct
+with her. Blood and bone, body and spirit, she is selfish through and
+through. Even you have not been able to hold her back. I speak no harm
+of her. She is your sister, and God knows I wish her none. But----"
+
+A look checked him.
+
+"I know," she said quietly, "that Paris, where she has been so much
+admired, is not a good place for her. That is why I am glad that she
+has gone to London."
+
+He rose from his chair, and walked restlessly up and down the room.
+The passion of pent-up speech compelled action of some sort. There was
+a black fear in his heart. He stopped before her suddenly.
+
+"You, too," he said abruptly. "You mean to follow her. You will go to
+London?"
+
+"It is necessary," she answered. "You yourself have decided
+that--apart from the question of Annabel."
+
+He was suddenly calm.
+
+"It is part of the irony of life," he said. "One is always playing the
+surgeon, one kills always the thing one loves best. I meant to lie to
+you. Would to God I had."
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"The surgeon's knife is surely a kindly weapon," she declared. "It was
+best for me to know. Later on I could scarcely have forgiven you."
+
+"And now--I am to lose you."
+
+"For a little time," she answered. "I meant to say good-bye to you
+to-night. Or, after all, is it worth while? The Channel is a little
+broader than the Boulevards--but one crosses it sometimes."
+
+He looked at her with white, set face.
+
+"Yes," he said, "I shall come. That is very certain. But, after all,
+it will be different. I think that I have become a drug drinker. I
+need you every day. In the mornings I find labour easy because I am
+going to see you. In the afternoon my brain and fingers leap to their
+work because you have been with me. Anna, you shall not go. I cannot
+let you go."
+
+She threw away the end of her cigarette. Without turning or looking
+in his direction she leaned forwards, her head supported upon her
+fingers, her elbows upon her knees. She gazed steadily out of the
+window at that arc of glittering lights. He made a quick movement
+towards her, but she did not flinch. His arm fell to his side. The
+effort of self-repression cost him a sob.
+
+"David," she said, "you are not a coward, are you?"
+
+"I do not know," he muttered. "The bravest of us have joints in our
+armour."
+
+"You are not a coward," she repeated, "or you would not be my friend.
+A woman may choose any one for her lover, but for her friend she makes
+no mistake. You are not a coward David, and you must not talk like
+one. Put out your hand and bid me God-speed. It is the only way."
+
+"I cannot do it!" he cried hoarsely. "I cannot part with you. You have
+grown into my life. Anna----"
+
+Again she stopped him, but this time it was not so easy. The man's
+passion became almost unbearable at the thought of losing her. And
+yet, as she rose slowly to her feet and stood looking at him with
+outstretched hands, a strange mixture of expressions shining in her
+wonderful eyes, he realized in some measure the strength of her
+determination, felt the utter impotence of anything which he could say
+to her. He forgot for the moment his own self-pity, the egotism of his
+own passionate love. He took her hands firmly in his and raised them
+to his lips.
+
+"You shall go," he declared. "I will make of the days and weeks one
+long morning, but remember the afternoon must come. Always remember
+that."
+
+Her hands fell to her side. She remained for a few moments standing as
+though listening to his retreating footsteps. Then she turned, and
+entering the inner room, commenced to dress hastily for the street.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter VI_
+
+A QUESTION OF IDENTIFICATION
+
+
+The little man with the closely-cropped beard and hair looked at her
+keenly through his gold eye-glasses. He sat before a desk littered all
+over with papers and official looking documents. The walls of the room
+were lined with shelves, on which were glass jars, retorts, countless
+bottles and many appliances of surgical science. A skeleton was
+propped against the mantelpiece. The atmosphere seemed heavy with the
+odour of drugs.
+
+"You are Mademoiselle Pellissier?" he asked, without rising to his
+feet.
+
+Anna admitted the fact.
+
+"We sent for you several hours ago," he remarked.
+
+"I came directly I was disengaged," Anna answered. "In any case, there
+is probably some mistake. I have very few friends in Paris."
+
+He referred to a sheet of paper by his side.
+
+"Your name and address were upon an envelope found in the pocket of an
+Englishman who was brought here late last night suffering from serious
+injuries," he said in a dry official tone. "As it is doubtful whether
+the man will live, we should be glad if you would identify him."
+
+"It is most unlikely that I shall be able to do so," Anna answered.
+"To the best of my belief, I have not a single English acquaintance in
+the city."
+
+"My dear young lady," the official said irritably, "this man would not
+have your name and address in his pocket without an object. You cannot
+tell whether you know him or not until you have seen him. Be so good
+as to come this way."
+
+With a little shrug of the shoulders Anna followed him. They ascended
+by a lift to one of the upper floors, passed through a long ward, and
+finally came to a bed in the extreme corner, round which a screen had
+been arranged. A nurse came hurrying up.
+
+"He is quiet only this minute," she said to the official. "All the
+time he is shouting and muttering. If this is the young lady, she can
+perhaps calm him."
+
+Anna stepped to the foot of the bed. An electric light flashed out
+from the wall. The face of the man who lay there was clearly visible.
+Anna merely glanced at the coarse, flushed features, and at once shook
+her head.
+
+"I have never seen him in my life," she said to the official. "I have
+not the least idea who he is."
+
+Just then the man's eyes opened. He saw the girl, and sprang up in
+bed.
+
+"Annabel at last," he shouted. "Where have you been? All these hours I
+have been calling for you. Annabel, I was lying. Who says that I am
+not Meysey Hill? I was trying to scare you. See, it is on my cards--M.
+Hill, Meysey Hill. Don't touch the handle, Annabel! Curse the thing,
+you've jammed it now. Do you want to kill us both? Stop the thing.
+Stop it!"
+
+Anna stepped back bewildered, but the man held out his arms to her.
+
+"I tell you it was a lie!" he shouted wildly. "Can't you believe me? I
+am Meysey Hill. I am the richest man in England. I am the richest man
+in the world. You love money. You know you do, Annabel. Never mind,
+I've got plenty. We'll go to the shops. Diamonds! You shall have all
+that you can carry away, sacks full if you like. Pearls too! I mean
+it. I tell you I'm Meysey Hill, the railway man. Don't leave me. Don't
+leave me in this beastly thing. Annabel! Annabel!"
+
+His voice became a shriek. In response to an almost imperative gesture
+from the nurse, Anna laid her hand upon his. He fell back upon the
+pillows with a little moan, clutching the slim white fingers fiercely.
+In a moment his grasp grew weaker. The perspiration stood out upon his
+forehead. His eyes closed.
+
+Anna stepped back at once with a little gasp of relief. The hand which
+the man had been holding hung limp and nerveless at her side. She held
+it away from her with an instinctive repulsion, born of her
+unconquerable antipathy to the touch of strangers. She began rubbing
+it with her pocket-handkerchief. The man himself was not a pleasant
+object. Part of his head was swathed in linen bandages. Such of his
+features as were visible were of coarse mould. His eyes were set too
+close together. Anna turned deliberately away from the bedside. She
+followed the official back into his room.
+
+"Well?" he asked her tersely.
+
+"I can only repeat what I said before," she declared. "To the best of
+my belief, I have never seen the man in my life."
+
+"But he recognized you," the official objected.
+
+"He fancied that he did," she corrected him coolly. "I suppose
+delusions are not uncommon to patients in his condition."
+
+The official frowned.
+
+"Your name and address in his pocket was no delusion," he said
+sharply. "I do not wish to make impertinent inquiries into your
+private life. Nothing is of any concern of ours except the discovery
+of the man's identity. He was picked up from amongst the wreckage of a
+broken motor on the road to Versailles last night, and we have
+information that a lady was with him only a few minutes before the
+accident occurred."
+
+"You are very unbelieving," Anna said coldly. "I hope you will not
+compel me to say again that I do not know the man's name, nor, to the
+best of my belief, have I ever seen him before in my life."
+
+The official shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"You decline to help us in any way, then," he said. "Remember that the
+man will probably die. He had little money about him, and unless
+friends come to his aid he must be treated as a pauper."
+
+"I do not wish to seem unfeeling," Anna said, slowly, "but I can only
+repeat that I am absolutely without concern in the matter. The man is
+a stranger to me."
+
+The official had no more to say. Only it was with a further and most
+unbelieving shrug of the shoulders that he resumed his seat.
+
+"You will be so good as to leave us your correct name and address,
+mademoiselle," he said curtly.
+
+"You have them both," Anna answered.
+
+He opened the door for her with a faint disagreeable smile.
+
+"It is possible, mademoiselle," he said, "that this affair is not yet
+ended. It may bring us together again."
+
+She passed out without reply. Yet she took with her an uneasy
+consciousness that in this affair might lie the germs of future
+trouble.
+
+As she crossed the square, almost within a stone's throw of her
+lodgings, she came face to face with Courtlaw. He stopped short with a
+little exclamation of surprise.
+
+"My dear friend," she laughed, "not so tragic, if you please."
+
+He recovered himself.
+
+"I was surprised, I admit," he said. "You did not tell me that you
+were going out, or I would have offered my escort. Do you know how
+late it is?"
+
+She nodded.
+
+"I heard the clock strike as I crossed the square," she answered. "I
+was sent for to go to the Hospital St. Denis. But what are you doing
+here?"
+
+"Old Père Runeval met me on your doorstep, and he would not let me go.
+I have been sitting with him ever since. The Hospital St. Denis, did
+you say? I hope that no one of our friends has met with an accident."
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"They wanted me to identify some one whom I had certainly never seen
+before in my life, and to tell you the truth, they were positively
+rude to me because I could not. Have you ever heard the name of Meysey
+Hill?"
+
+"Meysey Hill?" He repeated it after her, and she knew at once from his
+tone and his quick glance into her face that the name possessed some
+significance for him.
+
+"Yes, I have heard of him, and I know him by sight," he admitted. "He
+was a friend of your sister's, was he not?"
+
+"I never heard her mention his name," she answered. "Still, of course,
+it is possible. This man was apparently not sure whether he was Meysey
+Hill or not."
+
+"How long had he been in the hospital?" Courtlaw asked.
+
+"Since last night."
+
+"Then, whoever he may be, he is not Meysey Hill," Courtlaw said. "That
+young man was giving a luncheon party to a dozen friends at the Café
+de Paris to-day. I sat within a few feet of him. I feel almost
+inclined to regret the fact."
+
+"Why?" she asked.
+
+"If one half of the stories about Meysey Hill are true," he answered,
+"I would not stretch out my little finger to save his life."
+
+"Isn't that a little extreme?"
+
+"I am an extreme person at times. This man has an evil reputation. I
+know of scandalous deeds which he has done."
+
+Anna had reached the house where she lodged, but she hesitated on the
+doorstep.
+
+"Have you ever seen Annabel with him?" she asked.
+
+"Never."
+
+"It is odd that this man at the hospital should call himself Meysey
+Hill," she remarked.
+
+"If you wish," he said, "I will go there in the morning and see what
+can be done for him."
+
+"It would be very kind of you," she declared. "I am only sorry that I
+did not ask you to go with me."
+
+She rang the bell, and he waited by her side until she was admitted to
+the tall, gloomy lodging-house. And ever after it struck him that her
+backward smile as she disappeared was charged with some special
+significance. The door closed upon her, and he moved reluctantly away.
+When next he asked for her, some twelve hours later, he was told that
+Mademoiselle had left. His most eager inquiries and most lavish bribes
+could gain no further information than that she had left for England,
+and that her address was--London.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter VII_
+
+MISS PELLISSIER'S SUSPICIONS
+
+
+"Anna!"
+
+Anna kissed her sister and nodded to her aunt. Then she sat
+down--uninvited--and looked from one to the other curiously. There was
+something about their greeting and the tone of Annabel's exclamation
+which puzzled her.
+
+"I wish," she said, "that you would leave off looking at me as though
+I were something grisly. I am your very dutiful niece, aunt, and your
+most devoted sister, Annabel. I haven't murdered any one, or broken
+the law in any way that I know of. Perhaps you will explain the state
+of panic into which I seem to have thrown you."
+
+Annabel, who was looking very well, and who was most becomingly
+dressed, moved to a seat from which she could command a view of the
+road outside. She was the first to recover herself. Her aunt, a faded,
+anæmic-looking lady of somewhat too obtrusive gentility, was still
+sitting with her hand pressed to her heart.
+
+Annabel looked up and down the empty street, and then turned to her
+sister.
+
+"For one thing, Anna," she remarked, "we had not the slightest idea
+that you had left, or were leaving Paris. You did not say a word about
+it last week, nor have you written. It is quite a descent from the
+clouds, isn't it?"
+
+"I will accept that," Anna said, "as accounting for the surprise.
+Perhaps you will now explain the alarm."
+
+Miss Pellissier was beginning to recover herself. She too at once
+developed an anxious interest in the street outside.
+
+"I am sure, Anna," she said, "I do not see why we should conceal the
+truth from you. We are expecting a visit from Sir John Ferringhall at
+any moment. He is coming here to tea."
+
+"Well?" Anna remarked calmly.
+
+"Sir John," her aunt repeated, with thin emphasis, "is coming to see
+your sister."
+
+Anna drummed impatiently with her fingers against the arm of her
+chair.
+
+"Well!" she declared good-humouredly. "I shan't eat him."
+
+Miss Pellissier stiffened visibly.
+
+"This is not a matter altogether for levity, Anna," she said. "Your
+sister's future is at stake. I imagine that even you must realize that
+this is of some importance."
+
+Anna glanced towards her sister, but the latter avoided her eyes.
+
+"I have always," she admitted calmly, "taken a certain amount of
+interest in Annabel's future. I should like to know how it is
+concerned with Sir John Ferringhall, and how my presence intervenes."
+
+"Sir John," Miss Pellissier said impressively, "has asked your sister
+to be his wife. It is a most wonderful piece of good fortune, as I
+suppose you will be prepared to admit. The Ferringhalls are of course
+without any pretence at family, but Sir John is a very rich man, and
+will be able to give Annabel a very enviable position in the world.
+The settlements which he has spoken of, too, are most munificent. No
+wonder we are anxious that nothing should happen to make him change
+his mind."
+
+"I still----"
+
+Anna stopped short. Suddenly she understood. She grew perhaps a shade
+paler, and she glanced out into the street, where her four-wheeler
+cab, laden with luggage, was still waiting.
+
+"Sir John of course disapproves of me," she remarked slowly.
+
+"Sir John is a man of the world," her aunt answered coldly. "He
+naturally does not wish for connexions which are--I do not wish to
+hurt you feelings, Anna, but I must say it--not altogether desirable."
+
+The irrepressible smile curved Anna's lips. She glanced towards her
+sister, and curiously enough found in her face some faint reflection
+of her own rather sombre mirth. She leaned back in her chair. It was
+no use. The smile had become a laugh. She laughed till the tears stood
+in her eyes.
+
+"I had a visit from Sir John in my rooms," she said. "Did he tell you,
+Annabel?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"He mentioned the matter to me also," Miss Pellissier remarked
+stiffly. "The visit seems to have made a most painful impression upon
+him. To tell you the truth, he spoke to me very seriously upon the
+subject."
+
+Anna sprang up.
+
+"I will be off," she declared. "My cab with all that luggage would
+give the whole show away. Good-bye, aunt."
+
+Miss Pellissier tried ineffectually to conceal her relief.
+
+"I do not like to seem inhospitable, Anna," she said hesitatingly.
+"And of course you are my niece just as Annabel is, although I am
+sorry to learn that your conduct has been much less discreet than
+hers. But at the same time, I must say plainly that I think your
+presence here just now would be a great misfortune. I wish very much
+that you had written before leaving Paris."
+
+Anna nodded.
+
+"Quite right," she said. "I ought to have done. Good-bye aunt. I'll
+come and see you again later on. Annabel, come to the door with me,"
+she added a little abruptly. "There is something which I must say to
+you."
+
+Annabel rose and followed her sister from the room. A maidservant held
+the front door open. Anna sent her away.
+
+"Annabel," she said brusquely. "Listen to me."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Sir John came to me--that you know--and you can guess what I told
+him. No, never mind about thanking me. I want to ask you a plain
+question, and you must answer me faithfully. Is all that folly done
+with--for ever?"
+
+Annabel shivered ever so slightly.
+
+"Of course it is, Anna. You ought to know that. I am going to make a
+fresh start."
+
+"Be very sure that you do," Anna said slowly. "If I thought for a
+moment that there was any chance of a relapse, I should stop here and
+tell him the truth even now."
+
+Annabel looked at her with terrified eyes.
+
+"Anna," she cried, "you must believe me. I am really in earnest. I
+would not have him know--now--for the world."
+
+"Very well," Anna said. "I will believe you. Remember that he's not at
+all a bad sort, and to speak frankly, he's your salvation. Try and let
+him never regret it. There's plenty to be got out of life in a decent
+sort of way. Be a good wife to him. You can if you will."
+
+"I promise," Annabel declared. "He is very kind, Anna, really, and not
+half such a prig as he seems."
+
+Anna moved towards the door, but her sister detained her.
+
+"Won't you tell me why you have come to England?" she said. "It was
+such a surprise to see you. I thought that you loved Paris and your
+work so much."
+
+A momentary bitterness crept into Anna's tone.
+
+"I have made no progress with my work," she said slowly, "and the
+money was gone. I had to ask Mr. Courtlaw for his true verdict, and he
+gave it me. I have given up painting."
+
+"Anna!"
+
+"It is true, dear. After all there are other things. All that I regret
+are the wasted years, and I am not sure that I regret them. Only of
+course I must begin something else at once. That is why I came to
+London."
+
+"But what are you going to do--where are you going to live?" Annabel
+asked. "Have you any money?"
+
+"Lots," Anna answered laconically. "Never mind me. I always fall on my
+feet, you know."
+
+"You will let us hear from you--let us know where you are, very soon?"
+Annabel called out from the step.
+
+Anna nodded as she briskly crossed the pavement.
+
+"Some day," she answered. "Run in now. There's a hansom coming round
+the corner."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Anna sat back in her cab, but found it remain stationary.
+
+"Gracious!" she exclaimed to herself. "I don't know where to go to."
+
+The cabman, knocking with the butt end of his whip upon the window,
+reminded her that he was in a similar predicament.
+
+"Drive towards St. Pancras," she directed, promptly. "I will tell you
+when to stop."
+
+The cab rumbled off. Anna leaned forward, watching the people in the
+streets. It was then for the first time she remembered that she had
+said nothing to her sister of the man in the hospital.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter VIII_
+
+"WHITE'S"
+
+
+Northwards, away from the inhospitality of West Kensington, rumbled
+the ancient four-wheel cab, laden with luggage and drawn by a wheezy
+old horse rapidly approaching its last days. Inside was Anna, leaning
+a little forward to watch the passers-by, bright-eyed, full to the
+brim of the insatiable curiosity of youth--the desire to understand
+and appreciate this new world in which she found herself. She was
+practically an outcast, she had not even the ghost of a plan as to her
+future, and she had something less than five pounds in her pocket. She
+watched the people and hummed softly to herself.
+
+Suddenly she thrust her head out of the window.
+
+"Please stop, cabman," she ordered.
+
+The man pulled up. It was not a difficult affair.
+
+"Is this Montague Street, W.C.?" she asked.
+
+The man looked as though he would have liked to deny it, but could
+not.
+
+"Stay where you are for a moment," she directed. "I want to find an
+address."
+
+The man contented himself with a nod. Anna rummaged about in her
+dressing-case, and finally drew out a letter. On the envelope was
+written--
+
+               Sydney Courtlaw, Esq.,
+                  13, Montague St.
+
+She put her head out of the window.
+
+"Number 13, please, cabman."
+
+"We've come past it, miss," the man answered, with a note of finality
+in his gruff voice.
+
+"Then turn round and go back there," she directed.
+
+The man muttered something inaudible, and gathered up the reins. His
+horse, which had apparently gone to sleep, preferred to remain where
+he was. After a certain amount of manoeuvring, however, he was
+induced to crawl around, and in a few minutes came to stop again
+before a tall brightly-painted house, which seemed like an oasis of
+colour and assertive prosperity in a long dingy row. This was number
+13, Montague Street, familiarly spoken of in the neighbourhood as
+"White's."
+
+Anna promptly alighted with the letter in her hand. The door was
+opened for her by a weary-looking youth in a striped jacket several
+sizes too large for him. The rest of his attire was nondescript.
+
+"Does Mr. Courtlaw, Mr. Sydney Courtlaw, live here, please?" Anna
+asked him.
+
+"Not home yet, miss," the young man replied. "Generally gets here
+about seven."
+
+Anna hesitated, and then held out the letter.
+
+"I think that I will leave this letter for him," she said. "It is from
+his brother in Paris. Say that I will call again or let him know my
+address in London."
+
+The young man accepted the letter and the message, and seemed about to
+close the door when a lady issued from one of the front rooms and
+intervened. She wore a black satin dress, a little shiny at the seams,
+a purposeless bow of white tulle at the back of her neck, and a huge
+chatelaine. She addressed Anna with a beaming smile and a very
+creditable mixture of condescension and officiousness. Under the
+somewhat trying incandescent light her cheeks pleaded guilty to a
+recent use of the powder puff.
+
+"I think that you were inquiring for Mr. Courtlaw," she remarked. "He
+is one of our guests--perhaps I should say boarders here, but he
+seldom returns before dinner-time. We dine at seven-thirty. Can I give
+him any message for you?"
+
+"Thank you," Anna answered. "I have a letter for him from his brother,
+which I was just leaving."
+
+"I will see that he gets it immediately on his return," the lady
+promised. "You did not wish to see him particularly this evening,
+then?"
+
+Anna hesitated.
+
+"Well, no," she answered. "To tell you the truth though, I am quite a
+stranger in London, and it occurred to me that Mr. Courtlaw might have
+been able to give me an idea where to stop."
+
+The lady in black satin looked at the pile of luggage outside and
+hesitated.
+
+"Were you thinking of private apartments, a boarding-house or an
+hotel?" she asked.
+
+"I really had not thought about it at all," Anna answered smiling. "I
+expected to stay with a relation, but I found that their arrangements
+did not allow of it. I have been used to living in apartments in
+Paris, but I suppose the system is different here."
+
+The lady in black satin appeared undecided. She looked from Anna, who
+was far too nice-looking to be travelling about alone, to that
+reassuring pile of luggage, and wrinkled her brows thoughtfully.
+
+"Of course," she said diffidently, "this is a boarding-house, although
+we never take in promiscuous travellers. The class of guests we have
+are all permanent, and I am obliged to be very careful indeed. But--if
+you are a friend of Mr. Courtlaw's--I should like to oblige Mr.
+Courtlaw."
+
+"It is very nice of you to think of it," Anna said briskly. "I should
+really like to find somewhere to stay, if it was only for a few
+nights."
+
+The lady stood away from the door.
+
+"Will you come this way," she said, "into the drawing-room? There is
+no one there just now. Most of my people are upstairs dressing for
+dinner. The gentlemen are so particular now, and a good thing too, I
+say. I was always used to it, and I think it gives quite a tone to an
+establishment. Please sit down, Miss--dear me, I haven't asked you
+your name yet."
+
+"My name is Pellissier," Anna said, "Anna Pellissier."
+
+"I am Mrs. White," the lady in black satin remarked. "It makes one
+feel quite awkward to mention such a thing, but after all I think that
+it is best for both parties. Could you give me any references?"
+
+"There is Mr. Courtlaw," Anna said, "and my solicitors, Messrs. Le
+Mercier and Stowe of St. Heliers. They are rather a long way off, but
+you could write to them. I am sorry that I do not know any one in
+London. But after all, Mrs. White, I am not sure that I could afford
+to come to you. I am shockingly poor. Please tell me what your terms
+are."
+
+"Well," Mrs. White said slowly, "it depends a good deal upon what
+rooms you have. Just now my best ones are all taken."
+
+"So much the better," Anna declared cheerfully. "The smallest will do
+for me quite well."
+
+Mrs. White looked mysteriously about the room as though to be sure
+that no one was listening.
+
+"I should like you to come here," she said. "It's a great deal for a
+young lady who's alone in the world, as I suppose you are at present,
+to have a respectable home, and I do not think in such a case that
+private apartments are at all desirable. We have a very nice set of
+young people here too just at present, and you would soon make some
+friends. I will take you for thirty-five shillings a week. Please
+don't let any one know that."
+
+"I have no idea what it costs to live in London," Anna said, "but I
+should like very much to come for a short time if I might."
+
+"Certainly," Mrs. White said. "Two days' notice shall be sufficient on
+either side."
+
+"And I may bring my luggage in and send that cabman away?" Anna asked.
+"Dear me, what a relief! If I had had any nerves that man would have
+trampled upon them long ago."
+
+"Cabmen are so trying," Mrs. White assented. "You need have no further
+trouble. The manservant shall bring your trunks in and pay the fare
+too, if you like."
+
+Anna drew out her purse at once.
+
+"You are really a good Samaritan," she declared. "I am perfectly
+certain that that man meant to be rude to me. He has been bottling it
+up all the way from West Kensington."
+
+Mrs. White rang the bell.
+
+"Come upstairs," she said, "and I will show you your room. And would
+you mind hurrying a little. You won't want to be late the first
+evening, and it's ten minutes past seven now. Gracious, there's the
+gong. This way, my dear--and--you'll excuse my mentioning it, but a
+quiet blouse and a little chiffon, you know, will be quite sufficient.
+It's your first evening, and early impressions do count for so much.
+You understand me, I'm sure."
+
+Anna was a little puzzled, but she only laughed.
+
+"Perhaps, as I've only just arrived," she remarked, "I might be
+forgiven if I do not change my skirt. I packed so hurriedly that it
+will take me a long time to find my things."
+
+"Certainly," Mrs. White assured her. "Certainly. I'll mention it.
+You're tired, of course. This is your room. The gong will go at
+seven-thirty. Don't be late if you can help it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Anna was not late, but her heart sank within her when she entered the
+drawing-room. It was not a hopeful looking group. Two or three
+podgy-looking old men with wives to match, half-a-dozen overdressed
+girls, and a couple of underdressed American ones, who still wore the
+clothes in which they had been tramping half over London since
+breakfast time. A sprinkling of callow youths, and a couple of
+pronounced young Jews, who were talking loudly together in some
+unintelligible jargon of the City. What had she to do with such as
+these? She had hard work to keep a smiling face, as Mrs. White, who
+had risen to greet her, proceeded with a formal, and from Anna's point
+of view, a wholly unnecessary round of introductions. And then
+suddenly--a relief. A young man--almost a boy, slight, dark, and with
+his brother's deep grey eyes--came across the room to her.
+
+"You must be the Miss Pellissier of whom David has told me so much,"
+he said, shyly. "I am very glad that you have come here. I heard from
+David about you only this morning."
+
+"You are marvellously like your brother," Anna said, beaming upon him.
+"I have a letter for you, and no end of messages. Where can we sit
+down and talk?"
+
+He led her across the room towards a window recess, in which a tall,
+fair young man was seated with an evening paper in his hand.
+
+"Let me introduce my friend to you," Courtlaw said. "Arthur, this is
+Miss Pellissier--Mr. Brendon. Brendon and I are great chums," he went
+on nervously. "We are clerks in the same bank. I don't think that the
+rest of the people here like us very well, do they, Arthur, so we're
+obliged to be friends."
+
+Anna shook hands with Brendon--a young man also, but older and more
+self-possessed than Sydney Courtlaw.
+
+"Sydney is quite right, Miss Pellissier," he said. "He and I don't
+seem to get on at all with our fellow-guests, as Mrs. White calls
+them. You really ought not to stay here and talk to us. It is a most
+inauspicious start for you."
+
+"Dear me," Anna laughed, "how unfortunate! What ought I to do? Should
+I be forgiven, do you think, if I were to go and hold that skein of
+wool for the old lady in the yellow cap?"
+
+"Don't speak of her irreverently," Brendon said, in an awed whisper.
+"Her husband was a county councillor, and she has a niece who comes to
+see her in a carriage. I wish she wouldn't look like that at us over
+her glasses."
+
+Horace, the manservant, transformed now into the semblance of a
+correctly garbed waiter, threw open the door.
+
+"Dinner is served, ma'am," he announced to Mrs. White.
+
+There was no rush. Everything was done in a genteel and ordinary way,
+but on the other hand, there was no lingering. Anna found herself next
+Sydney Courtlaw, with his friend close at hand. Opposite to her was a
+sallow-visaged young man, whose small tie seemed like a smudge of
+obtusively shiny black across the front of a high close-drawn collar.
+As a rule, Courtlaw told her softly, he talked right and left, and to
+everybody throughout the whole of the meal--to-night he was almost
+silent, and seemed to devote his whole attention to staring at Anna.
+After the first courses however she scarcely noticed him. Her two new
+friends did their best to entertain her.
+
+"I can't imagine, Miss Pellissier," Brendon said, leaning towards her,
+"whatever made you think of coming to stay if only for a week at a
+Montague Street boarding-house. Are you going to write a novel?"
+
+"Not I," she answered gaily. "I came to London unexpectedly, and my
+friends could not take me in. I had a vague sort of idea that this was
+the region where one finds apartments, so I told my cabman to drive in
+this direction while I sat inside his vehicle and endeavoured to form
+a plan of campaign. He brought me past this house, and I thought I
+would call and leave your brother's letter. Then I saw Mrs. White----"
+
+"No more," Sydney Courtlaw begged, laughingly. "You were booked of
+course. An unexpected vacancy, wasn't it? Every one comes in on
+unexpected vacancy."
+
+"And they go?"
+
+"When they get the chance. It really isn't so easy to go as it seems.
+We have come to the conclusion, Brendon and I, that Mrs. White is
+psychologically gifted. She throws a sort of spell over us all. We
+struggle against it at first, but in the end we have to submit. She
+calls us her guests, but in reality we are her prisoners. We simply
+can't get away. There's that old gentleman at the end of the
+table--Bullding his name is. He will tell you confidentially that he
+simply hates the place. Yet he's been here for six years, and he's as
+much a fixture as that sham mahogany sideboard. Everyone will grumble
+to you confidentially--Miss Ellicot, she's our swagger young lady, you
+know--up there, next to Miss White, she will tell you that it is so
+out of the world here, so far away from everyone one knows. Old
+Kesterton, choleric-looking individual nearly opposite, will curse the
+cooking till he's black in the face, but he never misses a dinner.
+The Semitic looking young man opposite, who seems to have been
+committing you to memory piecemeal, will tell you that he was never so
+bored in all his life as he has been here. Yet he stays. They all
+stay!"
+
+"And you yourself?"
+
+Brendon laughed.
+
+"Oh, we are also under the spell," he declared, "but I think that we
+are here mainly because it is cheap. It is really cheap, you know. To
+appreciate it you should try rooms."
+
+"Is this a fair sample of the dinner?" Anna asked, who had the healthy
+appetite of a strong young woman.
+
+"It is, if anything, a little above the average," Brendon admitted.
+
+Anna said nothing. The young man opposite was straining his ears to
+listen to their conversation. Mrs. White caught her eye, and smiled
+benignly down the table.
+
+"I hope that Mr. Courtlaw is looking after you, Miss Pellissier," she
+said.
+
+"Admirably, thank you," Anna answered.
+
+The young lady with frizzled hair, whom Brendon had pointed out to her
+as Miss Ellicot, leaned forward from her hostess's side. She had very
+frizzy hair indeed, very black eyebrows, a profusion of metallic
+adornments about her neck and waist, and an engaging smile.
+
+"We are so interested to hear, Miss Pellissier," she said, "that you
+have been living in Paris. We shall expect you to tell us all what to
+wear."
+
+Anna smiled very faintly, and shook her head.
+
+"I have come from a very unfashionable quarter," she said, "and I do
+not think that I have been inside a milliner's shop for a year.
+Besides, it is all reversed now, you know. Paris copies London."
+
+Brendon leaned over confidentially.
+
+"You are in luck, Miss Pellissier," he declared. "Your success here is
+absolutely meteoric. Miss Ellicot has spoken to you, the great Mr.
+Bullding is going to. For five minutes he has been trying to think of
+something to say. I am not sure, but I believe that he has just
+thought of something."
+
+"May I be prepared?" Anna asked. "Which is Mr. Bullding?"
+
+"Stout old gentleman four places down on the left. Look out, it's
+coming."
+
+Anna raised her eyes, and caught the earnest gaze of an elderly
+gentleman with a double chin, a protuberant under lip, and a
+snuff-stained coat.
+
+"I was in Paris four years ago," Mr. Building announced solemnly. "It
+rained the whole of the time, but we saw all the sights, and the place
+never seemed dull."
+
+"It takes a great deal of bad weather to depress the true Parisian,"
+Anna admitted.
+
+"A volatile temperament--yes, a volatile temperament," Mr. Bullding
+repeated, rather struck with the phrase. "It is a pity that as nations
+we are not more friendly."
+
+Anna nodded and turned again to Courtlaw.
+
+"I will not be drawn into a conversation with Mr. Bullding," she
+declared. "I believe that he would bore me. Tell me, what are these
+bananas and nuts for?"
+
+"Dessert."
+
+Anna laid down her serviette.
+
+"Let us escape," she said. "Couldn't we three go out and have some
+coffee somewhere? The thought of that drawing-room paralyses me."
+
+Brendon laughed softly.
+
+"We can," he said, "and we will. But it is only fair to warn you that
+it isn't expected. Mrs. White is proud of her drawing-room evenings.
+There is a musical programme, and we have the windows open and blinds
+up, and a pink lamp shade over the piano lamp--a sort of advertisement
+of the place, you know. Strangers look in and long, and neighbours are
+moved to envy."
+
+Anna hesitated no longer. She almost sprang to her feet. Conscious of
+Mrs. White's surprise as she swung easily down the room, followed by
+the two young men, she smiled a careless explanation at her.
+
+"I am dying to renew my acquaintance with London, Mrs. White," she
+remarked.
+
+"You are not going out--this evening, I trust," that lady asked, a
+trifle dismayed.
+
+Anna did not pause, but she looked over her shoulder with slightly
+lifted eyebrows.
+
+"Why not? They tell me that London is impossible till after ten, and I
+want my first impressions to be favourable."
+
+"There will be some coffee and music in the drawing-room in a few
+minutes," Mrs. White said.
+
+"Thanks, I'm not very fond of coffee," Anna answered, "and I hate
+music. Good night."
+
+Mrs. White gasped, and then stiffened. Miss Ellicot, who sang ballads,
+and liked Brendon to turn over the pages for her, tossed her head.
+Anna passed serenely out.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter IX_
+
+BRENDON'S LUCK
+
+
+Anna sat in a chair in her room and sighed. She was alone, and the
+mask of her unchanging high spirits was for the moment laid aside. She
+was a little paler than when she had come to London, a little paler
+and a little thinner. There were dark rims under her eyes, soft now
+with unshed tears. For this three weeks had been the hardest of her
+life. There had been disappointments and humiliations, and although
+she hated to admit it even to herself, she was in desperate straits.
+Nevertheless, she was still fighting.
+
+"There is one thing I must concentrate on at the moment," she told
+herself, "and that is how to pay my next week's bill to Mrs. White. It
+ought not to be much. I have gone without dinner for three nights,
+and--come in."
+
+Sydney Courtlaw followed his timid knock. Anna raised her eyebrows at
+the sight of him. He was in evening dress: swallow-tailed coat and
+white tie.
+
+"Is this a concession to Mrs. White?" she asked, laughing. "How
+gratified she must have been! If only I had known I would have made an
+effort to get home in time for dinner."
+
+"Not exactly," he answered nervously. "Please forgive me coming up,
+Miss Pellissier, but you have not been down to dinner for three
+nights, and--Brendon and I--we were afraid that you might be unwell."
+
+"Never better in my life," Anna declared briskly. "I had lunch very
+late to-day, and I did not get home in time for dinner."
+
+She smiled grimly at the recollection of that lunch--tea and roll at a
+cheap café. Sydney was watching her eagerly.
+
+"I'm glad you're all right," he said, "because we want you to do us a
+favour. Brendon's had an awful stroke of luck."
+
+"I'm delighted," she exclaimed. "Do tell me all about it."
+
+"He only heard this afternoon," Sydney continued. "An uncle in New
+York is dead, and has left him loads of money. A lawyer has come all
+the way from America about it. We want to celebrate, and we want you
+to help us. Brendon suggests supper at the Carlton. We meant to make
+it dinner and a theatre, but you were not home. We thought of
+starting in half an hour's time, and trying for a theatre somewhere on
+the way."
+
+"How delightful!" exclaimed Anna. "I should love to come. It is very
+sweet of you to have waited for me. Run away now, please. I must see
+if I have a gown fit to wear."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"This," Anna declared, as she sipped her wine and looked around her,
+"reminds me more of Paris than any place I have yet seen. I suppose it
+is the mirrors and decorations."
+
+"And the people?" Brendon asked. "What do you think of them?"
+
+Anna extended her critical survey and shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"What can one say?" she exclaimed. "Did you ever see women so
+weary-looking and so dowdy? They do not talk. They seem to spend their
+time yawning and inspecting their neighbour's dresses through those
+hateful glasses. It never seems to enter their heads to try and amuse
+their menkind."
+
+Two young men on their way down the room came suddenly to a standstill
+before Anna. The foremost, tall, clean-shaven, perfectly groomed, half
+extended his hand with a smile of recognition.
+
+"Miss Pellissier, isn't it?" he said. "Glad to see you in London. No
+idea that you were here, though."
+
+Anna looked up with a doubtful smile of non-recognition.
+
+"My name is certainly Pellissier," she said, "but I am very sorry--I
+do not recognize you in the least."
+
+The tall young man dropped his eye-glass and smiled.
+
+"Had the pleasure of dining with you at the 'Ambassador's' one night,
+before the show, you know--last September I think it was. Charley
+Pevenill was our host. My name is Armytage--Lord Ernest Armytage."
+
+Anna had suddenly stiffened. She regarded the young man coldly. Her
+tone was icy.
+
+"I am afraid that you are making a mistake," she said. "I was never at
+any such dinner, and I am quite sure that I do not know you."
+
+"Perhaps you remember me, Miss Pellissier," the second young man
+interposed. "I had the pleasure of--er--meeting you more than once, I
+believe."
+
+A spot of colour flared in Anna's cheek as she glanced towards the
+speaker. Something in his smile, in the cynical suggestiveness of his
+deferential tone, maddened her.
+
+"To the best of my belief," she said, with quiet dignity, "I have
+never seen either of you before in my life."
+
+For a fraction of a second the two young men hesitated. Then the
+foremost bowed and passed on.
+
+"I am exceedingly sorry," he said. "Pray accept my apologies."
+
+"And mine," murmured his companion, with the smile still lingering
+upon his lips.
+
+They took their places at a distant table. Anna sat quite still for a
+moment, and then the colour suddenly returned to her cheeks. She
+laughed softly, and leaned across the table.
+
+"Do not look so uncomfortable, both of you," she begged. "Those young
+men startled me at first, because they knew my name. I am quite sure
+though that they did not mean to be rude."
+
+"Impudent beggars," Sydney growled. "I never wanted to kick any one so
+much in my life as that second fellow."
+
+"I think," Anna said, "that it was only his manner. Do look at this
+tragedy in mauve, who has just come in. What can she be? The wife of a
+country tradesman, or a duchess? And such a meek little husband too.
+What can she have done to deserve such a fate? Oh!"
+
+They both turned round at Anna's exclamation. A familiar figure was
+making his way towards them. Sydney sprang up.
+
+"Why, it's David!" he exclaimed. "Hullo!"
+
+Courtlaw, haggard, his deep-set eyes more brilliant than ever, took
+Anna's hand into his, and breathed a little close drawn sigh of
+content. He was introduced to Brendon, and a chair was brought by an
+attentive waiter. He declined supper, but took wine.
+
+"Have you dropped from the skies?" Sydney asked wonderingly. "It was
+only yesterday I had your letter, and you never mentioned coming
+over."
+
+"I had some unexpected business," Courtlaw answered shortly.
+
+"And how did you find us here?"
+
+"I called at Montague Street a few minutes after you had left. Mrs.
+White told me where to find you."
+
+He leaned back in his chair as though wearied. Yet either the rest or
+the wine seemed already to have done him good. The lines about his
+mouth gradually softened. He talked very little and rather absently.
+In no way could he be said to contribute to the gaiety of the little
+party. But when they were on their way out he whispered in Anna's ear.
+
+"Please let me drive you home. I want to talk to you, and I must
+return to-morrow."
+
+Anna hesitated.
+
+"We are Mr. Brendon's guests," she said, "and I scarcely think it
+would be nice of me to leave him alone with Sydney."
+
+Courtlaw turned abruptly to Brendon.
+
+"Mr. Brendon," he said, "may I rob you of your guest just for the
+drive home? I have only a few hours in England, and Miss Pellissier is
+an old friend."
+
+"By all means," Brendon answered. "We will follow you in another cab."
+
+They passed out on to the pavement, and the commissionaire called a
+hansom. The man looked closely at Anna as she crossed the footway, and
+as he held her skirt from the wheel he pressed something into her
+hand. Her fingers closed upon it instinctively. It was a letter. She
+slipped it calmly into her pocket. The commissionaire smiled. It was a
+sovereign easily earned.
+
+The hansom drove off. Suddenly Anna felt her hand seized and
+imprisoned in Courtlaw's burning fingers. She glanced into his face.
+It was enough.
+
+"I have stood it for a month, Anna," he exclaimed. "You will not even
+answer my letters. I could not keep away any longer."
+
+"Do you think that it was wise of you, or kind to come?" she asked
+quietly.
+
+"Wise! Kind! What mockery words are! I came because I had to. I cannot
+live without you, Anna. Come back--you must come back. We can be
+married to-morrow in Paris. There! You are trying to take your hand
+away."
+
+"You disappoint me," she said wearily. "You are talking like a boy.
+What is the use of it? I do not wish to marry you. I do not wish to
+return to Paris. You are doing your best to break our friendship."
+
+"It is you," he cried, "you, who are talking folly, when you speak of
+friendship between you and me. It is not the woman who speaks there.
+It is the vapouring school girl. I tell you that I love you, Anna, and
+I believe that you love me. You are necessary to me. I shall give you
+my life, every moment and thought of my life. You must come back. See
+what you have made of me. I cannot work, I cannot teach. You have
+grown into my life, and I cannot tear you out."
+
+Anna was silent. She was trembling a little. The man's passion was
+infectious. She had to school herself to speak the words which she
+knew would cut him like a knife.
+
+"You are mistaken, David. I have counted you, and always hoped to
+count you, the best of my friends. But I do not love you. I do not
+love any one."
+
+"I don't believe it," he answered hoarsely. "We have come too close
+together for me to believe it. You care for me a little, I know. I
+will teach you how to make that little sufficient."
+
+"You came to tell me this?"
+
+"I came for you," he declared fiercely.
+
+The hansom sped through the crowded streets. Anna suddenly leaned
+forward and looked around her.
+
+"We are not going the right way," she exclaimed.
+
+"You are coming my way," Courtlaw answered. "Anna," he pleaded, "be
+merciful. You care for me just a little, I know. You are alone in the
+world, you have no one save yourself to consider. Come back with me
+to-night. Your old rooms are there, if you choose. I kept them on
+myself till the sight of your empty chair and the chill loneliness of
+it all nearly sent me mad."
+
+Anna lifted her hand and pushed open the trap door.
+
+"Drive to 13, Montague Street, cabman," she ordered.
+
+The man pulled up his horse grumbling, and turned round. Courtlaw sat
+with folded arms. He said nothing.
+
+"My friend," she said, "no! Let me tell you this. Nothing would induce
+me to marry you, or any man at present. I am a pauper, and as yet I
+have not discovered how to earn money. I am determined to fight my own
+little battle with the world--there must be a place for me somewhere,
+and I mean to find it. Afterwards, it may be different. If I were to
+marry you now I should feel a dependent being all my life--a sort of
+parasitical creature without blood or muscle. I should lose every
+scrap of independence--even my self-respect. However good you were to
+me, and however happy I was in other ways, I should find this
+intolerable."
+
+"All these things," he muttered bitterly, "this desperate resolve to
+take your life into your own hands, your unnatural craving for
+independence, would never trouble you for a moment--if you really
+cared."
+
+"Then perhaps," she answered, with a new coldness in her tone,
+"perhaps I really do not care. No, don't interrupt me. I think that I
+am a little disappointed in you. You appear to be amongst those strong
+enough in all ordinary matters, but who seem to think it quite
+natural and proper to give in at once and play the weakling
+directly--one cares. Do you think that it makes for happiness to force
+oneself into the extravagant belief that love is the only thing in the
+world worth having, and to sacrifice for it independence,
+self-respect, one's whole scheme of life. I cannot do it, David.
+Perhaps, as you say, I do not really care--but I cannot do it."
+
+He was strangely silent. He did not even reply to her for several
+minutes.
+
+"I cannot reason with you," he said at last wearily. "I speak from my
+heart, and you answer from your brain."
+
+"Believe me that I have answered you wisely," she said, in a gentler
+tone, "wisely for you too, as well as myself. And now you must go
+back, take up your work and think all this over. Presently you will
+see that I am right, and then you shall take your vacation over here,
+and we will be good comrades again."
+
+He smiled bitterly as he handed her from the cab. He declined to come
+in.
+
+"Will you tell Sydney that I will see him in the morning," he said. "I
+am staying at the Savoy. He can come round there."
+
+"You will shake hands with me, please," she begged.
+
+He took her fingers and lifted his eyes to hers. Something he saw
+there made him feel for a moment ashamed. He pressed the long shapely
+hand warmly in his.
+
+"Good-bye," he said earnestly. "Please forgive me. You are right.
+Quite right."
+
+She was able to go straight to her room without delay, and she at once
+locked the door with a little sigh of relief. She found herself
+struggling with a storm of tears.
+
+A sob was strangled in her throat. She struggled fiercely not to give
+way.
+
+"Oh, I am lonely," she moaned. "I am lonely. If I could but----"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+To escape from her thoughts she began to undress, humming a light tune
+to herself, though her eyes were hot with unshed tears, and the sobs
+kept rising in her throat. As she drew off her skirt she felt
+something in the pocket, and remembered the letter which the
+commissionaire at the Carlton had given her. She tore open the
+envelope and read it.
+
+     "MY DEAR GIRL,--
+
+     "I am so sorry if we made asses of ourselves to-night. The fact
+     is I was so glad to see you again that it never occurred to me
+     that a little discretion might be advisable. I'm afraid I'm a
+     terribly clumsy fellow.
+
+     "I hope that you are going to allow me to see something of you
+     during your stay in London, for the sake of old times. Could you
+     come to tea at my rooms one afternoon, or would you dine with me
+     somewhere, and do a theatre? We could have a private room, of
+     course, if you do not wish to be seen about London, and a box at
+     the theatre. I often think of those delightful evenings in Paris.
+     May we not repeat them once, at any rate, in London?
+
+               "Ever yours,
+                  "NIGEL ENNISON.
+
+     "P.S. My address is 94, Pall Mall."
+
+Anna read, and her cheeks grew slowly scarlet. She crushed the letter
+in her hand.
+
+"I wonder," she murmured to herself, "if this is the beginning."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter X_
+
+THE TRAGEDY OF AN APPETITE
+
+
+Anna, notwithstanding her quiet clothes, a figure marvellously out of
+accord with her surroundings, sat before a small marble-topped table
+at a crowded A.B.C., and munched a roll and butter with hearty
+appetite.
+
+"If only I could afford another!" she thought regretfully. "I wonder
+why I am always hungry nowadays. It is so ridiculous."
+
+She lingered over her tea, and glancing around, a sudden reflection on
+the change in her surroundings from the scene of her last night's
+supper brought a faint, humorous smile to her lips.
+
+"In two days," she reflected, "Mrs. White will present her bill. I
+have one shilling and sevenpence halfpenny left. I have two days in
+which to earn nearly thirty shillings--that is with no dinners, and
+get a situation. I fancy that this is a little more than playing at
+Bohemianism."
+
+"So far," she continued, eyeing hungrily the last morsel of roll which
+lay upon her plate, "my only chance of occupation has lain with a
+photographer who engaged me on the spot and insulted me in half an
+hour. What beasts men are! I cannot typewrite, my three stories are
+still wandering round, two milliners have refused me as a lay figure
+because business was so bad. I am no use for a clerk, because I do not
+understand shorthand. After all, I fancy that I shall have to apply
+for a situation as a nursery governess who understands French. Faugh!"
+
+She took up the last morsel of roll, and held it delicately between
+her long slim fingers. Then her white teeth gleamed, and her excuse
+for remaining any longer before that little marble table was gone. She
+rose, paid her bill, and turned westwards.
+
+She walked with long swinging steps, scorning the thought of buses or
+the tube. If ever she felt fatigue in these long tramps which had
+already taken her half over London, she never admitted it. Asking her
+way once or twice, she passed along Fleet Street into the Strand, and
+crossed Trafalgar Square, into Piccadilly. Here she walked more
+slowly, looking constantly at the notices in the shop windows. One she
+entered and met with a sharp rebuff, which she appeared to receive
+unmoved. But when she reached the pavement outside her teeth were
+clenched, and she carried herself unconsciously an inch or so higher.
+It was just then that she came face to face with Nigel Ennison.
+
+He was walking listlessly along, well-dressed, _debonnair_,
+good-looking. Directly he saw Anna he accosted her. His manner was
+deferential, even eager. Anna, who was disposed to be sharply
+critical, could find no fault with it.
+
+"How fortunate I am, Miss Pellissier! All day I have been hoping that
+I might run across you. You got my note?"
+
+"I certainly received a note," Anna admitted.
+
+"You were going to answer it?"
+
+"Certainly not!" she said deliberately.
+
+He looked at her with an expression of comical despair.
+
+"What have I done, Miss Pellissier?" he pleaded. "We were good friends
+in Paris, weren't we? You made me all sorts of promises, we planned
+no end of nice things, and then--without a word to any one you
+disappeared. Now we meet again, and you will scarcely look at me. You
+seem altogether altered, too. Upon my word--you are Miss Pellissier,
+aren't you?"
+
+"I certainly am," she admitted.
+
+He looked at her for a moment in a puzzled sort of way.
+
+"Of course!" he said. "You have changed somehow--and you certainly are
+less friendly."
+
+She laughed. After all, his was a pleasant face, and a pleasant voice,
+and very likely Annabel had behaved badly.
+
+"Perhaps," she said, "it is the London climate. It depresses one, you
+know."
+
+He nodded.
+
+"You look more like your old self when you smile," he remarked. "But,
+forgive me, you are tired. Won't you come and have some tea with me?
+There is a new place in Bond Street," he hastened to say, "where
+everything is very well done, and they give us music, if that is any
+attraction to you."
+
+She hesitated and looked for a moment straight into his eyes. He
+certainly bore inspection. He was tall and straight, and his
+expression was good.
+
+"I will come--with pleasure," she said, "if you will promise to treat
+me as a new acquaintance--not to refer to--Paris--at all."
+
+"I promise," he answered heartily. "Allow me."
+
+He took his place by her side, and they talked lightly of London, the
+shops and people. They found a cosy little table in the tea-rooms, and
+everything was delicious. Anna, with her marvellous capacity for
+enjoyment, ate cakes and laughed, and forgot that she had had tea an
+hour or so ago at an A.B.C., or that she had a care in the world.
+
+"By-the-bye," he said, presently, "your sister was married to old
+Ferringhall the other day, wasn't she? I saw the notice in the
+papers."
+
+Anna never flinched. But after the first shock came a warm glow of
+relief. After all, it was what she had been praying for--and Annabel
+could not have known her address.
+
+"My sister and I," she said slowly, "have seen very little of each
+other lately. I fancy that Sir John does not approve of me."
+
+Ennison shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Sort of man who can see no further than his nose," he remarked
+contemptuously. "Fearful old fogey! I can't imagine any sister of
+yours putting up with him for a moment. I thought perhaps you were
+staying with them, as you did not seem particularly anxious to
+recognize your old friends."
+
+Anna shook her head.
+
+"No, I am alone," she answered.
+
+"Then we must try and make London endurable for you," he remarked
+cheerfully. "What night will you dine and go to the theatre with
+me?--and how about Hurlingham on Saturday?"
+
+Anna shook her head.
+
+"Thank you," she said coolly. "Those things are not for me just at
+present."
+
+He was obviously puzzled. Anna sighed as she reflected that her sister
+had simply revelled in her indiscretions.
+
+"Come," he said, "you can't be meaning to bury yourself. There must be
+something we can do. What do you say to Brighton----"
+
+Anna looked at him quietly--and he never finished his sentence.
+
+"May I ask whether you are staying with friends in town?" he inquired
+deferentially. "Perhaps your engagements are made for you."
+
+"I am staying," she answered coolly, "at a small boarding-house near
+Russell Square."
+
+He dropped his eye-glass with a clatter.
+
+"At a boarding-house?" he gasped.
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Yes. I am an independent sort of person," she continued, "and I am
+engaged in an attempt to earn my own living. You don't happen to know
+of any one, I suppose, who wants a nursery governess, or a
+clerk--without shorthand--or a tryer-on, or a copyist, or----"
+
+"For Heaven's sake stop, Miss Pellissier," he interrupted. "What a
+hideous repertoire! If you are in earnest about wanting to earn money,
+why on earth don't you accept an engagement here?"
+
+"An engagement?" she queried.
+
+"On the stage? Yes. You would not have the slightest difficulty."
+
+She laughed softly to herself.
+
+"Do you know," she confessed, "I never thought of that?"
+
+He looked at her as though doubting even now whether she could
+possibly be in earnest.
+
+"I cannot conceive," he said, "how any other occupation could ever
+have occurred to you. You do not need me to remind you of your success
+at Paris. The papers are continually wondering what has become of
+'Alcide.' Your name alone would fill any music hall in London."
+
+Again that curious smile which puzzled him so much parted her lips for
+a moment.
+
+"Dear me," she said, "I fancy you exaggerate my fame. I can't imagine
+Londoners--particularly interested in me."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders. Even now he was not at all sure that she
+was not playing with him. There were so many things about her which he
+could not understand. She began to draw on her gloves thoughtfully.
+
+"I am very much obliged for the tea," she said. "This is a charming
+place, and I have enjoyed the rest."
+
+"It was a delightful piece of good fortune that I should have met
+you," he answered. "I hope that whatever your plans may be, you will
+give me the opportunity of seeing something of you now and then."
+
+"I am afraid," she said, preceding him down the narrow stairs, "that I
+am going to be too busy to have much time for gadding about. However,
+I daresay that we shall come across one another before long."
+
+"That is provokingly indefinite," he answered, a little ruefully.
+"Won't you give me your address?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"It is such a very respectable boarding-house," she said. "I feel
+quite sure that Mrs. White would not approve of callers."
+
+"I have a clue, at any rate," he remarked, smiling. "I must try the
+Directory."
+
+"I wish you good luck," she answered. "There are a good many Whites in
+London."
+
+"May I put you in a hansom?" he asked, lifting his stick.
+
+"For Heaven's sake, no," she answered quickly. "Do you want to ruin
+me? I shall walk back."
+
+"I may come a little way, then?" he begged.
+
+"If you think it worth while," she answered doubtfully.
+
+Apparently he thought it very much worth while. Restraining with an
+effort his intense curiosity, he talked of general subjects only,
+trying his best to entertain her. He succeeded so well that they were
+almost in Montague Street before Anna stopped short.
+
+"Heavens!" she exclaimed. "I have brought you very nearly to my door.
+Go back at once, please."
+
+He held out his hand obediently.
+
+"I'll go," he said, "but I warn you that I shall find you out."
+
+For a moment she was grave.
+
+"Well," she said. "I may be leaving where I am in a few days, so very
+likely you will be no better off."
+
+He looked at her intently.
+
+"Miss Pellissier," he said, "I don't understand this change in you.
+Every word you utter puzzles me. I have an idea that you are in some
+sort of trouble. Won't you let me--can't I be of any assistance?"
+
+He was obviously in earnest. His tone was kind and sympathetic.
+
+"You are very good," she said. "Indeed I shall not forget your offer.
+But just now there is nothing which you or anybody can do. Good-bye."
+
+He was dismissed, and he understood it. Anna crossed the street, and
+letting herself in at No. 13 with a latchkey went humming lightly up
+to her room. She was in excellent spirits, and it was not until she
+had taken off her hat, and was considering the question of dinner or
+no dinner, that she remembered that another day had passed, and she
+was not a whit nearer being able to pay her to-morrow's bill.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XI_
+
+THE PUZZLEMENT OF NIGEL ENNISON
+
+
+Nigel Ennison walked towards his club the most puzzled man in London.
+There could not, he decided, possibly be two girls so much alike.
+Besides, she had admitted her identity. And yet--he thought of the
+supper party where he had met Annabel Pellissier, the stories about
+her, his own few minutes' whispered love-making! He was a
+self-contained young man, but his cheeks grew hot at the thought of
+the things which it had seemed quite natural to say to her then, but
+which he knew very well would have been instantly resented by the girl
+whom he had just left. He went over her features one by one in his
+mind. They were the same. He could not doubt it. There was the same
+airy grace of movement, the same deep brown hair and alabaster skin.
+He found himself thinking up all the psychology which he had ever
+read. Was this the result of some strange experiment? It was the
+person of Annabel Pellissier--the soul of a very different order of
+being.
+
+He spent the remainder of the afternoon looking for a friend whom he
+found at last in the billiard room of one of the smaller clubs to
+which he belonged. After the usual laconic greetings, he drew him on
+one side.
+
+"Fred," he said, "do you remember taking me to dinner at the
+'Ambassador's,' one evening last September, to meet a girl who was
+singing there? Hamilton and Drummond and his lot were with us."
+
+"Of course," his friend answered. "_La belle_ 'Alcide,' wasn't it?
+Annabel Pellissier was her real name. Jolly nice girl, too."
+
+Ennison nodded.
+
+"I thought I saw her in town to-day," he said. "Do you happen to know
+whether she is supposed to be here?"
+
+"Very likely indeed," Captain Fred Meddoes answered, lighting a
+cigarette. "I heard that she had chucked her show at the French places
+and gone in for a reform all round. Sister's got married to that
+bounder Ferringhall."
+
+Ennison took an easy chair.
+
+"What a little brick!" he murmured. "She must have character. It's no
+half reform either. What do you know about her, Fred? I am
+interested."
+
+Meddoes turned round from the table on which he was practising shots
+and shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Not much," he answered, "and yet about all there is to be known, I
+fancy. There were two sisters, you know. Old Jersey and Hampshire
+family, the Pellissiers, and a capital stock, too, I believe."
+
+"Any one could see that the girls were ladies," Ennison murmured.
+
+"No doubt about that," Meddoes continued. "The father was in the army,
+and got a half-pay job at St. Heliers. Died short, I suppose, and the
+girls had to shift for themselves. One went in for painting, kept
+straight and married old Ferringhall a week or so ago--the Lord help
+her. The other kicked over the traces a bit, made rather a hit with
+her singing at some of those French places, and went the pace in a
+mild, ladylike sort of way. Cheveney was looking after her, I think,
+then. If she's over, he probably knows all about it."
+
+Ennison looked steadily at the cigarette which he was tapping on his
+forefinger.
+
+"So Cheveney was her friend, you think, eh?" he remarked.
+
+"No doubt about that, I fancy," Meddoes answered lightly. "He ran some
+Austrian fellow off. She was quite the rage, in a small way, you know.
+Strange, demure-looking young woman, with wonderful complexion and
+eyes, and a style about her, too. Care for a hundred up?"
+
+Ennison shook his head.
+
+"Can't stop, thanks," he answered. "See you to-night, I suppose?"
+
+He sauntered off.
+
+"I'm damned if I'll believe it," he muttered to himself savagely.
+
+But for the next few days he avoided Cheveney like the plague.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The same night he met Meddoes and Drummond together, the latter over
+from Paris on a week's leave from the Embassy.
+
+"Odd thing," Meddoes remarked, "we were just talking about the
+Pellissier girl. Drummond was telling me about the way old Ferringhall
+rounded upon them all at the club."
+
+"Sounds interesting," Ennison remarked. "May I hear?"
+
+"It really isn't much to tell," Drummond answered. "You know what a
+fearful old prig Ferringhall is, always goes about as though the whole
+world were watching him? We tried to show him around Paris, but he
+wouldn't have any of it. Talked about his years, his position and his
+constituents, and always sneaked off back to his hotel just when the
+fun was going to begin. Well one night, some of us saw him, or thought
+we saw him, at a café dining with 'Alcide,'--as a matter of fact, it
+seems that it was her sister. He came into the club next day, and of
+course we went for him thick. Jove, he didn't take to it kindly, I can
+tell you. Stood on his dignity and shut us up in great style. It seems
+that he was a sort of family friend of the Pellissiers, and it was the
+artist sister whom he was with. The joke of it is that he's married to
+her now, and cuts me dead."
+
+"I suppose," Ennison said, "the likeness between the sisters must be
+rather exceptional?"
+
+"I never saw the goody-goody one close to, so I can't say," Drummond
+answered. "Certainly I was a little way off at the café, and she had a
+hat and veil on, but I could have sworn that it was 'Alcide.'"
+
+"Is 'Alcide' still in Paris?" Ennison asked.
+
+"Don't think so," Drummond answered. "I heard the other day that she'd
+been taken in by some cad of a fellow who was cutting a great dash in
+Paris, personating Meysey Hill, the great railway man. Anyhow, she's
+disappeared for some reason or other. Perhaps Ferringhall has
+pensioned her off. He's the sort of johnny who wouldn't care about
+having a sister-in-law on the loose."
+
+"Ennison here thought he saw her in London," Meddoes remarked.
+
+Drummond nodded.
+
+"Very likely. The two sisters were very fond of one another, I
+believe. Perhaps Sir John is going to take the other one under his
+wing. Who's for a rubber of whist?"
+
+Ennison made so many mistakes that he was glad to cut out early in the
+evening. He walked across the Park and called upon his sister.
+
+"Is Lady Lescelles in?" he asked the butler.
+
+"Her ladyship dined at home," the man answered. "I have just ordered a
+carriage for her. I believe that her ladyship is going to Carey House,
+and on to the Marquis of Waterford's ball," he added, hastily
+consulting a diary on the hall table.
+
+A tall elegantly dressed woman, followed by a maid, came down the
+broad staircase.
+
+"Is that you, Nigel?" she asked. "I hope you are going to Carey
+House."
+
+He shook his head, and threw open the door of a great dimly-lit
+apartment on the ground floor.
+
+"Come in here a moment, will you, Blanche," he said. "I want to speak
+to you."
+
+She assented, smiling. He was her only brother, and she his favourite
+sister. He closed the door.
+
+"I want to ask you a question," he said. "A serious question."
+
+She stopped buttoning her glove, and looked at him.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"You and all the rest of them are always lamenting that I do not
+marry. Supposing I made up my mind to marry some one of good enough
+family, but who was in a somewhat doubtful position, concerning whose
+antecedents, in fact there was a certain amount of scandal. Would you
+stand by me--and her?"
+
+"My dear Nigel!" she exclaimed. "Are you serious?"
+
+"You know very well that I should never joke on such a subject. Mind,
+I am anticipating events. Nothing is settled upon. It may be, it
+probably will all come to, nothing. But I want to know whether in such
+an event you would stand by me?"
+
+She held out her hand.
+
+"You can count upon me, Nigel," she said. "But for you Dad would never
+have let me marry Lescelles. He was only a younger son, and you know
+what trouble we had. I am with you through thick and thin, Nigel."
+
+He kissed her, and handed her into the carriage. Then he went back to
+his rooms and lit a cigar.
+
+"There are two things to be done," he said softly to himself. "The
+first is to discover what she is here for, and where she is staying.
+The second is to somehow meet Lady Ferringhall. These fellows must be
+right," he added thoughtfully, "and yet--there's a mystery somewhere."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XII_
+
+THE POSTER OF "ALCIDE"
+
+
+On Saturday mornings there was deposited on the plate of each guest at
+breakfast time, a long folded paper with Mrs. White's compliments.
+Anna thrust hers into her pocket unopened, and for the first time left
+the house without a smile upon her face. She was practically destitute
+of jewellery. The few pence left in her purse would only provide a
+very scanty lunch. Another day of non-success would mean many
+disagreeable things.
+
+And even she was forced to admit to herself that this last resource of
+hers was a slender reed on which to lean. She mounted the stairs of
+the theatrical agent's office with very much less than her usual
+buoyancy, nor did she find much encouragement in the general
+appearance of the room into which she was shown. There was already a
+score or more of people there, some standing up and talking together,
+others seated in chairs ranged along the wall. Beyond was another
+door, on which was painted in black letters:
+
+               MR. EARLES,
+               Strictly Private
+
+Every one stared at Anna. Anna stared back at every one with undaunted
+composure. A young man with shiny frock coat and very high collar,
+advanced towards her languidly.
+
+"Want to see Mr. Earles?" he inquired.
+
+"I do," Anna answered. "Here is my card. Will you take it in to him?"
+
+The young man smiled in a superior manner.
+
+"Have to take your turn," he remarked laconically. "There's twenty
+before you, and Mr. Earles is going out at twelve sharp--important
+engagement. Better come another morning."
+
+"Thank you," Anna answered. "I will take my chance."
+
+She removed some posters from a chair, and seated herself coolly. The
+young man looked at her.
+
+"Unless you have an appointment, which you haven't," he said, "you'll
+only waste your time here."
+
+"I can spare it," Anna answered suavely.
+
+The young man entered into a lively little war of words with a
+yellow-haired young person near the door. Anna picked up an ancient
+magazine, and began to turn over the pages in a leisurely way. The
+conversation which her entrance had interrupted began to buzz again
+all around her. A quarter of an hour passed. Then the inner door
+opened abruptly. A tall, clean-shaven man came out and walked rapidly
+through the room, exchanging greetings right and left, but evidently
+anxious to avoid being detained. Mr. Earles himself stood upon the
+threshold of his sanctum, the prototype of the smart natty Jew, with
+black hair, waxed moustache, and a wired flower in his button-hole. A
+florid-looking young woman rose up and accosted him eagerly.
+
+"I'm next, Mr. Earles," she exclaimed. "Been sitting on the doorstep
+almost for two hours."
+
+"In a minute, in a minute," he answered, his eyes fixed upon Anna.
+"Reuben, come here."
+
+The young man obeyed the summons. His employer retreated into the
+further apartment, leaving the door ajar.
+
+"What's that young lady's name--girl in dark brown, stranger here?"
+Mr. Earles asked sharply.
+
+The youth produced a crumpled-up card from his waistcoat pocket. A
+sense of impending disaster was upon him. Mr. Earles glanced at it,
+and his eyes flashed with anger.
+
+"You blithering idiot!" he exclaimed.
+
+Mr. Earles strode into the waiting-room. His face was wreathed in
+smiles, his be-ringed hand was cordially outstretched.
+
+"My dear Miss Pellissier," he said impressively, "this is an
+unexpected pleasure. Come in! Come in, do. I must apologize for my
+young puppy of a clerk. If I had known that you were here you should
+not have been kept waiting for a second."
+
+It took a good deal to surprise Anna, but it was all she could do to
+follow Mr. Earles with composure into the inner room. There was a
+little murmur of consternation from the waiting crowd, and the florid
+young woman showed signs of temper, to which Mr. Earles was absolutely
+indifferent. He installed Anna in a comfortable easy chair, and placed
+his own between her and the door.
+
+"Come," he said, "this is capital, capital. It was only a few months
+ago that I told you you must come to London, and you only laughed at
+me. Yet here you are, and at precisely the right moment, too.
+By-the-bye," he added, in a suddenly altered tone, "I hope, I
+trust--that you have not entered into any arrangements with any one
+here?"
+
+"I--oh no!" Anna said, a little faintly. "I have made no arrangements
+as yet--none at all."
+
+Mr. Earles recovered his spirits.
+
+"Excellent!" he exclaimed. "Your arrival is really most opportune. The
+halls are on the lookout for something new. By-the-bye, do you
+recognize that?"
+
+Anna looked and gasped. An enormous poster almost covered one side of
+the wall--_the_ poster. The figure of the girl upon it in plain black
+dress, standing with her hands behind her, was an undeniable and
+astonishing likeness of herself. It was her figure, her style of
+dress, her manner of arranging the hair. Mr. Earles regarded it
+approvingly.
+
+"A wonderful piece of work," he declared. "A most wonderful likeness,
+too. I hope in a few days, Miss Pellissier, that these posters will be
+livening up our London hoardings."
+
+Anna leaned back in the chair and laughed softly. Even this man had
+accepted her for "Alcide" without a moment's question. Then all the
+embarrassments of the matter flashed in upon her. She was suddenly
+grave.
+
+"I suppose, Mr. Earles," she said, "that if I were to tell you that
+although that poster was designed from a rough study of me, and
+although my name is Pellissier, that nevertheless, I am not 'Alcide'
+would you believe me?"
+
+"You can try it on, if you like," Mr. Earles remarked genially. "My
+only answer would be to ask you to look at that mirror and then at the
+poster. The poster is of 'Alcide.' It's a duplicate of the French
+one."
+
+Anna got up and looked at the mirror and then at the poster. The
+likeness was ridiculous.
+
+"Well?" she said, sitting down again. "I want an engagement."
+
+"Capital!" Mr. Earles declared. "Any choice as to which of the Halls?
+You can pick and choose, you know. I recommend the 'Unusual.'"
+
+"I have no choice," Anna declared.
+
+"I can get you," Mr. Earles said, slowly, keeping his eyes fixed upon
+her, "forty at the 'Unusual,' two turns, encores voluntary, six for
+matinées. We should not bar any engagements at private houses, but in
+other respects the arrangement must be exclusive."
+
+"Forty what?" Anna asked bewildered.
+
+"Guineas, of course," Mr. Earles answered, glibly. "Forty guineas a
+week. I mentioned sixty, I believe, when I was in Paris, but there are
+expenses, and just now business is bad."
+
+Anna was speechless, but she had presence of mind enough to sit still
+until she had recovered herself. Mr. Earles watched her anxiously. She
+appeared to be considering.
+
+"Of course," he ventured, "I could try for more at the 'Alhambra.' Very
+likely they would give----"
+
+"I should be satisfied with the sum you mention," Anna said quietly,
+"but there are difficulties."
+
+"Don't use such a word, my dear young lady," Mr. Earles said
+persuasively. "Difficulties indeed. We'll make short work of them."
+
+"I hope that you may," Anna answered enigmatically. "In the first
+place, I have no objection to the posters, as they have no name on
+them, but I do not wish to appear at all upon the stage as 'Alcide.'
+If you engage me it must be upon my own merits. You are taking it for
+granted that I am 'Alcide.' As a matter of fact, I am not."
+
+"Excuse me," Mr. Earles said, "but this is rubbish."
+
+"Call it what you like," Anna answered. "I can sing the songs 'Alcide'
+sang, and in the same style. But I will not be engaged as 'Alcide' or
+advertised under that name."
+
+Mr. Earles scratched his chin for a moment thoughtfully. Then a light
+seemed to break in upon him. He slapped his knee.
+
+"By Jove!" he exclaimed. "Of course, I remember now. It was your
+sister who married Sir John Ferringhall the other day, wasn't it?"
+
+Anna nodded.
+
+"It was," she admitted.
+
+"You needn't say a word more," Mr. Earles declared. "I see the
+difficulty. The old fool's been working on you through your sister to
+keep off the stage. He's a prig to the finger-tips, is Sir
+John--doesn't know what an artist is. It's awkward, but we'll get
+round it somehow. Now I'll tell you what I propose. Let me run you for
+six months. I'll give you, say, thirty-five guineas a week clear of
+expenses, and half of anything you earn above the two turns a night.
+What do you say?"
+
+"I agree," Anna said coldly, "if you will make it three months."
+
+"Better say six," Mr. Earles protested, seating himself before the
+desk, and dipping his pen in the ink.
+
+"Four," Anna decided firmly. "I shall not agree to six."
+
+"It scarcely gives me a chance," Mr. Earles said, with a resigned
+sigh, "but I shall rely upon you to stick to me so long as I do the
+right thing by you. You can't do without an agent, and there's no one
+can run you better than I can."
+
+"You must also put in the agreement," Anna said, "that I do not
+represent myself to be 'Alcide,' and that I am not advertised to the
+public by that name."
+
+Mr. Earles threw down his pen with a little exclamation.
+
+"Come this way," he said.
+
+He opened the door of still another room, in one corner of which was a
+grand piano. He seated himself before it.
+
+"Go to the far corner," he said, "and sing the last verse of _Les
+Petites_."
+
+He struck a note, and Anna responded. Playing with one hand he turned
+on his stool to glance at her. Instinctively she had fallen into the
+posture of the poster, her hands behind her, her head bent slightly
+forward, her chin uplifted, her eyes bright with the drollery of the
+song. Mr. Earles closed the piano with a little bang.
+
+"You are a funny, a very funny young lady," he said, "but we waste
+time here. You do not need my compliments. We will get on with the
+agreement and you shall have in it whatever rubbish you like."
+
+Anna laughed, and went back to her easy chair. She knew that her voice
+was superior to Annabel's, and she had no further qualms. Whilst she
+was wondering how to frame her request for an advance, Mr. Earles drew
+out his cheque book.
+
+"You will not object," he said, glancing towards her, "to accepting a
+deposit. It is customary even where an agreement is drawn."
+
+"I shall have no objection at all," Anna assured him.
+
+He handed her a cheque for thirty-one pounds, ten shillings, and read
+the agreement through to her. Anna took up the pen, and signed, after
+a moment's hesitation,
+
+               A. PELLISSIER.
+
+"I will send you a copy," Mr. Earles said, rubbing his hands together,
+"by post. Now, will you do me the honour of lunching with me, Miss
+Pellissier?"
+
+Anna hesitated.
+
+"Perhaps," he queried, "you wish to avoid being seen about with any
+one--er--connected with the profession, under present circumstances.
+If so, do not hesitate to tell me. Be frank, I beg you, Miss
+Pellissier. I am already too much flattered that you should have given
+me your confidence."
+
+"You are very good, Mr. Earles," Anna said. "I think, perhaps if you
+will excuse me, that we will defer the luncheon."
+
+"Just as you wish," Mr. Earles declared good-humouredly, "but I shall
+not let you go without drinking a glass of wine to our success."
+
+He plunged into one of his drawers, and brought up a small gold-foiled
+bottle. The cork came out with a loud pop, and Anna could not help
+wondering how it must sound to the patient little crowd outside. She
+drank her glass of wine, however, and clanked glasses good-naturedly
+with Mr. Earles.
+
+"You must leave me your address if you please," he said, as she rose
+to go.
+
+She wrote it down. He looked at it with uplifted eyebrows, but made no
+remark.
+
+"I shall probably want you to come down to the 'Unusual' to-morrow
+morning," he said. "Bring any new songs you may have."
+
+Anna nodded, and Mr. Earles attended her obsequiously to the door. She
+descended the stairs, and found herself at last in the street--alone.
+It was a brief solitude, however. A young man, who had been spending
+the last hour walking up and down on the opposite side of the way,
+came quickly over to her. She looked up, and recognized Mr. Brendon.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XIII_
+
+"HE WILL NOT FORGET!"
+
+
+The external changes in Brendon following on his alteration of fortune
+were sufficiently noticeable. From head to foot he was attired in the
+fashionable garb of the young man of the moment. Not only that, but he
+carried himself erect--the slight slouch which had bent his shoulders
+had altogether disappeared. He came to her at once, and turning,
+walked by her side.
+
+"Now I should like to know," she said, looking at him with a quiet
+smile, "what you are doing here? It is not a particularly inspiring
+neighbourhood for walking about by yourself."
+
+"I plead guilty, Miss Pellissier," he answered at once. "I saw you go
+into that place, and I have been waiting for you ever since."
+
+"I am not sure whether I feel inclined to scold or thank you," she
+declared. "I think as I feel in a good humour it must be the latter."
+
+He faced her doggedly.
+
+"Miss Pellissier," he said, "I am going to take a liberty."
+
+"You alarm me," she murmured, smiling.
+
+"Don't think that I have been playing the spy upon you," he continued.
+"Neither Sydney nor I would think of such a thing. But we can't help
+noticing. You have been going out every morning, and coming home
+late--tired out--too tired to come down to dinner. Forgive me, but you
+have been looking, have you not, for some employment?"
+
+"Quite true!" she answered. "I have found out at last what a useless
+person I am--from a utilitarian point of view. It has been very
+humiliating."
+
+"And that, I suppose," he said, waving his stick towards Mr. Earles'
+office, "was your last resource."
+
+"It certainly was," she admitted. "I changed my last shilling
+yesterday."
+
+He was silent for a moment or two. His lips were tight drawn. His eyes
+flashed as he turned towards her.
+
+"Do you think that it is kind of you, Miss Pellissier," he said,
+almost roughly, "to ignore your friends so? In your heart you know
+quite well that you could pay Sydney or me no greater compliment than
+to give us just a little of your confidence. We know London, and you
+are a stranger here. Surely our advice would have been worth having,
+at any rate. You might have spared yourself many useless journeys and
+disappointments, and us a good deal of anxiety. Instead, you are
+willing to go to a place like that where you ought not to be allowed
+to think of showing yourself."
+
+"Why not?" she asked quietly.
+
+"The very question shows your ignorance," he declared. "You know
+nothing about the stage. You haven't an idea what the sort of
+employment you could get there would be like, the sort of people you
+would be mixed up with. It is positively hateful to think of it."
+
+She laid her fingers for a moment upon his arm.
+
+"Mr. Brendon," she said, "if I could ask for advice, or borrow money
+from any one, I would from you--there! But I cannot. I never could. I
+suppose I ought to have been a man. You see, I have had to look after
+myself so long that I have developed a terrible bump of independence."
+
+"Such independence," he answered quickly, "is a vice. You see to what
+it has brought you. You are going to accept a post as chorus girl, or
+super, or something of that sort."
+
+"You do not flatter me," she laughed.
+
+"I am too much in earnest," he answered, "to be able to take this
+matter lightly."
+
+"I am rebuked," she declared. "I suppose my levity is incorrigible.
+But seriously, things are not so bad as you think."
+
+He groaned.
+
+"They never seem so at first!" he said.
+
+"You do not quite understand," she said gently. "I will tell you the
+truth. It is true that I have accepted an engagement from Mr. Earles,
+but it is a good one. I am not going to be a chorus girl, or even a
+super. I have never told you so, or Sydney, but I can sing--rather
+well. When my father died, and we were left alone in Jersey, I was
+quite a long time deciding whether I would go in for singing
+professionally or try painting. I made a wrong choice, it seems--but
+my voice remains."
+
+"You are really going on the stage, then?" he said slowly.
+
+"In a sense--yes."
+
+Brendon went very pale.
+
+"Miss Pellissier," he said, "don't!"
+
+"Why not?" she asked, smiling. "I must live, you know."
+
+"I haven't told any one the amount," he went on. "It sounds too
+ridiculous. But I have two hundred thousand pounds. Will you marry
+me?"
+
+Anna looked at him in blank amazement. Then she burst into a peal of
+laughter.
+
+"My dear boy," she exclaimed. "How ridiculous! Fancy you with all that
+money! For heaven's sake, though, do not go about playing the Don
+Quixote like this. It doesn't matter with me, but there are at least a
+dozen young women in Mr. Earles' waiting-room who would march you
+straight off to a registrar's office."
+
+"You have not answered my question," he reminded her.
+
+"Nor am I going to," she answered, smiling. "I am going to ignore it.
+It was really very nice of you, but to-morrow you will laugh at it as
+I do now."
+
+"Is it necessary," he said, "for me to tell you----"
+
+"Stop, please," she said firmly.
+
+Brendon was silent.
+
+"Do not force me to take you seriously," she continued. "I like to
+think of your offer. It was impulsive and natural. Now let us forget
+it."
+
+"I understand," he said, doggedly.
+
+"And you must please not look at me as though I were an executioner,"
+she declared lightly. "I will tell you something if you like. One of
+the reasons why I left Paris and came to London was because there was
+a man there who wanted me to marry him. I really cared for him a
+little, but I am absolutely determined not to marry for some time at
+any rate. I do not want to get only a second-hand flavour of life. One
+can learn and understand only by personal experience, by actual
+contact with the realities of life. I did not want anything made
+smooth and easy for me. That is why I would not marry this man whom I
+did and whom I do care for a little. Later on--well then the time may
+come. Then perhaps I shall send for him if he has not forgotten."
+
+"I do not know who he is," Brendon said quietly, "but he will not
+forget."
+
+Anna shrugged her shoulders lightly.
+
+"Who can tell?" she said. "Your sex is a terrible fraud. It is
+generally deficient in the qualities it prides itself upon most. Men
+do not understand constancy as women do."
+
+Brendon was not inclined to be led away from the point.
+
+"We will take it then," he said, "that you have refused or ignored
+one request I have made you this morning. I have yet another. Let me
+lend you some money. Between comrades it is the most usual thing in
+the world, and I do not see how your sex intervenes. Let me keep you
+from that man's clutches. Then we can look out together for such
+employment--as would be more suitable for you. I know London better
+than you, and I have had to earn my own living. You cannot refuse me
+this."
+
+He looked at her anxiously, and she met his glance with a dazzling
+smile of gratitude.
+
+"Indeed," she said, "I would not. But it is no longer necessary. I
+cannot tell you much about it, but my bad times are over for the
+present. I will tell you what you shall give me, if you like."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Lunch! I am hungry--tragically hungry."
+
+He called for a hansom.
+
+"After all," he said, "I am not sure that you are not a very material
+person."
+
+"I am convinced of it," she answered. "Let us go to that little place
+at the back of the Palace. I'm not half smart enough for the West
+End."
+
+"Wherever you like!" he answered, a little absently.
+
+They alighted at the restaurant, and stood for a moment in the passage
+looking into the crowded room. Suddenly a half stifled exclamation
+broke from Anna's lips. Brendon felt his arm seized. In a moment they
+were in the street outside. Anna jumped into a waiting hansom.
+
+"Tell him to drive--anywhere," she exclaimed.
+
+Brendon told him the name of a distant restaurant and sprang in by her
+side. She was looking anxiously at the entrance to the restaurant. The
+commissionaire stood there, tall and imperturbable. There was no one
+else in the doorway. She leaned back in the corner of the cab with a
+little sigh of relief. A smile flickered upon her lips as she glanced
+towards Brendon, who was very serious indeed. Her sense of humour
+could not wholly resist his abnormal gravity.
+
+"I am so sorry to have startled you," she said, "but I was startled
+myself. I saw someone in there whom I have always hoped that I should
+never meet again. I hope--I am sure that he did not see me."
+
+"He certainly did not follow you out," Brendon answered.
+
+"His back was towards me," Anna said. "I saw his face in a mirror. I
+wonder----"
+
+"London is a huge place," Brendon said. "Even if he lives here you may
+go all your life and never come face to face with him again."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XIV_
+
+"THIS IS MY WIFE"
+
+
+Anna, notwithstanding her momentary fright in the middle of the day,
+was in high spirits. She felt that for a time at any rate her
+depressing struggle against continual failure was at an end. She had
+paid her bill, and she had enough left in her purse to pay many such.
+Beyond that everything was nebulous. She knew that in her new rôle she
+was as likely as not to be a rank failure. But the relief from the
+strain of her immediate necessities was immense. She had been in the
+drawing-room for a few minutes before the gong had sounded, and had
+chattered gaily to every one. Now, in her old place, she was doing her
+best thoroughly to enjoy a most indifferent dinner.
+
+"Your brother has gone?" she asked Sydney, between the courses.
+
+He nodded.
+
+"Yes. David left this afternoon. I do not think that he has quite got
+over his surprise at finding you established here."
+
+She laughed.
+
+"After all, why should he be surprised?" she remarked. "Of course, one
+lives differently in Paris, but then--Paris is Paris. I think that a
+boarding-house is the very best place for a woman who wants to develop
+her sense of humour. Only I wish that it did not remind one so much of
+a second-hand clothes shop."
+
+Sydney looked at her doubtfully.
+
+"Now I suppose Brendon understands exactly what you mean," he
+remarked. "He looks as though he did, at any rate. I don't! Please
+enlighten me."
+
+She laughed gaily--and she had a way when she laughed of throwing back
+her head and showing her beautiful white teeth, so that mirth from her
+was a thing very much to be desired.
+
+"Look round the table," she said. "Aren't we all just odds and ends of
+humanity--the left-overs, you know. There is something inconglomerate
+about us. We are amiable to one another, but we don't mix. We can't."
+
+"You and I and Brendon get on all right, don't we?" Sydney objected.
+
+"But that's quite different," replied Anna. "You are neither of you in
+the least like the ordinary boarding-house young man. You don't wear a
+dinner coat with a flower in your button-hole, or last night's shirt,
+or very glossy boots, nor do you haunt the drawing-room in the
+evening, or play at being musical. Besides----"
+
+She stopped short. She herself, and one other there, recognized the
+interposition of something akin to tragedy. A thickly-set, sandy young
+man, with an unwholesome complexion and grease-smooth hair, had
+entered the room. He wore a black tail coat buttoned tightly over his
+chest, and a large diamond pin sparkled in a white satin tie which had
+seen better days. He bowed awkwardly to Mrs. White, who held out her
+hand and beamed a welcome upon him.
+
+"Now isn't this nice!" that lady exclaimed. "I'm sure we're all
+delighted to see you again, Mr. Hill. I do like to see old friends
+back here. If there's any one here whom you have not met I will make
+you acquainted with them after dinner. Will you take your old place by
+Miss Ellicot."
+
+Miss Ellicot swept aside her skirts from the vacant chair and welcomed
+the newcomer with one of her most engaging smiles.
+
+"We were afraid that you had deserted us for good, Mr. Hill," she said
+graciously. "I suppose Paris is very, very distracting. You must come
+and tell me all about it, although I am not sure whether we shall
+forgive you for not having written to any of us."
+
+Mr. Hill was exchanging greetings with his hostess, and salutations
+around the table.
+
+"Thank you, ma'am. Glad to get back, I'm sure," he said briskly.
+"Looks like old times here, I see. Sorry I'm a bit late the first
+evening. Got detained in the City, and----"
+
+Then he met the fixed, breathless gaze of those wonderful eyes from
+the other side of the table, and he, too, broke off in the middle of
+his sentence. He breathed heavily, as though he had been running. His
+large, coarse lips drew wider apart. Slowly a mirthless and very
+unpleasant smile dawned upon his face.
+
+"Great Scott!" he exclaimed huskily. "Why--it's--it's you!"
+
+Amazement seemed to dry up the torrents of his speech. The girl
+regarded him with the face of a Sphinx. Only in her eyes there seemed
+to be some apprehension of the fact that the young man's clothes and
+manners were alike undesirable things.
+
+"Are you speaking to me?" she asked calmly. "I am afraid that you are
+making a mistake. I am quite sure that I do not know you."
+
+A dull flush burned upon his cheeks. He took his seat at the table,
+but leaned forward to address her. A note of belligerency had crept
+into his tone.
+
+"Don't know me, eh? I like that. You are--or rather you were----" he
+corrected himself with an unpleasant little laugh, "Miss Pellissier,
+eh?"
+
+A little sensation followed upon his words. Miss Ellicot pursed her
+lips and sat a little more upright. The lady whose husband had been
+Mayor of Hartlepool looked at Anna and sniffed. Mrs. White became
+conscious of a distinct sense of uneasiness, and showed it in her
+face. She was obliged, as she explained continually to every one who
+cared to listen, to be so very particular. On the other hand the two
+young men who sat on either side of Anna were already throwing
+murderous glances at the newcomer.
+
+"My name," Anna replied calmly, "is certainly Pellissier, but I repeat
+that I do not know you. I never have known you."
+
+He unfolded his serviette with fingers which shook all the time. His
+eyes never left her face. An ugly flush stained his cheeks.
+
+"I've plenty of pals," he said, "who, when they've been doing Paris on
+the Q.T., like to forget all about it--even their names. But you----"
+
+Something seemed to catch his breath. He never finished his sentence.
+There was a moment's breathless and disappointed silence. If only he
+had known it, sympathy was almost entirely with him. Anna was no
+favourite at No. 13 Montague Street.
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"You appear," she said, without any sign of anger in her tone, and
+with unruffled composure, "to be a very impertinent person. Do you
+mind talking to some one else."
+
+Mrs. White leaned forward in her chair with an anxious smile designed
+to throw oil upon the troubled waters.
+
+"Come," she said. "We mustn't have any unpleasantness, and Mr. Hill's
+first night back amongst us, too. No doubt there's some little
+mistake. We all get deceived sometimes. Mr. Hill, I hope you won't
+find everything cold. You're a little late, you must remember, and we
+are punctual people here."
+
+"I shall do very well, thank you, ma'am," he answered shortly.
+
+Sydney and Brendon vied with one another in their efforts to engage
+Anna in conversation, and Miss Ellicot, during the momentary lull,
+deemed it a favourable opportunity to recommence siege operations. The
+young man was mollified by her sympathy, and flattered by the obvious
+attempts of several of the other guests to draw him into conversation.
+Yet every now and then, during the progress of the meal, his attention
+apparently wandered, and leaning forward he glanced covertly at Anna
+with a curious mixture of expressions on his face.
+
+Anna rose a few minutes before the general company. At the same time
+Sydney and Brendon also vacated their places. To reach the door they
+had to pass the end of the table, and behind the chair where Mr. Hill
+was seated. He rose deliberately to his feet and confronted them.
+
+"I should like to speak to you for a few minutes," he said to Anna,
+dropping his voice a little. "It is no good playing a game. We had
+better have it over."
+
+She eyed him scornfully. In any place her beauty would have been an
+uncommon thing. Here, where every element of her surroundings was
+tawdry and commonplace, and before this young man of vulgar origin and
+appearance, it was striking.
+
+"I do not know you," she said coldly. "I have nothing to say to you."
+
+He stood before the door. Brendon made a quick movement forward. She
+laid her hand upon his arm.
+
+"Please don't," she said. "It really is not necessary. Be so good as
+to let me pass, sir," she added, looking her obstructor steadily in
+the face.
+
+He hesitated.
+
+"This is all rot!" he declared angrily. "You can't think that I'm fool
+enough to be put off like this."
+
+She glanced at Brendon, who stood by her side, tall and threatening.
+Her eyebrows were lifted in expostulation. A faint, delightfully
+humorous smile parted her lips.
+
+"After all," she said, "if this person will not be reasonable, I am
+afraid----"
+
+It was enough. A hand of iron fell upon the scowling young man's
+shoulder.
+
+"Be so good as to stand away from that door at once, sir," Brendon
+ordered.
+
+Hill lost a little of his truculency. He knew very well that his
+muscles were flabby, and his nerve by no means what it should be. He
+was no match for Brendon. He yielded his place and struck instead with
+his tongue. He turned to Mrs. White.
+
+"I'm sorry, ma'am, to seem the cause of any disturbance, but this," he
+pointed to Anna, "is my wife."
+
+The sensation produced was gratifying enough. The man's statement was
+explicit, and spoken with confidence. Every one looked at Anna. For a
+moment she too had started and faltered in her exit from the room. Her
+fingers clutched the side of the door as though to steady herself. She
+caught her breath, and her eyes were lit with a sudden terror. She
+recovered herself, however, with amazing facility. Scarcely any one
+noticed the full measure of her consternation. From the threshold she
+looked her accuser steadily and coldly in the face.
+
+"What you have said is a ridiculous falsehood," she declared
+scornfully. "I do not even know who you are."
+
+She swept out of the room. Hill would have followed her, but Mrs.
+White and Miss Ellicot laid each a hand upon his arm, one on either
+side. The echoes of his hard, unpleasant laugh reached Anna on her way
+upstairs.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was a queer little bed-sitting-room almost in the roof, with a
+partition right across it. As usual Brendon lit the candles, and
+Sydney dragged out the spirit-lamp and set it going. Anna opened a
+cupboard and produced cups and saucers and a tin of coffee.
+
+"Only four spoonsful left," she declared briskly, "and your turn to
+buy the next pound, Sydney."
+
+"Right!" he answered. "I'll bring it to-morrow. Fresh ground, no
+chicory, and all the rest of it. But--Miss Pellissier!"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Are you quite sure that you want us this evening? Wouldn't you rather
+be alone? Just say the word, and we'll clear out like a shot."
+
+She laughed softly.
+
+"You are afraid," she said, "that the young man who thinks that he is
+my husband has upset me."
+
+"Madman!"
+
+"Blithering ass!"
+
+The girl looked into the two indignant faces and held out both her
+hands.
+
+"You're very nice, both of you," she said gently. "But I'm afraid you
+are going to be in a hopeless minority here as regards me."
+
+They eyed her incredulously.
+
+"You can't imagine," Sydney exclaimed, "that the people downstairs
+will be such drivelling asses as to believe piffle like that."
+
+Anna measured out the coffee. Her eyes were lit with a gleam of
+humour. After all, it was really rather funny.
+
+"Well, I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "I always notice that
+people find it very easy to believe what they want to believe, and you
+see I'm not in the least popular. Miss Ellicot, for instance,
+considers me a most improper person."
+
+"Miss Ellicot! That old cat!" Sydney exclaimed indignantly.
+
+"Miss Ellicot!" Brendon echoed. "As if it could possibly matter what
+such a person thinks of you."
+
+Anna laughed outright.
+
+"You are positively eloquent to-night--both of you," she declared.
+"But, you see, appearances are very much against me. He knew my name,
+and also that I had been living in Paris, and a man doesn't risk
+claiming a girl for his wife, as a rule, for nothing. He was painfully
+in earnest, too. I think you will find that his story will be
+believed, whatever I say; and in any case, if he is going to stay on
+here, I shall have to go away."
+
+"Don't say that," Sydney begged. "We will see that he never annoys
+you."
+
+Anna shook her head.
+
+"He is evidently a friend of Mrs. White's," she said, "and if he is
+going to persist in this delusion, we cannot both remain here. I'd
+rather not go," she added. "This is much the cheapest place I know of
+where things are moderately clean, and I should hate rooms all by
+myself. Dear me, what a nuisance it is to have a pseudo husband shot
+down upon one from the skies."
+
+"And such a beast of a one," Sydney remarked vigorously.
+
+Brendon looked across the room at her thoughtfully.
+
+"I wonder," he said, "is there anything we could do to help you to get
+rid of him?"
+
+"Can you think of anything?" Anna answered. "I can't! He appears to be
+a most immovable person."
+
+Brendon hesitated for a moment. He was a little embarrassed.
+
+"There ought to be some means of getting at him," he said. "The fellow
+seems to know your name, Miss Pellissier, and that you have lived in
+Paris. Might we ask you if you have ever seen him, if you knew him at
+all before this evening?"
+
+She stood up suddenly, and turning her back to them, looked steadily
+out of the window. Below was an uninspiring street, a thoroughfare of
+boarding-houses and apartments. The steps, even the pavements, were
+invaded by little knots of loungers driven outside by the unusual heat
+of the evening, most of them in evening dress, or what passed for
+evening dress in Montague Street. The sound of their strident voices
+floated upwards, the high nasal note of the predominant Americans, the
+shrill laughter of girls quick to appreciate the wit of such of their
+male companions as thought it worth while to be amusing. A young man
+was playing the banjo. In the distance a barrel-organ was grinding out
+a _pot pourri_ of popular airs. Anna raised her eyes. Above the
+housetops it was different. She drew a long breath. After all, why
+need one look down. Always the other things remained.
+
+"I think," she said, "that I would rather not have anything to say
+about that man."
+
+"It isn't necessary," they both declared breathlessly.
+
+Brendon dismissed the subject with a wave of the hand. He glanced at
+his watch.
+
+"Let us walk round to Covent Garden," he suggested. "I daresay the
+gallery will be full, but there is always the chance, and I know you
+two are keen on Melba."
+
+The girl shook her head.
+
+"Not to-night," she said. "I have to go out."
+
+They hesitated. As a rule their comings and goings were discussed with
+perfect confidence, but on this occasion they both felt that there was
+intent in her silence as to her destination. Nevertheless Sydney,
+clumsily, but earnestly, had something to say about it.
+
+"I am afraid--I really think that one of us ought to go with you," he
+said. "That beast of a fellow is certain to be hanging about."
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"It is a secret mission," she declared. "There are policemen--and
+buses."
+
+"You shall not need either," Brendon said grimly. "We will see that he
+doesn't follow you."
+
+She thanked him with a look and rose to her feet.
+
+"Go down and rescue the rags of my reputation," she said, smiling. "I
+expect it is pretty well in shreds by now. To-morrow morning I shall
+have made up my mind what to do."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XV_
+
+A MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
+
+
+Anna looked about her admiringly. It was just such a bedroom as she
+would have chosen for herself. The colouring was green and white, with
+softly shaded electric lights, an alcove bedstead, which was a miracle
+of daintiness, white furniture, and a long low dressing-table littered
+all over with a multitude of daintily fashioned toilet appliances.
+Through an open door was a glimpse of the bathroom--a vision of
+luxury, out of which Annabel herself, in a wonderful dressing-gown and
+followed by a maid presently appeared.
+
+"Too bad to keep you waiting," Annabel exclaimed. "I'm really very
+sorry. Collins, you can go now. I will ring if I want you."
+
+The maid discreetly withdrew, and Anna stood transfixed, gazing with
+puzzled frown at her sister.
+
+"Annabel! Why, what on earth have you been doing to yourself, child?"
+she exclaimed.
+
+Annabel laughed a little uneasily.
+
+"The very question, my dear sister," she said, "tells me that I have
+succeeded. Dear me, what a difference it has made! No one would ever
+think that we were sisters. Don't you think that the shade of my hair
+is lovely?"
+
+"There is nothing particular the matter with the shade," Anna
+answered, "but it is not nearly so becoming as before you touched it.
+And what on earth do you want to darken your eyebrows and use so much
+make-up for at your age? You're exactly twenty-three, and you're got
+up as much as a woman of forty-five."
+
+Annabel shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"I only use the weeniest little dab of rouge," she declared, "and it
+is really necessary, because I want to get rid of the 'pallor
+effect.'"
+
+Anna made no remark. Her disapproval was obvious enough. Annabel saw
+it, and suddenly changed her tone.
+
+"You are very stupid, Anna," she said. "Can you not understand? It is
+of no use your taking my identity and all the burden of my iniquities
+upon your dear shoulders if I am to be recognized the moment I show my
+face in London. That is why I have dyed my hair, that is why I have
+abandoned my rôle of _ingenuèe_ and altered my whole style of dress.
+Upon my word, Anna," she declared, with a strange little laugh, "you
+are a thousand times more like me as I was two months ago than I am
+myself."
+
+A sudden sense of the gravity of this thing came home to Anna. Her
+sister's words were true. They had changed identities absolutely. It
+was not for a week or a month. It was for ever. A cold shiver came
+over her. That last year in Paris, when Annabel and she had lived in
+different worlds, had often been a nightmare to her. Annabel had taken
+her life into her hands with gay _insouciance_, had made her own
+friends, gone her own way. Anna never knew whither it had led
+her--sometimes she had fears. It was her past now, not Annabel's.
+
+"It is very good of you to come and see me, my dear sister," Annabel
+remarked, throwing herself into a low chair, and clasping her hands
+over her head. "To tell you the truth, I am a little dull."
+
+"Where is your husband?" Anna asked.
+
+"He is addressing a meeting of his constituents somewhere," Annabel
+answered. "I do not suppose he will be home till late. Tell me how are
+you amusing yourself?"
+
+Anna laughed.
+
+"I have been amusing myself up to now by trying to earn my living,"
+she replied.
+
+"I hope," Annabel answered lazily, "that you have succeeded.
+By-the-bye, do you want any money? Sir John's ideas of pin money are
+not exactly princely, but I can manage what you want, I dare say."
+
+"Thank you," Anna answered coldly. "I am not in need of any. I might
+add that in any case I should not touch Sir John's."
+
+"That's rather a pity," Annabel said. "He wants to settle something on
+you, I believe. It is really amusing. He lives in constant dread of a
+reappearance of '_La Belle Alcide_,' and hearing it said that she is
+his wife's sister. Bit priggish, isn't it? And if he only knew it--so
+absurd. Tell me how you are earning your living here,
+Anna--typewriting, or painting, or lady's companion?"
+
+"I think," Anna said, "that the less you know about me the better. Is
+all your house on the same scale of magnificence as this, Annabel?"
+she asked, looking round.
+
+Annabel shook her head.
+
+"Most of it is ugly and frowsy," she declared, "but it isn't worth
+talking about. I have made up my mind to insist upon moving from here
+into Park Lane, or one of the Squares. It is absolutely a frightful
+neighbourhood, this. If only you could see the people who have been to
+call on me! Sir John has the most absurd ideas, too. He won't have
+menservants inside the house, and his collection of carriages is only
+fit for a museum--where most of his friends ought to be, by-the-bye. I
+can assure you, Anna, it will take me years to get decently
+established. The man's as obstinate as a mule."
+
+Anna looked at her steadily.
+
+"He will find it difficult no doubt to alter his style of living,"
+she said. "I do not blame him. I hope you will always remember----"
+
+Annabel held out her hands with a little cry of protest.
+
+"No lecturing, Anna!" she exclaimed. "I hope you have not come for
+that."
+
+"I came," Anna answered, looking her sister steadily in the face, "to
+hear all that you can tell me about a man named Hill."
+
+Annabel had been lying curled up on the lounge, the personification of
+graceful animal ease. At Anna's words she seemed suddenly to stiffen.
+Her softly intertwined fingers became rigid. The little spot of rouge
+was vivid enough now by reason of this new pallor, which seemed to
+draw the colour even from her lips. But she did not speak. She made no
+attempt to answer her sister's question. Anna looked at her curiously,
+and with sinking heart.
+
+"You must answer me, Annabel," she continued. "You must tell me the
+truth, please. It is necessary."
+
+Annabel rose slowly to her feet, walked to the door as though to see
+that it was shut, and came back with slow lagging footsteps.
+
+"There was a man called Montague Hill," she said hoarsely, "but he is
+dead."
+
+"Then there is also," Anna remarked, "a Montague Hill who is very much
+alive. Not only that, but he is here in London. I have just come from
+him."
+
+Annabel no longer attempted to conceal her emotion. She battled with a
+deadly faintness, and she tottered rather than walked back to her
+seat. Anna, quitting her chair, dropped on her knees by her sister's
+side and took her hand.
+
+"Do not be frightened, dear," she said. "You must tell me the truth,
+and I will see that no harm comes to you."
+
+"The only Montague Hill I ever knew," Annabel said slowly, "is dead. I
+know he is dead. I saw him lying on the footway. I felt his heart. It
+had ceased to beat. It was a motor accident--a fatal motor accident
+the evening papers called it. They could not have called it a fatal
+motor accident if he had not been dead."
+
+Anna nodded.
+
+"Yes, I remember," she said. "It was the night you left Paris. They
+thought that he was dead at first, and they took him to the hospital.
+I believe that his recovery was considered almost miraculous."
+
+"Alive," Annabel moaned, her eyes large with terror. "You say that he
+is alive."
+
+"He is certainly alive," Anna declared. "More than that, he arrived
+to-day at the boarding-house where I am staying, greeted me with a
+theatrical start, and claimed me--as his wife. That is why I am here.
+You must tell me what it all means."
+
+"And you?" Annabel exclaimed. "What did you say?"
+
+"Well, I considered myself justified in denying it," Anna answered
+drily. "He produced what he called a marriage certificate, and I
+believe that nearly every one in the boarding-house, including Mrs.
+White, my landlady, believes his story. I am fairly well hardened in
+iniquity--your iniquity, Annabel--but I decline to have a husband
+thrust upon me. I really cannot have anything to do with Mr. Montague
+Hill."
+
+"A--marriage certificate!" Annabel gasped.
+
+Anna glanced into her sister's face, and rose to her feet.
+
+"Let me get you some water, Annabel. Don't be frightened, dear.
+Remember----"
+
+Annabel clutched her sister's arm. She would not let her move. She
+seemed smitten with a paroxysm of fear.
+
+"A thick-set, coarse-looking young man, Anna!" she exclaimed in a
+hoarse excited whisper. "He has a stubbly yellow moustache, weak eyes,
+and great horrid hands."
+
+Anna nodded.
+
+"It is the same man, Annabel," she said. "There is no doubt whatever
+about that. There was the motor accident, too. It is the same man, for
+he raved in the hospital, and they fetched me. It was you, of course,
+whom he wanted."
+
+"Alive! In London!" Annabel moaned.
+
+"Yes. Pull yourself together, Annabel! I must have the truth."
+
+The girl on the lounge drew a long sobbing breath.
+
+"You shall," she said. "Listen! There was a Meysey Hill in Paris, an
+American railway millionaire. This man and he were alike, and about
+the same age. Montague Hill was taken for the millionaire once or
+twice, and I suppose it flattered his vanity. At any rate, he began to
+deliberately personate him. He sent me flowers. Celeste introduced him
+to me--oh, how Celeste hated me! She must have known. He--wanted to
+marry me. Just then--I was nervous. I had gone further than I meant
+to--with some Englishmen. I was afraid of being talked about. You
+don't know, Anna, but when one is in danger one realizes that the--the
+other side of the line is Hell. The man was mad to marry me. I heard
+everywhere of his enormous riches and his generosity. I consented. We
+went to the Embassy. There was--a service. Then he took me out to
+Monteaux, on a motor. We were to have breakfast there and return in
+the evening. On the way he confessed. He was a London man of business,
+spending a small legacy in Paris. He had heard me sing--the fool
+thought himself in love with me. Celeste he knew. She was chaffing him
+about being taken for Meysey Hill, and suggested that he should be
+presented to me as the millionaire. He told me with a coarse nervous
+laugh. I was his wife. We were to live in some wretched London suburb.
+His salary was a few paltry hundreds a year. Anna, I listened to all
+that he had to say, and I called to him to let me get out. He laughed.
+I tried to jump, but he increased the speed. We were going at a mad
+pace. I struck him across the mouth, and across the eyes. He lost
+control of the machine. I jumped then--I was not even shaken. I saw
+the motor dashed to pieces against the wall, and I saw him pitched on
+his head into the road. I leaned over and looked at him--he was quite
+still. I could not hear his heart beat. I thought that he was dead. I
+stole away and walked to the railway station. That night in Paris I
+saw on the bills 'Fatal Motor Accidents.' _Le Petit Journal_ said that
+the man was dead. I was afraid that I might be called upon as a
+witness. That is why I was so anxious to leave Paris. The man who came
+to our rooms, you know, that night was his friend."
+
+"The good God!" Anna murmured, herself shaken with fear. "You were
+married to him!"
+
+"It could not be legal," Annabel moaned. "It couldn't be. I thought
+that I was marrying Meysey Hill, not that creature. We stepped from
+the Embassy into the motor--and oh! I thought that he was dead. Why
+didn't he die?"
+
+Anna sprang to her feet and walked restlessly up and down the room.
+Annabel watched her with wide-open, terrified eyes.
+
+"You won't give me away, Anna. He would never recognize me now. You
+are much more like what I was then."
+
+Anna stopped in front of her.
+
+"You don't propose, do you," she said quietly, "that I should take
+this man for my husband?"
+
+"You can drive him away," Annabel cried. "Tell him that he is mad. Go
+and live somewhere else."
+
+"In his present mood," Anna remarked, "he would follow me."
+
+"Oh, you are strong and brave," Annabel murmured. "You can keep him at
+arm's length. Besides, it was under false pretences. He told me that
+he was a millionaire. It could not be a legal marriage."
+
+"I am very much afraid," Anna answered, "that it was. It might be
+upset. I am wondering whether it would not be better to tell your
+husband everything. You will never be happy with this hanging over
+you."
+
+Annabel moistened her dry lips with a handkerchief steeped in eau de
+Cologne.
+
+"You don't know him, Anna," she said with a little shudder, "or you
+would not talk like that. He is steeped in the conventions. Every
+slight action is influenced by what he imagines would be the opinion
+of other people. Anything in the least irregular is like poison to
+him. He has no imagination, no real generosity. You might tell the
+truth to some men, but never to him."
+
+Anna was thoughtful. A conviction that her sister's words were true
+had from the first possessed her.
+
+"Annabel," she said slowly, "if I fight this thing out myself, can I
+trust you that it will not be a vain sacrifice? After what you have
+said it is useless for us to play with words. You do not love your
+husband, you have married him for a position--to escape from--things
+which you feared. Will you be a faithful and honest wife? Will you do
+your duty by him, and forget all your past follies? Unless, Annabel,
+you can----"
+
+"Oh, I will pledge you my word," Annabel cried passionately, "my
+solemn word. Believe me, Anna. Oh, you must believe me. I have been
+very foolish, but it is over."
+
+"Remember that you are young still, and fond of admiration," Anna
+said. "You will not give Sir John any cause for jealousy? You will
+have no secrets from him except--concerning those things which are
+past?"
+
+"Anna, I swear it!" her sister sobbed.
+
+"Then I will do what I can," Anna promised. "I believe that you are
+quite safe. He has had brain fever since, and, as you say, I am more
+like what you were then than you yourself are now. I don't think for a
+moment that he would recognize you."
+
+Annabel clutched her sister's hands. The tears were streaming down her
+face, her voice was thick with sobs.
+
+"Anna, you are the dearest, bravest sister in the world," she cried.
+"Oh, I can't thank you. You dear, dear girl. I--listen."
+
+They heard a man's voice outside.
+
+"Sir John!" Annabel gasped.
+
+Anna sprang to her feet and made for the dressing-room door.
+
+"One moment, if you please!"
+
+She stopped short and looked round. Sir John stood upon the threshold.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XVI_
+
+THE DISCOMFITURE OF SIR JOHN
+
+
+Sir John looked from one to the other of the two sisters. His face
+darkened.
+
+"My arrival appears to be opportune," he said stiffly. "I was hoping
+to be able to secure a few minutes' conversation with you, Miss
+Pellissier. Perhaps my wife has already prepared you for what I wish
+to say."
+
+"Not in the least," Anna answered calmly. "We have scarcely mentioned
+your name."
+
+Sir John coughed. He looked at Annabel, whose face was buried in her
+hands--he looked back at Anna, who was regarding him with an easy
+composure which secretly irritated him.
+
+"It is concerning--our future relations," Sir John pronounced
+ponderously.
+
+"Indeed!" Anna answered indifferently. "That sounds interesting."
+
+Sir John frowned. Anna was unimpressed. Elegant, a little scornful,
+she leaned slightly against the back of a chair and looked him
+steadily in the eyes.
+
+"I have no wish," he said, "to altogether ignore the fact that you are
+my wife's sister, and have therefore a certain claim upon me."
+
+Anna's eyes opened a little wider, but she said nothing.
+
+"A claim," he continued, "which I am quite prepared to recognize. It
+will give me great pleasure to settle an annuity for a moderate amount
+upon you on certain conditions."
+
+"A--what?" Anna asked.
+
+"An annuity--a sum of money paid to you yearly or quarterly through my
+solicitors, and which you can consider as a gift from your sister. The
+conditions are such as I think you will recognize the justice of. I
+wish to prevent a repetition of any such errand as I presume you have
+come here upon this evening. I cannot have my wife distressed or
+worried."
+
+"May I ask," Anna said softly, "what you presume to have been the
+nature of my errand here this evening?"
+
+Sir John pointed to Annabel, who was as yet utterly limp.
+
+"I cannot but conclude," he said, "that your errand involved the
+recital to my wife of some trouble in which you find yourself. I
+should like to add that if a certain amount is needed to set you free
+from any debts you may have contracted, in addition to this annuity,
+you will not find me unreasonable."
+
+Anna glanced momentarily towards her sister, but Annabel neither spoke
+nor moved.
+
+"With regard to the conditions I mentioned," Sir John continued,
+gaining a little confidence from Anna's silence, "I think you will
+admit that they are not wholly unreasonable. I should require you to
+accept no employment whatever upon the stage, and to remain out of
+England."
+
+Anna's demeanour was still imperturbable, her marble pallor untinged
+by the slightest flush of colour. She regarded him coldly, as though
+wondering whether he had anything further to say. Sir John hesitated,
+and then continued.
+
+"I trust," he said, "that you will recognize the justice of these
+conditions. Under happier circumstances nothing would have given me
+more pleasure than to have offered you a home with your sister. You
+yourself, I am sure, recognize how impossible you have made it for me
+now to do anything of the sort. I may say that the amount of the
+annuity I propose to allow you is two hundred a year."
+
+Anna looked for a moment steadily at her sister, whose face was still
+averted. Then she moved towards the door. Before she passed out she
+turned and faced Sir John. The impassivity of her features changed at
+last. Her eyes were lit with mirth, the corners of her mouth quivered.
+
+"Really, Sir John," she said, "I don't know how to thank you. I can
+understand now these newspapers when they talk of your magnificent
+philanthropy. It is magnificent indeed. And yet--you millionaires
+should really, I think, cultivate the art of discrimination. I am so
+much obliged to you for your projected benevolence. Frankly, it is the
+funniest thing which has ever happened to me in my life. I shall like
+to think of it--whenever I feel dull. Good-bye, Anna!"
+
+Annabel sprang up. Sir John waved her back.
+
+"Do I understand you then to refuse my offer?" he asked Anna.
+
+She shot a sudden glance at him. Sir John felt hot and furious. It was
+maddening to be made to feel that he was in any way the inferior of
+this cool, self-possessed young woman, whose eyes seemed for a moment
+to scintillate with scorn. There were one or two bitter moments in his
+life when he had been made to feel that gentility laid on with a
+brush may sometimes crack and show weak places--that deportment and
+breeding are after all things apart. Anna went out.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Her cheeks burned for a moment or two when she reached the street,
+although she held her head upright and walked blithely, even humming
+to herself fragments of an old French song. And then at the street
+corner she came face to face with Nigel Ennison.
+
+"I won't pretend," he said, "that this is an accident. The fates are
+never so kind to me. As a matter of fact I have been waiting for you."
+
+She raised her eyebrows.
+
+"Really," she said. "And by what right do you do anything of the
+sort?"
+
+"No right at all," he admitted. "Only it is much too late for you to
+be out alone. You have been to see your sister, of course. How is
+she?"
+
+"My sister is quite well, thank you," she answered. "Would you mind
+calling that hansom for me?"
+
+He looked at it critically and shook his head.
+
+"You really couldn't ride in it," he said, deprecatingly. "The horse's
+knees are broken, and I am not sure that the man is sober. I would
+sooner see you in a 'bus again."
+
+She laughed.
+
+"Do you mean to say that you have been here ever since I came?"
+
+"I am afraid that I must confess it," he answered. "Idiotic, isn't
+it?"
+
+"Absolutely," she agreed coldly. "I wish you would not do it."
+
+"Would not do what?"
+
+"Well, follow buses from Russell Square to Hampstead."
+
+"I can assure you," he answered, "that it isn't a habit of mine. But
+seriously----"
+
+"Well seriously?"
+
+"Isn't it your own fault a little? Why do you not tell me your
+address, and allow me to call upon you."
+
+"Why should I? I have told you that I do not wish for acquaintances in
+London."
+
+"Perhaps not in a general way," he answered calmly. "You are quite
+right, I think. Only I am not an acquaintance at all. I am an old
+friend, and I declined to be shelved."
+
+"Would you mind telling me," Anna asked, "how long I knew you in
+Paris?"
+
+He looked at her sideways. There was nothing to be learned from her
+face.
+
+"Well," he said slowly, "I had met you three times--before Drummond's
+dinner."
+
+"Oh, Drummond's dinner!" she repeated. "You were there, were you?"
+
+He laughed a little impatiently.
+
+"Isn't that rather a strange question--under the circumstances?" he
+asked quietly.
+
+Her cheeks flushed a dull red. She felt that there was a hidden
+meaning under his words. Yet her embarrassment was only a passing
+thing. She dismissed the whole subject with a little shrug of the
+shoulders.
+
+"We are both of us trenching upon forbidden ground," she said. "It was
+perhaps my fault. You have not forgotten----"
+
+"I have forgotten nothing?" he answered, enigmatically.
+
+Anna hailed a bus. He looked at her reproachfully. The bus however was
+full. They fell into step again. More than ever a sense of confusion
+was upon Ennison.
+
+"Last time I saw you," he reminded her, "you spoke, did you not, of
+obtaining some employment in London."
+
+"Quite true," she answered briskly, "and thanks to you I have
+succeeded."
+
+"Thanks to me," he repeated, puzzled. "I don't understand."
+
+"No? But it is very simple. It was you who were so much amazed that I
+did not try--the music hall stage here."
+
+"You must admit," he declared, "that to us--who had seen you--the
+thought of your trying anything else was amazing."
+
+"At any rate," she declared, "your remarks decided me. I have an
+engagement with a theatrical agent--I believe for the 'Unusual'."
+
+"You are going to sing in London?" he said quietly.
+
+"Yes."
+
+For a moment or two he did not speak. Glancing towards him she saw
+that a shadow had fallen upon his face.
+
+"Tell me," she insisted, "why you look like that. You are afraid--that
+here in London--I shall not be a success. It is that, is it not?"
+
+"No," he answered readily. "It is not that. The idea of your being a
+failure would never have occurred to me."
+
+"Then why are you sorry that I am going to the 'Unusual'? I do not
+understand."
+
+Their eyes met for a moment. His face was very serious.
+
+"I am sorry," he said slowly. "Why, I do not know."
+
+"I positively insist upon knowing," she declared cheerfully. "The
+sooner you tell me the better."
+
+"It is very hard to explain," he answered. "I think that it is only an
+idea. Only you seem to me since the time when I knew you in Paris to
+have changed--to have changed in some subtle manner which I find at
+times utterly bewildering. I find you an impenetrable enigma. I find
+it impossible to associate you with--my little friend of the
+'Ambassador's.' The things she said and did from you--seem impossible. I
+had a sort of idea," he went on, "that you were starting life all over
+again, and it seemed awfully plucky."
+
+There was a long silence. Then Anna spoke more seriously than usual.
+
+"I think," she said, "that I rather like what you have said. Don't be
+afraid to go on thinking it. Even though I am going to sing at the
+'Unusual' you may find that the 'Alcide,' whom you knew in Paris does
+not exist any more. At the same time," she added, in a suddenly
+altered tone, "it isn't anything whatever to do with you, is it?"
+
+"Why not?" he answered. "You permitted me then to call you my friend.
+I do not intend to allow you to forget."
+
+They passed a man who stared at them curiously. Ennison started and
+looked anxiously at Anna. She was quite unconcerned.
+
+"Did you see who that was?" he asked in a low tone.
+
+"I did not recognize him," Anna answered. "I supposed that he took off
+his hat to you."
+
+"It was Cheveney!" he said slowly.
+
+"Cheveney!" she repeated. "I do not know any one of that name."
+
+He caught her wrist and turned her face towards him. Her eyes were
+wide open with amazement.
+
+"Mr. Ennison!"
+
+He released her.
+
+"Good God!" he exclaimed. "Who are you--Annabel Pellissier or her
+ghost?"
+
+Anna laughed.
+
+"If it is a choice between the two," she answered, "I must be Annabel
+Pellissier. I am certainly no ghost."
+
+"You have her face and figure," he muttered. "You have even her name.
+Yet you can look Cheveney in the face and declare that you do not know
+him. You have changed from the veriest butterfly to a woman--you wear
+different clothes, you have the air of another world. If you do not
+help me to read the riddle of yourself, Annabel, I think that very
+soon I shall be a candidate for the asylum."
+
+She laughed heartily, and became as suddenly grave.
+
+"So Mr. Cheveney was another Paris friend, was he?" she asked.
+
+"Don't befool me any more," he answered, almost roughly. "If any one
+should know----you should! He was your friend. We were only--_les
+autres_."
+
+"That is quite untrue," she declared cheerfully. "I certainly knew him
+no better than you."
+
+"Then he--and Paris--lied," Ennison answered.
+
+"That," she answered, "is far easier to believe. You are too
+credulous."
+
+Ennison had things to say, but he looked at her and held his tongue.
+They turned the last corner, and almost immediately a man who had been
+standing there turned and struck Ennison a violent blow on the cheek.
+Ennison reeled, and almost fell. Recovering himself quickly his
+instinct of self-defence was quicker than his recollection of Anna's
+presence. He struck out from the shoulder, and the man measured his
+length upon the pavement.
+
+Anna sprang lightly away across the street. Brendon and Courtlaw who
+had been watching for her, met her at the door. She pointed across the
+road.
+
+"Please go and see that--nothing happens," she pleaded.
+
+"It is the first moment we have let him out of our sight," Brendon
+exclaimed, as he hastened across the street.
+
+Hill sat up on the pavement and mopped the blood from his cheek.
+Ennison's signet-ring had cut nearly to the bone.
+
+"What the devil do you mean by coming for me like that?" Ennison
+exclaimed, glowering down upon him. "Serves you right if I'd cracked
+your skull."
+
+Hill looked up at him, an unkempt, rough-looking object, with broken
+collar, tumbled hair, and the blood slowly dripping from his face.
+
+"What do you mean, hanging round with my wife?" he answered fiercely.
+
+Ennison looked down on him in disgust.
+
+"You silly fool," he said. "I know nothing about your wife. The young
+lady I was with is not married at all. Why don't you make sure before
+you rush out like that upon a stranger?"
+
+"You were with my wife," Hill repeated sullenly. "I suppose you're
+like the rest of them. Call her Miss Pellissier, eh? I tell you she's
+my wife, and I've got the certificate in my pocket."
+
+"I don't know who you are," Ennison said quietly, "but you are a
+thundering liar."
+
+Hill staggered to his feet and drew a folded paper from his pocket.
+
+"Marriage certificates don't tell lies, at any rate," he said. "Just
+look that through, will you."
+
+Ennison took the document, tore it half in two without looking at it,
+and flung it back in Hill's face. Then he turned on his heel and
+walked off.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XVII_
+
+THE CHANGE IN "ALCIDE"
+
+
+"By-the-bye," his neighbour asked him languidly, "who is our hostess?"
+
+"Usually known, I believe, as Lady Ferringhall," Ennison answered,
+"unless I have mixed up my engagement list and come to the wrong
+house."
+
+"How dull you are," the lady remarked. "Of course I mean, who was
+she?"
+
+"I believe that her name was Pellissier," Ennison answered.
+
+"Pellissier," she repeated thoughtfully. "There were some Hampshire
+Pellissiers."
+
+"She is one of them," Ennison said.
+
+"Dear me! I wonder where Sir John picked her up."
+
+"In Paris, I think," Ennison answered. "Only married a few months ago
+and lived out at Hampstead."
+
+"Heavens!" the lady exclaimed. "I heard they came from somewhere
+outrageous."
+
+"Hampstead didn't suit Lady Ferringhall," Ennison remarked. "They have
+just taken this house from Lady Cellender."
+
+"And what are you doing here?" the lady asked.
+
+"Politics!" Ennison answered grimly. "And you?"
+
+"Same thing. Besides, my husband has shares in Sir John's company. Do
+you know, I am beginning to believe that we only exist nowadays by the
+tolerance of these millionaire tradesmen. Our land brings us in
+nothing. We have to get them to let us in for the profits of their
+business, and in return we ask them to--dinner. By-the-bye, have you
+seen this new woman at the 'Empire'? What is it they call
+her--'Alcide?'"
+
+"Yes, I have seen her," Ennison answered.
+
+"Every one raves about her," Lady Angela continued. "For my part I can
+see no difference in any of these French girls who come over here with
+their demure manner and atrocious songs."
+
+"'Alcide's' songs are not atrocious," Ennison remarked.
+
+Lady Angela shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"It is unimportant," she said. "Nobody understands them, of course,
+but we all look as though we did. Something about this woman rather
+reminds me of our hostess."
+
+Ennison thought so too half an hour later, when having cut out from
+one of the bridge tables he settled down for a chat with Annabel.
+Every now and then something familiar in her tone, the poise of her
+head, the play of her eyes startled him. Then he remembered that she
+was Anna's sister.
+
+He lowered his voice a little and leaned over towards her.
+
+"By-the-bye, Lady Ferringhall," he said, "do you know that I am a very
+great admirer of your sister's? I wonder if she has ever spoken to you
+of me."
+
+The change in Lady Ferringhall's manner was subtle but unmistakable.
+She answered him almost coldly.
+
+"I see nothing of my sister," she said. "In Paris our lives were far
+apart, and we had seldom the same friends. I have heard of you from my
+husband. You are somebody's secretary, are you not?"
+
+It was plain that the subject was distasteful to her, but Ennison,
+although famous in a small way for his social tact, did not at once
+discard it.
+
+"You have not seen your sister lately," he remarked. "I believe that
+you would find her in some respects curiously altered. I have never in
+my life been so much puzzled by any one as by your sister. Something
+has changed her tremendously."
+
+Annabel looked at him curiously.
+
+"Do you mean in looks?" she asked.
+
+"Not only that," he answered. "In Paris your sister appeared to me to
+be a charming student of frivolity. Here she seems to have developed
+into a brilliant woman with more character and steadfastness than I
+should ever have given her credit for. Her features are the same, yet
+the change has written its mark into her face. Do you know, Lady
+Ferringhall, I am proud that your sister permits me to call myself her
+friend."
+
+"And in Paris----"
+
+"In Paris," he interrupted, "she was a very delightful companion, but
+beyond that--one did not take her seriously. I am not boring you, am
+I?"
+
+She raised her eyes to his and smiled into his face.
+
+"You are not boring me," she said, "but I would rather talk of
+something else. I suppose you will think me very unsisterly and
+cold-hearted, but there are circumstances in connexion with my
+sister's latest exploit which are intensely irritating both to my
+husband and to myself."
+
+He recognized the force, almost the passion, which trembled in her
+tone, and he at once abandoned the subject. He remained talking with
+her however. It was easy for him to see that she desired to be
+agreeable to him. They talked lightly but confidentially until Sir
+John approached them with a slight frown upon his face.
+
+"Mr. Ennison," he said, "it is for you to cut in at Lady Angela's
+table. Anna, do you not see that the Countess is sitting alone?"
+
+She rose, and flashed a quick smile upon Ennison behind her husband's
+back.
+
+"You must come and see me some afternoon," she said to him.
+
+He murmured his delight, and joined the bridge party, where he played
+with less than his accustomed skill. On the way home he was still
+thoughtful. He turned in at the club. They were talking of "Alcide,"
+as they often did in those days.
+
+"She has improved her style," someone declared. "Certainly her voice
+is far more musical."
+
+Another differed.
+
+"She has lost something," he declared, "something which brought the
+men in crowds around the stage at the 'Ambassador's.' I don't know what
+you'd call it--a sort of witchery, almost suggestiveness. She sings
+better perhaps. But I don't think she lays hold of one so."
+
+"I will tell you what there is about her which is so fetching,"
+Drummond, who was lounging by, declared. "She contrives somehow to
+strike the personal note in an amazing manner. You are wedged in
+amongst a crowd, perhaps in the promenade, you lean over the back, you
+are almost out of sight. Yet you catch her eye--you can't seem to
+escape from it. You feel that that smile is for you, the words are for
+you, the whole song is for you. Naturally you shout yourself hoarse
+when she has finished, and feel jolly pleased with yourself."
+
+"And if you are a millionaire like Drummond," someone remarked, "you
+send round a note and ask her to come out to supper."
+
+"In the present case," Drummond remarked, glancing across the room,
+"Cheveney wouldn't permit it."
+
+Ennison dropped the evening paper which he had been pretending to
+read. Cheveney strolled up, a pipe in his mouth.
+
+"Cheveney wouldn't have anything to say about it, as it happens," he
+remarked, a little grimly. "Ungracious little beast, I call her. I
+don't mind telling you chaps that except on the stage I haven't set
+eyes on her this side of the water. I've called half a dozen times at
+her flat, and she won't see me. Rank ingratitude, I call it."
+
+There was a shout of laughter. Drummond patted him on the shoulder.
+
+"Never mind, old chap," he declared. "Let's hope your successor is
+worthy of you."
+
+"You fellows," Ennison said quietly, "are getting a little wild. I
+have known Miss Pellissier as long as any of you perhaps, and I have
+seen something of her since her arrival in London. I consider her a
+very charming young woman--and I won't hear a word about Paris, for
+there are things I don't understand about that, but I will stake my
+word upon it that to-day Miss Pellissier is entitled not only to our
+admiration, but to our respect. I firmly believe that she is as
+straight as a die."
+
+Ennison's voice shook a little. They were his friends, and they
+recognized his unusual earnestness. Drummond, who had been about to
+speak, refrained. Cheveney walked away with a shrug of the shoulders.
+
+"I believe you are quite right so far as regards the present, at any
+rate," someone remarked, from the depths of an easy chair. "You see,
+her sister is married to Ferringhall, isn't she? and she herself must
+be drawing no end of a good screw here. I always say that it's poverty
+before everything that makes a girl skip the line."
+
+Ennison escaped. He was afraid if he stayed that he would make a fool
+of himself. He walked through the misty September night to his rooms.
+On his way he made a slight divergence from the direct route and
+paused for a moment outside the flat where Anna was now living. It was
+nearly one o'clock; but there were lights still in all her windows.
+Suddenly the door of the flat opened and closed. A man came out, and
+walking recklessly, almost cannoned into Ennison. He mumbled an
+apology and then stopped short.
+
+"It's Ennison, isn't it?" he exclaimed. "What the devil are you doing
+star-gazing here?"
+
+Ennison looked at him in surprise.
+
+"I might return the compliment, Courtlaw," he answered, "by asking why
+the devil you come lurching on to the pavement like a drunken man."
+
+Courtlaw was pale and dishevelled. He was carelessly dressed, and
+there were marks of unrest upon his features. He pointed to where the
+lights still burned in Anna's windows.
+
+"What do you think of that farce?" he exclaimed bitterly. "You are one
+of those who must know all about it. Was there ever such madness?"
+
+"I am afraid that I don't understand," Ennison answered. "You seem to
+have come from Miss Pellissier's rooms. I had no idea even that she
+was a friend of yours."
+
+Courtlaw laughed hardly. His eyes were red. He was in a curious state
+of desperation.
+
+"Nor am I now," he answered. "I have spoken too many truths to-night.
+Why do women take to lies and deceit and trickery as naturally as a
+duck to water?"
+
+"You are not alluding, I hope, to Miss Pellissier?" Ennison said
+stiffly.
+
+"Why not? Isn't the whole thing a lie? Isn't her reputation, this
+husband of hers, the 'Alcide' business, isn't it all a cursed juggle?
+She hasn't the right to do it. I----"
+
+He stopped short. He had the air of a man who has said too much.
+Ennison was deeply interested.
+
+"I should like to understand you," he said. "I knew Miss Pellissier in
+Paris at the 'Ambassador's,' and I know her now, but I am convinced
+that there is some mystery in connexion with her change of life. She
+is curiously altered in many ways. Is there any truth, do you suppose,
+in this rumoured marriage?"
+
+"I know nothing," Courtlaw answered hurriedly. "Ask me nothing. I will
+not talk to you about Miss Pellissier or her affairs."
+
+"You are not yourself to-night, Courtlaw," Ennison said. "Come to my
+rooms and have a drink."
+
+Courtlaw refused brusquely, almost rudely.
+
+"I am off to-night," he said. "I am going to America. I have work
+there. I ought to have gone long ago. Will you answer me a question
+first?"
+
+"If I can," Ennison said.
+
+"What were you doing outside Miss Pellissier's flat to-night? You were
+looking at her windows. Why? What is she to you?"
+
+"I was there by accident," Ennison answered. "Miss Pellissier is
+nothing to me except a young lady for whom I have the most profound
+and respectful admiration."
+
+Courtlaw laid his hand upon Ennison's shoulder. They were at the
+corner of Pall Mall now, and had come to a standstill.
+
+"Take my advice," he said hoarsely. "Call it warning, if you like.
+Admire her as much as you choose--at a distance. No more. Look at me.
+You knew me in Paris. David Courtlaw. Well-balanced, sane, wasn't I?
+You never heard anyone call me a madman? I'm pretty near being one
+now, and it's her fault. I've loved her for two years, I love her now.
+And I'm off to America, and if my steamer goes to the bottom of the
+Atlantic I'll thank the Lord for it."
+
+He strode away and vanished in the gathering fog. Ennison stood still
+for a moment, swinging his latchkey upon his finger. Then he turned
+round and gazed thoughtfully at the particular spot in the fog where
+Courtlaw had disappeared.
+
+"I'm d----d if I understand this," he said thoughtfully. "I never saw
+Courtlaw with her--never heard her speak of him. He was going to tell
+me something--and he shut up. I wonder what it was."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XVIII_
+
+ANNABEL AND "ALCIDE"
+
+
+Lady Ferringhall lifted her eyes to the newcomer, and the greeting in
+them was obviously meant for him alone. She continued to fan herself.
+
+"You are late," she murmured.
+
+"My chief," he said, "took it into his head to have an impromptu
+dinner party. He brought home a few waverers to talk to them where
+they had no chance of getting away."
+
+She nodded.
+
+"I am bored," she said abruptly. "This is a very foolish sort of
+entertainment. And, as usual," she continued, a little bitterly, "I
+seem to have been sent along with the dullest and least edifying of
+Mrs. Montressor's guests."
+
+Ennison glanced at the other people in the box and smiled.
+
+"I got your note just in time," he remarked. "I knew of course that
+you were at the Montressor's, but I had no idea that it was a music
+hall party afterwards. Are you all here?"
+
+"Five boxes full," she answered. "Some of them seem to be having an
+awfully good time too. Did you see Lord Delafield and Miss Anderson?
+They packed me in with Colonel Anson and Mrs. Hitchings, who seem to
+be absolutely engrossed in one another, and a boy of about seventeen,
+who no sooner got here than he discovered that he wanted to see a man
+in the promenade and disappeared."
+
+Ennison at once seated himself.
+
+"I feel justified then," he said, "in annexing his chair. I expect you
+had been snubbing him terribly."
+
+"Well, he was presumptuous," Annabel remarked, "and he wasn't nice
+about it. I wonder how it is," she added, "that boys always make love
+so impertinently."
+
+Ennison laughed softly.
+
+"I wonder," he said, "how you would like to be made love to--boldly or
+timorously or sentimentally."
+
+"Are you master of all three methods?" she asked, stopping her fanning
+for a moment to look at him.
+
+"Indeed, no," he answered. "Mine is a primitive and unstudied manner.
+It needs cultivating, I think."
+
+His fingers touched hers for a moment under the ledge of the box.
+
+"That sounds so uncouth," she murmured. "I detest amateurs."
+
+"I will buy books and a lay figure," he declared, "to practise upon.
+Or shall I ask Colonel Anson for a few hints?"
+
+"For Heaven's sake no," she declared. "I would rather put up with your
+own efforts, however clumsy. Love-making at first hand is dull enough.
+At second hand it would be unendurable."
+
+He leaned towards her.
+
+"Is that a challenge?"
+
+She shrugged her shoulders, all ablaze with jewels.
+
+"Why not? It might amuse me."
+
+Somewhat irrelevantly he glanced at the next few boxes where the rest
+of Mrs. Montressor's guests were.
+
+"Is your husband here to-night?" he asked.
+
+"My husband!" she laughed a little derisively. "No, he wouldn't come
+here of all places--just now. He dined, and then pleaded a political
+engagement. I was supposed to do the same, but I didn't."
+
+"You know," he said with some hesitation, "that your sister is
+singing."
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Of course. I want to hear how she does it."
+
+"She does it magnificently," he declared. "I think--we all think that
+she is wonderful."
+
+She looked at him with curious eyes.
+
+"I remember," she said, "that the first night I saw you, you spoke of
+my sister as your friend. Have you seen much of her lately?"
+
+"Nothing at all," he answered.
+
+The small grey feathers of her exquisitely shaped fan waved gently
+backwards and forwards. She was watching him intently.
+
+"Do you know," she said, "that every one is remarking how ill you
+look. I too can see it. What has been the matter?"
+
+"Toothache," he answered laconically.
+
+She looked away.
+
+"You might at least," she murmured, "have invented a more romantic
+reason."
+
+"Oh, I might," he answered, "have gone further still. I might have
+told you the truth."
+
+"Has my sister been unkind to you?"
+
+"The family," he declared, "has not treated me with consideration."
+
+She looked at him doubtfully.
+
+"You promised faithfully to be there," he said slowly. "I loathe
+afternoon concerts, and----"
+
+She was really like her sister he thought, impressed for a moment by
+the soft brilliancy of her smile. Her fingers rested upon his.
+
+"You were really at Moulton House," she exclaimed penitently. "I am so
+sorry. I had a perfect shoal of callers. People who would not go. I
+only arrived when everybody was coming away."
+
+A little murmur of expectation, an audible silence announced the
+coming of "Alcide." Then a burst of applause. She was standing there,
+smiling at the audience as at her friends. From the first there had
+always been between her and her listeners that electrical sympathy
+which only a certain order of genius seems able to create. Then she
+sang.
+
+Ennison listened, and his eyes glowed. Lady Ferringhall listened, and
+her cheeks grew pale. Her whole face stiffened with suppressed anger.
+She forgot Anna's sacrifices, forgot her own callousness, forgot the
+burden which she had fastened upon her sister's shoulders. She was
+fiercely and bitterly jealous. Anna was singing as she used to sing.
+She was _chic_, distinguished, unusual. What right had she to call
+herself "Alcide"? It was abominable, an imposture. Ennison listened,
+and he forgot where he was. He forgot Annabel's idle attempts at
+love-making, all the _cul-de-sac_ gallantry of the moment. The
+cultivated indifference, which was part of the armour of his little
+world fell away from him. He leaned forward, and looked into the eyes
+of the woman he loved, and it seemed to him that she sang back to him
+with a sudden note of something like passion breaking here and there
+through the gay mocking words which flowed with such effortless and
+seductive music from her lips.
+
+Neither of them joined in the applause which followed upon her exit.
+They were both conscious, however, that something had intervened
+between them. Their conversation became stilted. A spot of colour,
+brighter than any rouge, burned on her cheeks.
+
+"She is marvellously clever," he said.
+
+"She appears to be very popular here," she remarked.
+
+"You too sing?" he asked.
+
+"I have given it up," she answered. "One genius in the family is
+enough." After a pause, she added, "Do you mind fetching back my
+recalcitrant cavalier."
+
+"Anything except that," he murmured. "I was half hoping that I might
+be allowed to see you home."
+
+"If you can tear yourself away from this delightful place in five
+minutes," she answered, "I think I can get rid of the others."
+
+"We will do it," he declared. "If only Sir John were not Sir John I
+would ask you to come and have some supper."
+
+"Don't imperil my reputation before I am established," she answered,
+smiling. "Afterwards it seems to me that there are no limits to what
+one may not do amongst one's own set."
+
+"I am frightened of Sir John," he said, "but I suggest that we risk
+it."
+
+"Don't tempt me," she said, laughing, and drawing her opera-cloak
+together. "You shall drive home with me in a hansom, if you will. That
+is quite as far as I mean to tempt Providence to-night."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Again on his way homeward from Cavendish Square he abandoned the
+direct route to pass by the door of Anna's flat. Impassive by nature
+and training, he was conscious to-night of a strange sense of
+excitement, of exhilaration tempered by a dull background of
+disappointment. Her sister had told him that it was true. Anna was
+married. After all, she was a consummate actress. Her recent attitude
+towards him was undoubtedly a pose. His long struggle with himself,
+his avoidance of her were quite unnecessary. There was no longer any
+risk in association with her. His pulses beat fast as he walked, his
+feet fell lightly upon the pavement. He slackened his pace as he
+reached the flat. The windows were still darkened--perhaps she was not
+home yet. He lit a cigarette and loitered about. He laughed once or
+twice at himself as he paced backwards and forwards. He felt like a
+boy again, the taste for adventures was keen upon his palate, the
+whole undiscovered world of rhythmical things, of love and poetry and
+passion seemed again to him a real and actual place, and he himself an
+adventurer upon the threshold.
+
+Then a hansom drove up, and his heart gave a great leap. She stepped
+on to the pavement almost before him, and his blood turned almost to
+ice as he saw that she was not alone. A young man turned to pay the
+cabman. Then she saw him.
+
+"Mr. Ennison," she exclaimed, "is that really you?"
+
+There was no sign of embarrassment in her manner. She held out her
+hand frankly. She seemed honestly glad to see him.
+
+"How odd that I should almost spring into your arms just on my
+doorstep!" she remarked gaily. "Are you in a hurry? Will you come in
+and have some coffee?"
+
+He hesitated, and glanced towards her companion. He saw now that it
+was merely a boy.
+
+"This is Mr. Sydney Courtlaw--Mr. Ennison," she said. "You are coming
+in, aren't you, Sydney?"
+
+"If I may," he answered. "Your coffee's too good to refuse."
+
+She led the way, talking all the time to Ennison.
+
+"Do you know, I have been wondering what had become of you," she said.
+"I had those beautiful roses from you on my first night, and a tiny
+little note but no address. I did not even know where to write and
+thank you."
+
+"I have been abroad," he said. "The life of a private secretary is
+positively one of slavery. I had to go at a moment's notice."
+
+"I am glad that you have a reasonable excuse for not having been to
+see me," she said good-humouredly. "Please make yourselves comfortable
+while I see to the coffee."
+
+It was a tiny little room, daintily furnished, individual in its
+quaint colouring, and the masses of perfumed flowers set in strange
+and unexpected places. A great bowl of scarlet carnations gleamed from
+a dark corner, set against the background of a deep brown wall. A jar
+of pink roses upon a tiny table seemed to gain an extra delicacy of
+colour from the sombre curtains behind. Anna, who had thrown aside her
+sealskin coat, wore a tight-fitting walking dress of some dark shade.
+He leaned back in a low chair, and watched her graceful movements, the
+play of her white hands as she bent over some wonderful machine. A
+woman indeed this to love and be loved, beautiful, graceful, gay. A
+dreamy sense of content crept over him. The ambitions of his life, and
+they were many, seemed to lie far away, broken up dreams in some
+outside world where the way was rough and the sky always grey. A
+little table covered with a damask cloth was dragged out. There were
+cakes and sandwiches--for Ennison a sort of Elysian feast, long to be
+remembered. They talked lightly and smoked cigarettes till Anna, with
+a little laugh, threw open the window and let in the cool night air.
+
+Ennison stood by her side. They looked out over the city, grim and
+silent now, for it was long past midnight. For a moment her thoughts
+led her back to the evening when she and Courtlaw had stood together
+before the window of her studio in Paris, before the coming of Sir
+John had made so many changes in her life. She was silent, the ghost
+of a fading smile passed from her lips. She had made her way since
+then a little further into the heart of life. Yet even now there were
+so many things untouched, so much to be learned. To-night she had a
+curious feeling that she stood upon the threshold of some change. The
+great untrodden world was before her still, into which no one can pass
+alone. She felt a new warmth in her blood, a strange sense of elation
+crept over her. Sorrows and danger and disappointment she had known.
+Perhaps the day of her recompense was at hand. She glanced into her
+companion's face, and she saw there strange things. For a moment her
+heart seemed to stop beating. Then she dropped the curtain and stepped
+back into the room. Sydney was strumming over a new song which stood
+upon the piano.
+
+"I am sure," she said, "that you mean to stay until you are turned
+out. Do you see the time?"
+
+"I may come and see you?" Ennison asked, as his hand touched hers.
+
+"Yes," she answered, looking away. "Some afternoon."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XIX_
+
+"THIS IS NOT THE END"
+
+
+"I said some afternoon," she remarked, throwing open her warm coat,
+and taking off her gloves, "but I certainly did not mean to-day."
+
+"I met you accidentally," he reminded her. "Our ways happened to lie
+together."
+
+"And our destinations also, it seems," she added, smiling.
+
+"You asked me in to tea," he protested.
+
+"In self-defence I had to," she answered. "It is a delightful day for
+walking, but a great deal too cold to be standing on the pavement."
+
+"Of course," he said, reaching out his hand tentatively for his hat,
+"I could go away even now. Your reputation for hospitality would
+remain under a cloud though, for tea was distinctly mentioned."
+
+"Then you had better ring the bell," she declared, laughing. "The walk
+has given me an appetite, and I do not feel like waiting till five
+o'clock. I wonder why on earth the curtains are drawn. It is quite
+light yet, and I want to have one more look at that angry red sun.
+Would you mind drawing them back?"
+
+Ennison sprang up, but he never reached the curtains. They were
+suddenly thrown aside, and a man stepped out from his hiding-place. A
+little exclamation of surprise escaped Ennison. Anna sprang to her
+feet with a startled cry.
+
+"You!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here? How dare you come to
+my rooms!"
+
+The man stepped into the middle of the room. The last few months had
+not dealt kindly with Mr. Montague Hill. He was still flashily
+dressed, with much obvious jewellery and the shiniest of patent boots,
+but his general bearing and appearance had altered for the worse. His
+cheeks were puffy, and his eyes blood-shot. He had the appearance of a
+man who has known no rest for many nights. His voice when he spoke was
+almost fiercely assertive, but there was an undernote of nervousness.
+
+"Why not?" he exclaimed. "I have the right to be here. I hid because
+there was no other way of seeing you. I did not reckon upon--him."
+
+He pointed to Ennison, who in his turn looked across at Anna.
+
+"You wish me to stay?" he asked, in a low tone.
+
+"I would not have you go for anything," she answered.
+
+"Nevertheless," Hill said doggedly, "I am here to speak to you alone."
+
+"If you do not leave the room at once," Anna answered calmly, "I shall
+ring the bell for a policeman."
+
+He raised his hand, and they saw that he was holding a small revolver.
+
+"You need not be alarmed," he said. "I do not wish to use this. I came
+here peaceably, and I only ask for a few words with you. But I mean to
+have them. No, you don't!"
+
+Ennison had moved stealthily a little nearer to him, and looked
+suddenly into the dark muzzle of the revolver.
+
+"If you interfere between us," the man said, "it will go hardly with
+you. This lady is my wife, and I have a right to be here. I have the
+right also to throw you out."
+
+Ennison obeyed Anna's gesture, and was silent.
+
+"You can say what you have to say before Mr. Ennison, if at all," Anna
+declared calmly. "In any case, I decline to see you alone."
+
+"Very well," the man answered. "I have come to tell you this. You are
+my wife, and I am determined to claim you. We were properly married,
+and the certificate is at my lawyer's. I am not a madman, or a pauper,
+or even an unreasonable person. I know that you were disappointed
+because I did not turn out to be the millionaire. Perhaps I deceived
+you about it. However, that's over and done with. I'll make any
+reasonable arrangement you like. I don't want to stop your singing.
+You can live just about how you like. But you belong to me--and I want
+you."
+
+He paused for a moment, and then suddenly continued. His voice had
+broken. He spoke in quick nervous sentences.
+
+"You did your best to kill me," he said. "You might have given me a
+chance, anyway. I'm not such a bad sort. You know--I worship you. I
+have done from the first moment I saw you. I can't rest or work or
+settle down to anything while things are like this between you and me.
+I want you. I've got to have you, and by God I will."
+
+He took a quick step forward. Anna held out her hand, and he paused.
+There was something which chilled even him in the cold impassivity of
+her features.
+
+"Listen," she said. "I have heard these things from you before, and
+you have had my answer. Understand once and for all that that answer
+is final. I do not admit the truth of a word which you have said. I
+will not be persecuted in this way by you."
+
+"You do not deny that you are my wife," he asked hoarsely. "You
+cannot! Oh, you cannot."
+
+"I have denied it," she answered. "Why will you not be sensible? Go
+back to your old life and your old friends, and forget all about Paris
+and this absurd delusion of yours."
+
+"Delusion!" he muttered, glaring at her. "Delusion!"
+
+"You can call it what you like," she said. "In any case you will never
+receive any different sort of answer from me. Stay where you are, Mr.
+Ennison."
+
+With a swift movement she gained the bell and rang it. The man's hand
+flashed out, but immediately afterwards an oath and a cry of pain
+broke from his lips. The pistol fell to the floor. Ennison kicked it
+away with his foot.
+
+"I shall send for a policeman," Anna said, "directly my maid answers
+the bell--unless you choose to go before."
+
+The man made no attempt to recover the revolver. He walked unsteadily
+towards the door.
+
+"Very well," he said, "I will go. But," and he faced them both with a
+still expressionless glance, "this is not the end!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Anna recovered her spirits with marvellous facility. It was Ennison
+who for the rest of his visit was quiet and subdued.
+
+"You are absurd," she declared. "It was unpleasant while it lasted,
+but it is over--and my toasted scones are delicious. Do have another."
+
+"It is over for now," he answered, "but I cannot bear to think that
+you are subject to this sort of thing."
+
+She shrugged her shoulders slightly. Some of the delicate colour which
+the afternoon walk had brought into her cheeks had already returned.
+
+"It is an annoyance, my friend," she said, "not a tragedy."
+
+"It might become one," he answered. "The man is dangerous."
+
+She looked thoughtfully into the fire.
+
+"I am afraid," she said, "that he must have a skeleton key to these
+rooms. If so I shall have to leave."
+
+"You cannot play at hide-and-seek with this creature all your life,"
+he answered. "Let your friends act for you. There must be ways of
+getting rid of him."
+
+"I am afraid," she murmured, "that it would be difficult. He really
+deserves a better fate, does he not? He is so beautifully persistent."
+
+He drew a little nearer to her. The lamp was not yet lit, and in the
+dim light he bent forward as though trying to look into her averted
+face. He touched her hand, soft and cool to his fingers--she turned at
+once to look at him. Her eyes were perhaps a little brighter than
+usual, the firelight played about her hair, there seemed to him to be
+a sudden softening of the straight firm mouth. Nevertheless she
+withdrew her hand.
+
+"Let me help you," he begged. "Indeed, you could have no more faithful
+friend, you could find no one more anxious to serve you."
+
+Her hand fell back into her lap. He touched it again, and this time it
+was not withdrawn.
+
+"That is very nice of you," she said. "But it is so difficult----"
+
+"Not at all," he answered eagerly. "I wish you would come and see my
+lawyers. Of course I know nothing of what really did happen in
+Paris--if even you ever saw him there. You need not tell me, but a
+lawyer is different. His client's story is safe with him. He would
+advise you how to get rid of the fellow."
+
+"I will think of it," she promised.
+
+"You must do more than think of it," he urged. "It is intolerable that
+you should be followed about by such a creature. I am sure that he can
+be got rid of."
+
+She turned and looked at him. Her face scarcely reflected his
+enthusiasm.
+
+"It may be more difficult than you think," she said. "You see you do
+not know how much of truth there is in his story."
+
+"If it were all true," he said doggedly, "it may still be possible."
+
+"I will think of it," she repeated. "I cannot say more."
+
+They talked for a while in somewhat dreamy fashion, Anna especially
+being more silent than usual. At last she glanced at a little clock in
+the corner of the room, and sprang to her feet.
+
+"Heavens, look at the time!" she exclaimed. "It is incredible. I
+shall barely be in time for the theatre. I must go and dress at once."
+
+He too rose.
+
+"I will wait for you on the pavement, if you like," he said, "but I am
+going to the 'Unusual' with you. Your maid would not be of the least
+protection."
+
+"But your dinner!" she protested. "You will be so late."
+
+He laughed.
+
+"You cannot seriously believe," he said, "that at the present moment I
+care a snap of the fingers whether I have any dinner or not."
+
+She laughed.
+
+"Well, you certainly did very well at tea," she remarked. "If you
+really are going to wait, make yourself as comfortable as you can.
+There are cigarettes and magazines in the corner there."
+
+Anna disappeared, but Ennison did not trouble either the cigarettes or
+the magazines. He sat back in an easy chair with a hand upon each of
+the elbows, and looked steadfastly into the fire.
+
+People spoke of him everywhere as a young man of great promise, a
+politician by instinct, a keen and careful judge of character. Yet he
+was in a state of hopeless bewilderment. He was absolutely unable to
+focus his ideas. The girl who had just left the room was as great a
+mystery to him now as on the afternoon when he had met her in
+Piccadilly and taken her to tea. And behind--there was Paris, memories
+of amazing things, memories which made his cheeks burn and his heart
+beat quickly as he sat there waiting for her. For the first time a
+definite doubt possessed him. A woman cannot change her soul. Then it
+was the woman herself who was changed. Anna was not "Alcide" of the
+"Ambassador's," whose subtly demure smile and piquant glances had
+called him to her side from the moment of their first meeting. It was
+impossible.
+
+She came in while he was still in the throes, conviction battling with
+common-sense, his own apprehension. He rose at once to his feet and
+turned a white face upon her.
+
+"I am going to break a covenant," he cried. "I cannot keep silence any
+longer."
+
+"You are going to speak to me of things which happened before we met
+in London?" she asked quietly.
+
+"Yes! I must! The thing is becoming a torture to me. I must!"
+
+She threw open the door and pointed to it.
+
+"My word holds," she said. "If you speak--farewell."
+
+He stood quite silent for a moment, his eyes fixed upon her face.
+Something he saw there had a curious effect upon him. He was suddenly
+calm.
+
+"I shall not speak," he said, "now or at any other time. Come!"
+
+They went out together and he called a hansom. From the opposite
+corner under the trees a man with his hat slouched over his eyes stood
+and glowered at them.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XX_
+
+ANNA'S SURRENDER
+
+
+"This is indeed a gala night," said Ennison, raising his glass, and
+watching for a moment the golden bubbles. "Was it really only this
+afternoon that I met you in St. James' Park?"
+
+Anna nodded, and made a careful selection from a dish of quails.
+
+"It was just an hour before teatime," she remarked. "I have had
+nothing since, and it seems a very long time."
+
+"An appetite like yours," he said resignedly, "is fatal to all
+sentiment."
+
+"Not in the least," she assured him. "I find the two inseparable."
+
+He sighed.
+
+"I have noticed," he said, "that you seem to delight in taking a
+topsy-turvy view of life. It arises, I think, from an over developed
+sense of humour. You would find things to laugh at even in Artemus
+Ward."
+
+"You do not understand me at all," she declared. "I think that you are
+very dense. Besides, your remark is not in the least complimentary. I
+have always understood that men avoid like the plague a woman with a
+sense of humour."
+
+So they talked on whilst supper was served, falling easily into the
+spirit of the place, and yet both of them conscious of some new thing
+underlying the gaiety of their tongues and manner. Anna, in her
+strange striking way, was radiantly beautiful. Without a single
+ornament about her neck, or hair, wearing the plainest of black gowns,
+out of which her shoulders shone gleaming white, she was easily the
+most noticeable and the most distinguished-looking woman in the room.
+To-night there seemed to be a new brilliancy in her eyes, a deeper
+quality in her tone. She was herself conscious of a recklessness of
+spirits almost hysterical. Perhaps, after all, the others were right.
+Perhaps she had found this new thing in life, the thing wonderful. The
+terrors and anxieties of the last few months seemed to have fallen
+from her, to have passed away like an ugly dream, dismissed with a
+shudder even from the memory. An acute sense of living was in her
+veins, even the taste of her wine seemed magical. Ennison too, always
+handsome and _debonnair_, seemed transported out of his calm self. His
+tongue was more ready, his wit more keen than usual. He said daring
+things with a grace which made them irresistible, his eyes flashed
+back upon her some eloquent but silent appreciation of the change in
+her manner towards him.
+
+And then there came for both of them at least a temporary awakening.
+It was he who saw them first coming down the room--Annabel in a
+wonderful white satin gown in front, and Sir John stiff, unbending,
+disapproving, bringing up the rear. He bent over to Anna at once.
+
+"It is your sister and her husband," he said. "They are coming past
+our table."
+
+Annabel saw Ennison first, and noticing his single companion calmly
+ignored him. Then making a pretence of stooping to rearrange her
+flowing train, she glanced at Anna, and half stopped in her progress
+down the room. Sir John followed her gaze, and also saw them. His face
+clouded with anger.
+
+It was after all a momentary affair. Annabel passed on with a strained
+nod to her sister, and Sir John's bow was a miracle of icy
+displeasure. They vanished through the doorway. Anna and her escort
+exchanged glances. Almost simultaneously they burst out laughing.
+
+"How do you feel?" she asked.
+
+"Limp," he answered. "As a matter of fact, I deserve to. I was engaged
+to dine with your sister and her husband, and I sent a wire."
+
+"It was exceedingly wrong of you," Anna declared. "Before I came to
+England I was told that there were two things which an Englishman who
+was _comme-il-faut_ never did. The first was to break a dinner
+engagement."
+
+"And the second?"
+
+"Make love to a single woman."
+
+"Your knowledge of our ways," he murmured "is profound. Yet, I suppose
+that at the present moment I am the most envied man in the room."
+
+Her eyes were lit with humour. To have spoken lightly on such a
+subject a few hours ago would have seemed incredible.
+
+"But you do not know," she whispered, "whether I am a married woman or
+not. There is Mr. Montague Hill."
+
+The lights were lowered, and an attentive waiter hovered round Anna's
+cloak. They left the room amongst the last, and Ennison had almost to
+elbow his way through a group of acquaintances who had all some
+pretext for detaining him, to which he absolutely refused to listen.
+They entered a hansom and turned on to the Embankment. The two great
+hotels on their right were still ablaze with lights. On their left the
+river, with its gloomy pile of buildings on the opposite side, and a
+huge revolving advertisement throwing its strange reflection upon the
+black water. A fresh cool breeze blew in their faces. Anna leaned back
+with half closed eyes.
+
+"Delicious!" she murmured.
+
+His fingers closed upon her hand. She yielded it without protest, as
+though unconsciously. Not a word passed between them. It seemed to him
+that speech would be an anticlimax.
+
+He paid the cab, and turned to follow her. She passed inside and
+upstairs without a word. In her little sitting-room she turned on the
+electric light and looked around half fearfully.
+
+"Please search everywhere," she said. "I am going through the other
+rooms. I shall not let you go till I am quite sure."
+
+"If he has a key," Ennison said, "how are you to be safe?"
+
+"I had bolts fitted on the doors yesterday," she answered. "If he is
+not here now I can make myself safe."
+
+It was certain that he was not there. Anna came back into the
+sitting-room with a little sigh of relief.
+
+"Indeed," she said, "it was very fortunate that I should have met you
+this afternoon. Either Sydney or Mr. Brendon always comes home with
+me, and to-night both are away. Mary is very good, but she is too
+nervous to be the slightest protection."
+
+"I am very glad," he answered, in a low tone. "It has been a
+delightful evening for me."
+
+"And for me," Anna echoed.
+
+A curious silence ensued. Anna was sitting before the fire a little
+distance from him--Ennison himself remained standing. Some shadow of
+reserve seemed to have crept up between them. She laughed nervously,
+but kept her eyes averted.
+
+"It is strange that we should have met Annabel," she said. "I am
+afraid your broken dinner engagement will not be so easy to explain."
+
+He was very indifferent. In fact he was thinking of other things.
+
+"I am going," he said, "to be impertinent. I do not understand why you
+and your sister should not see more of one another. You must be lonely
+here with only a few men friends."
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"Loneliness," she said, "is a luxury which I never permit myself.
+Besides--there is Sir John."
+
+"Sir John is an ass!" he declared.
+
+"He is Annabel's husband," she reminded him.
+
+"Annabel!" He looked at her thoughtfully. "It is rather odd," he said,
+"but I always thought that your name was Annabel and hers Anna."
+
+"Many other people," she remarked, "have made the same mistake."
+
+"Again," he said, "I am going to be impertinent. I never met your
+sister in Paris, but I heard about her more than once. She is not in
+the least like the descriptions of her."
+
+"She has changed a good deal," Anna admitted.
+
+"There is some mystery about you both," he exclaimed, with sudden
+earnestness. "No, don't interrupt me. Why may I not be your friend?
+Somehow or other I feel that you have been driven into a false
+position. You represent to me an enigma, the solution of which has
+become the one desire of my life. I want to give you warning that I
+have set myself to solve it. To-morrow I am going to Paris."
+
+She seemed unmoved, but she did not look at him.
+
+"To Paris! But why? What do you hope to discover there?"
+
+"I do not know," he answered, "but I am going to see David Courtlaw."
+
+Then she looked up at him with frightened eyes.
+
+"David Courtlaw!" she repeated. "What has he to do with it?"
+
+"He was your sister's master--her friend. A few days ago I saw him
+leave your house. He was like a man beside himself. He began to tell
+me something--and stopped. I am going to ask him to finish it."
+
+She rose up.
+
+"I forbid it!" she said firmly.
+
+They were standing face to face now upon the hearthrug. She was very
+pale, and there was a look of fear in her eyes.
+
+"I will tell you as much as this," she continued. "There is a secret.
+I admit it. Set yourself to find it out, if you will--but if you do,
+never dare to call yourself my friend again."
+
+"It is for your good--your good only I am thinking," he declared.
+
+"Then let me be the judge of what is best," she answered.
+
+He was silent. He felt his heart beat faster and faster--his
+self-restraint slipping away. After all, what did it matter?--it or
+anything else in the world? She was within reach of his arms,
+beautiful, compelling, herself as it seemed suddenly conscious of the
+light which was burning in his eyes. A quick flush stained her cheeks.
+She put out her hands to avoid his embrace.
+
+"No!" she exclaimed. "You must not. It is impossible."
+
+His arms were around her. He only laughed his defiance.
+
+"I will make it possible," he cried. "I will make all things
+possible."
+
+Anna was bewildered. She did not know herself. Only she was conscious
+of an unfamiliar and wonderful emotion. She gave her lips to his
+without resistance. All her protests seemed stifled before she could
+find words to utter them. With a little sigh of happiness she accepted
+this new thing.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXI_
+
+HER SISTER'S SECRET
+
+
+"I think," Lady Ferringhall said, "that you are talking very
+foolishly. I was quite as much annoyed as you were to see Mr. Ennison
+with my sister last night. But apart from that, you have no particular
+objection to him, I suppose?"
+
+"The occurrence of last night is quite sufficient in itself," Sir John
+answered, "to make me wish to discontinue Mr. Ennison's acquaintance.
+I should think, Anna, that your own sense--er--of propriety would
+enable you to see this. It is not possible for us to be on friendly
+terms with a young man who has been seen in a public place, having
+supper alone with your sister after midnight. The fact itself is
+regrettable enough--regrettable, I fear, is quite an inadequate word.
+To receive him here afterwards would be most repugnant to me."
+
+"He probably does not know of the relationship," Annabel remarked.
+
+"I imagine," Sir John said, "that your sister would acquaint him with
+it. In any case, he is liable to discover it at any time. My own
+impression is that he already knows."
+
+"Why do you think so?" she asked.
+
+"I noticed him call her attention to us as we passed down the room,"
+he answered. "Of course he may merely have been telling her who we
+were, but I think it improbable."
+
+"Apart from the fact of his acquaintance with Anna--Annabel," Lady
+Ferringhall said quickly, "may I ask if you have any other objection
+to Mr. Ennison?"
+
+Sir John hesitated.
+
+"To the young man himself," he answered, "no! I simply object to his
+calling here two or three times a week during my absence."
+
+"How absurd!" Annabel declared. "How could he call except in your
+absence, as you are never at home in the afternoon. And if I cared to
+have him come every day, why shouldn't he? I find him very amusing and
+very useful as well. He brought his mother to call, and as you know
+the Countess goes scarcely anywhere. Hers is quite the most exclusive
+set in London."
+
+"My feeling in the matter," Sir John said, "is as I have stated.
+Further, I do not care for you to accept social obligations from Mr.
+Ennison, or any other young man."
+
+"You are jealous," she declared contemptuously.
+
+"If I am," he answered, reddening, "you can scarcely assert that it is
+without a cause. You will forgive my remarking, Anna, that I consider
+there is a great change in your manner towards me and your general
+deportment since our marriage."
+
+Annabel laughed gaily.
+
+"My dear man," she exclaimed, "wasn't that a foregone conclusion?"
+
+"You treat the matter lightly," he continued. "To me it seems serious
+enough. I have fulfilled my part of our marriage contract. Can you
+wonder that I expect you to fulfil yours?"
+
+"I am not aware," she answered, "that I have ever failed in doing so."
+
+"You are at least aware," he said, "that you have on several recent
+occasions acted in direct opposition to my wishes."
+
+"For example?"
+
+"Your dyed hair. I was perfectly satisfied with your appearance. I
+consider even now that the present colour is far less becoming. Then
+you have altered not only that, but your manner of dressing it. You
+have darkened your eyebrows, you have even changed your style of
+dress. You have shown an almost feverish anxiety to eliminate from
+your personal appearance all that reminded me of you--when we first
+met."
+
+"Well," she said, "has there not been some reason for this? The
+likeness to Annabel could scarcely have escaped remark. You forget
+that every one is going to the 'Unusual' to see her."
+
+He frowned heavily.
+
+"I wish that I could forget it," he said. "Fortunately I believe that
+the relationship is not generally known. I trust that no unpleasant
+rumours will be circulated before the election, at any rate."
+
+Annabel yawned.
+
+"They might do you good," she remarked. "'Alcide' is very popular."
+
+Sir John turned towards the door.
+
+"It does not appear to me," he said, stiffly, "to be an affair for
+jests."
+
+Annabel laughed derisively and took up her book. She heard her
+husband's heavy tread descending the stairs, and the wheels of his
+carriage as he drove off. Then she threw the volume away with a little
+impatient exclamation. She rose from her chair, and began walking up
+and down the room restlessly. Every now and then she fingered an
+ornament, moved a piece of furniture, or rearranged some draperies.
+Once she stopped in front of a mirror and looked at herself
+thoughtfully.
+
+"I am getting plain," she said, with a little shudder. "This life is
+killing me! Oh, it is dull, dull, dull!"
+
+Suddenly an idea seemed to strike her. She went to her room and
+changed the loose morning gown in which she had lunched for a dark
+walking dress. A few minutes later she left the house on foot, and
+taking a hansom at the corner of the Square, drove to Anna's flat.
+
+Anna was having tea by herself when she entered. She rose at once with
+a little exclamation, half of surprise, half of pleasure.
+
+"My dear Annabel," she said, "this is delightful, but I thought that
+it was forbidden."
+
+"It is," Annabel answered shortly. "But I wanted to see you."
+
+Anna wheeled an easy chair to the fire.
+
+"You will have some tea?" she asked.
+
+Annabel ignored both the chair and the invitation. She was looking
+about her, and her face was dark with anger. The little room was
+fragrant with flowers, Anna herself bright, and with all the evidences
+of well being. Annabel was conscious then of the slow anger which had
+been burning within her since the night of her visit to the
+"Unusual." Her voice trembled with suppressed passion.
+
+"I have come for an explanation," she said. "You are an impostor. How
+dare you use my name and sing my songs?"
+
+Anna looked at her sister in blank amazement.
+
+"Annabel!" she exclaimed. "Why, what is the matter with you? What do
+you mean?"
+
+Annabel laughed scornfully.
+
+"Oh, you know," she said. "Don't be a hypocrite. You are not 'Alcide.'
+You have no right to call yourself 'Alcide.' You used to declare that
+you hated the name. You used to beg me for hours at a time to give it
+all up, never to go near the 'Ambassador's' again. And yet the moment
+I am safely out of the way you are content to dress yourself in my
+rags, to go and get yourself popular and admired and successful, all
+on my reputation."
+
+"Annabel! Annabel!"
+
+Annabel stamped her foot. Her tone was hoarse with passion.
+
+"Oh, you can act!" she cried. "You can look as innocent and shocked as
+you please. I want to know who sent you those."
+
+She pointed with shaking fingers to a great bunch of dark red
+carnations, thrust carelessly into a deep china bowl, to which the
+card was still attached. Anna followed her finger, and looked back
+into her sister's face.
+
+"They were sent to me by Mr. Nigel Ennison, Annabel. How on earth does
+it concern you?"
+
+Annabel laughed hardly.
+
+"Concern me!" she repeated fiercely. "You are not content then with
+stealing from me my name. You would steal from me then the only man I
+ever cared a snap of the fingers about. They are not your flowers.
+They are mine! They were sent to 'Alcide' not to you."
+
+Anna rose to her feet. At last she was roused. Her cheeks were
+flushed, and her eyes bright.
+
+"Annabel," she said, "you are my sister, or I would bid you take the
+flowers if you care for them, and leave the room. But behind these
+things which you have said to me there must be others of which I know
+nothing. You speak as one injured--as though I had been the one to
+take your name--as though you had been the one to make sacrifices. In
+your heart you know very well that this is absurd. It is you who took
+my name, not I yours. It is I who took the burden of your misdeeds
+upon my shoulders that you might become Lady Ferringhall. It is I who
+am persecuted by the man who calls himself your husband."
+
+Annabel shivered a little and looked around her.
+
+"He does not come here," she exclaimed, quickly.
+
+"He spends hours of every day on the pavement below," Anna answered
+calmly. "I have been bearing this--for your sake. Shall I send him to
+Sir John?"
+
+Annabel was white to the lips, but her anger was not yet spent.
+
+"It was your own fault," she exclaimed. "He would never have found you
+out if you had not personated me."
+
+"On the contrary," Anna whispered quietly, "we met in a small
+boarding-house where I was stopping."
+
+"You have not told me yet," Annabel said, "how it is that you have
+dared to personate me. To call yourself 'Alcide'! Your hair, your
+gestures, your voice, all mine! Oh, how dared you do it?"
+
+"You must not forget," Anna said calmly, "that it is necessary for me
+also--to live. I arrived here with something less than five pounds in
+my pocket. My reception at West Kensington you know of. I was the
+black sheep, I was hurried out of the way. You did not complain then
+that I personated you--no, nor when Sir John came to me in Paris, and
+for your sake I lied."
+
+"You did not----"
+
+"Wait, Annabel! When I arrived in London I went to live in the
+cheapest place I could find. I set myself to find employment. I
+offered myself as a clerk, as a milliner, as a shop girl. I would even
+have taken a place as waitress in a tea shop. I walked London till the
+soles of my shoes were worn through, and my toes were blistered. I ate
+only enough to keep body and soul together."
+
+"There was no need for such heroism," Annabel said coldly. "You had
+only to ask----"
+
+"Do you think," Anna interrupted, with a note of passion trembling
+also in her tone, "that I would have taken alms from Sir John, the man
+to whom I had lied for your sake. It was not possible. I went at last
+when I had barely a shilling in my purse to a dramatic agent. By
+chance I went to one who had known you in Paris."
+
+"Well!"
+
+"He greeted me effusively. He offered me at once an engagement. I told
+him that I was not 'Alcide.' He only laughed. He had seen the
+announcement of your marriage in the papers, and he imagined that I
+simply wanted to remain unknown because of your husband's puritanism.
+I sang to him, and he was satisfied. I did not appear, I have never
+announced myself as 'Alcide.' It was the Press who forced the identity
+upon me."
+
+"They were my posters," Annabel said. "The ones Cariolus did for me."
+
+"The posters at least," Anna answered quietly, "I have some claim to.
+You know very well that you took from my easel David Courtlaw's study
+of me, and sent it to Cariolus. You denied it at the time--but
+unfortunately I have proof. Mr. Courtlaw found the study in Cariolus'
+studio."
+
+Annabel laughed hardly.
+
+"What did it matter?" she cried. "We are, or rather we were, so much
+alike then that the portrait of either of us would have done for the
+other. It saved me the bother of being studied."
+
+"It convinced Mr. Earles that I was 'Alcide,'" Anna remarked quietly.
+
+"We will convince him now to the contrary," Annabel answered.
+
+Anna looked at her, startled.
+
+"What do you mean?" she asked.
+
+Annabel set her teeth hard, and turned fiercely towards Anna.
+
+"It means that I have had enough of this slavery," she declared. "My
+husband and all his friends are fools, and the life they lead is
+impossible for me. It takes too many years to climb even a step in the
+social ladder. I've had enough of it. I want my freedom."
+
+"You mean to say," Anna said slowly, "that you are going to leave your
+husband?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You are willing to give up your position, your beautiful houses, your
+carriages and milliner's accounts to come back to Bohemianism?"
+
+"Why not?" Annabel declared. "I am sick of it. It is dull--deadly
+dull."
+
+"And what about this man--Mr. Montague Hill?"
+
+Annabel put her hand suddenly to her throat and steadied herself with
+the back of a chair. She looked stealthily at Anna.
+
+"You have succeeded a little too well in your personation," she said
+bitterly, "to get rid very easily of Mr. Montague Hill. You are a
+great deal more like what I was a few months ago than I am now."
+
+Anna laughed softly.
+
+"You propose, then," she remarked, "that I shall still be saddled with
+a pseudo husband. I think not, Annabel. You are welcome to proclaim
+yourself 'Alcide' if you will. I would even make over my engagement to
+you, if Mr. Earles would permit. But I should certainly want to be rid
+of Mr. Montague Hill, and I do not think that under those
+circumstances I should be long about it."
+
+Annabel sank suddenly into a chair. Her knees were trembling, her
+whole frame was shaken with sobs.
+
+"Anna," she moaned, "I am a jealous, ungrateful woman. But oh, how
+weary I am! I know. If only--Anna, tell me," she broke off suddenly,
+"how did you get to know Mr. Ennison?"
+
+"He spoke to me, thinking that I was you," Anna answered. "I liked
+him, and I never undeceived him."
+
+"And he sat at my table," Annabel said bitterly, "and yet he did not
+know me."
+
+Anna glanced up.
+
+"You must remember," she said, "that you yourself are responsible for
+your altered looks."
+
+"For the others," Annabel said tearfully, "that is well enough. But
+for him----"
+
+Something in her sister's tone startled Anna. She looked at her for a
+moment fixedly. When she tried to speak she found it difficult. Her
+voice seemed to come from a long way off.
+
+"What do you mean, Annabel? You only knew Mr. Ennison slightly----"
+
+There was a dead silence in the little room. Anna sat with the face of
+a Sphinx--waiting. Annabel thought, and thought again.
+
+"I knew Mr. Ennison better than I have ever told you," she said
+slowly.
+
+"Go on!"
+
+"You know--in Paris they coupled my name with some one's--an
+Englishman's. Nigel Ennison was he."
+
+Anna stood up. Her cheeks were aflame. Her eyes were lit with
+smouldering passion.
+
+"Go on!" she commanded. "Let me know the truth."
+
+Annabel looked down. It was hard to meet that gaze.
+
+"Does he never speak to you of--of old times?" she faltered.
+
+"Don't fence with me," Anna cried fiercely. "The truth!"
+
+Annabel bent over her and whispered in her sister's ear.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXII_
+
+AN OLD FOOL
+
+
+Lady Ferringhall made room for him on the sofa by her side. She was
+wearing a becoming tea-gown, and it was quite certain that Sir John
+would not be home for several hours at least.
+
+"I am delighted to see you, Mr. Ennison," she said, letting her
+fingers rest in his. "Do come and cheer me up. I am bored to
+distraction."
+
+He took a seat by her side. He was looking pale and ill. There were
+shadows under his eyes. He returned her impressive greeting almost
+mechanically.
+
+"But you yourself," she exclaimed, glancing into his face, "you too
+look tired. You poor man, what have you been doing to yourself?"
+
+"Nothing except travelling all night," he answered. "I am just back
+from Paris. I am bothered. I have come to you for sympathy, perhaps
+for help."
+
+"You may be sure of the one," she murmured. "The other too if it is
+within my power."
+
+"It is within yours--if anybody's," he answered. "It is about your
+sister, Lady Ferringhall."
+
+Annabel gave a little gasp. The colour slowly left her cheeks, the
+lines of her mouth hardened. The change in her face was not a pleasant
+one.
+
+"About my sister," she repeated slowly.
+
+Her tone should have warned him, but he was too much in earnest to
+regard it.
+
+"Yes. You remember that you saw us at the Savoy a few evenings ago?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you knew, of course, that we were old friends?"
+
+"Indeed!"
+
+"Lady Ferringhall, I love your sister."
+
+"You what?" she repeated incredulously.
+
+"I love your sister."
+
+Lady Ferringhall sat with half closed eyes and clenched teeth. Brute!
+Fool! To have come to her on such an errand. She felt a hysterical
+desire to strike him, to burst out crying, to blurt out the whole
+miserable truth. The effort to maintain her self-control was almost
+superhuman.
+
+"But--your people!" she gasped. "Surely Lady Ennison would object,
+even if it were possible. And the Duke, too--I heard him say that a
+married secretary would be worse than useless to him."
+
+"The difficulties on my own side I can deal with," he answered. "I am
+not dependent upon any one. I have plenty of money, and the Duke will
+not be in the next Cabinet. My trouble is with your sister."
+
+Lady Ferringhall was conscious of some relief.
+
+"She has refused to listen to you?"
+
+"She has behaved in a most extraordinary manner," he answered. "We
+parted--that night the best of friends. She knew that I cared for her,
+she had admitted that she cared for me. I suppose I was a little
+idiotic--I don't think we either of us mentioned the future, but it
+was arranged that I should go the next afternoon and have tea with
+her. When I went I was refused admittance. I have since received a
+most extraordinary letter from her. She offers me no explanation,
+permits me absolutely no hope. She simply refuses to see or hear from
+me again. I went to the theatre that night. I waited for her at the
+back. She saw me, and, Lady Ferringhall, I shall never forget her look
+as long as I live. It was horrible. She looked at me as though I were
+some unclean thing, as though my soul were weighted with every sin in
+the calendar. I could not have spoken to her. It took my breath away.
+By the time I had recovered myself she had gone. My letters are
+returned unopened, her maid will not even allow me across the
+doorstep."
+
+"The explanation seems to me to be reasonably simple," Annabel said
+coldly. "You seem to forget that my sister is--married."
+
+"If she is," he answered, "I am convinced that there are circumstances
+in connexion with that marriage which would make a divorce easy."
+
+"You would marry a divorcée?" she asked.
+
+"I would marry your sister anyhow, under any circumstances," he
+answered.
+
+She looked at him curiously.
+
+"I want to ask you a question," she said abruptly. "This wonderful
+affection of yours for my sister, does it date from your first meeting
+with her in Paris?"
+
+He hesitated.
+
+"I admired your sister in Paris," he answered, "but I do not believe
+that I regard her now as altogether the same person. Something has
+happened to change her marvellously, either that, or she wilfully
+deceived me and every one else in those days as to her real self. She
+was a much lighter and more frivolous person, very charming and
+companionable--but with a difference--a great difference. I wonder
+whether you would mind, Lady Ferringhall," he went on, with a sudden
+glance at her, "if I tell you that you yourself remind me a great deal
+more of what she was like then, except of course that your complexion
+and colouring are altogether different."
+
+"I am highly flattered," she remarked, with subtle irony.
+
+"Will you help me?" he asked.
+
+"What can I do?"
+
+"Go and see her. Find out what I have done or failed to do. Get me an
+interview with her."
+
+"Really," she said, with a hard little laugh, "you must regard me as a
+very good-natured person."
+
+"You are," he answered unconsciously. "I am sure that you are. I want
+her to tell me the whole truth about this extraordinary marriage. We
+will find some way out of it."
+
+"You think that you can do that?"
+
+"I am sure of it," he answered, confidently. "Those things are
+arranged more easily in any other country than England. At any rate
+she must see me. I demand it as a right. I must know what new thing
+has come between us that she should treat me as a lover one day and a
+monster the next."
+
+She leaned back amongst the cushions of her chair. She was very pale,
+but she reminded him more at that minute than at any time of "Alcide"
+as he had first known her.
+
+"I wonder," she said, "how much you care."
+
+"I care as a man cares only once in his life," he answered promptly.
+"When it comes there is no mistaking it."
+
+"Did it come--in Paris?"
+
+"I do not know," he answered. "I do not think so. What does it matter?
+It is here, and it is here to stay. Do help me, Lady Ferringhall. You
+need not be afraid. No trouble will ever come to your sister through
+me. If this idiotic marriage is binding then I will be her friend. But
+I have powerful friends. I only want to know the truth, and I will
+move heaven and earth to have it set aside."
+
+"The truth," she murmured, with her eyes fixed upon him. "Well----"
+
+She stopped short. He looked at her in some embarrassment.
+
+"Forgive me," he said, "but I want to hear it from your sister. It is
+her duty to tell me, and I would not have her think that I had been
+trying to work upon your sympathies to learn her secrets."
+
+She was silent.
+
+"You will go and see her," he begged.
+
+"Yes, I will go," she promised, with a queer little smile. "It is
+against my husband's orders, and I am not sure that my sister will be
+particularly glad to see me. But I will go."
+
+"I shall always be grateful to you," he declared.
+
+"Don't be too sure of that," she answered enigmatically.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXIII_
+
+MONTAGUE HILL SEES LIGHT AT LAST
+
+
+At exactly ten minutes past ten Annabel rang the bell of her sister's
+flat. There was no response. She rang again with the same result.
+Then, as she was in the act of turning reluctantly away, she noticed a
+thin crack between the door and the frame. She pushed the former and
+it opened. The latch had not fully caught.
+
+The flat was apparently empty. Annabel turned on the electric light
+and made her way into the sitting-room. There was a coffee equipage on
+the table, and some sandwiches, and the fire had been recently made
+up. Annabel seated herself in an easy chair and determined to wait for
+her sister's return.
+
+The clock struck half-past ten. The loneliness of the place somewhat
+depressed her. She took up a book and threw it down again. Then she
+examined with curiosity some knick-knacks upon a small round table by
+her side. Amongst them was a revolver. She handled it half fearfully,
+and set it carefully down again. Then for the first time she was
+conscious of an unaccountable and terrifying sensation. She felt that
+she was not alone.
+
+She was only a few yards from the door, but lacked the courage to rise
+and fly. Her knees shook, her breath came fast, she almost felt the
+lurid effect of those tiny patches of rouge upon her pallor-stricken
+cheeks. Her eyes were dilated--fixed in a horrified stare at the
+parting in the curtains which hung before the window.
+
+There was some one there. She had seen a man's head steal out for a
+moment and draw the curtains a little closer. Even now she could trace
+the outline of his shape behind the left-hand curtain. She was wholly
+unable to conceal her knowledge of his presence. A little smothered
+cry broke from her lips--the curtains were thrown aside and a man
+stepped out. She was powerless to move from her chair. All through
+that brief but measureless space of time during which wonder kept him
+silent, as fear did her, she cowered there, a limp helpless object.
+Her courage and her presence of mind had alike deserted her. She
+could neither speak nor move nor cry out.
+
+"Annabel! God in Heaven, it is Annabel!"
+
+She did not speak. Her lips parted, but no words came.
+
+"What have you done to yourself?" he muttered. "You have dyed your
+hair and darkened your eyebrows. But you are Annabel. I should know
+you--in Heaven or Hell. Who is the other?"
+
+"What other?"
+
+Her voice seemed to come from a long way off. Her lips were dry and
+cracked.
+
+"The Annabel who lives here, who sings every night at the 'Unusual'?
+They call her by your old name. Her hair and voice and figure are as
+yours used to be. Who is she, I say?"
+
+"My sister!" Annabel faltered.
+
+He trembled violently. He seemed to be labouring under some great
+excitement.
+
+"I am a fool," he said. "All these days I have taken her for you. I
+have pleaded with her--no wonder that I have pleaded with her in vain.
+And all this time perhaps you have been waiting, expecting to hear
+from me. Is it so, Annabel?"
+
+"I did not know," she faltered, "anything about you. Why should I?"
+
+"At last," he murmured, "at last I have found you. I must not let you
+go again. Do you know, Annabel, that you are my wife."
+
+"No," she moaned, "not that. I thought--the papers said----"
+
+"You thought that I was dead," he interrupted. "You pushed the wheel
+from my hand. You jumped, and I think that you left me. Yet you knew
+that I was not dead. You came to see me in the hospital. You must have
+repented a little, or you would not have done that."
+
+"I did not come," she faltered. "It was my sister Anna. I had left
+Paris."
+
+He passed his hand wearily over his forehead.
+
+"That is where I got confused," he said. "I opened my eyes, and she
+was bending over my bedside. Then, I thought, she has repented, all
+will be well. So I made haste and recovered. I came to London to look
+for you, and somehow the figure I saw in my dreams had got mixed up
+with you. Your sister! Great God, how like she is to what you were!"
+
+Annabel looked around her nervously.
+
+"These are her rooms," she said. "Soon she will return."
+
+"The sooner the better," he answered. "I must explain to her. Annabel,
+I cannot believe it. I have found you."
+
+His eyes were burning. He advanced a step towards her. She held out
+both her hands.
+
+"No, no," she cried. "You frighten me!"
+
+He smiled at her indulgently.
+
+"But I am your husband," he said. "You have forgotten. I am your
+husband, though as yet your hand has scarcely lain in mine."
+
+"It was a mistake," she faltered. "You told me that your name was
+Meysey Hill. I thought that you were he."
+
+His face darkened.
+
+"I did it for love of you," he said. "I lied, as I would have
+committed a murder, or done any evil deed sooner than lose you. What
+does it matter? I am not a pauper, Annabel. I can keep you. You shall
+have a house out at Balham or Sydenham, and two servants. You shall
+have the spending of every penny of my money. Annabel, tell me that
+you did not wish me dead. Tell me that you are not sorry to see me
+again."
+
+Her passion conquered for a moment her fear.
+
+"But I am sorry," she exclaimed. "Our marriage must be annulled. It
+was no marriage at all."
+
+"Never," he exclaimed vehemently. "You are mine, Annabel, and nothing
+shall ever make me give you up."
+
+"But it is too late," she declared. "You have no right to hold me to a
+bargain which on your side was a lie. I consented to become Mrs.
+Meysey Hill--never your wife."
+
+"What do you mean--by too late?" he demanded.
+
+"There is some one else whom I care for!"
+
+He laughed hardly.
+
+"Tell me his name," he said, "and I promise that he shall never
+trouble you. But you," he continued, moving imperceptibility a little
+nearer to her, "you are mine. The angels in Heaven shall not tear you
+from me. We leave this room together. I shall not part with you
+again."
+
+"No," she cried, "I will not. I will have nothing to do with you. You
+are not my husband."
+
+He came towards her with that in his face which filled her with blind
+terror.
+
+"You belong to me," he said fiercely; "the marriage certificate is in
+my pocket. You belong to me, and I have waited long enough."
+
+He stepped past her to the door and closed it. Then he turned with a
+fierce movement to take her into his arms. There was a flash and a
+loud report. He threw up his hand, reeled for a moment on his feet,
+and collapsed upon the floor.
+
+"Annabel;" he moaned. "You have killed me. My wife--killed me."
+
+With a little crash the pistol fell from her shaking fingers. She
+stood looking down upon him with dilated eyes. Her faculties seemed
+for a moment numbed. She could not realize what she saw. Surely it was
+a dream. A moment before he had been a strong man, she had been in his
+power, a poor helpless thing. Now he lay there, a doubled-up mass,
+with ugly distorted features, and a dark wet stain dripping slowly on
+to the carpet. It could not be she who had done this. She had never
+let off a pistol in her life. Yet the smoke was curling upwards in a
+faint innocent-looking cloud to the ceiling. The smell of gunpowder
+was strong in the room.
+
+It was true. She had killed him. It was as much accident as anything,
+but she had killed him. Once before--but that had been different. This
+time they would call it murder.
+
+She listened, listened intently for several minutes. People were
+passing in the street below. She could hear their footsteps upon the
+pavement. A hansom stopped a little way off. She could hear the bell
+tinkle as the horse shook its head. There was no one stirring in the
+flats. He himself had deadened the sound by closing the door. She
+moved a little nearer to him.
+
+It was horrible, but she must do it. She sank upon her knees and
+unbuttoned his coat. It was there in the breast pocket, stiff and
+legal looking. She drew it out with shaking fingers. There was a great
+splash of blood upon it, her hand was all wet and sticky. A deadly
+sickness came over her, the room seemed spinning round. She staggered
+to the fireplace and thrust it into the heart of the dying flames. She
+held it down with the poker, looking nervously over her shoulder. Then
+she put more coal on, piled it over the ashes, and stood once more
+upright.
+
+Still silence everywhere. She pulled down her veil and made her way to
+the door. She turned out the electric light and gained the hall. Still
+no sound. Her knees almost sank beneath her as she raised the latch of
+the front door and looked out. There was no one to be seen. She
+passed down the stairs and into the street.
+
+She walked for a mile or more recklessly, close veiled, with swift
+level footsteps, though her brain was in a whirl and a horrible
+faintness all the time hovered about her. Then she called a hansom and
+drove home.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Miss Pellissier," Brendon said gently, "I am afraid that some fresh
+trouble has come to you."
+
+She smiled at him cheerfully.
+
+"Am I dull?" she said. "I am sorry."
+
+"You could never be that," he answered, "but you are at least more
+serious than usual."
+
+"Perhaps," she said, "I am superstitious. This is my last week at the
+'Unusual,' you know. We begin rehearsing on Monday at the
+'Garrick'."
+
+"Surely," he protested, "the change is all in favour of your own
+inclinations. It is your own choice, isn't it?"
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Yes. But I believe that Mr. Earles thinks I am a little mad, and
+between ourselves I am not sure about it myself. It is easy enough to
+sing these little chansons in an original way--it requires a very
+different sort of ability to succeed on the stage."
+
+"You have it," he declared confidently.
+
+She laughed altogether in her old manner.
+
+"I wonder how it is," she exclaimed, "that my friends have so much
+more confidence in me than I have in myself."
+
+"They know you better," he declared.
+
+"I am afraid," she answered, "that one's friends can judge only of the
+externals, and the things which matter, the things inside are realized
+only by oneself--stop."
+
+She laid her fingers upon his arm, and they both stood still. They had
+turned into the street, on the opposite side of which were the flats
+where Anna lived. Glancing idly up at her own window as they had swung
+round the corner she had seen a strange thing. The curtains which she
+had left drawn were open, and the electric lights were turned on.
+Then, even as they stood there, the room was plunged into darkness.
+
+"There is someone in my rooms," Anna said.
+
+"Is it your maid?" he asked.
+
+"I have given her two days' holiday," Anna answered. "She has gone
+down into the country."
+
+"And no one else--has a key?"
+
+"I believe," she said, "that that man must have one. I am safe while I
+am there, for I have had bolts fitted everywhere, and a pane of glass
+in the front door. But I am always afraid that he may get in while I
+am away. Look! Is that some one coming out?"
+
+The front door of the flats stood open, and through it a woman, slim
+and veiled, passed on to the pavement and turned with swift footsteps
+in the opposite direction. Anna watched her with curious eyes.
+
+"Is it any one you know?" Brendon asked.
+
+"I am not sure," Anna answered. "But, of course, she may have come
+from one of the other flats."
+
+"Perhaps," he said, "you had better let me have your key, and I will
+go up and explore."
+
+"We will go together," she answered.
+
+They crossed the street, and entering the front door passed up the
+outside stone steps of the flat. Anna herself opened the hall door.
+They stood for a moment in the passage and listened. Silence! Then
+Anna clutched her companion's arm.
+
+"What was that?" she asked sharply.
+
+He had heard nothing. They both listened intently. Again silence.
+
+"I thought that I heard a groan," Anna whispered.
+
+He laughed reassuringly.
+
+"I heard nothing," he declared, "and my ears are good. Come."
+
+He threw open the door of the sitting-room and switched on the
+electric light.
+
+"There is no--Good God!" he exclaimed.
+
+He turned round to keep Anna out by force if possible, but he was too
+late. She was by his side. She too had seen. The thin stream of blood
+on which her eyes were fastened with a nameless horror reached almost
+to her feet.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXIV_
+
+A CASE FOR THE POLICE
+
+
+After that first horrible moment it was perhaps Anna who was the more
+self-possessed. She dropped on her knees by his side, and gently
+unbuttoned his waistcoat. Then she looked up at Brendon.
+
+"You must fetch a doctor," she said. "I do not think that he is quite
+dead."
+
+"And leave you here alone?" he asked, in a hoarse whisper. "Come with
+me."
+
+"I am not afraid," she answered. "Please hurry."
+
+He reeled out of the room. Anna was afterwards astonished at her own
+self-possession. She bound a scarf tightly round the place where the
+blood seemed to be coming from. Then she stood up and looked around
+the room.
+
+There were no evidences of any struggle, no overturned chairs or
+disarranged furniture. The grate was full of fluttering ashes of burnt
+paper, and the easy chair near the fire had evidently been used. On
+the floor was a handkerchief, a little morsel of lace. Anna saw it,
+and for the first time found herself trembling.
+
+She moved towards it slowly and picked it up, holding it out in front
+of her whilst the familiar perfume seemed to assert itself with
+damning insistence. It was Annabel's. The lace was family lace, easily
+recognizable. The perfume was the only one she ever used. Annabel had
+been here then. It was she who had come out from the flat only a few
+minutes before. It was she----
+
+Anna's nerves were not easily shaken, but she found herself suddenly
+clutching at the table for support. The room was reeling, or was it
+that she was going to faint? She recovered herself with a supreme
+effort. There were the burnt papers still in the grate. She took up
+the poker and stirred the fire vigorously. Almost at the same moment
+the door opened and Brendon entered, followed by the doctor.
+
+Anna turned round with a start, which was almost of guilt, the poker
+still in her hand. She met the keen grey eyes of a clean-shaven man,
+between forty and fifty, quietly dressed in professional attire.
+Before he even glanced at the man on the floor he stepped over to her
+side and took the poker from her.
+
+"Forgive me, madam," he said stiffly, "but in such a case as this it
+is better that nothing in the room should be disturbed until the
+arrival of the police. You have been burning paper, I see."
+
+"Are you a detective or a doctor?" she asked calmly. "Do you need me
+to remind you that your patient is bleeding to death?"
+
+He dropped on his knees by the man's side and made a hurried
+examination.
+
+"Who tied this scarf here?" he asked, looking up.
+
+"I did," Anna answered. "I hope that it has not done any harm."
+
+"He would have been dead before now without it," the doctor answered
+shortly. "Get me some brandy and my bag."
+
+It was nearly half an hour before they dared ask him the question.
+
+"Will he live?"
+
+The doctor shook his head.
+
+"It is very doubtful," he said. "You must send for the police at once,
+you know. You, sir," he added, turning to Brendon, "had better take my
+card round to the police station in Werner Street and ask that
+Detective Dorling be sent round here at once on urgent business."
+
+"Is it necessary to send for the police?" Anna asked.
+
+"Absolutely," the doctor answered, "and the sooner the better. This is
+a case either of suicide or murder. The police are concerned in it in
+either event."
+
+"Please go then, Mr. Brendon," Anna said. "You will come back, won't
+you?"
+
+He nodded cheerfully.
+
+"Of course I will," he answered.
+
+The doctor and Anna were left alone. Every moment or two he bent over
+his patient. He seemed to avoid meeting Anna's eyes as much as
+possible.
+
+"Does he live here?" he asked her presently.
+
+"No."
+
+"Far away?"
+
+"I have no idea," Anna answered.
+
+"Who is the tenant of these rooms?" he inquired.
+
+"I am."
+
+"You will have no objection to his remaining here?" he asked. "A move
+of any sort would certainly be fatal."
+
+"Of course not," Anna said. "Had he better have a nurse? I will be
+responsible for anything of that sort."
+
+"If he lives through the next hour," the doctor answered, "I will send
+some one. Do you know anything of his friends? Is there any one for
+whom we ought to send?"
+
+"I know very little of him beyond his name," Anna answered. "I know
+nothing whatever of his friends or his home. He used to live in a
+boarding-house in Russell Square. That is where I first knew him."
+
+The doctor looked at her thoughtfully. Perhaps for the first time he
+realized that Anna was by no means an ordinary person. His patient was
+distinctly of a different order of life. It was possible that his
+first impressions had not been correct.
+
+"Your name, I believe, is----"
+
+"Pellissier," Anna answered.
+
+"Allow me," the doctor said, "to give you a word of advice, Miss
+Pellissier. A detective will be here in a few moments to make
+inquiries into this affair. You may have something to conceal, you may
+not. Tell the whole truth. It always comes out sooner or later. Don't
+try to shield anybody or hide anything. It is bad policy."
+
+Anna smiled very faintly.
+
+"I thank you for your advice," she said. "I can assure you that it was
+quite unnecessary. I know less about this affair perhaps than you
+suppose. What I do know I shall have no hesitation in telling anyone
+who has the right to ask."
+
+"Just so," the doctor remarked drily. "And if I were you I would keep
+away from the fire."
+
+Brendon reappeared, followed by a tall thin man with a stubbly brown
+moustache and restless grey eyes. The doctor nodded to him curtly.
+
+"Good evening, Dorling," he said. "Before you do anything else I
+should advise you to secure those charred fragments of paper from the
+grate. I know nothing about this affair, but some one has been burning
+documents."
+
+The detective went down on his hands and knees. With delicate touch he
+rescued all that was possible of them, and made a careful little
+parcel. Then he stepped briskly to his feet and bent over the wounded
+man.
+
+"Shot through the lungs," he remarked.
+
+The doctor nodded.
+
+"Bad hemorrhage," he said. "I am going to fetch some things that will
+be wanted if he pulls through the next hour. I found him lying like
+this, the bleeding partly stopped by this scarf, else he had been dead
+by now."
+
+The doctor glanced towards Anna. Considering his convictions he felt
+that his remark was a generous one. Anna's face however was wholly
+impassive.
+
+He took up his hat and went. The detective rapidly sketched the
+appearance of the room in his notebook, and picked up the pistol from
+under the table. Then he turned to Anna.
+
+"Can you give me any information as to this affair?" he asked.
+
+"I will tell you all that I know," Anna said. "My name is Anna
+Pellissier, sometimes called Annabel. I am engaged to sing every
+evening at the 'Unusual' music hall. This man's name is Montague
+Hill. I saw him first a few months ago at Mrs. White's boarding-house
+in Russell Square. He subjected me there to great annoyance by
+claiming me as his wife. As a matter of fact, I had never spoken to
+him before in my life. Since then he has persistently annoyed me. I
+have suspected him of possessing a skeleton key to my apartments.
+To-night I locked up my flat at six o'clock. It was then, I am sure,
+empty. I dined with a friend and went to the 'Unusual.' At a quarter
+past eleven I returned here with this gentleman, Mr. Brendon. As we
+turned the corner of the street, I noticed that the electric light was
+burning in this room. We stopped for a moment to watch it, and almost
+immediately it was turned out. We came on here at once. I found the
+door locked as usual, but when we entered this room everything was as
+you see. Nothing has been touched since."
+
+The detective nodded.
+
+"A very clear statement, madam," he said. "From what you saw from the
+opposite pavement then, it is certain that some person who was able to
+move about was in this room only a minute or so before you entered
+it?"
+
+"That is so," Anna answered.
+
+"You met no one upon the stairs, or saw no one leave the flats?"
+
+"No one," Anna answered firmly.
+
+"Then either this man shot himself or some one else shot him
+immediately before your arrival--or rather if it was not himself the
+person who did it was in the room, say two minutes, before you
+arrived."
+
+"That is so," Anna admitted.
+
+"I will not trouble you with any questions about the other occupants
+of the flats," Mr. Dorling said. "I shall have to go through the
+building. You say that this gentleman was with you?"
+
+"I was," Brendon answered, "most providentially."
+
+"You did not notice anything which may have escaped this lady? You saw
+no one leave the flats?"
+
+"No one," Brendon answered.
+
+"You heard no pistol-shot?"
+
+"None."
+
+The detective turned again to Anna.
+
+"You know of no one likely to have had a grudge against this man?" he
+asked.
+
+"No."
+
+"There is no one else who has a key to your rooms?"
+
+"No one except my maid, who is away in Wiltshire."
+
+"The inference is, then," the detective said smoothly, "that this man
+obtained admission to your rooms by means of a false key, that he
+burnt some papers here and shot himself within a few moments of your
+return. Either that or some other person also obtained admission here
+and shot him, and that person is either still upon the premises or
+escaped without your notice."
+
+"I suppose," Anna said, "that those are reasonable deductions."
+
+The detective thrust his notebook into his pocket.
+
+"I brought a man with me who is posted outside," he remarked. "With
+your permission I should like to search the remainder of your rooms."
+
+Anna showed him the way.
+
+"Have either of you been out of this room since you discovered what
+had happened?" he asked.
+
+"Mr. Brendon went for the doctor," Anna answered. "I have not left
+this apartment myself."
+
+Nothing unusual was discovered in any other part of the flat. While
+they were still engaged in looking round the doctor returned with a
+nurse and assistant.
+
+"With your permission," he said to Anna, "I shall arrange a bed for
+him where he is. There is scarcely one chance in a dozen of saving his
+life; there would be none at all if he were moved."
+
+"You can make any arrangements you like," Anna declared. "I shall
+leave the flat to you and go to a hotel."
+
+"You would perhaps be so good as to allow one of my men to accompany
+you and see you settled," Mr. Dorling said deferentially. "In the
+event of his death we should require you at once to attend at the
+inquest."
+
+"I am going to pack my bag," Anna answered. "In five minutes I shall
+be ready."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXV_
+
+THE STEEL EDGE OF THE TRUTH
+
+
+The manservant, with his plain black clothes and black tie, had
+entered the room with a deferential little gesture.
+
+"You will pardon me, sir," he said in a subdued tone, "but I think
+that you have forgotten to look at your engagement book. There is Lady
+Arlingford's reception to-night, ten till twelve, and the Hatton House
+ball, marked with a cross, sir, important. I put your clothes out an
+hour ago."
+
+Nigel Ennison looked up with a little start.
+
+"All right, Dunster," he said. "I may go to Hatton House later, but
+you needn't wait. I can get into my clothes."
+
+The man hesitated.
+
+"Can I bring you anything, sir--a whisky and soda, or a liqueur?
+You'll excuse me, sir, but you haven't touched your coffee."
+
+"Bring me a whisky and soda, and a box of cigarettes," Ennison
+answered, "and then leave me alone, there's a good fellow. I'm a
+little tired."
+
+The man obeyed his orders noiselessly and then left the room.
+
+Ennison roused himself with an effort, took a long drink from his
+whisky and soda, and lit a cigarette.
+
+"What a fool I am!" he muttered, standing up on the hearthrug, and
+leaning his elbows upon the broad mantelpiece. "And yet I wonder
+whether the world ever held such another enigma in her sex. Paris
+looms behind--a tragedy of strange recollections--here she emerges
+Phoenix-like, subtly developed, a flawless woman, beautiful,
+self-reliant, witty, a woman with the strange gift of making all
+others beside her seem plain or vulgar. And then--this sudden thrust.
+God only knows what I have done, or left undone. Something
+unpardonable is laid to my charge. Only last night she saw me, and
+there was horror in her eyes.... I have written, called--of what avail
+is anything--against that look.... What the devil is the matter,
+Dunster?"
+
+"I beg your pardon, sir," the man answered, "there is a lady here to
+see you."
+
+Ennison turned round sharply.
+
+"A lady, Dunster. Who is it?"
+
+The man came a little further into the room.
+
+"Lady Ferringhall, sir."
+
+"Lady Ferringhall--alone?" Ennison exclaimed.
+
+"Quite alone, sir."
+
+Ennison was dismayed.
+
+"For Heaven's sake, Dunster, don't let her out of the carriage, or
+hansom, or whatever she came in. Say I'm out, away, anything!"
+
+"I am sorry, sir," the man answered, "but she had sent away her hansom
+before I answered the bell. She is in the hall now. I----"
+
+The door was thrown open. Annabel entered.
+
+"Forgive my coming in," she said to Ennison. "I heard your voices, and
+the hall is draughty. What is the matter with you?"
+
+Dunster had withdrawn discreetly. Ennison's manner was certainly not
+one of a willing host.
+
+"I cannot pretend that I am glad to see you, Lady Ferringhall," he
+said quietly. "For your own sake, let me beg of you not to stay for a
+moment. Dunster shall fetch you a cab. I----"
+
+She threw herself into an easy chair. She was unusually pale, and her
+eyes were brilliant. Never had she seemed to him so much like Anna.
+
+"You needn't be worried," she said quietly. "The conventions do not
+matter one little bit. You will agree with me when you have heard what
+I have to say. For me that is all over and done with."
+
+"Lady Ferringhall! Anna!" he exclaimed.
+
+She fixed her brilliant eyes upon him.
+
+"Suppose you call me by my proper name," she said quietly. "Call me
+Annabel."
+
+He started back as though he had been shot.
+
+"Annabel?" he exclaimed. "That is your sister's name."
+
+"No, mine."
+
+It came upon him like a flash. Innumerable little puzzles were
+instantly solved. He could only wonder that this amazing thing had
+remained so long a secret to him. He remembered little whispered
+speeches of hers, so like the Annabel of Paris, so unlike the woman he
+loved, a hundred little things should have told him long ago.
+Nevertheless it was overwhelming.
+
+"But your hair," he gasped.
+
+"Dyed!"
+
+"And your figure?"
+
+"One's _corsetière_ arranges that. My friend, I am only grieved that
+you of all others should have been so deceived. I have seen you with
+Anna, and I have not known whether to be glad or sorry. I have been in
+torment all the while to know whether it was to Anna or to Annabel
+that you were making love so charmingly. Nigel, do you know that I
+have been very jealous?"
+
+He avoided the invitation of her eyes. He was indeed still in the
+throes of his bewilderment.
+
+"But Sir John?" he exclaimed. "What made you marry him? What made you
+leave Paris without a word to any one? What made you and your sister
+exchange identities?"
+
+"There is one answer to all those questions, Nigel," she said, with a
+nervous little shudder. "It is a hateful story. Come close to me, and
+let me hold your hand, dear. I am a little afraid."
+
+There was a strange look in her face, the look of a frightened child.
+Ennison seemed to feel already the shadow of tragedy approaching. He
+stood by her side, and he suffered her hands to rest in his.
+
+"You remember the man in Paris who used to follow me about--Meysey
+Hill they called him?"
+
+He nodded.
+
+"Miserable bounder," he murmured. "Turned out to be an impostor, too."
+
+"He imposed on me," Annabel continued. "I believed that he was the
+great multi-millionaire. He worried me to marry him. I let him take me
+to the English Embassy, and we went through some sort of a ceremony. I
+thought it would be magnificent to have a great house in Paris, and
+more money than any other woman. Afterwards we started for _déjeuner_
+in a motor. On the way he confessed. He was not Meysey Hill, but an
+Englishman of business, and he had only a small income. Every one took
+him for the millionaire, and he had lost his head about me. I--well, I
+lost my temper. I struck him across the face, twisted the steering
+wheel of the motor, sprang out myself, and left him for dead on the
+road with the motor on top of him. This is the first act."
+
+"Served the beast right," Ennison declared. "I think I can tell you
+something which may be very good news for you presently. But go on."
+
+"Act two," she continued. "Enter Sir John, very honest, very much in
+love with me. I thought that Hill was dead, but I was frightened, and
+I wanted to get away from Paris. Sir John heard gossip about us--about
+Anna the recluse, a paragon of virtue, and Annabel alias 'Alcide' a
+dancer at the _cafés chantants_, and concerning whom there were many
+stories which were false, and a few--which were true. I--well, I
+borrowed Anna's name. I made her my unwilling confederate. Sir John
+followed me to London and married me. To this day he and every one
+else thinks that he married Anna.
+
+"Act three. Anna comes to London. She is poor, and she will take
+nothing from my husband, the man she had deceived for my sake, and he,
+on his part, gravely disapproves of her as 'Alcide.' She tries every
+way of earning a living and fails. Then she goes to a dramatic agent.
+Curiously enough nothing will persuade him that she is not 'Alcide.'
+He believes that she denies it simply because owing to my marriage
+with Sir John, whom they call the 'Puritan Knight,' she wants to keep
+her identity secret. He forces an engagement upon her. She never calls
+herself 'Alcide.' It is the Press who find her out. She is the image
+of what I was like, and she has a better voice. Then enter Mr. Hill
+again--alive. He meets Anna, and claims her as his wife. It is Anna
+again who stands between me and ruin."
+
+"I cannot let you go on," Ennison interrupted. "I believe that I can
+give you great news. Tell me where the fellow Hill took you for this
+marriage ceremony."
+
+"It was behind the Place de Vendome, on the other side from the Ritz."
+
+"I knew it," Ennison exclaimed. "Cheer up, Annabel. You were never
+married at all. That place was closed by the police last month. It was
+a bogus affair altogether, kept by some blackguard or other of an
+Englishman. Everything was done in the most legal and imposing way,
+but the whole thing was a fraud."
+
+"Then I was never married to him at all?" Annabel said.
+
+"Never--but, by Jove, you had a narrow escape," Ennison exclaimed.
+"Annabel, I begin to see why you are here. Think! Had you not better
+hurry back before Sir John discovers? You are his wife right enough.
+You can tell me the rest another time."
+
+She smiled faintly.
+
+"The rest," she said, holding tightly to his hands, "is the most
+important of all. You came to me, you wished me to speak to Anna. I
+went to her rooms to-night. There was no one at home, and I was coming
+away when I saw that the door was open. I decided to go in and wait.
+In her sitting-room I found Montague Hill. He had gained admission
+somehow, and he too was waiting for Anna. But--he was cleverer than
+any of you. He knew me, Nigel. 'At last,' he cried, 'I have found
+you!' He would listen to nothing. He swore that I was his wife, and--I
+shot him, Nigel, as his arms were closing around me. Shot him, do you
+hear?"
+
+"Good God!" he exclaimed, looking at her curiously. "Is this true,
+Annabel? Is he dead?"
+
+She nodded.
+
+"I shot him. I saw the blood come as he rolled over. I tore the
+marriage certificate from his pocket and burnt it. And then I came
+here."
+
+"You came--here!" he repeated, vaguely.
+
+"Nigel, Nigel," she cried. "Don't you understand? It is I whom you
+cared for in Paris, not Anna. She is a stranger to you. You cannot
+care for her. Think of those days in Paris. Do you remember when we
+went right away, Nigel, and forgot everything? We went down the river
+past Veraz, and the larks were singing all over those deep brown
+fields, and the river further on wound its way like a coil of silver
+across the rich meadowland, and along the hillside vineyards. Oh, the
+scent of the flowers that day, the delicious quiet, the swallows that
+dived before us in the river. Nigel! You have not forgotten. It was
+the first day you kissed me, under the willows, coming into Veraz.
+Nigel, you have not forgotten!"
+
+"No," he said, with a little bitter smile. "I have never forgotten."
+
+She suddenly caught hold of his shoulders and drew him down towards
+her.
+
+"Nigel, don't you understand. I must leave England to-night. I must go
+somewhere into hiding, a long, long way off. I killed him, Nigel. They
+will say that it was murder. But if only you will come I do not care."
+
+He shook her hands off almost roughly. He stood away from her. She
+listened with dumb fear in her eyes.
+
+"Listen, Annabel," he said hoarsely. "We played at love-making in
+Paris. It was very pretty and very dainty while it lasted, but we
+played it with our eyes open, and we perfectly understood the
+game--both of us. Other things came. We went our ways. There was no
+broken faith--not even any question of anything of the sort. I met you
+here as Lady Ferringhall. We have played at a little mild love-making
+again. It has been only the sort of nonsense which passes lightly
+enough between half the men and women in London. You shall know the
+truth. I do not love you. I have never loved you. I call myself a man
+of the world, a man of many experiences, but I never knew what love
+meant--until I met your sister."
+
+"You love--Anna?" she exclaimed.
+
+"I do," he answered. "I always shall. Now if you are ready to go with
+me, I too am ready. We will go to Ostend by the early morning boat and
+choose a hiding place from there. I will marry you when Sir John gets
+his divorce, and I will do all I can to keep you out of harm. But you
+had better know the truth to start with. I will do all this not
+because I love you, but--because you are Anna's sister."
+
+Annabel rose to her feet.
+
+"You are magnificent," she said, "but the steel of your truth is a
+little oversharpened. It cuts. Will you let your servant call me a
+hansom," she continued, opening the door before he could reach her
+side. "I had no idea that it was so abominably late."
+
+He scarcely saw her face again. She pulled her veil down, and he knew
+that silence was best.
+
+"Where to?" he asked, as the hansom drove up.
+
+"Home, of course," she answered. "Eight, Cavendish Square."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXVI_
+
+ANNABEL IS WARNED
+
+
+"You!"
+
+David Courtlaw crossed the floor of the dingy little sitting-room with
+outstretched hands.
+
+"You cannot say that you did not expect me," he answered. "I got
+Sydney's telegram at ten o'clock, and caught the ten-thirty from the
+Gare du Nord."
+
+"It is very nice of you," Anna said softly.
+
+"Rubbish!" he answered. "I could not have stayed in Paris and waited
+for news. Tell me exactly what has happened. Even now I do not
+understand. Is this man Hill dead?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"He was alive at four o'clock this afternoon," she answered, "but the
+doctors give little hope of his recovery."
+
+"What is there to be feared?" he asked her quietly.
+
+She hesitated.
+
+"You are my friend," she said, "if any one is. I think that I will
+tell you. The man Hill has persecuted me for months--ever since I have
+been in England. He claimed me for his wife, and showed to every one a
+marriage certificate. He shot at me at the 'Unusual,' and the
+magistrates bound him over to keep the peace. I found him once in my
+rooms, and I believe that he had a key to my front door. Last night
+Mr. Brendon and I returned from the 'Unusual,' and found him lying
+in my room shot through the lungs. In the grate were some charred
+fragments of a marriage certificate. We fetched the doctor and the
+police. From the first I could see that neither believed my story. I
+am suspected of having shot the man."
+
+"But that is ridiculous!" he exclaimed.
+
+She laughed a little bitterly.
+
+"I am under police surveillance," she said. "So is Mr. Brendon."
+
+"But there is not a shadow of evidence against you," he objected. "The
+man alone could supply any, and if he recovers sufficiently to say
+anything, what he would say would exonerate you."
+
+"Yes."
+
+There was a moment's silence. Anna's face was half turned from him,
+but her expression, and the tone of her monosyllable puzzled him. He
+stepped quickly towards her. Her eyes seemed to be looking backwards.
+She distinctly shivered as he forced her to look at him. He was
+bewildered.
+
+"Anna!" he exclaimed hoarsely. "Look at me. What is it? Good God!"
+
+An unhappy little smile parted her lips. She clenched her hands
+together and leaned forward in her chair, gazing steadily into the
+fire.
+
+"I think," she said, "that I will tell you everything. I must tell
+somebody--and you would understand."
+
+"I am your friend," he said slowly, "whatever you may have to tell me.
+You can trust me, Anna. You know that. I will be as silent as the
+grave."
+
+"Not long ago," she said, "you left me in anger, partly because of
+this exchange of identities between Annabel and myself. You said that
+it would bring trouble. It has."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Annabel's real reason for wishing to leave Paris, the real reason she
+married Sir John Ferringhall, was because of a very foolish thing
+which she did. It was--in connection with this man Hill. He personated
+over there a millionaire named Meysey Hill, and it seems that he
+induced Annabel to go through some sort of marriage with him at the
+Embassy."
+
+"Where?" Courtlaw asked quickly.
+
+"In Paris."
+
+Courtlaw seemed about to say something. He changed his mind however,
+and simply motioned to her to proceed.
+
+"Then there was a motor accident only an hour or so after this
+ceremony, and Hill was reported to be killed. Annabel believed it,
+came to England and married Sir John. Now you can understand why I
+have been obliged to----"
+
+"Yes, yes, I understand that," Courtlaw interrupted. "But about last
+night."
+
+"Annabel knew where I lived," Anna continued slowly. "She has been to
+my flat before. I saw her come out from the flat buildings two minutes
+before we entered it last night. I picked up her handkerchief on the
+floor."
+
+"You mean--you think----"
+
+"Hush! I think that he was concealed in my room, and Annabel and he
+met there. What passed between them I cannot think--I dare not. The
+pistol was his own, it is true, but it was one which was taken from
+him when he forced his way in upon me before. Now you can understand
+why every minute is a torture to me. It is not for myself I fear. But
+if he speaks--I fear what he may tell."
+
+"You have been to her?" he asked.
+
+"I dare not," she answered.
+
+"I will go," he said. "She must be warned. She had better escape if
+she can."
+
+Anna shook her head.
+
+"She will take her risk," she answered. "I am sure of it. If he
+recovers he may not accuse her. If he dies she is safe."
+
+He paced the room for a minute or two restlessly.
+
+"There are some people," he said at last, "who seem fated to carry on
+their shoulders the burdens of other people. You, Anna, are one of
+them. I know in Paris you pinched and scraped that your sister might
+have the dresses and entertainments she desired. You fell in at once
+with her quixotic and damnable scheme of foisting her reputation and
+her follies upon your shoulders whilst she marries a rich man and
+commences all over again a life of selfish pleasure. You on the other
+hand have to come to London, a worker, with the responsibility of life
+upon your own shoulders--and in addition all the burden of her
+follies."
+
+"You forget," she said, looking up at him with a faint smile, "that
+under the cloak of her name I am earning more money a week than I
+could ever have earned in a year by my own labours."
+
+"It is an accident," he answered. "Besides, it is not so. You sing
+better than Annabel ever did, you have even a better style. 'Alcide'
+or no 'Alcide,' there is not a music hall manager in London or Paris
+who would not give you an engagement on your own merits."
+
+"Perhaps not," she answered. "And yet in a very few weeks I shall have
+done with it all. Do you think that I shall ever make an actress, my
+friend?"
+
+"I doubt it," he answered bluntly. "You have not feeling enough."
+
+She smiled at him.
+
+"It is like old times," she said, "to hear these home truths. All the
+same, I don't admit it."
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"To be an actress," he said, "you require a special and peculiar
+temperament. I do not believe that there has ever lived a really great
+actress whose moral character from the ordinary point of view would
+bear inspection."
+
+"Then I," she said, "have too much character."
+
+"Too much character, and too little sentiment," he answered. "Too much
+sensibility and too cold a heart. Too easily roused emotions and too
+little passion. How could you draw the curtain aside which hides the
+great and holy places of life--you, who have never loved?"
+
+"You have become French to the core," she murmured. "You would believe
+that life is kindled by the passions alone."
+
+There was silence between them. Then a servant girl brought in a
+telegram. Anna tore it open and passed it to Courtlaw. It was from
+Brendon.
+
+    "Hill gradually recovering consciousness. Doctor says depositions
+    to-night. Recovery impossible.--BRENDON."
+
+He looked at her gravely.
+
+"I think," he said, "that some one ought to warn her."
+
+"It is Number 8, Cavendish Square," she answered simply.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Courtlaw found himself ushered without questions into Annabel's long
+low drawing-room, fragrant with flowers and somewhat to his surprise,
+crowded with guests. From the further end of the apartment came the
+low music of a violin. Servants were passing backwards and forwards
+with tea and chocolate. For a moment he did not recognize Annabel.
+Then she came a few steps to meet him.
+
+"Mr. Courtlaw, is it not," she remarked, with lifted eyebrows. "Really
+it is very kind of you to have found me out."
+
+He was bereft of words for a moment, and in that moment she escaped,
+having passed him on deftly to one of the later arrivals.
+
+"Lady Mackinnor," she said, "I am sure that you must have heard of Mr.
+David Courtlaw. Permit me to make him known to you--Mr. Courtlaw--Lady
+Mackinnor."
+
+With a murmured word of excuse she glided away, and Courtlaw, who
+had come with a mission which seemed to him to be one of life or
+death, was left to listen to the latest art jargon from Chelsea. He
+bore it as long as he could, watching all the time with fascinated
+eyes Annabel moving gracefully about amongst her guests, always gay,
+with a smile and a whisper for nearly everybody. Grudgingly he admired
+her. To him she had always appeared as a mere pleasure-loving
+parasite--something quite insignificant. He had pictured her, if
+indeed she had ever had the courage to do this thing, as sitting
+alone, convulsed with guilty fear, starting at her own shadow, a slave
+to constant terror. And instead he found her playing the great lady,
+and playing it well. She knew, or guessed his mission too, for more
+than once their eyes met, and she laughed mockingly at him. At last he
+could bear it no longer. He left his companion in the midst of a
+glowing eulogy of Bastien Leparge, and boldly intercepted his hostess
+as she moved from one group to join another.
+
+"Can you spare me a moment?" he asked. "I have a message from your
+sister."
+
+"Are you in a hurry," she asked carelessly. "A lot of these people
+will be going presently."
+
+"My message is urgent," he said firmly. "If you cannot listen to me
+now it must remain undelivered."
+
+She shrugged her shoulders and led him towards a small recess. "So you
+come from Anna, do you?" she remarked. "Well, what is it?"
+
+"Montague Hill is recovering consciousness," he said. "He will
+probably make a statement to-night."
+
+"That sounds very interesting," she answered coolly. "Perhaps I should
+better be able to understand its significance if you would explain to
+me who Mr. Montague Hill is."
+
+"Your husband," he answered bluntly.
+
+She did not wince. She laughed a little contemptuously.
+
+"You and Anna," she said, "seem to have stumbled upon a mare's nest.
+If that is my sister's message, pray return to her and say that the
+doings and sayings of Mr. Montague Hill do not interest me in the
+least."
+
+"Don't be foolish," he said sharply. "You were seen to leave the flat,
+and your handkerchief was found there. Very likely by this time the
+whole truth is known."
+
+She smiled at him, an understanding smile, but her words defied him.
+
+"What a beautiful mare's nest!" she exclaimed. "I can see you and Anna
+groaning and nodding your grave heads together. Bah! She does not know
+me very well, and you--not at all. Do have some tea, won't you? If
+you must, go then."
+
+Courtlaw was dismissed. As he passed out he saw in the hall a quietly
+dressed man with keen grey eyes, talking to one of the footmen. He
+shivered and looked behind as he stepped into his hansom. Had it come
+already?
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXVII_
+
+JOHN FERRINGHAM, GENTLEMAN
+
+
+"Confess, my dear husband," Annabel said lightly, "that you are
+bewildered."
+
+Sir John smiled.
+
+"My dear Anna," he answered. "To tell you the truth, it has seemed
+just lately as though we were becoming in some measure estranged. You
+certainly have not shown much desire for my society, have you?"
+
+"You have been wrapped up in your politics," she murmured.
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"There have been other times," he said a little sadly.
+
+Her little white hand stole across the table. There was a look in her
+eyes which puzzled him.
+
+"I have been very selfish," she declared. "But you must forgive me,
+John."
+
+"I would forgive you a great deal more," he answered readily, "for the
+sake of an evening like this. You have actually given up a
+dinner-party to dine alone with me."
+
+"And made you give up a political meeting," she reminded him.
+
+"Quite an unimportant one," he assured her. "I would have given up
+anything to see you your old self again--as you are this evening."
+
+"I am afraid I have not been very nice," she said sadly. "Never mind.
+You must think of this evening, John, sometimes--as a sort of
+atonement."
+
+"I hope," he answered, looking at her in some surprise, "that we shall
+have many more such to think about."
+
+They were lingering over their dessert. The servants had left the
+room. Annabel half filled her glass with wine, and taking a little
+folded packet from her plate, shook the contents into it.
+
+"I am developing ailments," she said, meeting his questioning eyes.
+"It is nothing of any importance. John, I have something to say to
+you."
+
+"If you want to ask a favour," he remarked smiling, "you have made it
+almost impossible for me to refuse you anything."
+
+"I am going to ask more than a favour," she said slowly. "I am going
+to ask for your forgiveness."
+
+He was a little uneasy.
+
+"I do not know what you mean," he said, "but if you are referring to
+any little coolness since our marriage let us never speak of it again.
+I am something of an old fogey, Anna, I'm afraid, but if you treat me
+like this you will teach me to forget it."
+
+Annabel looked intently into her glass.
+
+"John," she said, "I am afraid that I am going to make you unhappy. I
+am very, very sorry, but you must listen to me."
+
+He relapsed into a stony silence. A few feet away, across the low
+vases of pink and white roses, sat Annabel, more beautiful to-night
+perhaps than ever before in her life. She wore a wonderful dress of
+turquoise blue, made by a great dressmaker for a function which she
+knew very well now that she would never attend. Her hair once more was
+arranged with its old simplicity. There was a new softness in her
+eyes, a hesitation, a timidity about her manner which was almost
+pathetic.
+
+"You remember our first meeting?"
+
+"Yes," he answered hoarsely. "I remember it very well indeed. You have
+the look in your eyes to-night which you had that day, the look of a
+frightened child."
+
+She looked into her glass.
+
+"I was frightened then," she declared. "I am frightened now. But it is
+all very different. There was hope for me then. Now there is none. No,
+none at all."
+
+"You talk strangely, Anna," he said. "Go on!"
+
+"People talked to you in Paris about us," she continued, "about Anna
+the virtuous and Annabel the rake. You were accused of having been
+seen with the latter. You denied it, remembering that I had called
+myself Anna. You went even to our rooms and saw my sister. Anna lied
+to you, I lied to you. I was Annabel the rake, 'Alcide' of the music
+halls. My name is Annabel, not Anna. Do you understand?"
+
+"I do not," he answered. "How could I, when your sister sings now at
+the 'Unusual' every night and the name 'Alcide' flaunts from every
+placard in London?"
+
+"The likeness between us," she said, "before I began to disfigure
+myself with rouge and ill-dressed hair, was remarkable. Anna failed in
+her painting, our money was gone, and she was forced to earn her own
+living. She came to London, and tried several things without any
+success."
+
+"But why----"
+
+Sir John stopped short. With a moment of inward shame he remembered
+his deportment towards Anna. It was scarcely likely that she would
+have accepted his aid. Some one had once, in his hearing, called him a
+prig. He remembered it suddenly. He thought of his severe attitude
+towards the girl who was rightly and with contempt refusing his
+measured help. He looked across at Annabel, and he groaned. This was
+his humiliation as well as hers.
+
+"Anna of course would not accept any money from us," she continued.
+"She tried everything, and last of all she tried the stage. She went
+to a dramatic agent, and he turned out to be the one who had heard me
+sing in Paris. He refused to believe that Anna was not 'Alcide.' He
+thought she wished to conceal her identity because of the connexion
+with you, and he offered her an engagement at once. She was never
+announced as 'Alcide,' but directly she walked on she simply became
+'Alcide' to every one. She had a better voice than I, and the rest I
+suppose is only a trick. The real 'Alcide'," she wound up with a faint
+smile across the table at him, "is here."
+
+He sat like a man turned to stone. Some part of the stiff vigour of
+the man seemed to have subsided. He seemed to have shrunken in his
+seat. His eyes were fixed upon her face, but he opened his lips twice
+before he spoke.
+
+"When you married me----"
+
+Her little hand flashed out across the table.
+
+"John," she said, "I can spare you that question. I had been about as
+foolish and selfish as a girl could be. I had done the most
+compromising things, and behaved in the most ridiculous way. But from
+the rest--you saved me."
+
+Sir John breathed a long deep sigh. He sat up in his chair again, the
+colour came back to his cheeks.
+
+"John, don't!" she cried. "You think that this is all. You are going
+to be generous and forgive. It isn't all. There is worse to come.
+There is a tragedy to come."
+
+"Out with it, then," he cried, almost roughly. "Don't you know, child,
+that this is torture for me? What in God's name more can you have to
+tell me?"
+
+Her face had become almost like a marble image. She spoke with a
+certain odd deliberation carefully chosen words which fell like drops
+of ice upon the man who sat listening.
+
+"Before I met you I was deluded into receiving upon friendly terms a
+man named Hill, who passed himself off as Meysey Hill the railway man,
+but who was in reality an Englishman in poor circumstances. He was
+going to settle I forget how many millions upon me, and I think that I
+was dazzled. I went with him to what I supposed to be the British
+Embassy, and went through a ceremony which I understood to be the
+usual form of the marriage one used there. Afterwards we started for a
+motor ride to a place outside Paris for _déjeuner_, and I suppose the
+man's nerve failed him. I questioned him too closely about his
+possessions, and remarked upon the fact that he was a most inexpert
+driver, although Meysey Hill had a great reputation as a motorist.
+Anyhow he confessed that he was a fraud. I struck him across the face,
+jumped out and went back by train to Paris. He lost control of the
+machine, was upset and nearly killed."
+
+"Did you say," Sir John asked, "that the man's name was Hill?"
+
+"Yes," she answered.
+
+"The man who was found dead in your sister's room was named Hill?"
+
+"It is the man," she answered. "I killed him."
+
+Sir John clutched at the table with both hands. A slow horror was
+dawning in his fixed eyes. This was not the sort of confession which
+he had been expecting. Annabel had spoken calmly enough and steadily,
+but his brain refused at first to accept the full meaning of her
+words. It seemed to him that a sort of mist had risen up between them.
+Everything was blurred. Only her face was clear, frail and delicate,
+almost flower-like, with the sad haunting eyes ever watching his.
+Annabel a murderess! It was not possible.
+
+"Child!" he cried. "You do not know what you say. This is part of a
+dream--some evil fancy. Think! You could not have done it."
+
+She shook her head deliberately, hopelessly.
+
+"I think that I know very well what I am saying," she answered. "I
+went to Anna's rooms because I felt that I must see her. He was there
+concealed, waiting her return. He recognized me at once, and he
+behaved like a madman. He swore that I was his wife, that chance had
+given me to him at last. John, he was between me and the door. A
+strong coarse man, and there were things in his eyes which made my
+blood run cold with terror. He came over to me. I was helpless.
+Beside me on Anna's table was a pistol. I was not even sure whether
+it was loaded. I snatched it up, pointed it blindly at him, and
+fired."
+
+"Ah!" Sir John exclaimed.
+
+"He fell over at my feet," she continued. "I saw him stagger and sink
+down, and the pistol was smoking still in my hand. I bent over him.
+Anna had told me that he carried always with him this bogus marriage
+certificate. I undid his coat, and I took it from his pocket. I burned
+it."
+
+"But the marriage itself?" Sir John asked. "I do not understand."
+
+"There was no marriage," she answered. "I was very foolish to have
+been deceived even for a moment. There was no marriage, and I hated,
+oh, how I hated the man."
+
+"Did any one see you leave the flat?" he asked.
+
+"I do not know. But David Courtlaw has been here. To-night they say he
+will be conscious. He will say who it was. So there is no escape. And
+listen, John."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"I went from Anna's flat to Nigel Ennison's rooms. I told him the
+truth. I asked him to take me away, and hide me. He refused. He sent
+me home."
+
+Sir John's head bent lower and lower. There was nothing left now of
+the self-assured, prosperous man of affairs. His shoulders were bent,
+his face was furrowed with wrinkles. He looked no longer at his wife.
+His eyes were fixed upon the tablecloth.
+
+There was a gentle rustling of skirts. Softly she rose to her feet. He
+felt her warm breath upon his cheek, the perfume of her hair as she
+leaned over him. He did not look up, so he did not know that in her
+other hand she held a glass of wine.
+
+"Dear husband," she murmured. "I am so very, very sorry. I have
+brought disgrace upon you, and I haven't been the right sort of wife
+at all. But it is all over now, and presently there will be some one
+else. I should like to have had you forgive me."
+
+He did not move. He seemed to be thinking hard. She paused for a
+moment. Then she raised the glass nearer to her lips.
+
+"Good-bye, John," she said simply.
+
+Something in her tone made him look up. In a second the glass lay
+shattered upon the carpet. There was a stain of wine upon her dress.
+
+"God in Heaven, Annabel!" he cried. "What were you doing?"
+
+Her voice was a little hysterical. Her unnatural calm was giving way.
+
+"It was poison--why not?" she answered. "Who is there to care
+and--John."
+
+His arms were around her. He kissed her once on the lips with a
+passion of which, during all their days of married life, he had given
+no sign.
+
+"You poor little girl!" he cried. "Forgive you, indeed. There isn't a
+husband breathing, Annabel, who wouldn't have blessed that pistol in
+your hands, and prayed God that the bullet might go straight. It is no
+crime, none at all. It is one of God's laws that a woman may defend
+her honour, even with the shedding of blood. While you talked I was
+only making our plans. It was necessary to think, and think quickly."
+
+She was altogether hysterical now.
+
+"But I--I went to Nigel Ennison for help. I asked him--to take me
+away."
+
+She saw him flinch, but he gave no sign of it in his tone.
+
+"Perhaps," he said, "I have been to blame. It must be my fault that
+you have not learnt that your husband is the man to come to--at such a
+time as this. Oh, I think I understand, Annabel. You were afraid of
+me, afraid that I should have been shocked, afraid of the scandal.
+Bah. Little woman, you have been brave enough before. Pull yourself
+together now. Drink this!"
+
+He poured out a glass of wine with a firm hand, and held it to her
+lips. She drank it obediently.
+
+"Good," he said, as he watched the colour come back to her cheeks.
+"Now listen. You go to your room and ring for your maid. I received a
+telegram, as you know, during dinner. It contains news of the serious
+illness of a near relation at Paris. Your maid has twenty minutes to
+pack your dressing case for one night, and you have the same time to
+change into a travelling dress. In twenty minutes we meet in the hall,
+remember. I will tell you our plans on the way to the station."
+
+"But you," she exclaimed, "you are not coming. There is the
+election----"
+
+He laughed derisively.
+
+"Election be hanged!" he exclaimed. "Don't be childish, Annabel. We
+are off for a second honeymoon. Just one thing more. We may be
+stopped. Don't look so frightened. You called yourself a murderess.
+You are nothing of the sort. What you did is called manslaughter, and
+at the worst there is only a very slight penalty, nothing to be
+frightened about in the least. Remember that."
+
+She kissed him passionately, and ran lightly upstairs. In the hall
+below she could hear his firm voice giving quick commands to the
+servants.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXVIII_
+
+THE HISSING OF "ALCIDE"
+
+
+There was a strange and ominous murmur of voices, a shuffling of feet
+in the gallery, a silence, which was like the silence before a storm.
+Anna, who had sung the first verse of her song, looked around the
+house, a little surprised at the absence of the applause which had
+never yet failed her. She realized in a moment what had happened. Even
+though the individual faces of her audience were not to be singled
+out, she had been conscious from the first moment of her appearance
+that something was wrong. She hesitated, and for a moment thought of
+omitting her second verse altogether. The manager, however, who stood
+in the wings, nodded to her to proceed, and the orchestra commenced
+the first few bars of the music. Then the storm broke. A long shrill
+cat-call in the gallery seemed to be the signal. Then a roar of
+hisses. They came from every part, from the pit, the circle and the
+gallery, even from the stalls. And there arose too, a background of
+shouts.
+
+"Who killed her husband?"
+
+"Go and nurse him, missus!"
+
+"Murderess!"
+
+Anna looked from left to right. She was as pale as death, but she
+seemed to have lost the power of movement. They shouted to her from
+the wings to come off. She could not stir hand or foot. A paralyzing
+horror was upon her. Her eardrums were burning with the echoes of
+those hideous shouts. A crumpled-up newspaper thrown from the gallery
+hit her upon the cheek. The stage manager came out from the wings, and
+taking her hand led her off. There was more shouting.
+
+The stage manager reappeared presently, and made a speech. He
+regretted--more deeply than he could say--the occurrence of this
+evening. He fancied that when they had had time to reflect, they would
+regret it still more. ("No, no.") They had shown themselves grossly
+ignorant of facts. They had chosen to deliberately and wickedly insult
+a lady who had done her best to entertain them for many weeks. He
+could not promise that she would ever appear again in that house.
+("Good job.") Well, they might say that, but he knew very well that
+before long they would regret it. Of his own certain knowledge he
+could tell them that. For his own part he could not sufficiently
+admire the pluck of this lady, who, notwithstanding all that she had
+been through, had chosen to appear this evening rather than break her
+engagement. He should never sufficiently be able to regret the return
+which they had made to her. He begged their attention for the next
+turn.
+
+He had spoken impressively, and most likely Anna, had she reappeared,
+would have met with a fair reception. She, however, had no idea of
+doing anything of the sort. She dressed rapidly and left the theatre
+without a word to any one. The whole incident was so unexpected that
+neither Courtlaw nor Brendon were awaiting. The man who sat behind a
+pigeon-hole, and regulated the comings and goings, was for a moment
+absent. Anna stood on the step and looked up and down the street for a
+hansom. Suddenly she felt her wrist grasped by a strong hand. It was
+Ennison, who loomed up through the shadows.
+
+"Anna! Thank God I have found you at last. But you have not finished
+surely. Your second turn is not over, is it?"
+
+She laughed a little hardly. Even now she was dazed. The horror of
+those few minutes was still with her.
+
+"Have you not heard?" she said. "For me there is no second turn. I
+have said good-bye to it all. They hissed me!"
+
+"Beasts!" he muttered. "But was it wise to sing to-night?"
+
+"Why not? The man was nothing to me."
+
+"You have not seen the evening paper?"
+
+"No. What about them?"
+
+He called a hansom.
+
+"They are full of the usual foolish stories. To-morrow they will all
+be contradicted. To-night all London believes that he was your
+husband."
+
+"That is why they hissed me, then?"
+
+"Of course. To-morrow they will know the truth."
+
+She shivered.
+
+"Is this hansom for me?" she said. "Thank you--and good-bye."
+
+"I am coming with you," he said firmly.
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"Don't!" she begged.
+
+"You are in trouble," he said. "No one has a better right than I to be
+with you."
+
+"You have no right at all," she answered coldly.
+
+"I have the right of the man who loves you," he declared. "Some day
+you will be my wife, and it would not be well for either of us to
+remember that in these unhappy days you and I were separated."
+
+Anna gave her address to the driver. She leaned back in the cab with
+half-closed eyes.
+
+"This is all madness," she declared wearily. "Do you think it is fair
+of you to persecute me just now?"
+
+"It is not persecution, Anna," he answered gently. "Only you are the
+woman I love, and you are in trouble. And you are something of a
+heroine, too. You see, my riddle is solved. I know all."
+
+"You know all?"
+
+"Your sister has told me."
+
+"You have seen her--since last night?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Anna shivered a little. She asked no further questions for the moment.
+Ennison himself, with the recollection of Annabel's visit still fresh
+in his mind, was for a moment constrained and ill at ease. When they
+reached her rooms she stepped lightly out upon the pavement.
+
+"Now you must go," she said firmly. "I have had a trying evening and I
+need rest."
+
+"You need help and sympathy more, Anna," he pleaded, "and I have the
+right, yes I have the right to offer you both. I will not be sent
+away."
+
+"It is my wish to be alone," she said wearily. "I can say no more."
+
+She turned and fitted the latchkey into the door. He hesitated for a
+moment and then he followed her. She turned the gas up in her little
+sitting-room, and sank wearily into an easy chair. On the mantelpiece
+in front of her was a note addressed to her in Annabel's handwriting.
+She looked at it with a little shudder, but she made no motion to take
+it.
+
+"Will you say what you have to say, please, and go. I am tired, and I
+want to be alone."
+
+He came and stood on the hearthrug close to her.
+
+"Anna," he said, "you make it all indescribably hard for me. Will you
+not remember what has passed between us? I have the right to take my
+place by your side."
+
+"You have no right at all," she answered. "Further than that, I am
+amazed that you should dare to allude to those few moments, to that
+single moment of folly. If ever I could bring myself to ask you any
+favour, I would ask you to forget even as I have forgotten."
+
+"Why in Heaven's name should I forget?" he cried. "I love you, Anna,
+and I want you for my wife. There is nothing but your pride which
+stands between us."
+
+"There is great deal more," she answered coldly. "For one thing I am
+going to marry David Courtlaw."
+
+He stepped back as though he had received a blow.
+
+"It is not possible," he exclaimed.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because you are mine. You have told me that you cared. Oh, you cannot
+escape from it. Anna, my love, you cannot have forgotten so soon."
+
+He fancied that she was yielding, but her eyes fell once more upon
+that fatal envelope, and her tone when she spoke was colder than ever.
+
+"That was a moment of madness," she said. "I was lonely. I did not
+know what I was saying."
+
+"I will have your reason for this," he said. "I will have your true
+reason."
+
+She looked at him for a moment with fire in her eyes.
+
+"You need a reason. Ask your own conscience. What sort of a standard
+of life yours may be I do not know, yet in your heart you know very
+well that every word you have spoken to me has been a veiled insult,
+every time you have come into my presence has been an outrage. That is
+what stands between us, if you would know--that."
+
+She pointed to the envelope still resting upon the mantelpiece. He
+recognized the handwriting, and turned a shade paler. Her eyes noted
+it mercilessly.
+
+"But your sister," he said. "What has she told you?"
+
+"Everything."
+
+He was a little bewildered.
+
+"But," he said, "you do not blame me altogether?"
+
+She rose to her feet.
+
+"I am tired," she said, "and I want to rest. But if you do not leave
+this room I must."
+
+He took up his hat.
+
+"Very well," he said. "You are unjust and quixotic, Anna, you have no
+right to treat any one as you are treating me. And yet--I love you.
+When you send for me I shall come back. I do not believe that you will
+marry David Courtlaw. I do not think that you will dare to marry
+anybody else."
+
+He left the room, and she stood motionless, with flaming cheeks,
+listening to his retreating footsteps. When she was quite sure that he
+was gone she took her sister's note from the mantelpiece and slowly
+broke the seal.
+
+     "DEAREST A----
+
+     "I lied to you. Nigel Ennison was my very good friend, but there
+     is not the slightest reason for your not marrying him, if you
+     wish to do so.
+
+     "My husband knows all. We leave England to-night.
+
+               "Ever yours,
+                  "ANNABEL.
+
+Anna moved softly to the window, and threw up the sash. Ennison had
+disappeared.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXIX_
+
+MONTAGUE HILL PLAYS THE GAME
+
+
+The man opened his eyes and looked curiously about him.
+
+"Where am I?" he muttered.
+
+Courtlaw, who was sitting by the bedside, bent over him.
+
+"You are in a private room of St. Felix Hospital," he said.
+
+"Hospital? What for? What's the matter with me?"
+
+Courtlaw's voice sank to a whisper. A nurse was at the other end of
+the room.
+
+"There was an accident with a pistol in Miss Pellissier's room," he
+said.
+
+The light of memory flashed in the man's face. His brows drew a little
+nearer together.
+
+"Accident! She shot me," he muttered. "I had found her at last, and
+she shot me. Listen, you. Am I going to die?"
+
+"I am afraid that you are in a dangerous state," Courtlaw answered
+gravely. "The nurse will fetch the doctor directly. I wanted to speak
+to you first."
+
+"Who are you?"
+
+"I am a friend of Miss Pellissier's," Courtlaw answered.
+
+"Which one?"
+
+"The Miss Pellissier in whose rooms you were, and who sings at the
+'Unusual,'" Courtlaw answered. "The Miss Pellissier who was at
+White's with us."
+
+The man nodded.
+
+"I remember you now," he said. "So it seems that I was wrong. Annabel
+was in hiding all the time."
+
+"Annabel Pellissier is married," Courtlaw said quietly.
+
+"She's my wife," the man muttered.
+
+"It is possible," Courtlaw said, "that you too were deceived. Where
+were you married?"
+
+"At the English Embassy in Paris. You will find the certificate in my
+pocket."
+
+"And who made the arrangements for you, and sent you there?" Courtlaw
+asked.
+
+"Hainault, Celeste's friend. He did everything."
+
+"I thought so," Courtlaw said. "You too were deceived. The place to
+which you went was not the English Embassy, and the whole performance
+was a fraud. I heard rumours of it in Paris, and the place since then
+has been closed."
+
+"But Hainault--assured--me--that the marriage was binding."
+
+"So it would have been at the English Embassy," Courtlaw answered,
+"but the place to which you went was not the English Embassy. It was
+rigged up for the occasion as it has been many a time before."
+
+"But Hainault--was--a pal. I--I don't understand," the man faltered
+wearily.
+
+"Hainault was Celeste's friend, and Celeste was Annabel's enemy,"
+Courtlaw said. "It was a plot amongst them all to humiliate her."
+
+"Then she has never been my wife."
+
+"Never for a second. She is the wife now of another man."
+
+Hill closed his eyes. For fully five minutes he lay quite motionless.
+Then he opened them again suddenly, to find Courtlaw still by his
+side.
+
+"It was a bad day for me," he said, speaking slowly and painfully.
+"A bad thing for me when that legacy came. I thought I'd see Paris,
+do the thing--like a toff. And I heard 'Alcide' sing, and that little
+dance she did. I was in the front row, and I fancied she smiled at me.
+Lord, what a state I was in! Night after night I sat there, I watched
+her come in, I watched her go. She dropped a flower--it's in my
+pocket-book now. I couldn't rest or eat or sleep. I made Hainault's
+acquaintance, stood him drinks, lent him money. He shook his head all
+the time. Annabel Pellissier was not like the others, he said. She
+had a few acquaintances, English gentlemen, but she lived with her
+sister--was a lady. But one day he came to me. It was Celeste's
+idea. I could be presented as Meysey Hill. We were alike. He
+was--a millionaire. And I passed myself off as Meysey Hill, and
+since--then--I haven't had a minute's peace. God help me."
+
+Courtlaw was alarmed at the man's pallor.
+
+"You mustn't talk any more," he said, "but I want you to listen to me
+just for a moment. The doctor will be here to see you in five minutes.
+The nurse sent for him as soon as she saw that you were conscious. It
+is very possible that he will ask you to tell him before witnesses how
+you received your wound."
+
+The man smiled at him.
+
+"You are their friend, then?"
+
+"I am," Courtlaw answered.
+
+"Which one?"
+
+"The one whose life you have been making a burden, who has been all
+the time shielding her sister. I would have married her long ago, but
+she will not have me."
+
+"Bring her--here," Hill muttered. "I----"
+
+The door opened, and the doctor entered softly. Hill closed his eyes.
+Courtlaw stood up.
+
+"He has asked to see some one," he whispered to the doctor. "Is there
+any urgency?"
+
+The doctor bent over his patient, who seemed to have fallen asleep.
+Presently he turned to Courtlaw.
+
+"I think," he said, "that I would fetch any one whom he has asked to
+see. His condition is not unfavourable, but there may be a relapse at
+any moment."
+
+So only a few minutes after Ennison's departure, while Anna stood
+indeed with her sister's open letter still in her hand, Courtlaw drove
+up in hot haste. She opened the door to him herself.
+
+"Will you come round to the hospital?" he asked. "Hill has asked for
+you, and they will take his depositions to-night."
+
+She slipped on her cloak and stepped into the hansom with him. They
+drove rapidly through the emptying streets.
+
+"Will he die?" she asked.
+
+"Impossible to say," he answered. "We have a private room at St.
+Felix. Everything is being done that can be."
+
+"You are sure that he asked for me--not for Annabel?"
+
+"Certain," Courtlaw answered.
+
+"Has he accused any one yet?"
+
+"Not yet," he answered. "I have scarcely left his side."
+
+He was still conscious when they reached the hospital and his state
+was much more favourable. The doctor and another man were by his
+bedside when they entered the room, and there were writing materials
+which had evidently been used close at hand. He recognised Anna, and
+at once addressed her.
+
+"Thank you--for coming," he said. "The doctor has asked me to give
+them my reasons--for shooting myself. I've told them all that was
+necessary, but I--wanted to ask your pardon--for having made myself a
+nuisance to you, and for breaking into your rooms--and to thank
+you--the doctor says you bound up my wound--or I should have bled to
+death."
+
+"I forgive you willingly," Anna said, bending over him. "It has all
+been a mistake, hasn't it?"
+
+"No more talking," the doctor interposed.
+
+"I want two words--with Miss Pellissier alone," Hill pleaded.
+
+The doctor frowned.
+
+"Remember," he said, "you are not by any means a dying man now, but
+you'll never pull through if you don't husband your strength."
+
+"Two words only," Hill repeated.
+
+They all left the room. Anna leaned over so that he needed only to
+whisper.
+
+"Tell your sister she was right to shoot, quite right. I meant
+mischief. But tell her this, too. I believed that our marriage was
+genuine. I believed that she was my wife, or she would have been safe
+from me."
+
+"I will tell her," Anna promised.
+
+"She has nothing to be afraid of," he continued. "I have signed a
+statement that I shot myself; bad trade and drink, both true--both
+true."
+
+His eyes were closed. Anna left the room on tiptoe. She and Courtlaw
+drove homewards together.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXX_
+
+SIR JOHN'S NECKTIE
+
+
+Sir John, in a quiet dark travelling suit, was sitting in a pokey
+little room writing letters. The room was worse than pokey, it was
+shabby; and the view from the window, of chimney pots and slate roofs,
+wholly uninspiring. Nevertheless, Sir John had the look of a man who
+was enjoying himself. He seemed years younger, and the arrangement of
+his tie and hair were almost rakish. He stamped his last letter as
+Annabel entered.
+
+She was dressed for the street very much as her own maid was
+accustomed to dress, and there was a thick veil attached to her hat.
+
+"John," she declared, "I must eat or die. Do get your hat, and we will
+go to that corner café."
+
+"Right," he answered. "I know the place you mean--very good cooking
+for such an out-of-the-way show. I'll be ready in a moment."
+
+Sir John stamped his letters, brushed his hat, and carefully gave his
+moustache an upward curl before the looking-glass.
+
+"I really do not believe," he announced with satisfaction, "that any
+one would recognize me. What do you think, Annabel?"
+
+"I don't think they would," she admitted. "You seem to have cultivated
+quite a jaunty appearance, and you certainly look years younger. One
+would think that you enjoyed crawling away out of your world into
+hiding, with a very foolish wicked wife."
+
+"Upon my word," he declared, "you are right. I really am enjoying it.
+It is like a second honeymoon. If it wasn't for the fear that after
+all--but we won't think of that. I don't believe any one could have
+traced us here. You see, we travelled second class, and we are in the
+least known quarter of Paris. To-night we leave for Marseilles. On
+Thursday we embark for South America."
+
+"You are a marvellous courier," she declared, as they passed into the
+street. "You see, I will take your arm. It looks so French to be
+affectionate."
+
+"There are some French customs," he declared, "which are admirable. I
+presume that I may not kiss you in the street?"
+
+"Certainly not, sir," she replied, laughing. "If you attempted such a
+thing it would be in order that I should smack you hard with the palm
+of my hand upon the cheek."
+
+"That is another French custom," he remarked, "which is not so
+agreeable. Here we are. Shall we sit outside and drink a _petit verre_
+of something to give us an appetite while dinner is being prepared?"
+
+"Certainly not," she answered. "I am already so hungry that I shall
+begin on the _petit pains_. I have an appetite which I dare not
+increase."
+
+They entered the place, a pleasant little café of the sort to be met
+with in the outlying parts of Paris. Most of the tables were for those
+who smoked only and drank wine, but there were a few spread with
+tablecloths and laid for dinner. Sir John and Annabel seated
+themselves at one of them, and the proprietor himself, a small
+dark-visaged man, radiant with smiles, came hurrying up, followed by a
+waiter.
+
+"Monsieur would dine! It was very good! And Madame, of course?" with a
+low bow. The _carte de jour_ was before Monsieur. He had but to give
+his orders. Monsieur could rely upon his special attention, and for
+the cooking--well, he had his customers, who came from their homes to
+him year after year. And always they were well satisfied. He waited
+the pleasure of Monsieur.
+
+Sir John gave his order, deliberately stumbling now and then over a
+word, and anglicizing others. When he had finished he took up the wine
+list and ordered a bottle of dry champagne.
+
+"I am afraid," he said to Anna afterwards, "that it was a mistake to
+order the champagne sec. They will guess that I am English."
+
+Annabel leaned back in her chair and laughed till the tears stood in
+her eyes.
+
+"Did you--did you really think that they would take you for a
+Frenchman?" she exclaimed.
+
+"I don't see why not," he answered. "These clothes are French, and I'm
+sure this floppy bow would make a Frenchman of me anyhow. Perhaps I
+ought to have let you order the dinner, but I think I got through it
+pretty well."
+
+"You did," Anna exclaimed. "Thank Heaven, they are bringing the _hors
+d'oeuvres_. John, I shall eat that whole tin of sardines. Do take them
+away from me after I have had four."
+
+"After all," Sir John remarked complacently, "it is astonishing how
+easy it is for people with brains and a little knowledge of the world
+to completely hide themselves. I am absolutely certain that up to the
+present we have escaped all notice, and I do not believe that any
+casual observer would take us for English people."
+
+A man who had been sitting with his hat tilted over his eyes at an
+adjacent table had risen to his feet and stood suddenly before them.
+
+"Permit me to offer you the English paper which has just arrived, Sir
+John," he said, holding out a _Daily Telegraph_. "You may find in it a
+paragraph of some interest to you."
+
+Sir John was speechless. It was Annabel who caught at the paper.
+
+"You--appear to know my name, sir," Sir John said.
+
+"Oh, yes," the stranger remarked good-humouredly. "I know you very
+well by sight, Sir John. It is my business to know most people. We
+were fellow passengers from Charing Cross, and we have been fellow
+lodgers in the Rue d'Entrepot. I trust you will not accuse me of
+discourtesy if I express my pleasure that henceforth our ways will lie
+apart."
+
+A little sobbing cry from Annabel arrested Sir John's attention. The
+stranger with a bow returned to his table.
+
+"Read this, John."
+
+               "THE BUCKNALL MANSIONS MYSTERY.
+
+     "Montague Hill, the man who was found lying wounded in Bucknall
+     Mansions late on Wednesday night in the rooms of a well-known
+     artiste, has recovered sufficiently to make a statement to the
+     police. It appears that he was an unsuccessful admirer of the
+     lady in question, and he admits that, under the influence of
+     drink, he broke into her rooms, and there made a determined
+     attempt at suicide. He further gave the name and address of the
+     firm from whom he purchased the revolver and cartridges, a member
+     of which firm has since corroborated his statement.
+
+     "Hill's confession will finally refute a number of absurd stories
+     which have been in circulation during the last few days. We
+     understand that, notwithstanding the serious nature of the man's
+     injuries, there is every possibility of his recovery."
+
+Annabel pulled down her veil to hide the tears. Sir John filled his
+glass with trembling hand.
+
+"Thank God," he exclaimed. "The fellow is not such a blackguard, after
+all."
+
+Annabel's hand stole into his.
+
+"And I have dragged you all over here for nothing," she murmured.
+
+"For nothing, do you call it?" he declared. "I wouldn't have been
+without this trip for worlds. It has been a real honeymoon trip,
+Annabel, for I feel that it has given me a wife."
+
+Annabel pulled up her veil.
+
+"You are a dear," she exclaimed affectionately. "I do hope that I
+shall be able to make it up to you."
+
+Sir John's reply was incoherent. He called a waiter.
+
+"Garçon," he said, "will you ask the gentleman at the next table if he
+will do me the honour of taking a glass of wine with me."
+
+The stranger came over to them smiling. He had been on the point of
+leaving the restaurant. He accepted the glass of wine, and bowed.
+
+"I drink your very good health, Sir John and Lady Ferringhall," he
+said, "and I wish you a pleasant journey back to England. If I might
+take the liberty, Sir John," he added, with a humorous gleam in his
+eyes, "I should like to congratulate you upon your tie."
+
+"Oh, damn the thing!" Sir John exclaimed, tucking the loose ends
+inside his coat.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I propose," Sir John said, "that we pay for our dinner--which we
+haven't had--tip the garçon a sovereign, and take a cab to the Ritz."
+
+Annabel shook her head.
+
+"Look at our clothes," she exclaimed, "and besides, the funny little
+proprietor has gone down himself to help it along. He would be so
+disappointed. I am sure it will be good, John, and I could eat
+anything. No, let us dine here, and then go and have our coffee on the
+boulevards. We can take our things up with us and stay at the
+Continental or the Ritz."
+
+"Excellent," Sir John declared. "We will do Paris like the tourists,
+and thank God here comes dinner."
+
+Everything was good. The garçon was tipped as he had never been tipped
+before in his life. They drove up into Paris in an open _fiacre_ with
+a soft cool wind blowing in their faces, hand in hand beneath the
+rug. They went first to a hotel, and then out again on to the
+boulevards. The natural gaiety of the place seemed to have affected
+them both. They laughed and talked and stared about them. She took his
+hand in hers.
+
+"Dear John," she whispered. "We are to begin our married life
+to-night--here where I first met you. I shall only pray that I may
+reward you for all your goodness to me."
+
+Sir John, frankly oblivious of the possibility of passers-by, took her
+into his arms and kissed her. Then he stood up and hailed a _fiacre_.
+
+"Hotel Ritz!"
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXXI_
+
+ANNA'S TEA PARTY
+
+
+"I suppose you haven't the least idea who I am," Lady Lescelles said,
+as she settled herself in Anna's most comfortable chair.
+
+"I have heard of you, of course," Anna answered hesitatingly,
+"but----"
+
+"You cannot imagine what I have come to see you about. Well, I am
+Nigel Ennison's sister!"
+
+"Oh!" Anna said.
+
+"Nigel is like all men," Lady Lescelles continued. "He is a sad
+blunderer. He has helped me out of scrapes though, no end of times. He
+is an awfully good sort--and now he has come to me to help him if I
+can. Do you know that he is very much in love with you?"
+
+Anna smiled.
+
+"Well," she admitted. "He has said something of the sort."
+
+"And you have sent him about his business. He tells me that you will
+not even see him. I don't want to bother you, of course. A woman has a
+perfect right to choose her own husband, but Nigel seemed to think
+that there was something a little mysterious about your treatment of
+him. You seemed, he thought, to have some grievance which you would
+not explain and which he thought must arise from a misunderstanding.
+There, that sounds frightfully involved, doesn't it, but perhaps you
+can make out what I mean. Don't you care for Nigel at all?"
+
+Anna was silent for a moment or two.
+
+Lady Lescelles, graceful, very fashionably but quietly dressed, leaned
+back and watched her with shrewd kindly eyes.
+
+"I like your brother better than any other man I know," Anna said at
+last.
+
+"Well, I don't think you told him as much as that, did you?" Lady
+Lescelles asked.
+
+"I did not," Anna answered. "To be frank with you, Lady Lescelles,
+when your brother asked me the other day to be his wife I was under a
+false impression as regards his relations--with some other person. I
+know now that I was mistaken."
+
+"That sounds more promising," Lady Lescelles declared. "May I tell
+Nigel to come and see you again? I am not here to do his love-making
+for him, you know. I came to see you on my own account."
+
+"Thank you very much," Anna said. "It is very nice of you to come, but
+I do not think for the present, at any rate, I could give him any
+other answer. I do not intend to be married, or to become engaged just
+at present."
+
+"Well, why not?" Lady Lescelles asked, smiling. "I can only be a few
+years older than you, and I have been married four years. I can assure
+you, I wouldn't be single again for worlds. One gets a lot more fun
+married."
+
+"Our cases are scarcely similar," Anna remarked.
+
+"Why not?" Lady Lescelles answered. "You are one of the Hampshire
+Pellissiers, I know, and your family are quite as good as ours. As for
+money, Nigel has tons of it."
+
+"It isn't exactly that," Anna answered, "but to tell you the truth, I
+cannot bear to look upon myself as a rank failure. We girls, my sister
+and I, were left quite alone when our father died, and I made up my
+mind to make some little place in the world for myself. I tried
+painting and couldn't get on. Then I came to London and tried almost
+everything--all failures. I had two offers of marriage from men I
+liked very much indeed, but it never occurred to me to listen to
+either of them. You see I am rather obstinate. At last I tried a
+dramatic agent, and got on the music hall stage."
+
+"Well, you can't say you're a failure there," Lady Lescelles remarked,
+smiling. "I've been to hear you lots of times."
+
+"I have been more fortunate than I deserved," Anna answered, "but I
+only meant to stay upon the music hall stage until I could get
+something better. I am rehearsing now for a new play at the 'Garrick'
+and I have quite made up my mind to try and make some sort of position
+for myself as an actress."
+
+"Do you think it is really worth while?" Lady Lescelles asked gently.
+"I am sure you will marry Nigel sooner or later, and then all your
+work will be thrown away."
+
+Anna shook her head.
+
+"If I were to marry now," she said, "it would be with a sense of
+humiliation. I should feel that I had been obliged to find some one
+else to fight my battles for me."
+
+"What else," Lady Lescelles murmured, "are men for?"
+
+Anna laughed.
+
+"Afterwards," she said, "I should be perfectly content to have
+everything done for me. But I do think that if a girl is to feel
+comfortable about it they should start fairly equal. Take your case,
+for instance. You brought your husband a large fortune, your people
+were well known in society, your family interest I have heard was
+useful to him in his parliamentary career. So far as I am concerned, I
+am just now a hopeless nonentity. Your brother has everything--I have
+not shown myself capable even of earning my own living except in a way
+which could not possibly bring any credit upon anybody. And beyond
+this, Lady Lescelles, as you must know, recent events have set a good
+many people's tongues wagging, and I am quite determined to live down
+all this scandal before I think of marrying any one."
+
+"I am sure," Lady Lescelles said, gently, "that the last consideration
+need not weigh with you in the least. No one in the world is beyond
+the shaft of scandal--we all catch it terribly sometimes. It simply
+doesn't count."
+
+"You are very kind," Anna said. "I do hope I have been able to make
+you understand how I feel, that you don't consider me a hopeless prig.
+It does sound a little horrid to talk so much about oneself and to
+have views."
+
+"I think," Lady Lescelles said, putting down her teacup, "that I must
+send Nigel to plead his own cause. I may tell him, at any rate, that
+you will see him?"
+
+"I shall like to see him," Anna answered. "I really owe him something
+of an apology."
+
+"I will tell him," Lady Lescelles said. "And now let us leave the men
+alone and talk about ourselves."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I am delighted to see you all here," Anna said smiling upon them from
+behind the tea-tray, "but I shall have to ask you to excuse me for a
+few minutes. My agent is here, and he has brought his contract for me
+to sign. I will give you all some tea, and then I must leave you for a
+few minutes."
+
+The three men, who had arrived within a minute or two of one another,
+received her little speech in dead silence. Ennison, who had been
+standing with his back to the window, came suddenly a little further
+into the room.
+
+"Miss Pellissier," he said, "I came here this afternoon hoping
+particularly to see you for a few moments before you signed that
+contract."
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"We may just as well have our talk afterwards," she said, "and I need
+not keep poor Mr. Earles waiting."
+
+Courtlaw suddenly interposed.
+
+"May I be allowed to say," he declared, "that I came here with the
+same intention."
+
+"And I also," Brendon echoed.
+
+Anna was suddenly very quiet.
+
+She was perhaps as near tears as ever before in her life.
+
+"If I had three hands," she said, with a faint smile, "I would give
+one to each of you. I know that you are all my friends, and I know
+that you all have very good advice to give me. But I am afraid I am a
+shockingly obstinate and a very ungrateful person. No, don't let me
+call myself that. I am grateful, indeed I am. But on this matter my
+mind is quite made up."
+
+Ennison hesitated for a moment.
+
+"Miss Pellissier," he said, "these gentlemen are your friends, and
+therefore they are my friends. If I am to have no other opportunity
+I will speak before them. I came here to beg you not to sign that
+contract. I came to beg you instead to do me the honour of becoming
+my wife."
+
+"And I," Courtlaw said, "although I have asked before in vain, have
+come to ask you once more the same thing."
+
+"And I," Brendon said, humbly, "although I am afraid there is no
+chance for me, my errand was the same."
+
+Anna looked at them for a moment with a pitiful attempt at a smile.
+Then her head disappeared suddenly in her hands, and her shoulders
+shook violently.
+
+"Please forgive me--for one moment," she sobbed. "I--I shall be all
+right directly."
+
+Brendon rushed to the piano and strummed out a tune.
+
+The others hurried to the window. And Anna was conscious of a few
+moments of exquisite emotion. After all, life had still its
+pulsations. The joy of being loved thrilled her as nothing before
+had ever done, a curious abstract joy which had nothing in it at
+that moment of regret or even pity.
+
+She called them back very soon.
+
+The signs of tears had all gone, but some subtle change seemed to have
+stolen into her face. She spoke readily enough, but there was a new
+timidity in her manner.
+
+"My friends," she said, "my dear friends, I am going to make the same
+answer to all of you--and that is perhaps you will say no answer at
+all. At present I cannot marry, I will not become bound even to any
+one. It would be very hard perhaps to make you understand just how I
+feel about it. I won't try. Only I feel that you all want to make life
+too easy for me, and I am determined to fight my own battles a little
+longer. If any of you--or all of you feel the same in six months' time
+from to-day, will you come, if you care to, and see me then?"
+
+There was a brief silence. Ennison spoke at last.
+
+"You will sign the contract?"
+
+"I shall sign the contract. I think that I am very fortunate to have
+it to sign."
+
+"Do you mean," Courtlaw asked, "that from now to the end of the six
+months you do not wish to see us--any of us?"
+
+Her eyes were a little dim again.
+
+"I do mean that," she declared. "I want to have no distractions. My
+work will be all sufficient. I have an aunt who is coming to live with
+me, and I do not intend to receive any visitors at all. It will be a
+little lonely sometimes," she said, looking around at them, "and I
+shall miss you all, but it is the fairest for myself--and I think for
+you. Do not avoid me if we meet by accident, but I trust to you all
+not to let the accident happen if you can help it."
+
+Brendon rose and came towards her with outstretched hand.
+
+"Good-bye, Miss Pellissier, and success to you," he said. "May you
+have as much good fortune as you deserve, but not enough to make you
+forget us."
+
+Courtlaw rose too.
+
+"You are of the genus obstinate," he said. "I do not know whether to
+wish you success or not. I will wish you success or failure, whichever
+is the better for you."
+
+"And I," Ennison said, holding her fingers tightly, and forcing her to
+look into his eyes, "I will tell you what I have wished for you when
+we meet six months from to-day."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXXII_
+
+SIX MONTHS AFTER
+
+
+Up the moss-grown path, where the rose bushes run wild, almost met,
+came Anna in a spotless white gown, with the flush of her early
+morning walk in her cheeks, and something of the brightness of it in
+her eyes. In one hand she carried a long-stalked red rose, dripping
+with dew, in the other the post-bag.
+
+She reached a tiny yellow-fronted cottage covered with flowering
+creepers, and entered the front room by the wide-open window.
+Breakfast was laid for one, a dish of fruit and a shining coffee
+equipage. By the side of her plate was a small key. With trembling
+fingers she opened the post-bag. There was one letter. One only.
+
+She opened and read it at once. It was dated from the House of Commons
+on the previous day.
+
+     "MY DEAR MISS PELLISSIER,--
+
+     "To-morrow the six months will be up. For days I have been
+     undecided as to whether I would come to you or no. I would like
+     you to believe that the decision I have arrived at--to stay
+     away--is wholly and entirely to save you pain. It should be the
+     happiest day of your life, and I would not detract from its
+     happiness by letting you remember for a moment that there are
+     others to whom your inevitable decision must bring some pain.
+
+     "For I know that you love Ennison. You tried bravely enough to
+     hide your preference, to look at us all with the same eyes, to
+     speak to us in the same tone. It was not your fault you failed.
+     If by any chance I have made a mistake a word will bring me to
+     you. But I know very well that that word will never be spoken.
+
+     "Your great success has been my joy, our joy as well as yours.
+     You have made for yourself a unique place upon the stage. We have
+     so many actresses who aspire to great things in the drama, not
+     one who can interpret as you have interpreted it, the delicate
+     finesse, the finer lights and shades of true comedy. Ennison will
+     make a thousand enemies if he takes you from the stage. Yet I
+     think that he will do it.
+
+     "For my own part I have come fully now into my inheritance. I am
+     bound to admit that I greatly enjoy my altered life. Every minute
+     I spend here is an education to me. Before very long I hope to
+     have definite work. Some of my schemes are already in hand.
+     People shrug their shoulders and call me a crazy socialist. Yet I
+     fancy that we who have been poor ourselves must be the best
+     judges of the needs of the people.
+
+     "You will write to me, I am sure--and from the date of your
+     letter I trust most earnestly that I may come back to my old
+     place as
+
+               "Your devoted friend,
+                    "WALTER BRENDON."
+
+She set the letter down, and drew from her pocket another with a
+foreign post mark which had come the day before. This one too she
+read.
+
+               "HASSELL'S CAMP,
+                    "NEAR COLORADO.
+
+     "On or about the day you receive this letter, Anna, the six
+     months will be up. Do you expect me, I wonder. I think not. At
+     any rate, here I am, and here I shall be, twenty thousand feet
+     above all your poison-reeking cities, up where God's wind comes
+     fresh from heaven, very near indeed to the untrodden snows.
+     Sometimes I tremble, Anna, to think how near I came to passing
+     through life without a single glimpse, a moment's revelation of
+     this greatest and most awful of mysteries, the mystery of
+     primaeval nature. It is a true saying that in the mountains there
+     is peace. One's sense of proportion, battered out of all shape in
+     the daily life of cities, reasserts itself. I love you still,
+     Anna, but life holds other things than the love of man for woman.
+     Some day I shall come back, and I will show you on canvas the
+     things which have come to me up here amongst the eternal silence.
+
+     "Many nights I have thought of you, Anna. Your face has flitted
+     out of my watch-fire, and then I have been a haunted man. But
+     with the morning, the glorious unstained morning the passion of
+     living would stir even the blood of a clod. It comes over the
+     mountains, Anna, pink darkening into orange red, everywhere a
+     wonderful cloud sea, scintillating with colour. It is enough to
+     make a man throw away canvas and brushes into the bottomless
+     precipices, enough to make one weep with despair at his utter and
+     absolute impotence. Nature is God, Anna, and the greatest artist
+     of us all a pigmy. When I think of those ateliers of ours, the
+     art jargon, the decadents with their flamboyant talk I long for
+     a two-edged sword and a minute of Divinity. To perdition with
+     them all.
+
+     "I shall come back, if at all, a new man. I have a new cult to
+     teach, a new enthusiasm. I feel years younger, a man again. My
+     first visit will be to you. I must tell you all about God's land,
+     this marvellous virgin country, with its silent forests and
+     dazzling peaks. I make no apology for not being with you now. You
+     love Ennison. Believe me, the bitterness of it has almost
+     departed, crushed out of me together with much of the weariness
+     and sorrow I brought with me here by the nameless glory of these
+     lonely months. Yet I shall think of you to-day. I pray, Anna,
+     that you may find your happiness.
+
+               "Your friend,
+                    "DAVID COURTLAW."
+
+     "P.S.--I do not congratulate you on your success. I was certain
+     of it. I am glad or sorry according as it has brought you
+     happiness."
+
+Anna's eyes were a little dim as she poured out her coffee, and the
+laugh she attempted was not altogether a success.
+
+"This is all very well," she said, "but two out of the three are rank
+deserters--and if the papers tell the truth the third is as bad. I
+believe I am doomed to be an old maid."
+
+She finished her breakfast and strolled out across the garden with the
+letters still in her hand. Beyond was a field sloping steeply upwards,
+and at the top a small pine plantation. She climbed slowly towards it,
+keeping close to the hedge side, fragrant with wild roses, and holding
+her skirts high above the dew-laden grass. Arrived in the plantation
+she sat down with her back against a tree trunk.
+
+Already the warm sun was drawing from the pines their delicious odour.
+Below her stretched a valley of rich meadowland, of yellow cornfields,
+and beyond moorland hillside glorious with purple heather and golden
+gorse. She tried to compose her thoughts, to think of the last six
+months, to steep herself in the calm beauty of the surroundings. And
+she found herself able to do nothing of the sort. A new restlessness
+seemed to have stolen in upon her. She started at the falling of a
+leaf, at the lumbering of a cow through the hedge. Her heart was
+beating with quite unaccustomed vigour, her hands were hot, she was
+conscious of a warmth in her blood which the summer sunshine was
+scarcely responsible for. She struggled against it quite uselessly.
+She knew very well that a new thing was stirring in her. The period
+of repression was over. It is foolish, she murmured to herself,
+foolish. He will not come. He cannot.
+
+And then all her restlessness was turned to joy. She sprang to her
+feet and stood listening with parted lips and eager eyes. So he found
+her when he came round the corner of the spinney.
+
+"Anna," he cried eagerly.
+
+She held out her arms to him and smiled.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"And where," he asked, "are my rivals?"
+
+"Deserters," she answered, laughing. "It is you alone, Nigel, who have
+saved me from being an old maid. Here are their letters."
+
+He took them from her and read them. When he came to a certain
+sentence in Brendon's letter he stopped short and looked up at her.
+
+"So Brendon and I," he said, "have been troubled with the same fears.
+I too, Anna, have watched and read of your success with--I must
+confess it--some misgiving."
+
+"Please tell me why?" she asked.
+
+"Do you need me to tell you? You have tasted the luxury of power. You
+have made your public, you are already a personage. And I want you for
+myself--for my wife."
+
+She took his hand and smiled upon him.
+
+"Don't you understand, Nigel," she said softly, "that it was precisely
+for this I have worked so hard. It is just the aim I have had in view
+all the time. I wanted to have something to give up. I did not
+care--no woman really cares--to play the beggar maid to your King
+Cophetua."
+
+"Then you will really give it all up!" he exclaimed.
+
+She laughed.
+
+"When we go indoors I will show you the offers I have refused," she
+answered. "They have all been trying to turn my head. I think that
+nearly every manager in London has made me an offer. My reply to all
+of them has been the same. My engagement at the 'Garrick' terminates
+Saturday week, and then I am free."
+
+"You will make me horribly conceited," he answered. "I think that I
+shall be the most unpopular man in London. You are not playing
+to-night, are you?"
+
+"Not to-night," she answered. "I am giving my understudy a chance. I
+am going up to dine with my sister."
+
+"Annabel is a prophetess," he declared. "I too am asked."
+
+"It is a conspiracy," she exclaimed. "Come, we must go home and have
+some luncheon. My little maidservant will think that I am lost."
+
+They clambered down the hill together. The air was sweet with the
+perfume of flowers, and the melody of murmuring insects, the blue sky
+was cloudless, the heat of the sun was tempered by the heather-scented
+west wind. Ennison paused by the little gate.
+
+"I think," he said, "that you have found the real home of the
+lotus-eaters. Here one might live the life of golden days."
+
+She shook her head gently.
+
+"Neither you nor I, Nigel, are made of such stuff," she answered.
+"These are the playgrounds of life. The great heart of the world beats
+only where men and women are gathered together. You have your work
+before you, and I----"
+
+He kissed her on the lips.
+
+"I believe," he said, "that you mean me to be Prime Minister."
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
+
+Typesetting and editing of the original book from which this e-text
+has been transcribed was inconsistent. In addition to minor changes in
+punctuation, the theater in London in which the main character was a
+singer was referred to as the 'Unusual' and as the 'Universal'; this
+has been changed to refer to the theater consistently as the
+'Unusual'. Additionally, Russell Square, the area in London where the
+main character resided was referred to twice as Russell Street; this
+has been changed to be consistent throughout this etext. Otherwise,
+every effort has been made to remain true to the author's words and
+intent.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Anna the Adventuress, by E. Phillips Oppenheim
+
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+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Anna the Adventuress, by E. Phillips Oppenheim.
+    </title>
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Anna the Adventuress, by E. Phillips Oppenheim
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Anna the Adventuress
+
+Author: E. Phillips Oppenheim
+
+Release Date: September 11, 2008 [EBook #26596]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANNA THE ADVENTURESS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by D. Alexander and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
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+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<p class="smallgap">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1>ANNA<br />
+THE ADVENTURESS</h1>
+
+<p class="smallgap">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h3>By</h3>
+
+<h2>E. Phillips Oppenheim</h2>
+
+<p class="center">AUTHOR OF &#8220;THE SECRET&#8221;, &#8220;THE TRAITORS&#8221;, ETC.</p>
+
+<p class="gap">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h3>WARD, LOCK &amp; CO., LIMITED</h3>
+<h4>LONDON AND MELBOURNE</h4>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+
+<h4>MADE IN ENGLAND</h4>
+
+<p class="center"><i>Printed in Great Britain by C. Tinling &amp; Co., Ltd.,</i><br />
+<i>Liverpool, London and Prescot.</i></p>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">About the Story</span></h2>
+
+<p>Annabel Pellissier, for reasons of her own, allows Sir John
+Ferringhall to believe that she is her sister Anna. Anna lets the
+deception continue and has to bear the burden of her sister&#8217;s
+reputation which, in Paris at any rate, is that of being a coquette.
+Endless complications ensue when both sisters return to London.</p>
+
+<p>This is one of the late E. Phillips Oppenheim&#8217;s most intriguing
+stories.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="CONTENTS">
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">CHAPTER</td>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="right">PAGE</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">I</td>
+<td align="left">THE CARPET-KNIGHT AND THE LADY</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#ANNA_THE_ADVENTURESS">7</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">II</td>
+<td align="left">THE ADVENTURE OF ANNABEL</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_II">15</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">III</td>
+<td align="left">ANNA? OR ANNABEL?</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_III">20</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">IV</td>
+<td align="left">THE TEMPERAMENT OF AN ARTIST</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_IV">26</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">V</td>
+<td align="left">&#8220;ALCIDE&#8221;</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_V">31</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">VI</td>
+<td align="left">A QUESTION OF IDENTIFICATION</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VI">36</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">VII</td>
+<td align="left">MISS PELLISSIER&#8217;S SUSPICIONS</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VII">41</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">VIII</td>
+<td align="left">&#8220;WHITE&#8217;S&#8221;</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VIII">45</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">IX</td>
+<td align="left">BRENDON&#8217;S LUCK</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_IX">54</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">X</td>
+<td align="left">THE TRAGEDY OF AN APPETITE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_X">61</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XI</td>
+<td align="left">THE PUZZLEMENT OF NIGEL ENNISON</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XI">66</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XII</td>
+<td align="left">THE POSTER OF &#8220;ALCIDE&#8221;</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XII">70</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XIII</td>
+<td align="left">&#8220;HE WILL NOT FORGET!&#8221;</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XIII">76</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XIV</td>
+<td align="left">&#8220;THIS IS MY WIFE&#8221;</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XIV">81</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XV</td>
+<td align="left">A MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XV">89</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XVI</td>
+<td align="left">THE DISCOMFITURE OF SIR JOHN</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XVI">96</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XVII</td>
+<td align="left">THE CHANGE IN &#8220;ALCIDE&#8221;</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XVII">103</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XVIII</td>
+<td align="left">ANNABEL AND &#8220;ALCIDE&#8221;</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XVIII">109</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XIX</td>
+<td align="left">&#8220;THIS IS NOT THE END&#8221;</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XIX">115</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XX</td>
+<td align="left">ANNA&#8217;S SURRENDER</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XX">121</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XXI</td>
+<td align="left">HER SISTER&#8217;S SECRET</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XXI">126</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XXII</td>
+<td align="left">AN OLD FOOL</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XXII">134</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XXIII</td>
+<td align="left">MONTAGUE HILL SEES LIGHT AT LAST</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XXIII">138</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XXIV</td>
+<td align="left">A CASE FOR THE POLICE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XXIV">144</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XXV</td>
+<td align="left">THE STEEL EDGE OF THE TRUTH</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XXV">150</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XXVI</td>
+<td align="left">ANNABEL IS WARNED</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XXVI">156</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XXVII</td>
+<td align="left">JOHN FERRINGHAM, GENTLEMAN</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XXVII">162</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XXVIII</td>
+<td align="left">THE HISSING OF &#8220;ALCIDE&#8221;</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XXVIII">169</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XXIX</td>
+<td align="left">MONTAGUE HILL PLAYS THE GAME</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XXIX">174</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XXX</td>
+<td align="left">SIR JOHN&#8217;S NECKTIE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XXX">178</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XXXI</td>
+<td align="left">ANNA&#8217;S TEA PARTY</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XXXI">183</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XXXII</td>
+<td align="left">SIX MONTHS AFTER</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XXXII">188</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="ANNA_THE_ADVENTURESS" id="ANNA_THE_ADVENTURESS"></a>ANNA THE ADVENTURESS</h2>
+
+<h2><i>Chapter I</i></h2>
+
+<h3>THE CARPET-KNIGHT AND THE LADY</h3>
+
+<p>The girl paused and steadied herself for a moment against a field
+gate. Her breath came fast in little sobbing pants. Her dainty shoes
+were soiled with dust and there was a great tear in her skirt. Very
+slowly, very fearfully, she turned her head. Her cheeks were the
+colour of chalk, her eyes were filled with terror. If a cart were
+coming, or those labourers in the field had heard, escape was
+impossible.</p>
+
+<p>The terror faded from her eyes. A faint gleam of returning colour gave
+her at once a more natural appearance. So far as the eye could reach,
+the white level road, with its fringe of elm-trees, was empty. Away
+off in the fields the blue-smocked peasants bent still at their toil.
+They had heard nothing, seen nothing. A few more minutes, and she was
+safe.</p>
+
+<p>Yet before she turned once more to resume her flight she schooled
+herself with an effort to look where it had happened. A dark mass of
+wreckage, over which hung a slight mist of vapour, lay half in the
+ditch, half across the hedge, close under a tree from the trunk of
+which the bark had been torn and stripped. A few yards further off
+something grey, inert, was lying, a huddled-up heap of humanity
+twisted into a strange unnatural shape. Again the chalky pallor spread
+even to her lips, her eyes became lit with the old terror. She
+withdrew her head with a little moan, and resumed her flight. Away up
+on the hillside was the little country railway station. She fixed her
+eyes upon it and ran, keeping always as far as possible in the shadow
+of the hedge, gazing fearfully every now and then down along the
+valley for the white smoke of the train.</p>
+
+<p>She reached the station, and mingling with a crowd of excursionists
+who had come from the river on the other side, took her place in the
+train unnoticed. She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.
+Until the last moment she was afraid.</p>
+
+<p>Arrived in Paris she remembered that she had not the money for a
+<i>fiacre</i>. She was in ill trim for walking, but somehow or other she
+made her way as far as the Champs Elys&eacute;es, and sank down upon an empty
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>seat.</p>
+
+<p>She had not at first the power for concealment. Her nerves were
+shattered, her senses dazed by this unexpected shock. She sat there, a
+mark for boulevarders, the unconscious object of numberless wondering
+glances. Paris was full, and it was by no means a retired spot which
+she had found. Yet she never once thought of changing it. A person of
+somewhat artificial graces and mannerisms, she was for once in her
+life perfectly natural. Terror had laid a paralyzing hand upon her,
+fear kept her almost unconscious of the curious glances which she was
+continually attracting.</p>
+
+<p>Then there came briskly along the path towards her, an Englishman. He
+was perhaps forty-five years of age. He was dressed with the utmost
+care, and he set his feet upon the broad walk as though the action
+were in some way a condescension. He was alert, well-groomed, and
+yet&mdash;perhaps in contrast with the more volatile French type&mdash;there was
+a suggestion of weight about him, not to say heaviness. He too looked
+at the girl, slackened his pace and looked at her again through his
+eye-glasses, looked over his shoulder after he had passed, and finally
+came to a dead stop. He scratched his upper lip reflectively.</p>
+
+<p>It was a habit of his to talk to himself. In the present case it did
+not matter, as there was no one else within earshot.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear me!&#8221; he said. &#8220;Dear me! I wonder what I ought to do. She is
+English! I am sure of that. She is English, and apparently in some
+distress. I wonder&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He turned slowly round. He was inclined to be a good-natured person,
+and he had no nervous fears of receiving a snub. The girl was pretty,
+and apparently a lady.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She cannot be aware,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;that she is making herself
+conspicuous. It would surely be only common politeness to drop her a
+hint&mdash;a fellow countrywoman too. I trust that she will not
+misunderstand me. I believe&mdash;I believe that I must risk it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He stood before her, his hat in his hand, his head bent, his voice
+lowered to a convenient pitch.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I beg your pardon,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but you appear to be a
+fellow countrywoman of mine, and in some distress. Can I be of any
+assistance? I can assure you that it would give me very much
+pleasure.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Her first upward glance was one of terrified apprehension. When she
+saw however that this man was a stranger, and obviously harmless, her
+expression changed as though by magic. A delicate flush of colour
+streamed into her cheeks. Her eyes <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>fell, and then sought his again
+with timid interest. Her natural instincts reasserted themselves. She
+began to act.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are very kind,&#8221; she said hesitatingly, &#8220;but I don&#8217;t remember&mdash;I
+don&#8217;t think that I know you, do I?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid that you do not,&#8221; he admitted, with a smile which he
+meant to be encouraging. &#8220;You remind me of the story which they tell
+against us over here, you know&mdash;of the Englishman who refused to be
+saved from drowning because he was unacquainted with his rescuer.
+Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Ferringhall&mdash;Sir John
+Ferringhall.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was genuine interest in her eyes now. Sir John saw it, and was
+flattered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are Sir John Ferringhall,&#8221; she repeated. &#8220;Yes, I remember you
+now. You were pointed out to me at&mdash;a few nights ago.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He was not in the least surprised. A millionaire and a knight, even
+though his money has been made in carpets, is used to being a person
+of interest.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very likely,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I am fairly well known here. I must
+apologize, I suppose, for speaking to you, but your appearance
+certainly indicated that you were in some sort of trouble, and you
+were becoming&mdash;pardon me&mdash;an object of comment to the passers-by.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The girl sat up and looked at him with a curious twist at the corners
+of her mouth&mdash;humorous or pathetic, he could not tell which. As though
+accidentally she swept her skirts from a chair close drawn to her own.
+Sir John hesitated. She was marvellously pretty, but he was not quite
+sure&mdash;yet&mdash;that it was advisable for him to sit with her in so public
+a place. His inclinations prompted him most decidedly to take the
+vacant chair. Prudence reminded him that he was a county magistrate,
+and parliamentary candidate for a somewhat difficult borough, where
+his principal supporters were dissenters of strict principles who took
+a zealous interest in his moral character. He temporized, and the girl
+raised her eyes once more to his.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are the Sir John Ferringhall who has bought the Lyndmore estate,
+are you not?&#8221; she remarked. &#8220;My father&#8217;s sisters used once to live in
+the old manor house. I believe you have had it pulled down, have you
+not?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The Misses Pellissier!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Then your name&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My name is Pellissier. My father was Colonel Pellissier. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>He had an
+appointment in Jersey, you know, after he left the army.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John did not hesitate any longer. He sat down.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Upon my word,&#8221; he exclaimed, &#8220;this is most extraordinary. I&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Then he stopped short, for he began to remember things. He was not
+quite sure whether, after all, he had been wise. He would have risen
+again, but for the significance of the action.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear me!&#8221; he said. &#8220;Then some of your family history is known to me.
+One of your aunts died, I believe, and the other removed to London.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The girl nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She is living there now,&#8221; she remarked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your father is dead too, I believe,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;and your mother.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Two years ago,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;They died within a few months of one
+another.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very sad&mdash;very sad indeed,&#8221; he remarked uneasily. &#8220;I remember hearing
+something about it. I believe that the common report was that you and
+your sister had come to Paris to study painting.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She assented gently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We have a small studio,&#8221; she murmured, &#8220;in the Rue de St. Pierre.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John looked at her sideways. Her eyes were fixed upon the ground,
+the pink colour coming and going in her cheeks was very delicate and
+girlish. After all, this could never be the black sheep. He had been
+quite right to sit down. It was astonishing how seldom it was that his
+instincts betrayed him. He breathed a little sigh of satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;the world after all is a very small place. We
+are not altogether strangers, are we? I feel that under the
+circumstances I have the right to offer you my advice, and if
+necessary my help. I beg that you will consider me your friend.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him with fluttering eyelids&mdash;sweetly grateful. It was
+such an unexpected stroke of fortune. Sir John was not used to such
+glances, and he liked them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is so difficult,&#8221; she murmured, &#8220;so impossible to explain. Even to
+my own brother&mdash;if I had one&mdash;I could not tell everything, and you,
+although you are so kind, you are almost a stranger, aren&#8217;t you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, no!&#8221; he protested. &#8220;You must not think of me as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>one. Try and
+consider me your elder brother, or an old family friend, whichever you
+like best.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She thanked him with one of her shy little glances. More than ever Sir
+John was glad that he had sat down.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is very, very difficult,&#8221; she continued, looking steadfastly at
+the ground. &#8220;Only&mdash;I have come face to face&mdash;with something terrible,
+and wholly unexpected trouble. I want to leave Paris to-day&mdash;this very
+day. I want to leave it for ever.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her very gravely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But your sister?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;What of her? Have you quarrelled with
+her?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The girl shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;I have not quarrelled with her. It is simply our
+point of view which is altogether different. I want to get away&mdash;to go
+to London. I cannot explain beyond that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I am sure,&#8221; Sir John declared, &#8220;that I shall not ask you. I know
+nothing about the matter, but I feel convinced that you are right. You
+ought to have had better advice two years ago. Paris is not the place
+for two young girls. I presume that you have been living alone?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She sighed gently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My sister,&#8221; she murmured, &#8220;is so independent. She is Bohemian to the
+finger-tips. She makes me feel terribly old-fashioned.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John smiled and congratulated himself upon his insight. He was so
+seldom wrong.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The next question, Miss Anna,&#8221; he said, &#8220;is how am I to help you? I
+am wholly at your disposal.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She looked up at him quickly. Her expression was a little changed,
+less innocent, more discerning.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Anna!&#8221; she repeated. &#8220;How do you know&mdash;why do you think that my name
+is Anna?&#8221; He smiled in a quietly superior way.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that I am right. I am very good at guessing
+names.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am really curious,&#8221; she persisted. &#8220;You must have heard&mdash;have
+you&mdash;oh, tell me, won&#8217;t you?&#8221; she begged. &#8220;Have you heard things?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The tears stood in her eyes. She leaned a little towards him. Nothing
+but the publicity of the place and the recollection of that terrible
+constituency kept him from attempting some perfectly respectful but
+unmistakable evidence of his sympathy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid,&#8221; he said gravely, &#8220;that your sister has been a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>little
+indiscreet. It is nothing at all for you to worry about.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She looked away from him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I knew,&#8221; she said, in a low despairing tone, &#8220;that people would
+talk.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He coughed gently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was inevitable,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;It is not, of course, a pleasant
+subject of conversation for you or for me, yet I think I may venture
+to suggest to you that your sister&#8217;s&mdash;er&mdash;indiscretions&mdash;have reached
+a point which makes a separation between you almost a necessity.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She covered her face with her hands.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It&mdash;it&mdash;must come,&#8221; she faltered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do not lay claim,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;to any remarkable amount of
+insight, but it is possible, is it not, that I have stumbled upon your
+present cause of distress.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are wonderful!&#8221; she murmured.</p>
+
+<p>He smiled complacently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not at all. This is simply a chapter of coincidences. Now what I want
+you to feel is this. I want you to feel that you have found a friend
+who has a strong desire to be of service to you. Treat me as an elder
+brother, if you like. He is here by your side. How can he help you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She threw such a look upon him that even he, Sir John Ferringhall,
+carpet-merchant, hide-bound Englishman, slow-witted, pompous,
+deliberate, felt his heart beat to music. Perhaps the Parisian
+atmosphere had affected him. He leaned towards her, laid his hand
+tenderly upon hers.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hope you realize,&#8221; he went on, in a lower and less assured tone,
+&#8220;that I am in earnest&mdash;very much in earnest. You must let me do
+whatever I can for you. I shall count it a privilege.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I believe you,&#8221; she murmured. &#8220;I trust you altogether. I am going to
+take you entirely at your word. I want to leave Paris to-day. Will you
+lend me the money for my ticket to London?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With all the pleasure in the world,&#8221; he answered heartily. &#8220;Let me
+add too that I am thankful for your decision. You have somewhere to go
+to in London, I hope.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is my aunt,&#8221; she said. &#8220;The one who used to live at Lyndmore.
+She will take me in until I can make some plans. It will be horribly
+dull, and she is a very trying person. But anything is better than
+this.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He took out his watch.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Let me see,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Your best route will be via Boulogne and
+Folkestone at nine o&#8217;clock from the Gare du Nord. What about your
+luggage?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I could get a few of my things, at any rate,&#8221; she said. &#8220;My sister is
+sure to be out.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It is just six o&#8217;clock now. Supposing you fetch
+what you can, and if you will allow me, I will see you off. It would
+give me great pleasure if you would dine with me somewhere first.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him wistfully, but with some unwilling doubt in her
+wrinkled forehead. It was excellently done, especially as she loved
+good dinners.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are very kind to think of it,&#8221; she said, &#8220;but&mdash;don&#8217;t you think
+perhaps&mdash;that I had better not?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He smiled indulgently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear child,&#8221; he said, &#8220;with me you need have no apprehension. I am
+almost old enough to be your father.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him with uplifted eyebrows&mdash;a look of whimsical
+incredulity. Sir John felt that after all forty-five was not so very
+old.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That sounds quite absurd,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;Yet it is my last evening,
+and I think&mdash;if you are sure that you would like to have me&mdash;that I
+will risk it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We will go to a very quiet place,&#8221; he assured her, &#8220;a place where I
+have often taken my own sisters. You will be wearing your travelling
+dress, and no doubt you would prefer it. Shall we say at half-past
+seven?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She rose from her chair.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will take a carriage,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and fetch my things.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let us say that Caf&eacute; Maston, in the Boulevard des Italiennes, at
+half-past seven then,&#8221; he decided. &#8220;I shall be waiting for you there,
+and in the meantime, if you will help yourself&mdash;pray don&#8217;t look like
+that. It is a very small affair, after all, and you can pay me back if
+you will.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She took the pocket-book and looked up at him with a little impulsive
+movement. Her voice shook, her eyes were very soft and melting.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I cannot thank you, Sir John,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I shall never be able to
+thank you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Won&#8217;t you postpone the attempt, then?&#8221; he said gallantly, &#8220;until I
+have done something to deserve your gratitude? You will not
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>forget&mdash;seven-thirty, Caf&eacute; Maston, Boulevard des Italiennes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She drove off in a little <i>fiacre</i>, nodding and smiling at Sir John,
+who remained upon the Avenue. He too, when she had disappeared, called
+a carriage.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hotel Ritz,&#8221; he said mechanically to the coachman. &#8220;If only her
+sister is half as pretty, no wonder that she has set the Parisians
+talking.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_II" id="Chapter_II"></a><i>Chapter II</i></h2>
+
+<h3>THE ADVENTURE OF ANNABEL</h3>
+
+<p>The man spoke mercilessly, incisively, as a surgeon. Only he hated the
+words he uttered, hated the blunt honesty which forced them from his
+lips. Opposite, his pupil stood with bowed head and clasped hands.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have the temperament,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You have the ideas. Your first
+treatment of a subject is always correct, always suggestive. But of
+what avail is this? You have no execution, no finish. You lack only
+that mechanical knack of expression which is the least important part
+of an artist&#8217;s equipment, but which remains a tedious and absolute
+necessity. We have both tried hard to develop it&mdash;you and I&mdash;and we
+have failed. It is better to face the truth.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Much better,&#8221; she agreed. &#8220;Oh, much better.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Personally,&#8221; he went on, &#8220;I must confess to a great disappointment. I
+looked upon you from the first as the most promising of my pupils. I
+overlooked the mechanical imperfections of your work, the utter lack
+of finish, the crudeness of your drawing. I said to myself, &#8216;this will
+come.&#8217; It seems that I was mistaken. You cannot draw. Your fingers are
+even now as stiff as a schoolgirl&#8217;s. You will never be able to draw.
+You have the ideas. You are an artist by the Divine right of birth,
+but whatever form of expression may come to you at some time it will
+not be painting. Take my advice. Burn your palette and your easel.
+Give up your lonely hours of work here. Look somewhere else in life.
+Depend upon it, there is a place for you&mdash;waiting. Here you only waste
+your time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She was silent, and in the gloom of the dimly lit apartment he could
+not see her face. He drew a little breath of relief. The worst was
+over now. He continued tenderly, almost affectionately.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;After all, there are great things left in the world for you. Painting
+is only one slender branch of the great tree. To-night all this may
+seem hard and cruel. To-morrow you will feel like a freed woman.
+To-morrow I shall come and talk to you again&mdash;of other things.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A man of infinite tact and kindness, he spoke his message and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>went.
+The girl, with a little moan, crossed the room and threw open the
+window.</p>
+
+<p>She looked steadfastly out. Paris, always beautiful even in the
+darkness, glittered away to the horizon. The lights of the Champs
+Elys&eacute;es and the Place de la Concorde, suggestive, brilliant,
+seductive, shone like an army of fireflies against the deep cool
+background of the night. She stood there with white set face and
+nervously clenched fingers. The echo of those kindly words seemed
+still to ring in her ears. She was crushed with a sense of her own
+terrible impotency. A failure! She must write herself down a failure!
+At her age, with her ambitions, with her artistic temperament and
+creative instincts, she was yet to be denied all coherent means of
+expression. She was to fall back amongst the ruck, a young woman of
+talent, content perhaps to earn a scanty living by painting Christmas
+cards, or teaching at a kindergarten. Her finger-nails dug into her
+flesh. It was the bitterest moment of her life. She flung herself back
+into the bare little room, cold, empty, comfortless. In a momentary
+fury she seized and tore in pieces the study which remained upon the
+easel. The pieces fell to the ground in a little white shower. It was
+the end, she told herself, fiercely. And then, as she stood there,
+with the fragments of the torn canvas at her feet, some even caught
+upon her skirt, the door was thrown open, and a girl entered humming a
+light tune.</p>
+
+<p>The newcomer stopped short upon the threshold.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Anna! What tragedy has happened, little sister? No lights, no supper,
+no coffee&mdash;and, above all, no Mr. Courtlaw. How dreary it all looks.
+Never mind. Come and help me pack. I&#8217;m off to England.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Annabel, are you mad? To England! You are joking, of course. But come
+in, dear. I will light the stove, and there shall be some coffee
+presently.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Coffee! Bah!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The newcomer picked her way across the floor with daintily uplifted
+skirts, and subsided into a deck chair of stretched canvas.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will not rob you of your coffee, most dutiful of sisters!&#8221; she
+exclaimed. &#8220;I have had adventures&mdash;oh, more than one, I can assure
+you. It has been a marvellous day&mdash;and I am going to England.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna looked at her sister gravely. Even in her painting smock and with
+her disarranged hair, the likeness between the two girls was
+marvellous.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The adventures I do not doubt, Annabel,&#8221; she said. &#8220;They <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>seem to
+come to you as naturally as disappointment&mdash;to other people. But to
+England! What has happened, then?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Already the terror of a few hours ago seemed to have passed away from
+the girl who leaned back so lazily in her chair, watching the tip of
+her patent shoe swing backwards and forwards. She could even think of
+what had happened. Very soon she would be able to forget it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Happened! Oh, many things,&#8221; she declared indolently. &#8220;The most
+important is that I have a new admirer.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The wonderful likeness between the two girls was never less noticeable
+than at that moment. Anna stood looking down upon her sister with
+grave perturbed face. Annabel lounged in her chair with a sort of
+insolent <i>abandon</i> in her pose, and wide-open eyes which never
+flinched or drooped. One realized indeed then where the differences
+lay; the tender curves about Anna&#8217;s mouth transformed into hard sharp
+lines in Annabel&#8217;s, the eyes of one, truthful and frank, the other&#8217;s
+more beautiful but with less expression&mdash;windows lit with dazzling
+light, but through which one saw&mdash;nothing.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A new admirer, Annabel? But what has that to do with your going to
+England?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Everything! He is Sir John Ferringhall&mdash;very stupid, very
+respectable, very egotistical. But, after all, what does that matter?
+He is very much taken with me. He tries hard to conceal it, but he
+cannot.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then why,&#8221; Anna asked quietly, &#8220;do you run away? It is not like you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel laughed softly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How unkind!&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;Still, since it is better to tell you,
+Sir John is very much in earnest, but his respectability is something
+altogether too overpowering. Of course I knew all about him years ago,
+and he is exactly like everybody&#8217;s description of him. I am afraid,
+Anna, just a little afraid, that in Paris I and my friends here might
+seem a trifle advanced. Besides, he might hear things. That is why I
+called myself Anna.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&mdash;you did what?&#8221; Anna exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Called myself Anna,&#8221; the girl repeated coolly. &#8220;It can&#8217;t make any
+difference to you, and there are not half a dozen people in Paris who
+could tell us apart.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna tried to look angry, but her mouth betrayed her. Instead, she
+laughed, laughed with lips and eyes, laughed till the tears ran down
+her cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You little wretch!&#8221; she exclaimed weakly. &#8220;Why should <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>I bear the
+burden of your wickedness? Who knows what might come of it? I shall
+permit nothing of the sort.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel shrugged her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Too late, my dear girl,&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;I gave your name. I called
+myself Anna. After all, what can it matter? It was just to make sure.
+Three little letters can&#8217;t make a bit of difference.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But it may matter very much indeed,&#8221; Anna declared. &#8220;Perhaps for
+myself I do not mind, but this man is sure to find out some day, and
+he will not like having been deceived. Tell him the truth, Annabel.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The truth!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a brief but intense silence. Anna felt that her words had
+become charged with a fuller and more subtle meaning than any which
+she had intended to impart. &#8220;The truth!&#8221; It was a moment of
+awkwardness between the two sisters&mdash;a moment, too, charged with its
+own psychological interest, for there were secrets between them which
+for many months had made their intercourse a constrained and difficult
+thing. It was Annabel who spoke.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How crude you are, Anna!&#8221; she exclaimed with a little sigh. &#8220;Sir John
+is not at all that sort. He is the kind of man who would much prefer a
+little dust in his eyes. But heavens, I must pack!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She sprang to her feet and disappeared in the room beyond, from which
+she emerged a few minutes later with flushed cheeks and dishevelled
+hair.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is positively no use, Anna,&#8221; she declared, appealingly. &#8220;You must
+pack for me. I am sorry, but you have spoilt me. I can&#8217;t do it even
+decently myself, and I dare not run the risk of ruining all my
+clothes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna laughed, gave in and with deft fingers created order out of
+chaos. Soon the trunk, portmanteau and hat box were ready. Then she
+took her sister&#8217;s hand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Annabel,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I have never asked you for your confidence. We
+have lived under the same roof, but our ways seem to have lain wide
+apart. There are many things which I do not understand. Have you
+anything to tell me before you go?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel laughed lightly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear Anna! As though I should think of depressing you with my long
+list of misdeeds.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have nothing to tell me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nothing!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p><p>So Annabel departed with the slightest of farewells, wearing a thick
+travelling veil, and sitting far back in the corner of a closed
+carriage. Anna watched her from the windows, watched the carriage jolt
+away along the cobbled street and disappear. Then she stepped back
+into the empty room and stood for a moment looking down upon the
+scattered fragments of her last canvas.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is a night of endings,&#8221; she murmured to herself. &#8220;Perhaps for me,&#8221;
+she added, with a sudden wistful look out of the bare high window, &#8220;a
+night of beginnings.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_III" id="Chapter_III"></a><i>Chapter III</i></h2>
+
+<h3>ANNA? OR ANNABEL?</h3>
+
+<p>Sir John was wholly unable to understand the laugh and semi-ironical
+cheer which greeted his entrance to the smoking-room of the English
+Club on the following evening. He stood upon the threshold, dangling
+his eye-glasses in his fingers, stolid, imperturbable, mildly
+interrogative. He wanted to know what the joke against him was&mdash;if
+any.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;May I enquire,&#8221; he asked smoothly, &#8220;in what way my appearance
+contributes to your amusement? If there is a joke I should like to
+share it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A fair-haired young Englishman looked up from the depths of his easy
+chair.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You hear him?&#8221; he remarked, looking impressively around. &#8220;A joke! Sir
+John, if you had presented yourself here an hour ago we should have
+greeted you in pained silence. We had not then recovered from the
+shock. Our ideal had fallen. A sense of loss was amongst us.
+Drummond,&#8221; he continued, looking across at his <i>vis-&agrave;-vis</i>, &#8220;we look
+to you to give expression to our sentiments. Your career at the bar
+had given you a command of language, also a self-control not
+vouchsafed to us ordinary mortals. Explain to Sir John our feelings.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Drummond, a few years older, dark, clean-shaven, with bright eyes and
+humorous mouth, laid down his paper and turned towards Sir John. He
+removed his cigarette from his lips and waved it gently in the air.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Holcroft,&#8221; he remarked, &#8220;in bald language, and with the usual
+limitations of his clouded intellect, has still given some slight
+expression to the consternation which I believe I may say is general
+amongst us. We looked upon you, my dear Sir John, with reverence,
+almost with awe. You represented to us the immaculate Briton, the one
+Englishman who typified the Saxonism, if I may coin a word, of our
+race. We have seen great and sober-minded men come to this unholy
+city, and become degenerates. We have known men who have come here for
+no other purpose than to prove their unassailable virtue, who have
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>strode into the arena of temptation, waving the&mdash;the what is it&mdash;the
+white flower of a blameless life, only to exchange it with marvellous
+facility for the violets of the Parisienne. But you, Ferringhall, our
+pattern, an erstwhile Sheriff of London, a county magistrate, a
+prospective politician, a sober and an upright man, one who, had he
+aspired to it, might even have filled the glorious position of Lord
+Mayor&mdash;James, a whisky and Apollinaris at once. I cannot go on. My
+feelings overpower me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You all seem to be trying to pull my leg,&#8221; Sir John remarked quietly.
+&#8220;I suppose you&#8217;ll come to the point soon&mdash;if there is one.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Drummond shook his head in melancholy fashion.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He dissembles,&#8221; he said. &#8220;After all, how easy the descent is, even
+for the greatest of us. I hope that James will not be long with that
+whisky and Apollinaris. My nerves are shaken. I require stimulant.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John seated himself deliberately.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I should imagine,&#8221; he said, shaking out a copy of <i>The Times</i>, &#8220;that
+it is your brain which is addled.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Drummond looked up with mock eagerness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This,&#8221; he exclaimed, &#8220;must be either the indifference of an utterly
+callous nature, or it may be&mdash;ye gods, it may be&mdash;innocence. Holcroft,
+we may have been mistaken.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Think not,&#8221; that young man remarked laconically.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will put the question,&#8221; Drummond said gravely. &#8220;Ferringhall, were
+you or were you not dining last night at a certain restaurant in the
+Boulevard des Italiennes with&mdash;<i>la petite</i> Pellissier?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Now indeed Sir John was moved. He sat up in his chair as though the
+question had stung him. <i>The Times</i> slipped from his fingers. His eyes
+were bright, and his voice had in it an unaccustomed <i>timbre</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is true,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that I was dining last night at a restaurant
+in the Boulevard des Italiennes, and it is true that my companion was
+a young lady whose name is Pellissier. What of it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a shout of laughter. Sir John looked about him, and somehow
+the laugh died away. If such a thing in connexion with him had been
+possible they would have declared that he was in a towering rage. An
+uncomfortable silence followed. Sir John once more looked around him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I repeat, gentlemen,&#8221; he said, in an ominously low tone, &#8220;what of
+it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p><p>Drummond shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You seem to be taking our little joke more seriously than it
+deserves, Ferringhall,&#8221; he remarked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I fail to see the joke,&#8221; Sir John said. &#8220;Kindly explain it to me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Certainly! The thing which appeals to our sense of humour is the fact
+that you and <i>la petite</i> Pellissier were dining together.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Will you tell me,&#8221; Sir John said ponderously, &#8220;by what right you call
+that young lady&mdash;<i>la petite</i> Pellissier? I should be glad to know how
+you dare to allude to her in a public place in such a disrespectful
+manner!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Drummond looked at him and smiled.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t be an ass, Ferringhall,&#8221; he said tersely. &#8220;Annabel Pellissier
+is known to most of us. I myself have had the pleasure of dining with
+her. She is very charming, and we all admire her immensely. She sings
+twice a week at the &#8216;Ambassador&#8217;s&#8217; and the &#8216;Casino Mavise&#8217;&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John held up his hand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Stop,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You do not even know what you are talking about. The
+young lady with whom I was dining last night was Miss Anna Pellissier.
+Miss Annabel is her sister. I know nothing of that young lady.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a moment&#8217;s silence. Drummond took up a cigarette and lit it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The young lady, I presume, told you that her name was Anna,&#8221; he
+remarked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was not necessary,&#8221; Sir John answered stiffly. &#8220;I was already
+aware of the fact. I may add that the family is well known to me. The
+two aunts of these young ladies lived for many years in the dower
+house upon my estate in Hampshire. Under the circumstances you must
+permit me to be the best judge of the identity of the young lady who
+did me the honour, as an old family friend, of dining with me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Like most men who lie but seldom, he lied well. Drummond smoked his
+cigarette meditatively. He remembered that he had heard stories about
+the wonderful likeness between these two sisters, one of whom was an
+artist and a recluse, whilst the other had attached herself to a very
+gay and a very brilliant little <i>coterie</i> of pleasure-seekers. There
+was a bare chance that he had been mistaken. He thought it best to let
+the matter drop. A few minutes later Sir John left the room.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p><p>He walked out into the Champs Elys&eacute;es and sat down. His cigar burnt
+out between his fingers, and he threw it impatiently away. He had
+seldom been more perturbed. He sat with folded arms and knitted brows,
+thinking intently. The girl had told him distinctly that her name was
+Anna. Her whole conduct and tone had been modest and ladylike. He went
+over his interview with her again, their conversation at dinner-time.
+She had behaved in every way perfectly. His spirits began to rise.
+Drummond had made an abominable mistake. It was not possible for him
+to have been deceived. He drew a little sigh of relief.</p>
+
+<p>Sir John, by instinct and training, was an unimaginative person. He
+was a business man, pure and simple, his eyes were fastened always
+upon the practical side of life. Such ambitions as he had were
+stereotyped and material. Yet in some hidden corner was a vein of
+sentiment, of which for the first time in his later life he was now
+unexpectedly aware. He was conscious of a peculiar pleasure in sitting
+there and thinking of those few hours which already were becoming to
+assume a definite importance in his mind&mdash;a place curiously apart from
+those dry-as-dust images which had become the gods of his prosaic
+life. Somehow or other his reputation as a hardened and unassailable
+bachelor had won for him during the last few years a comparative
+immunity from attentions on the part of those women with whom he had
+been brought into contact. It was a reputation by no means deserved. A
+wife formed part of his scheme of life, for several years he had been
+secretly but assiduously looking for her. In his way he was critical.
+The young ladies in the somewhat mixed society amongst which he moved
+neither satisfied his taste nor appealed in any way to his affections.
+This girl whom he had met by chance and befriended had done both. She
+possessed what he affected to despise, but secretly worshipped&mdash;the
+innate charm of breeding. The Pellissiers had been an old family in
+Hampshire, while his grandfather had driven a van.</p>
+
+<p>As in all things, so his thoughts came to him deliberately. He
+pictured himself visiting the girl in this shabby little home of her
+aunt&#8217;s&mdash;she had told him that it was shabby&mdash;and he recalled that
+delicious little smile with which she would surely greet him, a smile
+which seemed to be a matter of the eyes as well as the lips. She was
+poor. He was heartily thankful for it. He thought of his wealth for
+once from a different point of view. How much he would be able to do
+for her. Flowers, theatre <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>boxes, carriages, the &#8220;open sesame&#8221; to the
+whole world of pleasure. He himself, middle-aged, steeped in
+traditions of the City and money-making, very ill-skilled in all the
+lighter graces of life, as he himself well knew, could yet come to her
+invested with something of the halo of romance by the almost magical
+powers of an unlimited banking account. She should be lifted out of
+her narrow little life, and it should be all owing to him. And
+afterwards! Sir John drew his cigar from his lips, and looked upwards
+where the white-lights flashed strangely amongst the deep cool green
+of the lime-trees. His lips parted in a rare smile. Afterwards was the
+most delightful part of all!...</p>
+
+<p>If only there had not been this single torturing thought&mdash;a mere
+pin-prick, but still curiously persistent. Suddenly he stopped short.
+He was in front of one of the more imposing of the <i>caf&eacute;s
+chantants</i>&mdash;opposite, illuminated with a whole row of lights, was the
+wonderful poster which had helped to make &#8216;Alcide&#8217; famous. He had looked
+at it before without comprehension. To-night the subtle suggestiveness
+of those few daring lines, fascinating in their very simplicity, the
+head thrown back, the half-closed eyes&mdash;the inner meaning of the great
+artist seemed to come to him with a rush. He stood still, almost
+breathless. A slow anger burned in the man. It was debauching, this&mdash;a
+devilish art which drew such strange allurements from a face and
+figure almost Madonna-like in their simplicity. Unwillingly he drew a
+little nearer, and became one of the group of loiterers about the
+entrance. A woman touched him lightly on the arm, and smiled into his
+face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Monsieur admires the poster?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>As a rule Sir John treated such advances with cold silence. This
+woman, contrary to his custom, he answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is hateful&mdash;diabolical!&#8221; he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>The woman shrugged her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is a great art,&#8221; she said in broken English. &#8220;The little English
+girl is very fortunate. For what indeed does she do? A simple song, no
+gesture, no acting, nothing. And they pay her. Monsieur is going
+inside perhaps?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But Sir John&#8217;s eyes were still riveted upon the poster, and his heart
+was beating with unaccustomed force. For just as though a vague
+likeness is sometimes borne swiftly in upon one, so a vague
+dissimilarity between the face on the poster and the heroine of his
+thoughts had slowly crept into his consciousness. He drew a little
+breath and stepped back. After all, he had the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>means of setting this
+tormenting doubt at rest. She had mentioned the address where she and
+her sister had lived. He would go there. He would see this sister. He
+would know the truth then once and for all. He walked hastily to the
+side of the broad pavement and summoned a <i>fiacre</i>.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_IV" id="Chapter_IV"></a><i>Chapter IV</i></h2>
+
+<h3>THE TEMPERAMENT OF AN ARTIST</h3>
+
+<p>&#8220;You may sit there and smoke, and look out upon your wonderful Paris,&#8221;
+Anna said lightly. &#8220;You may talk&mdash;if you can talk cheerfully, not
+unless.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And you?&#8221; asked David Courtlaw.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, if I find your conversation interesting I shall listen. If not,
+I have plenty to think about,&#8221; she answered, leaning back in her
+chair, and watching the smoke from her own cigarette curl upwards.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For instance?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She smiled.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How I am to earn enough <i>sous</i> for my dinner to-morrow&mdash;or failing
+that, what I can sell.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>His face darkened.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And yet,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you bid me talk cheerfully, or not at all.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not? Your spirits at least should be good. It is not you who runs
+the risk of going dinnerless to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He turned upon her almost fiercely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You know,&#8221; he muttered, &#8220;you know quite well that your troubles are
+far more likely to weigh upon me than my own. Do you think that I am
+utterly selfish?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She raised her eyebrows.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Troubles, my friend,&#8221; she exclaimed lightly. &#8220;But I have no
+troubles.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He stared at her incredulously, and she laughed very softly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What a gloomy person you are!&#8221; she murmured. &#8220;You call yourself an
+artist&mdash;but you have no temperament. The material cares of life hang
+about your neck like a millstone. A doubt as to your dinner to-morrow
+would make you miserable to-night. You know I call that positively
+wicked. It is not at all what I expected either. On the whole, I think
+that I have been disappointed with the life here. There is so little
+<i>abandon</i>, so little real joyousness.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And yet,&#8221; he murmured, &#8220;one of the greatest of our writers has
+declared that the true spirit of Bohemianism is denied to your sex.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;He was probably right,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;Bohemianism is the least
+understood word ever coined. I do not think that I have the Bohemian
+spirit at all.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her thoughtfully. She wore a plain black dress, reaching
+almost to her throat&mdash;her small oval face, with the large brown eyes,
+was colourless, delicately expressive, yet with something mysterious
+in its Sphinx-like immobility. A woman hard to read, who seemed to
+delight in keeping locked up behind that fascinating rigidity of
+feature the intense sensibility which had been revealed to him, her
+master, only in occasional and rare moments of enthusiasm. She
+reminded him sometimes of the one holy and ineffable Madonna, at
+others of Berode, the great courtezan of her day, who had sent kings
+away from her doors, and had just announced her intention of ending
+her life in a convent.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I believe that you are right,&#8221; he said softly. &#8220;It is the worst of
+including in our vocabulary words which have no definite meaning,
+perhaps I should say of which the meaning varies according to one&#8217;s
+personal point of view. You, for instance, you live, you are not
+afraid to live. Yet you make our Bohemianism seem like a vulgar
+thing.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She stirred gently in her chair.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My friend,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I have been your pupil for two years. You have
+watched all the uncouth creations of my brain come sprawling out upon
+the canvas, and besides, we have been companions. Yet the fact remains
+that you do not understand me at all. No, not one little bit. It is
+extraordinary.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is,&#8221; he replied, &#8220;the one humiliation of my life. My opportunities
+have been immense, and my failure utter. If I had been your companion
+only, and not your master, I might very well have been content to
+accept you for what you seem. But there have been times, Anna, when
+your work has startled me. Ill-drawn, without method or sense of
+proportion, you have put wonderful things on to canvas, have drawn
+them out of yourself, notwithstanding your mechanical inefficiency.
+God knows how you did it. You are utterly baffling.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She laughed at him easily and mirthfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear friend,&#8221; she said, &#8220;do not magnify me into a physiological
+problem. I should only disappoint you terribly some day. I think I
+know where I am puzzling you now&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then for Heaven&#8217;s sake be merciful,&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Lift up one
+corner of the curtain for me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well. You shall tell me if I am wrong. You see me <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>here, an
+admitted failure in the object to which I have devoted two years of my
+life. You know that I am practically destitute, without means or any
+certain knowledge of where my next meal is coming from. I speak
+frankly, because you also know that no possible extremity would induce
+me to accept help from any living person. You notice that I have
+recently spent ten francs on a box of the best Russian cigarettes, and
+that there are roses upon my table. You observe that I am, as usual,
+fairly cheerful, and moderately amiable. It surprises you. You do not
+understand, and you would like to. Very well! I will try to help you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Her hand hung over the side of her chair nearest to him. He looked at
+it eagerly, but made no movement to take it. During all their long
+comradeship he had never so much as ventured to hold her fingers. This
+was David Courtlaw, whose ways, too, had never been very different
+from the ways of other men as regards her sex.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You see, it comes after all,&#8221; she continued, &#8220;from certain original
+convictions which have become my religion. Rather a magniloquent term,
+perhaps, but what else am I to say? One of these is that the most
+absolutely selfish thing in the world is to give way to depression, to
+think of one&#8217;s troubles at all except of how to overcome them. I spend
+many delightful hours thinking of the pleasant and beautiful things of
+life. I decline to waste a single second even in considering the ugly
+ones. Do you know that this becomes a habit?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you would only teach us all,&#8221; he murmured, &#8220;how to acquire it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I suppose people would say that it is a matter of temperament,&#8221; she
+continued. &#8220;With me I believe that it is more. It has become a part of
+the order of my life. Whatever may happen to-morrow I shall be none
+the better for anticipating its miseries to-day.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wonder,&#8221; he said, a trifle irrelevantly, &#8220;what the future has in
+store for you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She shrugged her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is that not rather a profitless speculation, my friend?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He seemed deaf to her interruption. His grey eyes burned under his
+shaggy eyebrows. He leaned towards her as though anxious to see more
+of her face than that faint delicate profile gleaming like marble in
+the uncertain light.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You were born for great things,&#8221; he said huskily. &#8220;For great
+passions, for great accomplishments. Will you find your destiny, I
+wonder, or will you go through life like so many others&mdash;a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>wanderer,
+knocking ever at empty doors, homeless to the last? Oh, if one could
+but find the way to your heart.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She laughed gaily.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear friend,&#8221; she said, &#8220;remember that you are speaking to one who
+has failed in the only serious object which she has ever sought to
+accomplish. My destiny, I am afraid, is going to lead me into the
+ruts.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You were never born,&#8221; he declared, &#8220;to follow the well worn roads. I
+wonder,&#8221; he added, after a moment&#8217;s pause, &#8220;whether you ever realize
+how young you are.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Young? I am twenty-four.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yet you are very young. Anna, why will you persist in this
+single-handed combat with life?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t!&#8221; she cried.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I must, I will,&#8221; he answered fiercely. &#8220;Oh, I know you would stop
+me if you could. This time you cannot. You are the woman I love, Anna.
+Let me make your future for you. Don&#8217;t be afraid that I shall stunt
+it. I will give you a broad free life. You shall have room to develop,
+you shall live as you will, where you will, only give me the right to
+protect you, to free you from all these petty material cares.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She laid her hand softly upon his.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear friend,&#8221; she said, &#8220;do you not think that you are breaking an
+unspoken compact? I am very sorry. In your heart you know quite well
+that all that you have said is useless.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ay,&#8221; he repeated, looking away from her. &#8220;Useless&mdash;worse than
+useless.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are foolish,&#8221; she declared, with a note of irritability in her
+tone. &#8220;You would appear to be trying to destroy a comradeship which
+has been very, very pleasant. For you know that I have made up my mind
+to dig a little way into life single-handed. I, too, want to
+understand&mdash;to walk with my head in the light. Love is a great thing,
+and happiness a joy. Let me go my own way towards them. We may
+meet&mdash;who can tell? But I will not be fettered, even though you would
+make the chains of roses. Listen.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She stopped short. There was a sharp knocking at the outside door.
+Courtlaw rose to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is too late for visitors,&#8221; she remarked. &#8220;I wonder would you mind
+seeing who it is.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Courtlaw crossed the room and threw open the door. He had come to
+Anna&#8217;s rooms from a dinner party, and he was in evening <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>dress. Sir
+John, who was standing outside, looked past him at the girl still
+sitting in the shadow.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I believe,&#8221; he said stiffly, &#8220;that these are the apartments of Miss
+Pellissier. I must apologize for disturbing you at such an unseemly
+hour, but I should be very much obliged if Miss Pellissier would allow
+me a few minutes&#8217; conversation. My name is Ferringhall&mdash;Sir John
+Ferringhall.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_V" id="Chapter_V"></a><i>Chapter V</i></h2>
+
+<h3>&#8220;ALCIDE&#8221;</h3>
+
+<p>Courtlaw took up his hat and coat at once, but Anna motioned him to
+remain.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Please stay,&#8221; she said briefly. &#8220;Will you come in, Sir John. I
+believe that I have heard my sister speak of you. This is my friend,
+Mr. David Courtlaw&mdash;Sir John Ferringhall.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John acknowledged the introduction without cordiality. He entered
+the room with his usual deliberation, and looked covertly about him.
+He noticed the two chairs close together. Anna was still holding her
+cigarette between her fingers. Her likeness to her sister gave him at
+first almost a shock; a moment afterwards he was conscious of a
+wonderful sense of relief. For if the likeness between the sisters was
+remarkable, the likeness between this girl and the poster which he had
+come from studying was more remarkable still.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I must repeat,&#8221; Sir John said, &#8220;that I much regret disturbing you at
+such an unseemly hour. My only excuse is that I missed my way here,
+and I am leaving Paris early to-morrow morning.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If your business with me is of any importance,&#8221; Anna said calmly, &#8220;it
+does not matter in the least about the hour. Have you brought me a
+message from my sister? I understood, I believe, that she was seeing
+you last night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your sister,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;did me the honour of dining with me last
+night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>After all, it was not so easy. The girl&#8217;s eyes never left his face.
+She was civil, but she was obviously impatient to know his errand.
+Afraid, no doubt, he thought grimly, that her other visitor would
+leave.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I believe,&#8221; he said slowly, &#8220;that I shall do best to throw myself
+upon your consideration and tell you the truth. I have recently made
+your sister&#8217;s acquaintance, and in the course of conversation I
+understood from her that her Christian name was Anna. Some friends who
+saw us dining together persist in alluding to her as Miss Annabel
+Pellissier. I am guilty practically <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>of the impertinence of coming to
+ask you whether I misunderstood your sister.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is my sister&#8217;s Christian name, then, of so much importance to you?&#8221;
+she asked with a faint smile.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The things involved in it are,&#8221; he answered gravely.</p>
+
+<p>She accepted his rejoinder with a brief nod. Courtlaw opened his lips,
+but remained silent in the face of her imperative gesture. &#8220;Let me
+hasten,&#8221; she said, &#8220;to reassure you. My sister was scarcely likely to
+make a mistake. She told you&mdash;the truth.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Courtlaw&#8217;s walking stick, which he had been handling, fell with a
+crash to the ground. He stooped to recover it, and his face was
+hidden. Sir John felt and looked several years younger.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am much obliged to you,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Really, I do not know why I
+should have doubted it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nor I,&#8221; she remarked tersely.</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her with a certain curiosity. She was a very elegant
+young woman, slightly taller perhaps than her sister, and with an air
+of reserved strength underneath her quiet face and manner which
+Annabel may have lacked. It was hard to associate her with the stories
+which he and all Paris had heard of &#8220;Alcide.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You, then,&#8221; he said, &#8220;are &#8216;Alcide.&#8217; That wonderful poster&mdash;is of
+you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She lifted her eyebrows.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am sorry,&#8221; she said, &#8220;if you find the likeness unsatisfactory. My
+friends consider it wonderfully faithful. Have you any more questions
+to ask me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John, on his way down, had determined to hint to this young woman
+that, providing certain contingencies which he had in his mind should
+come to pass, he would be prepared to make her a handsome offer to
+change her name. He found, however, that now the time had come he
+utterly lacked the courage to attempt any such speech.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;None, I thank you,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I will not intrude upon you
+further.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wait,&#8221; she said.</p>
+
+<p>He turned back at once.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have answered all your questions,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Perhaps you will not
+object to answering one for me. You have thought it worth while to
+take some considerable pains to resolve for yourself my sister&#8217;s
+identity. May I ask the nature of your interest in her?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He hesitated.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;It is not an easy matter,&#8221; he said, &#8220;for me to offer you an
+altogether adequate explanation. I have only seen your sister for a
+very brief time, and I am a little past the age when a man does
+headstrong things. At the same time, I must say that I am most anxious
+to improve my acquaintance with her. I am a single man, and&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; she interrupted. &#8220;I will not ask you to explain further.
+Good night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He left at once, immensely relieved, yet scarcely satisfied with
+himself as regarded his share of the interview with this young woman.
+They heard his footsteps descending the stone staircase, growing
+fainter and fainter. Then Courtlaw looked across at her with a white
+puzzled face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why did you lie to that man?&#8221; he asked fiercely. &#8220;How dared you do
+yourself this injustice?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I did it for her sake,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;It may be her salvation. I
+believe that he will marry her.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You would let him&mdash;knowing&mdash;all that you know?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not? She is my flesh and blood. She is more dear to me than
+anything else. Perhaps if I had watched over her more closely, things
+would have been different.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You! Why, you have been an angel to her,&#8221; he exclaimed impatiently.
+&#8220;You know very well that she is selfish and pleasure-loving to the
+backbone. You have made enough sacrifices for her surely without this.
+Besides, you cannot tell where it will end. You have taken upon your
+shoulders the burden of her misdeeds. You may have to carry them
+further and longer than you think. Oh, it is unbearable.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The man&#8217;s face was dark with passion. It was as though he were
+personally aggrieved. His tone was rough, almost threatening. The girl
+only smiled at him serenely, but she laid her hand for a moment
+quietly upon his.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear friend,&#8221; she said, &#8220;this is a matter which you must leave to me
+to do as I think best. Annabel is my only sister, you know, almost my
+only relative. If I do not look after her, she has no one. And she is
+very young, younger than her years.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was significant of her influence over him that he answered her
+calmly, although a storm of angry thoughts were struggling for
+expression within him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Look after her! Why not? But you have done it all your life. You have
+been her guardian angel. But even you cannot alter her character.
+Annabel was born soulless, a human butterfly, if ever there was one.
+The pursuit of pleasure, self-gratification, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>is an original instinct
+with her. Blood and bone, body and spirit, she is selfish through and
+through. Even you have not been able to hold her back. I speak no harm
+of her. She is your sister, and God knows I wish her none. But&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A look checked him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I know,&#8221; she said quietly, &#8220;that Paris, where she has been so much
+admired, is not a good place for her. That is why I am glad that she
+has gone to London.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He rose from his chair, and walked restlessly up and down the room.
+The passion of pent-up speech compelled action of some sort. There was
+a black fear in his heart. He stopped before her suddenly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You, too,&#8221; he said abruptly. &#8220;You mean to follow her. You will go to
+London?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is necessary,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;You yourself have decided
+that&mdash;apart from the question of Annabel.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He was suddenly calm.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is part of the irony of life,&#8221; he said. &#8220;One is always playing the
+surgeon, one kills always the thing one loves best. I meant to lie to
+you. Would to God I had.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The surgeon&#8217;s knife is surely a kindly weapon,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;It was
+best for me to know. Later on I could scarcely have forgiven you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now&mdash;I am to lose you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For a little time,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;I meant to say good-bye to you
+to-night. Or, after all, is it worth while? The Channel is a little
+broader than the Boulevards&mdash;but one crosses it sometimes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her with white, set face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I shall come. That is very certain. But, after all,
+it will be different. I think that I have become a drug drinker. I
+need you every day. In the mornings I find labour easy because I am
+going to see you. In the afternoon my brain and fingers leap to their
+work because you have been with me. Anna, you shall not go. I cannot
+let you go.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She threw away the end of her cigarette. Without turning or looking in
+his direction she leaned forwards, her head supported upon her
+fingers, her elbows upon her knees. She gazed steadily out of the
+window at that arc of glittering lights. He made a quick movement
+towards her, but she did not flinch. His arm fell to his side. The
+effort of self-repression cost him a sob.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;David,&#8221; she said, &#8220;you are not a coward, are you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;I do not know,&#8221; he muttered. &#8220;The bravest of us have joints in our
+armour.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are not a coward,&#8221; she repeated, &#8220;or you would not be my friend.
+A woman may choose any one for her lover, but for her friend she makes
+no mistake. You are not a coward David, and you must not talk like
+one. Put out your hand and bid me God-speed. It is the only way.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I cannot do it!&#8221; he cried hoarsely. &#8220;I cannot part with you. You have
+grown into my life. Anna&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again she stopped him, but this time it was not so easy. The man&#8217;s
+passion became almost unbearable at the thought of losing her. And
+yet, as she rose slowly to her feet and stood looking at him with
+outstretched hands, a strange mixture of expressions shining in her
+wonderful eyes, he realized in some measure the strength of her
+determination, felt the utter impotence of anything which he could say
+to her. He forgot for the moment his own self-pity, the egotism of his
+own passionate love. He took her hands firmly in his and raised them
+to his lips.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You shall go,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;I will make of the days and weeks one
+long morning, but remember the afternoon must come. Always remember
+that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Her hands fell to her side. She remained for a few moments standing as
+though listening to his retreating footsteps. Then she turned, and
+entering the inner room, commenced to dress hastily for the street.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_VI" id="Chapter_VI"></a><i>Chapter VI</i></h2>
+
+<h3>A QUESTION OF IDENTIFICATION</h3>
+
+<p>The little man with the closely-cropped beard and hair looked at her
+keenly through his gold eye-glasses. He sat before a desk littered all
+over with papers and official looking documents. The walls of the room
+were lined with shelves, on which were glass jars, retorts, countless
+bottles and many appliances of surgical science. A skeleton was
+propped against the mantelpiece. The atmosphere seemed heavy with the
+odour of drugs.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are Mademoiselle Pellissier?&#8221; he asked, without rising to his
+feet.</p>
+
+<p>Anna admitted the fact.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We sent for you several hours ago,&#8221; he remarked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I came directly I was disengaged,&#8221; Anna answered. &#8220;In any case, there
+is probably some mistake. I have very few friends in Paris.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He referred to a sheet of paper by his side.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your name and address were upon an envelope found in the pocket of an
+Englishman who was brought here late last night suffering from serious
+injuries,&#8221; he said in a dry official tone. &#8220;As it is doubtful whether
+the man will live, we should be glad if you would identify him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is most unlikely that I shall be able to do so,&#8221; Anna answered.
+&#8220;To the best of my belief, I have not a single English acquaintance in
+the city.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear young lady,&#8221; the official said irritably, &#8220;this man would not
+have your name and address in his pocket without an object. You cannot
+tell whether you know him or not until you have seen him. Be so good
+as to come this way.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With a little shrug of the shoulders Anna followed him. They ascended
+by a lift to one of the upper floors, passed through a long ward, and
+finally came to a bed in the extreme corner, round which a screen had
+been arranged. A nurse came hurrying up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He is quiet only this minute,&#8221; she said to the official. &#8220;All the
+time he is shouting and muttering. If this is the young lady, she can
+perhaps calm him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p><p>Anna stepped to the foot of the bed. An electric light flashed out
+from the wall. The face of the man who lay there was clearly visible.
+Anna merely glanced at the coarse, flushed features, and at once shook
+her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have never seen him in my life,&#8221; she said to the official. &#8220;I have
+not the least idea who he is.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Just then the man&#8217;s eyes opened. He saw the girl, and sprang up in
+bed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Annabel at last,&#8221; he shouted. &#8220;Where have you been? All these hours I
+have been calling for you. Annabel, I was lying. Who says that I am
+not Meysey Hill? I was trying to scare you. See, it is on my cards&mdash;M.
+Hill, Meysey Hill. Don&#8217;t touch the handle, Annabel! Curse the thing,
+you&#8217;ve jammed it now. Do you want to kill us both? Stop the thing.
+Stop it!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna stepped back bewildered, but the man held out his arms to her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I tell you it was a lie!&#8221; he shouted wildly. &#8220;Can&#8217;t you believe me? I
+am Meysey Hill. I am the richest man in England. I am the richest man
+in the world. You love money. You know you do, Annabel. Never mind,
+I&#8217;ve got plenty. We&#8217;ll go to the shops. Diamonds! You shall have all
+that you can carry away, sacks full if you like. Pearls too! I mean
+it. I tell you I&#8217;m Meysey Hill, the railway man. Don&#8217;t leave me. Don&#8217;t
+leave me in this beastly thing. Annabel! Annabel!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>His voice became a shriek. In response to an almost imperative gesture
+from the nurse, Anna laid her hand upon his. He fell back upon the
+pillows with a little moan, clutching the slim white fingers fiercely.
+In a moment his grasp grew weaker. The perspiration stood out upon his
+forehead. His eyes closed.</p>
+
+<p>Anna stepped back at once with a little gasp of relief. The hand which
+the man had been holding hung limp and nerveless at her side. She held
+it away from her with an instinctive repulsion, born of her
+unconquerable antipathy to the touch of strangers. She began rubbing
+it with her pocket-handkerchief. The man himself was not a pleasant
+object. Part of his head was swathed in linen bandages. Such of his
+features as were visible were of coarse mould. His eyes were set too
+close together. Anna turned deliberately away from the bedside. She
+followed the official back into his room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221; he asked her tersely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can only repeat what I said before,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;To the best of
+my belief, I have never seen the man in my life.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But he recognized you,&#8221; the official objected.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;He fancied that he did,&#8221; she corrected him coolly. &#8220;I suppose
+delusions are not uncommon to patients in his condition.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The official frowned.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your name and address in his pocket was no delusion,&#8221; he said
+sharply. &#8220;I do not wish to make impertinent inquiries into your
+private life. Nothing is of any concern of ours except the discovery
+of the man&#8217;s identity. He was picked up from amongst the wreckage of a
+broken motor on the road to Versailles last night, and we have
+information that a lady was with him only a few minutes before the
+accident occurred.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are very unbelieving,&#8221; Anna said coldly. &#8220;I hope you will not
+compel me to say again that I do not know the man&#8217;s name, nor, to the
+best of my belief, have I ever seen him before in my life.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The official shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You decline to help us in any way, then,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Remember that the
+man will probably die. He had little money about him, and unless
+friends come to his aid he must be treated as a pauper.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do not wish to seem unfeeling,&#8221; Anna said, slowly, &#8220;but I can only
+repeat that I am absolutely without concern in the matter. The man is
+a stranger to me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The official had no more to say. Only it was with a further and most
+unbelieving shrug of the shoulders that he resumed his seat.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You will be so good as to leave us your correct name and address,
+mademoiselle,&#8221; he said curtly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have them both,&#8221; Anna answered.</p>
+
+<p>He opened the door for her with a faint disagreeable smile.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is possible, mademoiselle,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that this affair is not yet
+ended. It may bring us together again.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She passed out without reply. Yet she took with her an uneasy
+consciousness that in this affair might lie the germs of future
+trouble.</p>
+
+<p>As she crossed the square, almost within a stone&#8217;s throw of her
+lodgings, she came face to face with Courtlaw. He stopped short with a
+little exclamation of surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear friend,&#8221; she laughed, &#8220;not so tragic, if you please.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He recovered himself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I was surprised, I admit,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You did not tell me that you
+were going out, or I would have offered my escort. Do you know how
+late it is?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She nodded.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;I heard the clock strike as I crossed the square,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;I
+was sent for to go to the Hospital St. Denis. But what are you doing
+here?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Old P&egrave;re Runeval met me on your doorstep, and he would not let me go.
+I have been sitting with him ever since. The Hospital St. Denis, did
+you say? I hope that no one of our friends has met with an accident.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They wanted me to identify some one whom I had certainly never seen
+before in my life, and to tell you the truth, they were positively
+rude to me because I could not. Have you ever heard the name of Meysey
+Hill?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Meysey Hill?&#8221; He repeated it after her, and she knew at once from his
+tone and his quick glance into her face that the name possessed some
+significance for him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I have heard of him, and I know him by sight,&#8221; he admitted. &#8220;He
+was a friend of your sister&#8217;s, was he not?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I never heard her mention his name,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;Still, of course,
+it is possible. This man was apparently not sure whether he was Meysey
+Hill or not.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How long had he been in the hospital?&#8221; Courtlaw asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Since last night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then, whoever he may be, he is not Meysey Hill,&#8221; Courtlaw said. &#8220;That
+young man was giving a luncheon party to a dozen friends at the Caf&eacute;
+de Paris to-day. I sat within a few feet of him. I feel almost
+inclined to regret the fact.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If one half of the stories about Meysey Hill are true,&#8221; he answered,
+&#8220;I would not stretch out my little finger to save his life.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t that a little extreme?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am an extreme person at times. This man has an evil reputation. I
+know of scandalous deeds which he has done.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna had reached the house where she lodged, but she hesitated on the
+doorstep.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Have you ever seen Annabel with him?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Never.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is odd that this man at the hospital should call himself Meysey
+Hill,&#8221; she remarked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you wish,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I will go there in the morning and see what
+can be done for him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It would be very kind of you,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;I am only sorry that I
+did not ask you to go with me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p><p>She rang the bell, and he waited by her side until she was admitted to
+the tall, gloomy lodging-house. And ever after it struck him that her
+backward smile as she disappeared was charged with some special
+significance. The door closed upon her, and he moved reluctantly away.
+When next he asked for her, some twelve hours later, he was told that
+Mademoiselle had left. His most eager inquiries and most lavish bribes
+could gain no further information than that she had left for England,
+and that her address was&mdash;London.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_VII" id="Chapter_VII"></a><i>Chapter VII</i></h2>
+
+<h3>MISS PELLISSIER&#8217;S SUSPICIONS</h3>
+
+<p>&#8220;Anna!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna kissed her sister and nodded to her aunt. Then she sat
+down&mdash;uninvited&mdash;and looked from one to the other curiously. There was
+something about their greeting and the tone of Annabel&#8217;s exclamation
+which puzzled her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wish,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that you would leave off looking at me as though
+I were something grisly. I am your very dutiful niece, aunt, and your
+most devoted sister, Annabel. I haven&#8217;t murdered any one, or broken
+the law in any way that I know of. Perhaps you will explain the state
+of panic into which I seem to have thrown you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel, who was looking very well, and who was most becomingly
+dressed, moved to a seat from which she could command a view of the
+road outside. She was the first to recover herself. Her aunt, a faded,
+an&aelig;mic-looking lady of somewhat too obtrusive gentility, was still
+sitting with her hand pressed to her heart.</p>
+
+<p>Annabel looked up and down the empty street, and then turned to her
+sister.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For one thing, Anna,&#8221; she remarked, &#8220;we had not the slightest idea
+that you had left, or were leaving Paris. You did not say a word about
+it last week, nor have you written. It is quite a descent from the
+clouds, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will accept that,&#8221; Anna said, &#8220;as accounting for the surprise.
+Perhaps you will now explain the alarm.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Pellissier was beginning to recover herself. She too at once
+developed an anxious interest in the street outside.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am sure, Anna,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I do not see why we should conceal the
+truth from you. We are expecting a visit from Sir John Ferringhall at
+any moment. He is coming here to tea.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221; Anna remarked calmly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sir John,&#8221; her aunt repeated, with thin emphasis, &#8220;is coming to see
+your sister.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna drummed impatiently with her fingers against the arm of her
+chair.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well!&#8221; she declared good-humouredly. &#8220;I shan&#8217;t eat him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p><p>Miss Pellissier stiffened visibly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This is not a matter altogether for levity, Anna,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Your
+sister&#8217;s future is at stake. I imagine that even you must realize that
+this is of some importance.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna glanced towards her sister, but the latter avoided her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have always,&#8221; she admitted calmly, &#8220;taken a certain amount of
+interest in Annabel&#8217;s future. I should like to know how it is
+concerned with Sir John Ferringhall, and how my presence intervenes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sir John,&#8221; Miss Pellissier said impressively, &#8220;has asked your sister
+to be his wife. It is a most wonderful piece of good fortune, as I
+suppose you will be prepared to admit. The Ferringhalls are of course
+without any pretence at family, but Sir John is a very rich man, and
+will be able to give Annabel a very enviable position in the world.
+The settlements which he has spoken of, too, are most munificent. No
+wonder we are anxious that nothing should happen to make him change
+his mind.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I still&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna stopped short. Suddenly she understood. She grew perhaps a shade
+paler, and she glanced out into the street, where her four-wheeler
+cab, laden with luggage, was still waiting.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sir John of course disapproves of me,&#8221; she remarked slowly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sir John is a man of the world,&#8221; her aunt answered coldly. &#8220;He
+naturally does not wish for connexions which are&mdash;I do not wish to
+hurt you feelings, Anna, but I must say it&mdash;not altogether desirable.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The irrepressible smile curved Anna&#8217;s lips. She glanced towards her
+sister, and curiously enough found in her face some faint reflection
+of her own rather sombre mirth. She leaned back in her chair. It was
+no use. The smile had become a laugh. She laughed till the tears stood
+in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I had a visit from Sir John in my rooms,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Did he tell you,
+Annabel?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He mentioned the matter to me also,&#8221; Miss Pellissier remarked
+stiffly. &#8220;The visit seems to have made a most painful impression upon
+him. To tell you the truth, he spoke to me very seriously upon the
+subject.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna sprang up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will be off,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;My cab with all that luggage would
+give the whole show away. Good-bye, aunt.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Pellissier tried ineffectually to conceal her relief.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do not like to seem inhospitable, Anna,&#8221; she said hesitatingly.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>&#8220;And of course you are my niece just as Annabel is, although I am
+sorry to learn that your conduct has been much less discreet than
+hers. But at the same time, I must say plainly that I think your
+presence here just now would be a great misfortune. I wish very much
+that you had written before leaving Paris.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Quite right,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I ought to have done. Good-bye aunt. I&#8217;ll
+come and see you again later on. Annabel, come to the door with me,&#8221;
+she added a little abruptly. &#8220;There is something which I must say to
+you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel rose and followed her sister from the room. A maidservant held
+the front door open. Anna sent her away.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Annabel,&#8221; she said brusquely. &#8220;Listen to me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sir John came to me&mdash;that you know&mdash;and you can guess what I told
+him. No, never mind about thanking me. I want to ask you a plain
+question, and you must answer me faithfully. Is all that folly done
+with&mdash;for ever?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel shivered ever so slightly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course it is, Anna. You ought to know that. I am going to make a
+fresh start.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Be very sure that you do,&#8221; Anna said slowly. &#8220;If I thought for a
+moment that there was any chance of a relapse, I should stop here and
+tell him the truth even now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel looked at her with terrified eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Anna,&#8221; she cried, &#8220;you must believe me. I am really in earnest. I
+would not have him know&mdash;now&mdash;for the world.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well,&#8221; Anna said. &#8220;I will believe you. Remember that he&#8217;s not at
+all a bad sort, and to speak frankly, he&#8217;s your salvation. Try and let
+him never regret it. There&#8217;s plenty to be got out of life in a decent
+sort of way. Be a good wife to him. You can if you will.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I promise,&#8221; Annabel declared. &#8220;He is very kind, Anna, really, and not
+half such a prig as he seems.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna moved towards the door, but her sister detained her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Won&#8217;t you tell me why you have come to England?&#8221; she said. &#8220;It was
+such a surprise to see you. I thought that you loved Paris and your
+work so much.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A momentary bitterness crept into Anna&#8217;s tone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have made no progress with my work,&#8221; she said slowly, &#8220;and the
+money was gone. I had to ask Mr. Courtlaw for his true verdict, and he
+gave it me. I have given up painting.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Anna!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;It is true, dear. After all there are other things. All that I regret
+are the wasted years, and I am not sure that I regret them. Only of
+course I must begin something else at once. That is why I came to
+London.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But what are you going to do&mdash;where are you going to live?&#8221; Annabel
+asked. &#8220;Have you any money?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lots,&#8221; Anna answered laconically. &#8220;Never mind me. I always fall on my
+feet, you know.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You will let us hear from you&mdash;let us know where you are, very soon?&#8221;
+Annabel called out from the step.</p>
+
+<p>Anna nodded as she briskly crossed the pavement.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Some day,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;Run in now. There&#8217;s a hansom coming round
+the corner.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>Anna sat back in her cab, but found it remain stationary.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Gracious!&#8221; she exclaimed to herself. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know where to go to.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The cabman, knocking with the butt end of his whip upon the window,
+reminded her that he was in a similar predicament.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Drive towards St. Pancras,&#8221; she directed, promptly. &#8220;I will tell you
+when to stop.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The cab rumbled off. Anna leaned forward, watching the people in the
+streets. It was then for the first time she remembered that she had
+said nothing to her sister of the man in the hospital.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_VIII" id="Chapter_VIII"></a><i>Chapter VIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3>&#8220;WHITE&#8217;S&#8221;</h3>
+
+<p>Northwards, away from the inhospitality of West Kensington, rumbled
+the ancient four-wheel cab, laden with luggage and drawn by a wheezy
+old horse rapidly approaching its last days. Inside was Anna, leaning
+a little forward to watch the passers-by, bright-eyed, full to the
+brim of the insatiable curiosity of youth&mdash;the desire to understand
+and appreciate this new world in which she found herself. She was
+practically an outcast, she had not even the ghost of a plan as to her
+future, and she had something less than five pounds in her pocket. She
+watched the people and hummed softly to herself.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly she thrust her head out of the window.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Please stop, cabman,&#8221; she ordered.</p>
+
+<p>The man pulled up. It was not a difficult affair.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is this Montague Street, W.C.?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>The man looked as though he would have liked to deny it, but could
+not.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Stay where you are for a moment,&#8221; she directed. &#8220;I want to find an
+address.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The man contented himself with a nod. Anna rummaged about in her
+dressing-case, and finally drew out a letter. On the envelope was
+written&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="right">Sydney Courtlaw, Esq.,</p>
+
+<p class="right2">13, Montague St.</p>
+
+<p>She put her head out of the window.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Number 13, please, cabman.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve come past it, miss,&#8221; the man answered, with a note of finality
+in his gruff voice.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then turn round and go back there,&#8221; she directed.</p>
+
+<p>The man muttered something inaudible, and gathered up the reins. His
+horse, which had apparently gone to sleep, preferred to remain where
+he was. After a certain amount of man&oelig;uvring, however, he was
+induced to crawl around, and in a few minutes came to stop again
+before a tall brightly-painted house, which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>seemed like an oasis of
+colour and assertive prosperity in a long dingy row. This was number
+13, Montague Street, familiarly spoken of in the neighbourhood as
+&#8220;White&#8217;s.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna promptly alighted with the letter in her hand. The door was
+opened for her by a weary-looking youth in a striped jacket several
+sizes too large for him. The rest of his attire was nondescript.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Does Mr. Courtlaw, Mr. Sydney Courtlaw, live here, please?&#8221; Anna
+asked him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not home yet, miss,&#8221; the young man replied. &#8220;Generally gets here
+about seven.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna hesitated, and then held out the letter.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think that I will leave this letter for him,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It is from
+his brother in Paris. Say that I will call again or let him know my
+address in London.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The young man accepted the letter and the message, and seemed about to
+close the door when a lady issued from one of the front rooms and
+intervened. She wore a black satin dress, a little shiny at the seams,
+a purposeless bow of white tulle at the back of her neck, and a huge
+chatelaine. She addressed Anna with a beaming smile and a very
+creditable mixture of condescension and officiousness. Under the
+somewhat trying incandescent light her cheeks pleaded guilty to a
+recent use of the powder puff.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think that you were inquiring for Mr. Courtlaw,&#8221; she remarked. &#8220;He
+is one of our guests&mdash;perhaps I should say boarders here, but he
+seldom returns before dinner-time. We dine at seven-thirty. Can I give
+him any message for you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; Anna answered. &#8220;I have a letter for him from his brother,
+which I was just leaving.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will see that he gets it immediately on his return,&#8221; the lady
+promised. &#8220;You did not wish to see him particularly this evening,
+then?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, no,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;To tell you the truth though, I am quite a
+stranger in London, and it occurred to me that Mr. Courtlaw might have
+been able to give me an idea where to stop.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The lady in black satin looked at the pile of luggage outside and
+hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Were you thinking of private apartments, a boarding-house or an
+hotel?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;I really had not thought about it at all,&#8221; Anna answered smiling. &#8220;I
+expected to stay with a relation, but I found that their arrangements
+did not allow of it. I have been used to living in apartments in
+Paris, but I suppose the system is different here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The lady in black satin appeared undecided. She looked from Anna, who
+was far too nice-looking to be travelling about alone, to that
+reassuring pile of luggage, and wrinkled her brows thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course,&#8221; she said diffidently, &#8220;this is a boarding-house, although
+we never take in promiscuous travellers. The class of guests we have
+are all permanent, and I am obliged to be very careful indeed. But&mdash;if
+you are a friend of Mr. Courtlaw&#8217;s&mdash;I should like to oblige Mr.
+Courtlaw.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is very nice of you to think of it,&#8221; Anna said briskly. &#8220;I should
+really like to find somewhere to stay, if it was only for a few
+nights.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The lady stood away from the door.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Will you come this way,&#8221; she said, &#8220;into the drawing-room? There is
+no one there just now. Most of my people are upstairs dressing for
+dinner. The gentlemen are so particular now, and a good thing too, I
+say. I was always used to it, and I think it gives quite a tone to an
+establishment. Please sit down, Miss&mdash;dear me, I haven&#8217;t asked you
+your name yet.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My name is Pellissier,&#8221; Anna said, &#8220;Anna Pellissier.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am Mrs. White,&#8221; the lady in black satin remarked. &#8220;It makes one
+feel quite awkward to mention such a thing, but after all I think that
+it is best for both parties. Could you give me any references?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is Mr. Courtlaw,&#8221; Anna said, &#8220;and my solicitors, Messrs. Le
+Mercier and Stowe of St. Heliers. They are rather a long way off, but
+you could write to them. I am sorry that I do not know any one in
+London. But after all, Mrs. White, I am not sure that I could afford
+to come to you. I am shockingly poor. Please tell me what your terms
+are.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; Mrs. White said slowly, &#8220;it depends a good deal upon what
+rooms you have. Just now my best ones are all taken.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So much the better,&#8221; Anna declared cheerfully. &#8220;The smallest will do
+for me quite well.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. White looked mysteriously about the room as though to be sure
+that no one was listening.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I should like you to come here,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a great deal <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>for a
+young lady who&#8217;s alone in the world, as I suppose you are at present,
+to have a respectable home, and I do not think in such a case that
+private apartments are at all desirable. We have a very nice set of
+young people here too just at present, and you would soon make some
+friends. I will take you for thirty-five shillings a week. Please
+don&#8217;t let any one know that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have no idea what it costs to live in London,&#8221; Anna said, &#8220;but I
+should like very much to come for a short time if I might.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Certainly,&#8221; Mrs. White said. &#8220;Two days&#8217; notice shall be sufficient on
+either side.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And I may bring my luggage in and send that cabman away?&#8221; Anna asked.
+&#8220;Dear me, what a relief! If I had had any nerves that man would have
+trampled upon them long ago.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Cabmen are so trying,&#8221; Mrs. White assented. &#8220;You need have no further
+trouble. The manservant shall bring your trunks in and pay the fare
+too, if you like.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna drew out her purse at once.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are really a good Samaritan,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;I am perfectly
+certain that that man meant to be rude to me. He has been bottling it
+up all the way from West Kensington.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. White rang the bell.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come upstairs,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and I will show you your room. And would
+you mind hurrying a little. You won&#8217;t want to be late the first
+evening, and it&#8217;s ten minutes past seven now. Gracious, there&#8217;s the
+gong. This way, my dear&mdash;and&mdash;you&#8217;ll excuse my mentioning it, but a
+quiet blouse and a little chiffon, you know, will be quite sufficient.
+It&#8217;s your first evening, and early impressions do count for so much.
+You understand me, I&#8217;m sure.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna was a little puzzled, but she only laughed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps, as I&#8217;ve only just arrived,&#8221; she remarked, &#8220;I might be
+forgiven if I do not change my skirt. I packed so hurriedly that it
+will take me a long time to find my things.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Certainly,&#8221; Mrs. White assured her. &#8220;Certainly. I&#8217;ll mention it.
+You&#8217;re tired, of course. This is your room. The gong will go at
+seven-thirty. Don&#8217;t be late if you can help it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>Anna was not late, but her heart sank within her when she <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>entered the
+drawing-room. It was not a hopeful looking group. Two or three
+podgy-looking old men with wives to match, half-a-dozen overdressed
+girls, and a couple of underdressed American ones, who still wore the
+clothes in which they had been tramping half over London since
+breakfast time. A sprinkling of callow youths, and a couple of
+pronounced young Jews, who were talking loudly together in some
+unintelligible jargon of the City. What had she to do with such as
+these? She had hard work to keep a smiling face, as Mrs. White, who
+had risen to greet her, proceeded with a formal, and from Anna&#8217;s point
+of view, a wholly unnecessary round of introductions. And then
+suddenly&mdash;a relief. A young man&mdash;almost a boy, slight, dark, and with
+his brother&#8217;s deep grey eyes&mdash;came across the room to her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must be the Miss Pellissier of whom David has told me so much,&#8221;
+he said, shyly. &#8220;I am very glad that you have come here. I heard from
+David about you only this morning.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are marvellously like your brother,&#8221; Anna said, beaming upon him.
+&#8220;I have a letter for you, and no end of messages. Where can we sit
+down and talk?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He led her across the room towards a window recess, in which a tall,
+fair young man was seated with an evening paper in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let me introduce my friend to you,&#8221; Courtlaw said. &#8220;Arthur, this is
+Miss Pellissier&mdash;Mr. Brendon. Brendon and I are great chums,&#8221; he went
+on nervously. &#8220;We are clerks in the same bank. I don&#8217;t think that the
+rest of the people here like us very well, do they, Arthur, so we&#8217;re
+obliged to be friends.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna shook hands with Brendon&mdash;a young man also, but older and more
+self-possessed than Sydney Courtlaw.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sydney is quite right, Miss Pellissier,&#8221; he said. &#8220;He and I don&#8217;t
+seem to get on at all with our fellow-guests, as Mrs. White calls
+them. You really ought not to stay here and talk to us. It is a most
+inauspicious start for you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear me,&#8221; Anna laughed, &#8220;how unfortunate! What ought I to do? Should
+I be forgiven, do you think, if I were to go and hold that skein of
+wool for the old lady in the yellow cap?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t speak of her irreverently,&#8221; Brendon said, in an awed whisper.
+&#8220;Her husband was a county councillor, and she has a niece who comes to
+see her in a carriage. I wish she wouldn&#8217;t look like that at us over
+her glasses.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>Horace, the manservant, transformed now into the semblance of a
+correctly garbed waiter, threw open the door.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dinner is served, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; he announced to Mrs. White.</p>
+
+<p>There was no rush. Everything was done in a genteel and ordinary way,
+but on the other hand, there was no lingering. Anna found herself next
+Sydney Courtlaw, with his friend close at hand. Opposite to her was a
+sallow-visaged young man, whose small tie seemed like a smudge of
+obtusively shiny black across the front of a high close-drawn collar.
+As a rule, Courtlaw told her softly, he talked right and left, and to
+everybody throughout the whole of the meal&mdash;to-night he was almost
+silent, and seemed to devote his whole attention to staring at Anna.
+After the first courses however she scarcely noticed him. Her two new
+friends did their best to entertain her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t imagine, Miss Pellissier,&#8221; Brendon said, leaning towards her,
+&#8220;whatever made you think of coming to stay if only for a week at a
+Montague Street boarding-house. Are you going to write a novel?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not I,&#8221; she answered gaily. &#8220;I came to London unexpectedly, and my
+friends could not take me in. I had a vague sort of idea that this was
+the region where one finds apartments, so I told my cabman to drive in
+this direction while I sat inside his vehicle and endeavoured to form
+a plan of campaign. He brought me past this house, and I thought I
+would call and leave your brother&#8217;s letter. Then I saw Mrs. White&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No more,&#8221; Sydney Courtlaw begged, laughingly. &#8220;You were booked of
+course. An unexpected vacancy, wasn&#8217;t it? Every one comes in on
+unexpected vacancy.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And they go?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;When they get the chance. It really isn&#8217;t so easy to go as it seems.
+We have come to the conclusion, Brendon and I, that Mrs. White is
+psychologically gifted. She throws a sort of spell over us all. We
+struggle against it at first, but in the end we have to submit. She
+calls us her guests, but in reality we are her prisoners. We simply
+can&#8217;t get away. There&#8217;s that old gentleman at the end of the
+table&mdash;Bullding his name is. He will tell you confidentially that he
+simply hates the place. Yet he&#8217;s been here for six years, and he&#8217;s as
+much a fixture as that sham mahogany sideboard. Everyone will grumble
+to you confidentially&mdash;Miss Ellicot, she&#8217;s our swagger young lady, you
+know&mdash;up there, next to Miss White, she will tell you that it is so
+out of the world here, so far away from everyone one knows. Old
+Kesterton, choleric-looking individual nearly opposite, will curse the
+cooking <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>till he&#8217;s black in the face, but he never misses a dinner.
+The Semitic looking young man opposite, who seems to have been
+committing you to memory piecemeal, will tell you that he was never so
+bored in all his life as he has been here. Yet he stays. They all
+stay!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And you yourself?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Brendon laughed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, we are also under the spell,&#8221; he declared, &#8220;but I think that we
+are here mainly because it is cheap. It is really cheap, you know. To
+appreciate it you should try rooms.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is this a fair sample of the dinner?&#8221; Anna asked, who had the healthy
+appetite of a strong young woman.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is, if anything, a little above the average,&#8221; Brendon admitted.</p>
+
+<p>Anna said nothing. The young man opposite was straining his ears to
+listen to their conversation. Mrs. White caught her eye, and smiled
+benignly down the table.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hope that Mr. Courtlaw is looking after you, Miss Pellissier,&#8221; she
+said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Admirably, thank you,&#8221; Anna answered.</p>
+
+<p>The young lady with frizzled hair, whom Brendon had pointed out to her
+as Miss Ellicot, leaned forward from her hostess&#8217;s side. She had very
+frizzy hair indeed, very black eyebrows, a profusion of metallic
+adornments about her neck and waist, and an engaging smile.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We are so interested to hear, Miss Pellissier,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that you
+have been living in Paris. We shall expect you to tell us all what to
+wear.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna smiled very faintly, and shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have come from a very unfashionable quarter,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and I do
+not think that I have been inside a milliner&#8217;s shop for a year.
+Besides, it is all reversed now, you know. Paris copies London.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Brendon leaned over confidentially.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are in luck, Miss Pellissier,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;Your success here is
+absolutely meteoric. Miss Ellicot has spoken to you, the great Mr.
+Bullding is going to. For five minutes he has been trying to think of
+something to say. I am not sure, but I believe that he has just
+thought of something.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;May I be prepared?&#8221; Anna asked. &#8220;Which is Mr. Bullding?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Stout old gentleman four places down on the left. Look out, it&#8217;s
+coming.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p><p>Anna raised her eyes, and caught the earnest gaze of an elderly
+gentleman with a double chin, a protuberant under lip, and a
+snuff-stained coat.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I was in Paris four years ago,&#8221; Mr. Building announced solemnly. &#8220;It
+rained the whole of the time, but we saw all the sights, and the place
+never seemed dull.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It takes a great deal of bad weather to depress the true Parisian,&#8221;
+Anna admitted.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A volatile temperament&mdash;yes, a volatile temperament,&#8221; Mr. Bullding
+repeated, rather struck with the phrase. &#8220;It is a pity that as nations
+we are not more friendly.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna nodded and turned again to Courtlaw.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will not be drawn into a conversation with Mr. Bullding,&#8221; she
+declared. &#8220;I believe that he would bore me. Tell me, what are these
+bananas and nuts for?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dessert.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna laid down her serviette.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let us escape,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Couldn&#8217;t we three go out and have some
+coffee somewhere? The thought of that drawing-room paralyses me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Brendon laughed softly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We can,&#8221; he said, &#8220;and we will. But it is only fair to warn you that
+it isn&#8217;t expected. Mrs. White is proud of her drawing-room evenings.
+There is a musical programme, and we have the windows open and blinds
+up, and a pink lamp shade over the piano lamp&mdash;a sort of advertisement
+of the place, you know. Strangers look in and long, and neighbours are
+moved to envy.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna hesitated no longer. She almost sprang to her feet. Conscious of
+Mrs. White&#8217;s surprise as she swung easily down the room, followed by
+the two young men, she smiled a careless explanation at her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am dying to renew my acquaintance with London, Mrs. White,&#8221; she
+remarked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are not going out&mdash;this evening, I trust,&#8221; that lady asked, a
+trifle dismayed.</p>
+
+<p>Anna did not pause, but she looked over her shoulder with slightly
+lifted eyebrows.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not? They tell me that London is impossible till after ten, and I
+want my first impressions to be favourable.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There will be some coffee and music in the drawing-room in a few
+minutes,&#8221; Mrs. White said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thanks, I&#8217;m not very fond of coffee,&#8221; Anna answered, &#8220;and I hate
+music. Good night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p><p>Mrs. White gasped, and then stiffened. Miss Ellicot, who sang ballads,
+and liked Brendon to turn over the pages for her, tossed her head.
+Anna passed serenely out.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_IX" id="Chapter_IX"></a><i>Chapter IX</i></h2>
+
+<h3>BRENDON&#8217;S LUCK</h3>
+
+<p>Anna sat in a chair in her room and sighed. She was alone, and the
+mask of her unchanging high spirits was for the moment laid aside. She
+was a little paler than when she had come to London, a little paler
+and a little thinner. There were dark rims under her eyes, soft now
+with unshed tears. For this three weeks had been the hardest of her
+life. There had been disappointments and humiliations, and although
+she hated to admit it even to herself, she was in desperate straits.
+Nevertheless, she was still fighting.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is one thing I must concentrate on at the moment,&#8221; she told
+herself, &#8220;and that is how to pay my next week&#8217;s bill to Mrs. White. It
+ought not to be much. I have gone without dinner for three nights,
+and&mdash;come in.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sydney Courtlaw followed his timid knock. Anna raised her eyebrows at
+the sight of him. He was in evening dress: swallow-tailed coat and
+white tie.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is this a concession to Mrs. White?&#8221; she asked, laughing. &#8220;How
+gratified she must have been! If only I had known I would have made an
+effort to get home in time for dinner.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not exactly,&#8221; he answered nervously. &#8220;Please forgive me coming up,
+Miss Pellissier, but you have not been down to dinner for three
+nights, and&mdash;Brendon and I&mdash;we were afraid that you might be unwell.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Never better in my life,&#8221; Anna declared briskly. &#8220;I had lunch very
+late to-day, and I did not get home in time for dinner.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She smiled grimly at the recollection of that lunch&mdash;tea and roll at a
+cheap caf&eacute;. Sydney was watching her eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m glad you&#8217;re all right,&#8221; he said, &#8220;because we want you to do us a
+favour. Brendon&#8217;s had an awful stroke of luck.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m delighted,&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;Do tell me all about it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He only heard this afternoon,&#8221; Sydney continued. &#8220;An uncle in New
+York is dead, and has left him loads of money. A lawyer has come all
+the way from America about it. We want to celebrate, and we want you
+to help us. Brendon suggests supper at the Carlton. We meant to make
+it dinner and a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>theatre, but you were not home. We thought of
+starting in half an hour&#8217;s time, and trying for a theatre somewhere on
+the way.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How delightful!&#8221; exclaimed Anna. &#8220;I should love to come. It is very
+sweet of you to have waited for me. Run away now, please. I must see
+if I have a gown fit to wear.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>&#8220;This,&#8221; Anna declared, as she sipped her wine and looked around her,
+&#8220;reminds me more of Paris than any place I have yet seen. I suppose it
+is the mirrors and decorations.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And the people?&#8221; Brendon asked. &#8220;What do you think of them?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna extended her critical survey and shrugged her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What can one say?&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;Did you ever see women so
+weary-looking and so dowdy? They do not talk. They seem to spend their
+time yawning and inspecting their neighbour&#8217;s dresses through those
+hateful glasses. It never seems to enter their heads to try and amuse
+their menkind.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Two young men on their way down the room came suddenly to a standstill
+before Anna. The foremost, tall, clean-shaven, perfectly groomed, half
+extended his hand with a smile of recognition.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Miss Pellissier, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221; he said. &#8220;Glad to see you in London. No
+idea that you were here, though.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna looked up with a doubtful smile of non-recognition.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My name is certainly Pellissier,&#8221; she said, &#8220;but I am very sorry&mdash;I
+do not recognize you in the least.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The tall young man dropped his eye-glass and smiled.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Had the pleasure of dining with you at the &#8216;Ambassador&#8217;s&#8217; one night,
+before the show, you know&mdash;last September I think it was. Charley
+Pevenill was our host. My name is Armytage&mdash;Lord Ernest Armytage.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna had suddenly stiffened. She regarded the young man coldly. Her
+tone was icy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid that you are making a mistake,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I was never at
+any such dinner, and I am quite sure that I do not know you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps you remember me, Miss Pellissier,&#8221; the second young man
+interposed. &#8220;I had the pleasure of&mdash;er&mdash;meeting you more than once, I
+believe.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A spot of colour flared in Anna&#8217;s cheek as she glanced towards the
+speaker. Something in his smile, in the cynical suggestiveness of his
+deferential tone, maddened her.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;To the best of my belief,&#8221; she said, with quiet dignity, &#8220;I have
+never seen either of you before in my life.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>For a fraction of a second the two young men hesitated. Then the
+foremost bowed and passed on.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am exceedingly sorry,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Pray accept my apologies.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And mine,&#8221; murmured his companion, with the smile still lingering
+upon his lips.</p>
+
+<p>They took their places at a distant table. Anna sat quite still for a
+moment, and then the colour suddenly returned to her cheeks. She
+laughed softly, and leaned across the table.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do not look so uncomfortable, both of you,&#8221; she begged. &#8220;Those young
+men startled me at first, because they knew my name. I am quite sure
+though that they did not mean to be rude.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Impudent beggars,&#8221; Sydney growled. &#8220;I never wanted to kick any one so
+much in my life as that second fellow.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; Anna said, &#8220;that it was only his manner. Do look at this
+tragedy in mauve, who has just come in. What can she be? The wife of a
+country tradesman, or a duchess? And such a meek little husband too.
+What can she have done to deserve such a fate? Oh!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They both turned round at Anna&#8217;s exclamation. A familiar figure was
+making his way towards them. Sydney sprang up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, it&#8217;s David!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Hullo!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Courtlaw, haggard, his deep-set eyes more brilliant than ever, took
+Anna&#8217;s hand into his, and breathed a little close drawn sigh of
+content. He was introduced to Brendon, and a chair was brought by an
+attentive waiter. He declined supper, but took wine.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Have you dropped from the skies?&#8221; Sydney asked wonderingly. &#8220;It was
+only yesterday I had your letter, and you never mentioned coming
+over.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I had some unexpected business,&#8221; Courtlaw answered shortly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And how did you find us here?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I called at Montague Street a few minutes after you had left. Mrs.
+White told me where to find you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He leaned back in his chair as though wearied. Yet either the rest or
+the wine seemed already to have done him good. The lines about his
+mouth gradually softened. He talked very little and rather absently.
+In no way could he be said to contribute to the gaiety of the little
+party. But when they were on their way out he whispered in Anna&#8217;s ear.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Please let me drive you home. I want to talk to you, and I must
+return to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We are Mr. Brendon&#8217;s guests,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and I scarcely think it
+would be nice of me to leave him alone with Sydney.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Courtlaw turned abruptly to Brendon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Brendon,&#8221; he said, &#8220;may I rob you of your guest just for the
+drive home? I have only a few hours in England, and Miss Pellissier is
+an old friend.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;By all means,&#8221; Brendon answered. &#8220;We will follow you in another cab.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They passed out on to the pavement, and the commissionaire called a
+hansom. The man looked closely at Anna as she crossed the footway, and
+as he held her skirt from the wheel he pressed something into her
+hand. Her fingers closed upon it instinctively. It was a letter. She
+slipped it calmly into her pocket. The commissionaire smiled. It was a
+sovereign easily earned.</p>
+
+<p>The hansom drove off. Suddenly Anna felt her hand seized and
+imprisoned in Courtlaw&#8217;s burning fingers. She glanced into his face.
+It was enough.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have stood it for a month, Anna,&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;You will not even
+answer my letters. I could not keep away any longer.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you think that it was wise of you, or kind to come?&#8221; she asked
+quietly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wise! Kind! What mockery words are! I came because I had to. I cannot
+live without you, Anna. Come back&mdash;you must come back. We can be
+married to-morrow in Paris. There! You are trying to take your hand
+away.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You disappoint me,&#8221; she said wearily. &#8220;You are talking like a boy.
+What is the use of it? I do not wish to marry you. I do not wish to
+return to Paris. You are doing your best to break our friendship.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is you,&#8221; he cried, &#8220;you, who are talking folly, when you speak of
+friendship between you and me. It is not the woman who speaks there.
+It is the vapouring school girl. I tell you that I love you, Anna, and
+I believe that you love me. You are necessary to me. I shall give you
+my life, every moment and thought of my life. You must come back. See
+what you have made of me. I cannot work, I cannot teach. You have
+grown into my life, and I cannot tear you out.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna was silent. She was trembling a little. The man&#8217;s <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>passion was
+infectious. She had to school herself to speak the words which she
+knew would cut him like a knife.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are mistaken, David. I have counted you, and always hoped to
+count you, the best of my friends. But I do not love you. I do not
+love any one.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe it,&#8221; he answered hoarsely. &#8220;We have come too close
+together for me to believe it. You care for me a little, I know. I
+will teach you how to make that little sufficient.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You came to tell me this?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I came for you,&#8221; he declared fiercely.</p>
+
+<p>The hansom sped through the crowded streets. Anna suddenly leaned
+forward and looked around her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We are not going the right way,&#8221; she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are coming my way,&#8221; Courtlaw answered. &#8220;Anna,&#8221; he pleaded, &#8220;be
+merciful. You care for me just a little, I know. You are alone in the
+world, you have no one save yourself to consider. Come back with me
+to-night. Your old rooms are there, if you choose. I kept them on
+myself till the sight of your empty chair and the chill loneliness of
+it all nearly sent me mad.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna lifted her hand and pushed open the trap door.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Drive to 13, Montague Street, cabman,&#8221; she ordered.</p>
+
+<p>The man pulled up his horse grumbling, and turned round. Courtlaw sat
+with folded arms. He said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My friend,&#8221; she said, &#8220;no! Let me tell you this. Nothing would induce
+me to marry you, or any man at present. I am a pauper, and as yet I
+have not discovered how to earn money. I am determined to fight my own
+little battle with the world&mdash;there must be a place for me somewhere,
+and I mean to find it. Afterwards, it may be different. If I were to
+marry you now I should feel a dependent being all my life&mdash;a sort of
+parasitical creature without blood or muscle. I should lose every
+scrap of independence&mdash;even my self-respect. However good you were to
+me, and however happy I was in other ways, I should find this
+intolerable.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All these things,&#8221; he muttered bitterly, &#8220;this desperate resolve to
+take your life into your own hands, your unnatural craving for
+independence, would never trouble you for a moment&mdash;if you really
+cared.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then perhaps,&#8221; she answered, with a new coldness in her tone,
+&#8220;perhaps I really do not care. No, don&#8217;t interrupt me. I think that I
+am a little disappointed in you. You appear to be amongst those strong
+enough in all ordinary matters, but who <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>seem to think it quite
+natural and proper to give in at once and play the weakling
+directly&mdash;one cares. Do you think that it makes for happiness to force
+oneself into the extravagant belief that love is the only thing in the
+world worth having, and to sacrifice for it independence,
+self-respect, one&#8217;s whole scheme of life. I cannot do it, David.
+Perhaps, as you say, I do not really care&mdash;but I cannot do it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He was strangely silent. He did not even reply to her for several
+minutes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I cannot reason with you,&#8221; he said at last wearily. &#8220;I speak from my
+heart, and you answer from your brain.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Believe me that I have answered you wisely,&#8221; she said, in a gentler
+tone, &#8220;wisely for you too, as well as myself. And now you must go
+back, take up your work and think all this over. Presently you will
+see that I am right, and then you shall take your vacation over here,
+and we will be good comrades again.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He smiled bitterly as he handed her from the cab. He declined to come
+in.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Will you tell Sydney that I will see him in the morning,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I
+am staying at the Savoy. He can come round there.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You will shake hands with me, please,&#8221; she begged.</p>
+
+<p>He took her fingers and lifted his eyes to hers. Something he saw
+there made him feel for a moment ashamed. He pressed the long shapely
+hand warmly in his.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good-bye,&#8221; he said earnestly. &#8220;Please forgive me. You are right.
+Quite right.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She was able to go straight to her room without delay, and she at once
+locked the door with a little sigh of relief. She found herself
+struggling with a storm of tears.</p>
+
+<p>A sob was strangled in her throat. She struggled fiercely not to give
+way.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I am lonely,&#8221; she moaned. &#8220;I am lonely. If I could but&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>To escape from her thoughts she began to undress, humming a light tune
+to herself, though her eyes were hot with unshed tears, and the sobs
+kept rising in her throat. As she drew off her skirt she felt
+something in the pocket, and remembered the letter which the
+commissionaire at the Carlton had given her. She tore open the
+envelope and read it.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">&#8220;My Dear Girl</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am so sorry if we made asses of ourselves to-night. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>fact
+is I was so glad to see you again that it never occurred to me
+that a little discretion might be advisable. I&#8217;m afraid I&#8217;m a
+terribly clumsy fellow.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hope that you are going to allow me to see something of you
+during your stay in London, for the sake of old times. Could you
+come to tea at my rooms one afternoon, or would you dine with me
+somewhere, and do a theatre? We could have a private room, of
+course, if you do not wish to be seen about London, and a box at
+the theatre. I often think of those delightful evenings in Paris.
+May we not repeat them once, at any rate, in London?</p>
+
+<p class="right">&#8220;Ever yours,</p>
+
+<p class="right2">&#8220;<span class="smcap">Nigel Ennison</span>.
+</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;P.S. My address is 94, Pall Mall.&#8221;</p></div>
+
+<p>Anna read, and her cheeks grew slowly scarlet. She crushed the letter
+in her hand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wonder,&#8221; she murmured to herself, &#8220;if this is the beginning.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_X" id="Chapter_X"></a><i>Chapter X</i></h2>
+
+<h3>THE TRAGEDY OF AN APPETITE</h3>
+
+<p>Anna, notwithstanding her quiet clothes, a figure marvellously out of
+accord with her surroundings, sat before a small marble-topped table
+at a crowded A.B.C., and munched a roll and butter with hearty
+appetite.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If only I could afford another!&#8221; she thought regretfully. &#8220;I wonder
+why I am always hungry nowadays. It is so ridiculous.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She lingered over her tea, and glancing around, a sudden reflection on
+the change in her surroundings from the scene of her last night&#8217;s
+supper brought a faint, humorous smile to her lips.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In two days,&#8221; she reflected, &#8220;Mrs. White will present her bill. I
+have one shilling and sevenpence halfpenny left. I have two days in
+which to earn nearly thirty shillings&mdash;that is with no dinners, and
+get a situation. I fancy that this is a little more than playing at
+Bohemianism.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So far,&#8221; she continued, eyeing hungrily the last morsel of roll which
+lay upon her plate, &#8220;my only chance of occupation has lain with a
+photographer who engaged me on the spot and insulted me in half an
+hour. What beasts men are! I cannot typewrite, my three stories are
+still wandering round, two milliners have refused me as a lay figure
+because business was so bad. I am no use for a clerk, because I do not
+understand shorthand. After all, I fancy that I shall have to apply
+for a situation as a nursery governess who understands French. Faugh!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She took up the last morsel of roll, and held it delicately between
+her long slim fingers. Then her white teeth gleamed, and her excuse
+for remaining any longer before that little marble table was gone. She
+rose, paid her bill, and turned westwards.</p>
+
+<p>She walked with long swinging steps, scorning the thought of buses or
+the tube. If ever she felt fatigue in these long tramps which had
+already taken her half over London, she never admitted it. Asking her
+way once or twice, she passed along Fleet Street into the Strand, and
+crossed Trafalgar Square, into Piccadilly. Here she walked more
+slowly, looking constantly at the notices in the shop windows. One she
+entered and met with a sharp <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>rebuff, which she appeared to receive
+unmoved. But when she reached the pavement outside her teeth were
+clenched, and she carried herself unconsciously an inch or so higher.
+It was just then that she came face to face with Nigel Ennison.</p>
+
+<p>He was walking listlessly along, well-dressed, <i>debonnair</i>,
+good-looking. Directly he saw Anna he accosted her. His manner was
+deferential, even eager. Anna, who was disposed to be sharply
+critical, could find no fault with it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How fortunate I am, Miss Pellissier! All day I have been hoping that
+I might run across you. You got my note?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I certainly received a note,&#8221; Anna admitted.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You were going to answer it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Certainly not!&#8221; she said deliberately.</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her with an expression of comical despair.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What have I done, Miss Pellissier?&#8221; he pleaded. &#8220;We were good friends
+in Paris, weren&#8217;t we? You made me all sorts of promises, we planned no
+end of nice things, and then&mdash;without a word to any one you
+disappeared. Now we meet again, and you will scarcely look at me. You
+seem altogether altered, too. Upon my word&mdash;you are Miss Pellissier,
+aren&#8217;t you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I certainly am,&#8221; she admitted.</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her for a moment in a puzzled sort of way.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course!&#8221; he said. &#8220;You have changed somehow&mdash;and you certainly are
+less friendly.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She laughed. After all, his was a pleasant face, and a pleasant voice,
+and very likely Annabel had behaved badly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps,&#8221; she said, &#8220;it is the London climate. It depresses one, you
+know.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You look more like your old self when you smile,&#8221; he remarked. &#8220;But,
+forgive me, you are tired. Won&#8217;t you come and have some tea with me?
+There is a new place in Bond Street,&#8221; he hastened to say, &#8220;where
+everything is very well done, and they give us music, if that is any
+attraction to you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She hesitated and looked for a moment straight into his eyes. He
+certainly bore inspection. He was tall and straight, and his
+expression was good.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will come&mdash;with pleasure,&#8221; she said, &#8220;if you will promise to treat
+me as a new acquaintance&mdash;not to refer to&mdash;Paris&mdash;at all.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I promise,&#8221; he answered heartily. &#8220;Allow me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He took his place by her side, and they talked lightly of London, the
+shops and people. They found a cosy little table in the tea-rooms, and
+everything was delicious. Anna, with her marvellous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>capacity for
+enjoyment, ate cakes and laughed, and forgot that she had had tea an
+hour or so ago at an A.B.C., or that she had a care in the world.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;By-the-bye,&#8221; he said, presently, &#8220;your sister was married to old
+Ferringhall the other day, wasn&#8217;t she? I saw the notice in the
+papers.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna never flinched. But after the first shock came a warm glow of
+relief. After all, it was what she had been praying for&mdash;and Annabel
+could not have known her address.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My sister and I,&#8221; she said slowly, &#8220;have seen very little of each
+other lately. I fancy that Sir John does not approve of me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sort of man who can see no further than his nose,&#8221; he remarked
+contemptuously. &#8220;Fearful old fogey! I can&#8217;t imagine any sister of
+yours putting up with him for a moment. I thought perhaps you were
+staying with them, as you did not seem particularly anxious to
+recognize your old friends.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, I am alone,&#8221; she answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then we must try and make London endurable for you,&#8221; he remarked
+cheerfully. &#8220;What night will you dine and go to the theatre with
+me?&mdash;and how about Hurlingham on Saturday?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; she said coolly. &#8220;Those things are not for me just at
+present.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He was obviously puzzled. Anna sighed as she reflected that her sister
+had simply revelled in her indiscretions.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you can&#8217;t be meaning to bury yourself. There must be
+something we can do. What do you say to Brighton&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna looked at him quietly&mdash;and he never finished his sentence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;May I ask whether you are staying with friends in town?&#8221; he inquired
+deferentially. &#8220;Perhaps your engagements are made for you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am staying,&#8221; she answered coolly, &#8220;at a small boarding-house near
+Russell Square.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He dropped his eye-glass with a clatter.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At a boarding-house?&#8221; he gasped.</p>
+
+<p>She nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes. I am an independent sort of person,&#8221; she continued, &#8220;and I am
+engaged in an attempt to earn my own living. You don&#8217;t happen to know
+of any one, I suppose, who wants a nursery <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>governess, or a
+clerk&mdash;without shorthand&mdash;or a tryer-on, or a copyist, or&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For Heaven&#8217;s sake stop, Miss Pellissier,&#8221; he interrupted. &#8220;What a
+hideous repertoire! If you are in earnest about wanting to earn money,
+why on earth don&#8217;t you accept an engagement here?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An engagement?&#8221; she queried.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;On the stage? Yes. You would not have the slightest difficulty.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She laughed softly to herself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you know,&#8221; she confessed, &#8220;I never thought of that?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her as though doubting even now whether she could
+possibly be in earnest.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I cannot conceive,&#8221; he said, &#8220;how any other occupation could ever
+have occurred to you. You do not need me to remind you of your success
+at Paris. The papers are continually wondering what has become of
+&#8216;Alcide.&#8217; Your name alone would fill any music hall in London.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again that curious smile which puzzled him so much parted her lips for
+a moment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear me,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I fancy you exaggerate my fame. I can&#8217;t imagine
+Londoners&mdash;particularly interested in me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He shrugged his shoulders. Even now he was not at all sure that she
+was not playing with him. There were so many things about her which he
+could not understand. She began to draw on her gloves thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am very much obliged for the tea,&#8221; she said. &#8220;This is a charming
+place, and I have enjoyed the rest.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was a delightful piece of good fortune that I should have met
+you,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I hope that whatever your plans may be, you will
+give me the opportunity of seeing something of you now and then.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid,&#8221; she said, preceding him down the narrow stairs, &#8220;that I
+am going to be too busy to have much time for gadding about. However,
+I daresay that we shall come across one another before long.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is provokingly indefinite,&#8221; he answered, a little ruefully.
+&#8220;Won&#8217;t you give me your address?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is such a very respectable boarding-house,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I feel
+quite sure that Mrs. White would not approve of callers.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have a clue, at any rate,&#8221; he remarked, smiling. &#8220;I must try the
+Directory.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>&#8220;I wish you good luck,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;There are a good many Whites in
+London.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;May I put you in a hansom?&#8221; he asked, lifting his stick.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For Heaven&#8217;s sake, no,&#8221; she answered quickly. &#8220;Do you want to ruin
+me? I shall walk back.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I may come a little way, then?&#8221; he begged.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you think it worth while,&#8221; she answered doubtfully.</p>
+
+<p>Apparently he thought it very much worth while. Restraining with an
+effort his intense curiosity, he talked of general subjects only,
+trying his best to entertain her. He succeeded so well that they were
+almost in Montague Street before Anna stopped short.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Heavens!&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;I have brought you very nearly to my door.
+Go back at once, please.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He held out his hand obediently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll go,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but I warn you that I shall find you out.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>For a moment she was grave.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I may be leaving where I am in a few days, so very
+likely you will be no better off.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her intently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Miss Pellissier,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I don&#8217;t understand this change in you.
+Every word you utter puzzles me. I have an idea that you are in some
+sort of trouble. Won&#8217;t you let me&mdash;can&#8217;t I be of any assistance?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He was obviously in earnest. His tone was kind and sympathetic.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are very good,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Indeed I shall not forget your offer.
+But just now there is nothing which you or anybody can do. Good-bye.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He was dismissed, and he understood it. Anna crossed the street, and
+letting herself in at No. 13 with a latchkey went humming lightly up
+to her room. She was in excellent spirits, and it was not until she
+had taken off her hat, and was considering the question of dinner or
+no dinner, that she remembered that another day had passed, and she
+was not a whit nearer being able to pay her to-morrow&#8217;s bill.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XI" id="Chapter_XI"></a><i>Chapter XI</i></h2>
+
+<h3>THE PUZZLEMENT OF NIGEL ENNISON</h3>
+
+<p>Nigel Ennison walked towards his club the most puzzled man in London.
+There could not, he decided, possibly be two girls so much alike.
+Besides, she had admitted her identity. And yet&mdash;he thought of the
+supper party where he had met Annabel Pellissier, the stories about
+her, his own few minutes&#8217; whispered love-making! He was a
+self-contained young man, but his cheeks grew hot at the thought of
+the things which it had seemed quite natural to say to her then, but
+which he knew very well would have been instantly resented by the girl
+whom he had just left. He went over her features one by one in his
+mind. They were the same. He could not doubt it. There was the same
+airy grace of movement, the same deep brown hair and alabaster skin.
+He found himself thinking up all the psychology which he had ever
+read. Was this the result of some strange experiment? It was the
+person of Annabel Pellissier&mdash;the soul of a very different order of
+being.</p>
+
+<p>He spent the remainder of the afternoon looking for a friend whom he
+found at last in the billiard room of one of the smaller clubs to
+which he belonged. After the usual laconic greetings, he drew him on
+one side.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Fred,&#8221; he said, &#8220;do you remember taking me to dinner at the
+&#8216;Ambassador&#8217;s,&#8217; one evening last September, to meet a girl who was
+singing there? Hamilton and Drummond and his lot were with us.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course,&#8221; his friend answered. &#8220;<i>La belle</i> &#8216;Alcide,&#8217; wasn&#8217;t it?
+Annabel Pellissier was her real name. Jolly nice girl, too.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I thought I saw her in town to-day,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Do you happen to know
+whether she is supposed to be here?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very likely indeed,&#8221; Captain Fred Meddoes answered, lighting a
+cigarette. &#8220;I heard that she had chucked her show at the French places
+and gone in for a reform all round. Sister&#8217;s got married to that
+bounder Ferringhall.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison took an easy chair.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;What a little brick!&#8221; he murmured. &#8220;She must have character. It&#8217;s no
+half reform either. What do you know about her, Fred? I am
+interested.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Meddoes turned round from the table on which he was practising shots
+and shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not much,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;and yet about all there is to be known, I
+fancy. There were two sisters, you know. Old Jersey and Hampshire
+family, the Pellissiers, and a capital stock, too, I believe.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Any one could see that the girls were ladies,&#8221; Ennison murmured.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No doubt about that,&#8221; Meddoes continued. &#8220;The father was in the army,
+and got a half-pay job at St. Heliers. Died short, I suppose, and the
+girls had to shift for themselves. One went in for painting, kept
+straight and married old Ferringhall a week or so ago&mdash;the Lord help
+her. The other kicked over the traces a bit, made rather a hit with
+her singing at some of those French places, and went the pace in a
+mild, ladylike sort of way. Cheveney was looking after her, I think,
+then. If she&#8217;s over, he probably knows all about it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison looked steadily at the cigarette which he was tapping on his
+forefinger.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So Cheveney was her friend, you think, eh?&#8221; he remarked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No doubt about that, I fancy,&#8221; Meddoes answered lightly. &#8220;He ran some
+Austrian fellow off. She was quite the rage, in a small way, you know.
+Strange, demure-looking young woman, with wonderful complexion and
+eyes, and a style about her, too. Care for a hundred up?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Can&#8217;t stop, thanks,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;See you to-night, I suppose?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He sauntered off.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m damned if I&#8217;ll believe it,&#8221; he muttered to himself savagely.</p>
+
+<p>But for the next few days he avoided Cheveney like the plague.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>The same night he met Meddoes and Drummond together, the latter over
+from Paris on a week&#8217;s leave from the Embassy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Odd thing,&#8221; Meddoes remarked, &#8220;we were just talking about the
+Pellissier girl. Drummond was telling me about the way old Ferringhall
+rounded upon them all at the club.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Sounds interesting,&#8221; Ennison remarked. &#8220;May I hear?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It really isn&#8217;t much to tell,&#8221; Drummond answered. &#8220;You know what a
+fearful old prig Ferringhall is, always goes about as though the whole
+world were watching him? We tried to show him around Paris, but he
+wouldn&#8217;t have any of it. Talked about his years, his position and his
+constituents, and always sneaked off back to his hotel just when the
+fun was going to begin. Well one night, some of us saw him, or thought
+we saw him, at a caf&eacute; dining with &#8216;Alcide,&#8217;&mdash;as a matter of fact, it
+seems that it was her sister. He came into the club next day, and of
+course we went for him thick. Jove, he didn&#8217;t take to it kindly, I can
+tell you. Stood on his dignity and shut us up in great style. It seems
+that he was a sort of family friend of the Pellissiers, and it was the
+artist sister whom he was with. The joke of it is that he&#8217;s married to
+her now, and cuts me dead.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I suppose,&#8221; Ennison said, &#8220;the likeness between the sisters must be
+rather exceptional?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I never saw the goody-goody one close to, so I can&#8217;t say,&#8221; Drummond
+answered. &#8220;Certainly I was a little way off at the caf&eacute;, and she had a
+hat and veil on, but I could have sworn that it was &#8216;Alcide.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is &#8216;Alcide&#8217; still in Paris?&#8221; Ennison asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t think so,&#8221; Drummond answered. &#8220;I heard the other day that she&#8217;d
+been taken in by some cad of a fellow who was cutting a great dash in
+Paris, personating Meysey Hill, the great railway man. Anyhow, she&#8217;s
+disappeared for some reason or other. Perhaps Ferringhall has
+pensioned her off. He&#8217;s the sort of johnny who wouldn&#8217;t care about
+having a sister-in-law on the loose.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ennison here thought he saw her in London,&#8221; Meddoes remarked.</p>
+
+<p>Drummond nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very likely. The two sisters were very fond of one another, I
+believe. Perhaps Sir John is going to take the other one under his
+wing. Who&#8217;s for a rubber of whist?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison made so many mistakes that he was glad to cut out early in the
+evening. He walked across the Park and called upon his sister.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is Lady Lescelles in?&#8221; he asked the butler.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Her ladyship dined at home,&#8221; the man answered. &#8220;I have just ordered a
+carriage for her. I believe that her ladyship is going to Carey House,
+and on to the Marquis of Waterford&#8217;s ball,&#8221; he added, hastily
+consulting a diary on the hall table.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p><p>A tall elegantly dressed woman, followed by a maid, came down the
+broad staircase.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is that you, Nigel?&#8221; she asked. &#8220;I hope you are going to Carey
+House.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He shook his head, and threw open the door of a great dimly-lit
+apartment on the ground floor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come in here a moment, will you, Blanche,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I want to speak
+to you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She assented, smiling. He was her only brother, and she his favourite
+sister. He closed the door.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I want to ask you a question,&#8221; he said. &#8220;A serious question.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She stopped buttoning her glove, and looked at him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You and all the rest of them are always lamenting that I do not
+marry. Supposing I made up my mind to marry some one of good enough
+family, but who was in a somewhat doubtful position, concerning whose
+antecedents, in fact there was a certain amount of scandal. Would you
+stand by me&mdash;and her?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear Nigel!&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;Are you serious?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You know very well that I should never joke on such a subject. Mind,
+I am anticipating events. Nothing is settled upon. It may be, it
+probably will all come to, nothing. But I want to know whether in such
+an event you would stand by me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She held out her hand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You can count upon me, Nigel,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But for you Dad would never
+have let me marry Lescelles. He was only a younger son, and you know
+what trouble we had. I am with you through thick and thin, Nigel.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He kissed her, and handed her into the carriage. Then he went back to
+his rooms and lit a cigar.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There are two things to be done,&#8221; he said softly to himself. &#8220;The
+first is to discover what she is here for, and where she is staying.
+The second is to somehow meet Lady Ferringhall. These fellows must be
+right,&#8221; he added thoughtfully, &#8220;and yet&mdash;there&#8217;s a mystery somewhere.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XII" id="Chapter_XII"></a><i>Chapter XII</i></h2>
+
+<h3>THE POSTER OF &#8220;ALCIDE&#8221;</h3>
+
+<p>On Saturday mornings there was deposited on the plate of each guest at
+breakfast time, a long folded paper with Mrs. White&#8217;s compliments.
+Anna thrust hers into her pocket unopened, and for the first time left
+the house without a smile upon her face. She was practically destitute
+of jewellery. The few pence left in her purse would only provide a
+very scanty lunch. Another day of non-success would mean many
+disagreeable things.</p>
+
+<p>And even she was forced to admit to herself that this last resource of
+hers was a slender reed on which to lean. She mounted the stairs of
+the theatrical agent&#8217;s office with very much less than her usual
+buoyancy, nor did she find much encouragement in the general
+appearance of the room into which she was shown. There was already a
+score or more of people there, some standing up and talking together,
+others seated in chairs ranged along the wall. Beyond was another
+door, on which was painted in black letters:</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+<span class="smcap">Mr. Earles</span>,<br />
+Strictly Private</p>
+
+<p>Every one stared at Anna. Anna stared back at every one with undaunted
+composure. A young man with shiny frock coat and very high collar,
+advanced towards her languidly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Want to see Mr. Earles?&#8221; he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do,&#8221; Anna answered. &#8220;Here is my card. Will you take it in to him?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The young man smiled in a superior manner.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Have to take your turn,&#8221; he remarked laconically. &#8220;There&#8217;s twenty
+before you, and Mr. Earles is going out at twelve sharp&mdash;important
+engagement. Better come another morning.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; Anna answered. &#8220;I will take my chance.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She removed some posters from a chair, and seated herself coolly. The
+young man looked at her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Unless you have an appointment, which you haven&#8217;t,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you&#8217;ll
+only waste your time here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can spare it,&#8221; Anna answered suavely.</p>
+
+<p>The young man entered into a lively little war of words with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>a
+yellow-haired young person near the door. Anna picked up an ancient
+magazine, and began to turn over the pages in a leisurely way. The
+conversation which her entrance had interrupted began to buzz again
+all around her. A quarter of an hour passed. Then the inner door
+opened abruptly. A tall, clean-shaven man came out and walked rapidly
+through the room, exchanging greetings right and left, but evidently
+anxious to avoid being detained. Mr. Earles himself stood upon the
+threshold of his sanctum, the prototype of the smart natty Jew, with
+black hair, waxed moustache, and a wired flower in his button-hole. A
+florid-looking young woman rose up and accosted him eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m next, Mr. Earles,&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;Been sitting on the doorstep
+almost for two hours.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In a minute, in a minute,&#8221; he answered, his eyes fixed upon Anna.
+&#8220;Reuben, come here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The young man obeyed the summons. His employer retreated into the
+further apartment, leaving the door ajar.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s that young lady&#8217;s name&mdash;girl in dark brown, stranger here?&#8221;
+Mr. Earles asked sharply.</p>
+
+<p>The youth produced a crumpled-up card from his waistcoat pocket. A
+sense of impending disaster was upon him. Mr. Earles glanced at it,
+and his eyes flashed with anger.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You blithering idiot!&#8221; he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Earles strode into the waiting-room. His face was wreathed in
+smiles, his be-ringed hand was cordially outstretched.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear Miss Pellissier,&#8221; he said impressively, &#8220;this is an
+unexpected pleasure. Come in! Come in, do. I must apologize for my
+young puppy of a clerk. If I had known that you were here you should
+not have been kept waiting for a second.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It took a good deal to surprise Anna, but it was all she could do to
+follow Mr. Earles with composure into the inner room. There was a
+little murmur of consternation from the waiting crowd, and the florid
+young woman showed signs of temper, to which Mr. Earles was absolutely
+indifferent. He installed Anna in a comfortable easy chair, and placed
+his own between her and the door.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come,&#8221; he said, &#8220;this is capital, capital. It was only a few months
+ago that I told you you must come to London, and you only laughed at
+me. Yet here you are, and at precisely the right moment, too.
+By-the-bye,&#8221; he added, in a suddenly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>altered tone, &#8220;I hope, I
+trust&mdash;that you have not entered into any arrangements with any one
+here?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&mdash;oh no!&#8221; Anna said, a little faintly. &#8220;I have made no arrangements
+as yet&mdash;none at all.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Earles recovered his spirits.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Excellent!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Your arrival is really most opportune. The
+halls are on the lookout for something new. By-the-bye, do you
+recognize that?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna looked and gasped. An enormous poster almost covered one side of
+the wall&mdash;<i>the</i> poster. The figure of the girl upon it in plain black
+dress, standing with her hands behind her, was an undeniable and
+astonishing likeness of herself. It was her figure, her style of
+dress, her manner of arranging the hair. Mr. Earles regarded it
+approvingly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A wonderful piece of work,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;A most wonderful likeness,
+too. I hope in a few days, Miss Pellissier, that these posters will be
+livening up our London hoardings.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna leaned back in the chair and laughed softly. Even this man had
+accepted her for &#8220;Alcide&#8221; without a moment&#8217;s question. Then all the
+embarrassments of the matter flashed in upon her. She was suddenly
+grave.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I suppose, Mr. Earles,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that if I were to tell you that
+although that poster was designed from a rough study of me, and
+although my name is Pellissier, that nevertheless, I am not &#8216;Alcide&#8217;
+would you believe me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You can try it on, if you like,&#8221; Mr. Earles remarked genially. &#8220;My
+only answer would be to ask you to look at that mirror and then at the
+poster. The poster is of &#8216;Alcide.&#8217; It&#8217;s a duplicate of the French
+one.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna got up and looked at the mirror and then at the poster. The
+likeness was ridiculous.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221; she said, sitting down again. &#8220;I want an engagement.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Capital!&#8221; Mr. Earles declared. &#8220;Any choice as to which of the Halls?
+You can pick and choose, you know. I recommend the &#8216;Unusual.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have no choice,&#8221; Anna declared.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can get you,&#8221; Mr. Earles said, slowly, keeping his eyes fixed upon
+her, &#8220;forty at the &#8216;Unusual,&#8217; two turns, encores voluntary, six for
+matin&eacute;es. We should not bar any engagements at private houses, but in
+other respects the arrangement must be exclusive.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Forty what?&#8221; Anna asked bewildered.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Guineas, of course,&#8221; Mr. Earles answered, glibly. &#8220;Forty guineas a
+week. I mentioned sixty, I believe, when I was in Paris, but there are
+expenses, and just now business is bad.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna was speechless, but she had presence of mind enough to sit still
+until she had recovered herself. Mr. Earles watched her anxiously. She
+appeared to be considering.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course,&#8221; he ventured, &#8220;I could try for more at the &#8216;Alhambra.&#8217; Very
+likely they would give&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I should be satisfied with the sum you mention,&#8221; Anna said quietly,
+&#8220;but there are difficulties.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t use such a word, my dear young lady,&#8221; Mr. Earles said
+persuasively. &#8220;Difficulties indeed. We&#8217;ll make short work of them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hope that you may,&#8221; Anna answered enigmatically. &#8220;In the first
+place, I have no objection to the posters, as they have no name on
+them, but I do not wish to appear at all upon the stage as &#8216;Alcide.&#8217;
+If you engage me it must be upon my own merits. You are taking it for
+granted that I am &#8216;Alcide.&#8217; As a matter of fact, I am not.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Excuse me,&#8221; Mr. Earles said, &#8220;but this is rubbish.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Call it what you like,&#8221; Anna answered. &#8220;I can sing the songs &#8216;Alcide&#8217;
+sang, and in the same style. But I will not be engaged as &#8216;Alcide&#8217; or
+advertised under that name.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Earles scratched his chin for a moment thoughtfully. Then a light
+seemed to break in upon him. He slapped his knee.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;By Jove!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Of course, I remember now. It was your
+sister who married Sir John Ferringhall the other day, wasn&#8217;t it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was,&#8221; she admitted.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You needn&#8217;t say a word more,&#8221; Mr. Earles declared. &#8220;I see the
+difficulty. The old fool&#8217;s been working on you through your sister to
+keep off the stage. He&#8217;s a prig to the finger-tips, is Sir
+John&mdash;doesn&#8217;t know what an artist is. It&#8217;s awkward, but we&#8217;ll get
+round it somehow. Now I&#8217;ll tell you what I propose. Let me run you for
+six months. I&#8217;ll give you, say, thirty-five guineas a week clear of
+expenses, and half of anything you earn above the two turns a night.
+What do you say?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I agree,&#8221; Anna said coldly, &#8220;if you will make it three months.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Better say six,&#8221; Mr. Earles protested, seating himself before the
+desk, and dipping his pen in the ink.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Four,&#8221; Anna decided firmly. &#8220;I shall not agree to six.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It scarcely gives me a chance,&#8221; Mr. Earles said, with a resigned
+sigh, &#8220;but I shall rely upon you to stick to me so long as I do the
+right thing by you. You can&#8217;t do without an agent, and there&#8217;s no one
+can run you better than I can.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must also put in the agreement,&#8221; Anna said, &#8220;that I do not
+represent myself to be &#8216;Alcide,&#8217; and that I am not advertised to the
+public by that name.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Earles threw down his pen with a little exclamation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come this way,&#8221; he said.</p>
+
+<p>He opened the door of still another room, in one corner of which was a
+grand piano. He seated himself before it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Go to the far corner,&#8221; he said, &#8220;and sing the last verse of <i>Les
+Petites</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He struck a note, and Anna responded. Playing with one hand he turned
+on his stool to glance at her. Instinctively she had fallen into the
+posture of the poster, her hands behind her, her head bent slightly
+forward, her chin uplifted, her eyes bright with the drollery of the
+song. Mr. Earles closed the piano with a little bang.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are a funny, a very funny young lady,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but we waste
+time here. You do not need my compliments. We will get on with the
+agreement and you shall have in it whatever rubbish you like.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna laughed, and went back to her easy chair. She knew that her voice
+was superior to Annabel&#8217;s, and she had no further qualms. Whilst she
+was wondering how to frame her request for an advance, Mr. Earles drew
+out his cheque book.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You will not object,&#8221; he said, glancing towards her, &#8220;to accepting a
+deposit. It is customary even where an agreement is drawn.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I shall have no objection at all,&#8221; Anna assured him.</p>
+
+<p>He handed her a cheque for thirty-one pounds, ten shillings, and read
+the agreement through to her. Anna took up the pen, and signed, after
+a moment&#8217;s hesitation,</p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">A. Pellissier</span>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will send you a copy,&#8221; Mr. Earles said, rubbing his hands together,
+&#8220;by post. Now, will you do me the honour of lunching with me, Miss
+Pellissier?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps,&#8221; he queried, &#8220;you wish to avoid being seen about with any
+one&mdash;er&mdash;connected with the profession, under present <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>circumstances.
+If so, do not hesitate to tell me. Be frank, I beg you, Miss
+Pellissier. I am already too much flattered that you should have given
+me your confidence.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are very good, Mr. Earles,&#8221; Anna said. &#8220;I think, perhaps if you
+will excuse me, that we will defer the luncheon.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Just as you wish,&#8221; Mr. Earles declared good-humouredly, &#8220;but I shall
+not let you go without drinking a glass of wine to our success.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He plunged into one of his drawers, and brought up a small gold-foiled
+bottle. The cork came out with a loud pop, and Anna could not help
+wondering how it must sound to the patient little crowd outside. She
+drank her glass of wine, however, and clanked glasses good-naturedly
+with Mr. Earles.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must leave me your address if you please,&#8221; he said, as she rose
+to go.</p>
+
+<p>She wrote it down. He looked at it with uplifted eyebrows, but made no
+remark.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I shall probably want you to come down to the &#8216;Unusual&#8217; to-morrow
+morning,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Bring any new songs you may have.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna nodded, and Mr. Earles attended her obsequiously to the door. She
+descended the stairs, and found herself at last in the street&mdash;alone.
+It was a brief solitude, however. A young man, who had been spending
+the last hour walking up and down on the opposite side of the way,
+came quickly over to her. She looked up, and recognized Mr. Brendon.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XIII" id="Chapter_XIII"></a><i>Chapter XIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3>&#8220;HE WILL NOT FORGET!&#8221;</h3>
+
+<p>The external changes in Brendon following on his alteration of fortune
+were sufficiently noticeable. From head to foot he was attired in the
+fashionable garb of the young man of the moment. Not only that, but he
+carried himself erect&mdash;the slight slouch which had bent his shoulders
+had altogether disappeared. He came to her at once, and turning,
+walked by her side.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now I should like to know,&#8221; she said, looking at him with a quiet
+smile, &#8220;what you are doing here? It is not a particularly inspiring
+neighbourhood for walking about by yourself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I plead guilty, Miss Pellissier,&#8221; he answered at once. &#8220;I saw you go
+into that place, and I have been waiting for you ever since.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am not sure whether I feel inclined to scold or thank you,&#8221; she
+declared. &#8220;I think as I feel in a good humour it must be the latter.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He faced her doggedly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Miss Pellissier,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I am going to take a liberty.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You alarm me,&#8221; she murmured, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t think that I have been playing the spy upon you,&#8221; he continued.
+&#8220;Neither Sydney nor I would think of such a thing. But we can&#8217;t help
+noticing. You have been going out every morning, and coming home
+late&mdash;tired out&mdash;too tired to come down to dinner. Forgive me, but you
+have been looking, have you not, for some employment?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Quite true!&#8221; she answered. &#8220;I have found out at last what a useless
+person I am&mdash;from a utilitarian point of view. It has been very
+humiliating.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And that, I suppose,&#8221; he said, waving his stick towards Mr. Earles&#8217;
+office, &#8220;was your last resource.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It certainly was,&#8221; she admitted. &#8220;I changed my last shilling
+yesterday.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He was silent for a moment or two. His lips were tight drawn. His eyes
+flashed as he turned towards her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you think that it is kind of you, Miss Pellissier,&#8221; he said,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>almost roughly, &#8220;to ignore your friends so? In your heart you know
+quite well that you could pay Sydney or me no greater compliment than
+to give us just a little of your confidence. We know London, and you
+are a stranger here. Surely our advice would have been worth having,
+at any rate. You might have spared yourself many useless journeys and
+disappointments, and us a good deal of anxiety. Instead, you are
+willing to go to a place like that where you ought not to be allowed
+to think of showing yourself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not?&#8221; she asked quietly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The very question shows your ignorance,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;You know
+nothing about the stage. You haven&#8217;t an idea what the sort of
+employment you could get there would be like, the sort of people you
+would be mixed up with. It is positively hateful to think of it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She laid her fingers for a moment upon his arm.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Brendon,&#8221; she said, &#8220;if I could ask for advice, or borrow money
+from any one, I would from you&mdash;there! But I cannot. I never could. I
+suppose I ought to have been a man. You see, I have had to look after
+myself so long that I have developed a terrible bump of independence.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Such independence,&#8221; he answered quickly, &#8220;is a vice. You see to what
+it has brought you. You are going to accept a post as chorus girl, or
+super, or something of that sort.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You do not flatter me,&#8221; she laughed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am too much in earnest,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;to be able to take this
+matter lightly.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am rebuked,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;I suppose my levity is incorrigible.
+But seriously, things are not so bad as you think.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He groaned.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They never seem so at first!&#8221; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You do not quite understand,&#8221; she said gently. &#8220;I will tell you the
+truth. It is true that I have accepted an engagement from Mr. Earles,
+but it is a good one. I am not going to be a chorus girl, or even a
+super. I have never told you so, or Sydney, but I can sing&mdash;rather
+well. When my father died, and we were left alone in Jersey, I was
+quite a long time deciding whether I would go in for singing
+professionally or try painting. I made a wrong choice, it seems&mdash;but
+my voice remains.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are really going on the stage, then?&#8221; he said slowly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In a sense&mdash;yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Brendon went very pale.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Miss Pellissier,&#8221; he said, &#8220;don&#8217;t!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not?&#8221; she asked, smiling. &#8220;I must live, you know.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t told any one the amount,&#8221; he went on. &#8220;It sounds too
+ridiculous. But I have two hundred thousand pounds. Will you marry
+me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna looked at him in blank amazement. Then she burst into a peal of
+laughter.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear boy,&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;How ridiculous! Fancy you with all that
+money! For heaven&#8217;s sake, though, do not go about playing the Don
+Quixote like this. It doesn&#8217;t matter with me, but there are at least a
+dozen young women in Mr. Earles&#8217; waiting-room who would march you
+straight off to a registrar&#8217;s office.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have not answered my question,&#8221; he reminded her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nor am I going to,&#8221; she answered, smiling. &#8220;I am going to ignore it.
+It was really very nice of you, but to-morrow you will laugh at it as
+I do now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is it necessary,&#8221; he said, &#8220;for me to tell you&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Stop, please,&#8221; she said firmly.</p>
+
+<p>Brendon was silent.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do not force me to take you seriously,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;I like to
+think of your offer. It was impulsive and natural. Now let us forget
+it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I understand,&#8221; he said, doggedly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And you must please not look at me as though I were an executioner,&#8221;
+she declared lightly. &#8220;I will tell you something if you like. One of
+the reasons why I left Paris and came to London was because there was
+a man there who wanted me to marry him. I really cared for him a
+little, but I am absolutely determined not to marry for some time at
+any rate. I do not want to get only a second-hand flavour of life. One
+can learn and understand only by personal experience, by actual
+contact with the realities of life. I did not want anything made
+smooth and easy for me. That is why I would not marry this man whom I
+did and whom I do care for a little. Later on&mdash;well then the time may
+come. Then perhaps I shall send for him if he has not forgotten.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do not know who he is,&#8221; Brendon said quietly, &#8220;but he will not
+forget.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna shrugged her shoulders lightly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who can tell?&#8221; she said. &#8220;Your sex is a terrible fraud. It is
+generally deficient in the qualities it prides itself upon most. Men
+do not understand constancy as women do.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p><p>Brendon was not inclined to be led away from the point.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We will take it then,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that you have refused or ignored one
+request I have made you this morning. I have yet another. Let me lend
+you some money. Between comrades it is the most usual thing in the
+world, and I do not see how your sex intervenes. Let me keep you from
+that man&#8217;s clutches. Then we can look out together for such
+employment&mdash;as would be more suitable for you. I know London better
+than you, and I have had to earn my own living. You cannot refuse me
+this.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her anxiously, and she met his glance with a dazzling
+smile of gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Indeed,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I would not. But it is no longer necessary. I
+cannot tell you much about it, but my bad times are over for the
+present. I will tell you what you shall give me, if you like.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lunch! I am hungry&mdash;tragically hungry.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He called for a hansom.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;After all,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I am not sure that you are not a very material
+person.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am convinced of it,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;Let us go to that little place
+at the back of the Palace. I&#8217;m not half smart enough for the West
+End.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wherever you like!&#8221; he answered, a little absently.</p>
+
+<p>They alighted at the restaurant, and stood for a moment in the passage
+looking into the crowded room. Suddenly a half stifled exclamation
+broke from Anna&#8217;s lips. Brendon felt his arm seized. In a moment they
+were in the street outside. Anna jumped into a waiting hansom.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Tell him to drive&mdash;anywhere,&#8221; she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>Brendon told him the name of a distant restaurant and sprang in by her
+side. She was looking anxiously at the entrance to the restaurant. The
+commissionaire stood there, tall and imperturbable. There was no one
+else in the doorway. She leaned back in the corner of the cab with a
+little sigh of relief. A smile flickered upon her lips as she glanced
+towards Brendon, who was very serious indeed. Her sense of humour
+could not wholly resist his abnormal gravity.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am so sorry to have startled you,&#8221; she said, &#8220;but I was startled
+myself. I saw someone in there whom I have always hoped that I should
+never meet again. I hope&mdash;I am sure that he did not see me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He certainly did not follow you out,&#8221; Brendon answered.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;His back was towards me,&#8221; Anna said. &#8220;I saw his face in a mirror. I
+wonder&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;London is a huge place,&#8221; Brendon said. &#8220;Even if he lives here you may
+go all your life and never come face to face with him again.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XIV" id="Chapter_XIV"></a><i>Chapter XIV</i></h2>
+
+<h3>&#8220;THIS IS MY WIFE&#8221;</h3>
+
+<p>Anna, notwithstanding her momentary fright in the middle of the day,
+was in high spirits. She felt that for a time at any rate her
+depressing struggle against continual failure was at an end. She had
+paid her bill, and she had enough left in her purse to pay many such.
+Beyond that everything was nebulous. She knew that in her new r&ocirc;le she
+was as likely as not to be a rank failure. But the relief from the
+strain of her immediate necessities was immense. She had been in the
+drawing-room for a few minutes before the gong had sounded, and had
+chattered gaily to every one. Now, in her old place, she was doing her
+best thoroughly to enjoy a most indifferent dinner.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your brother has gone?&#8221; she asked Sydney, between the courses.</p>
+
+<p>He nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes. David left this afternoon. I do not think that he has quite got
+over his surprise at finding you established here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She laughed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;After all, why should he be surprised?&#8221; she remarked. &#8220;Of course, one
+lives differently in Paris, but then&mdash;Paris is Paris. I think that a
+boarding-house is the very best place for a woman who wants to develop
+her sense of humour. Only I wish that it did not remind one so much of
+a second-hand clothes shop.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sydney looked at her doubtfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now I suppose Brendon understands exactly what you mean,&#8221; he
+remarked. &#8220;He looks as though he did, at any rate. I don&#8217;t! Please
+enlighten me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She laughed gaily&mdash;and she had a way when she laughed of throwing back
+her head and showing her beautiful white teeth, so that mirth from her
+was a thing very much to be desired.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Look round the table,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Aren&#8217;t we all just odds and ends of
+humanity&mdash;the left-overs, you know. There is something inconglomerate
+about us. We are amiable to one another, but we don&#8217;t mix. We can&#8217;t.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;You and I and Brendon get on all right, don&#8217;t we?&#8221; Sydney objected.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But that&#8217;s quite different,&#8221; replied Anna. &#8220;You are neither of you in
+the least like the ordinary boarding-house young man. You don&#8217;t wear a
+dinner coat with a flower in your button-hole, or last night&#8217;s shirt,
+or very glossy boots, nor do you haunt the drawing-room in the
+evening, or play at being musical. Besides&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She stopped short. She herself, and one other there, recognized the
+interposition of something akin to tragedy. A thickly-set, sandy young
+man, with an unwholesome complexion and grease-smooth hair, had
+entered the room. He wore a black tail coat buttoned tightly over his
+chest, and a large diamond pin sparkled in a white satin tie which had
+seen better days. He bowed awkwardly to Mrs. White, who held out her
+hand and beamed a welcome upon him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now isn&#8217;t this nice!&#8221; that lady exclaimed. &#8220;I&#8217;m sure we&#8217;re all
+delighted to see you again, Mr. Hill. I do like to see old friends
+back here. If there&#8217;s any one here whom you have not met I will make
+you acquainted with them after dinner. Will you take your old place by
+Miss Ellicot.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Ellicot swept aside her skirts from the vacant chair and welcomed
+the newcomer with one of her most engaging smiles.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We were afraid that you had deserted us for good, Mr. Hill,&#8221; she said
+graciously. &#8220;I suppose Paris is very, very distracting. You must come
+and tell me all about it, although I am not sure whether we shall
+forgive you for not having written to any of us.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hill was exchanging greetings with his hostess, and salutations
+around the table.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, ma&#8217;am. Glad to get back, I&#8217;m sure,&#8221; he said briskly.
+&#8220;Looks like old times here, I see. Sorry I&#8217;m a bit late the first
+evening. Got detained in the City, and&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Then he met the fixed, breathless gaze of those wonderful eyes from
+the other side of the table, and he, too, broke off in the middle of
+his sentence. He breathed heavily, as though he had been running. His
+large, coarse lips drew wider apart. Slowly a mirthless and very
+unpleasant smile dawned upon his face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Great Scott!&#8221; he exclaimed huskily. &#8220;Why&mdash;it&#8217;s&mdash;it&#8217;s you!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Amazement seemed to dry up the torrents of his speech. The girl
+regarded him with the face of a Sphinx. Only in her <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>eyes there seemed
+to be some apprehension of the fact that the young man&#8217;s clothes and
+manners were alike undesirable things.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Are you speaking to me?&#8221; she asked calmly. &#8220;I am afraid that you are
+making a mistake. I am quite sure that I do not know you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A dull flush burned upon his cheeks. He took his seat at the table,
+but leaned forward to address her. A note of belligerency had crept
+into his tone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t know me, eh? I like that. You are&mdash;or rather you were&mdash;&mdash;&#8221; he
+corrected himself with an unpleasant little laugh, &#8220;Miss Pellissier,
+eh?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A little sensation followed upon his words. Miss Ellicot pursed her
+lips and sat a little more upright. The lady whose husband had been
+Mayor of Hartlepool looked at Anna and sniffed. Mrs. White became
+conscious of a distinct sense of uneasiness, and showed it in her
+face. She was obliged, as she explained continually to every one who
+cared to listen, to be so very particular. On the other hand the two
+young men who sat on either side of Anna were already throwing
+murderous glances at the newcomer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My name,&#8221; Anna replied calmly, &#8220;is certainly Pellissier, but I repeat
+that I do not know you. I never have known you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He unfolded his serviette with fingers which shook all the time. His
+eyes never left her face. An ugly flush stained his cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve plenty of pals,&#8221; he said, &#8220;who, when they&#8217;ve been doing Paris on
+the Q.T., like to forget all about it&mdash;even their names. But you&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Something seemed to catch his breath. He never finished his sentence.
+There was a moment&#8217;s breathless and disappointed silence. If only he
+had known it, sympathy was almost entirely with him. Anna was no
+favourite at No. 13 Montague Street.</p>
+
+<p>She shrugged her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You appear,&#8221; she said, without any sign of anger in her tone, and
+with unruffled composure, &#8220;to be a very impertinent person. Do you
+mind talking to some one else.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. White leaned forward in her chair with an anxious smile designed
+to throw oil upon the troubled waters.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We mustn&#8217;t have any unpleasantness, and Mr. Hill&#8217;s
+first night back amongst us, too. No doubt there&#8217;s some little
+mistake. We all get deceived sometimes. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>Mr. Hill, I hope you won&#8217;t
+find everything cold. You&#8217;re a little late, you must remember, and we
+are punctual people here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I shall do very well, thank you, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; he answered shortly.</p>
+
+<p>Sydney and Brendon vied with one another in their efforts to engage
+Anna in conversation, and Miss Ellicot, during the momentary lull,
+deemed it a favourable opportunity to recommence siege operations. The
+young man was mollified by her sympathy, and flattered by the obvious
+attempts of several of the other guests to draw him into conversation.
+Yet every now and then, during the progress of the meal, his attention
+apparently wandered, and leaning forward he glanced covertly at Anna
+with a curious mixture of expressions on his face.</p>
+
+<p>Anna rose a few minutes before the general company. At the same time
+Sydney and Brendon also vacated their places. To reach the door they
+had to pass the end of the table, and behind the chair where Mr. Hill
+was seated. He rose deliberately to his feet and confronted them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I should like to speak to you for a few minutes,&#8221; he said to Anna,
+dropping his voice a little. &#8220;It is no good playing a game. We had
+better have it over.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She eyed him scornfully. In any place her beauty would have been an
+uncommon thing. Here, where every element of her surroundings was
+tawdry and commonplace, and before this young man of vulgar origin and
+appearance, it was striking.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do not know you,&#8221; she said coldly. &#8220;I have nothing to say to you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He stood before the door. Brendon made a quick movement forward. She
+laid her hand upon his arm.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Please don&#8217;t,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It really is not necessary. Be so good as
+to let me pass, sir,&#8221; she added, looking her obstructor steadily in
+the face.</p>
+
+<p>He hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This is all rot!&#8221; he declared angrily. &#8220;You can&#8217;t think that I&#8217;m fool
+enough to be put off like this.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She glanced at Brendon, who stood by her side, tall and threatening.
+Her eyebrows were lifted in expostulation. A faint, delightfully
+humorous smile parted her lips.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;After all,&#8221; she said, &#8220;if this person will not be reasonable, I am
+afraid&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was enough. A hand of iron fell upon the scowling young man&#8217;s
+shoulder.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Be so good as to stand away from that door at once, sir,&#8221; Brendon
+ordered.</p>
+
+<p>Hill lost a little of his truculency. He knew very well that his
+muscles were flabby, and his nerve by no means what it should be. He
+was no match for Brendon. He yielded his place and struck instead with
+his tongue. He turned to Mrs. White.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry, ma&#8217;am, to seem the cause of any disturbance, but this,&#8221; he
+pointed to Anna, &#8220;is my wife.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The sensation produced was gratifying enough. The man&#8217;s statement was
+explicit, and spoken with confidence. Every one looked at Anna. For a
+moment she too had started and faltered in her exit from the room. Her
+fingers clutched the side of the door as though to steady herself. She
+caught her breath, and her eyes were lit with a sudden terror. She
+recovered herself, however, with amazing facility. Scarcely any one
+noticed the full measure of her consternation. From the threshold she
+looked her accuser steadily and coldly in the face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What you have said is a ridiculous falsehood,&#8221; she declared
+scornfully. &#8220;I do not even know who you are.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She swept out of the room. Hill would have followed her, but Mrs.
+White and Miss Ellicot laid each a hand upon his arm, one on either
+side. The echoes of his hard, unpleasant laugh reached Anna on her way
+upstairs.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>It was a queer little bed-sitting-room almost in the roof, with a
+partition right across it. As usual Brendon lit the candles, and
+Sydney dragged out the spirit-lamp and set it going. Anna opened a
+cupboard and produced cups and saucers and a tin of coffee.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Only four spoonsful left,&#8221; she declared briskly, &#8220;and your turn to
+buy the next pound, Sydney.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Right!&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I&#8217;ll bring it to-morrow. Fresh ground, no
+chicory, and all the rest of it. But&mdash;Miss Pellissier!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Are you quite sure that you want us this evening? Wouldn&#8217;t you rather
+be alone? Just say the word, and we&#8217;ll clear out like a shot.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She laughed softly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are afraid,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that the young man who thinks that he is
+my husband has upset me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Madman!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Blithering ass!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The girl looked into the two indignant faces and held out both her
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re very nice, both of you,&#8221; she said gently. &#8220;But I&#8217;m afraid you
+are going to be in a hopeless minority here as regards me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They eyed her incredulously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t imagine,&#8221; Sydney exclaimed, &#8220;that the people downstairs
+will be such drivelling asses as to believe piffle like that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna measured out the coffee. Her eyes were lit with a gleam of
+humour. After all, it was really rather funny.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; she said thoughtfully. &#8220;I always notice that
+people find it very easy to believe what they want to believe, and you
+see I&#8217;m not in the least popular. Miss Ellicot, for instance,
+considers me a most improper person.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Miss Ellicot! That old cat!&#8221; Sydney exclaimed indignantly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Miss Ellicot!&#8221; Brendon echoed. &#8220;As if it could possibly matter what
+such a person thinks of you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna laughed outright.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are positively eloquent to-night&mdash;both of you,&#8221; she declared.
+&#8220;But, you see, appearances are very much against me. He knew my name,
+and also that I had been living in Paris, and a man doesn&#8217;t risk
+claiming a girl for his wife, as a rule, for nothing. He was painfully
+in earnest, too. I think you will find that his story will be
+believed, whatever I say; and in any case, if he is going to stay on
+here, I shall have to go away.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t say that,&#8221; Sydney begged. &#8220;We will see that he never annoys
+you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He is evidently a friend of Mrs. White&#8217;s,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and if he is
+going to persist in this delusion, we cannot both remain here. I&#8217;d
+rather not go,&#8221; she added. &#8220;This is much the cheapest place I know of
+where things are moderately clean, and I should hate rooms all by
+myself. Dear me, what a nuisance it is to have a pseudo husband shot
+down upon one from the skies.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And such a beast of a one,&#8221; Sydney remarked vigorously.</p>
+
+<p>Brendon looked across the room at her thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wonder,&#8221; he said, &#8220;is there anything we could do to help you to get
+rid of him?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>&#8220;Can you think of anything?&#8221; Anna answered. &#8220;I can&#8217;t! He appears to be
+a most immovable person.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Brendon hesitated for a moment. He was a little embarrassed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There ought to be some means of getting at him,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The fellow
+seems to know your name, Miss Pellissier, and that you have lived in
+Paris. Might we ask you if you have ever seen him, if you knew him at
+all before this evening?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She stood up suddenly, and turning her back to them, looked steadily
+out of the window. Below was an uninspiring street, a thoroughfare of
+boarding-houses and apartments. The steps, even the pavements, were
+invaded by little knots of loungers driven outside by the unusual heat
+of the evening, most of them in evening dress, or what passed for
+evening dress in Montague Street. The sound of their strident voices
+floated upwards, the high nasal note of the predominant Americans, the
+shrill laughter of girls quick to appreciate the wit of such of their
+male companions as thought it worth while to be amusing. A young man
+was playing the banjo. In the distance a barrel-organ was grinding out
+a <i>pot pourri</i> of popular airs. Anna raised her eyes. Above the
+housetops it was different. She drew a long breath. After all, why
+need one look down. Always the other things remained.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that I would rather not have anything to say
+about that man.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t necessary,&#8221; they both declared breathlessly.</p>
+
+<p>Brendon dismissed the subject with a wave of the hand. He glanced at
+his watch.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let us walk round to Covent Garden,&#8221; he suggested. &#8220;I daresay the
+gallery will be full, but there is always the chance, and I know you
+two are keen on Melba.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The girl shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not to-night,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I have to go out.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They hesitated. As a rule their comings and goings were discussed with
+perfect confidence, but on this occasion they both felt that there was
+intent in her silence as to her destination. Nevertheless Sydney,
+clumsily, but earnestly, had something to say about it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid&mdash;I really think that one of us ought to go with you,&#8221; he
+said. &#8220;That beast of a fellow is certain to be hanging about.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is a secret mission,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;There are policemen&mdash;and
+buses.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>&#8220;You shall not need either,&#8221; Brendon said grimly. &#8220;We will see that he
+doesn&#8217;t follow you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She thanked him with a look and rose to her feet.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Go down and rescue the rags of my reputation,&#8221; she said, smiling. &#8220;I
+expect it is pretty well in shreds by now. To-morrow morning I shall
+have made up my mind what to do.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XV" id="Chapter_XV"></a><i>Chapter XV</i></h2>
+
+<h3>A MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE</h3>
+
+<p>Anna looked about her admiringly. It was just such a bedroom as she
+would have chosen for herself. The colouring was green and white, with
+softly shaded electric lights, an alcove bedstead, which was a miracle
+of daintiness, white furniture, and a long low dressing-table littered
+all over with a multitude of daintily fashioned toilet appliances.
+Through an open door was a glimpse of the bathroom&mdash;a vision of
+luxury, out of which Annabel herself, in a wonderful dressing-gown and
+followed by a maid presently appeared.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Too bad to keep you waiting,&#8221; Annabel exclaimed. &#8220;I&#8217;m really very
+sorry. Collins, you can go now. I will ring if I want you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The maid discreetly withdrew, and Anna stood transfixed, gazing with
+puzzled frown at her sister.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Annabel! Why, what on earth have you been doing to yourself, child?&#8221;
+she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>Annabel laughed a little uneasily.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The very question, my dear sister,&#8221; she said, &#8220;tells me that I have
+succeeded. Dear me, what a difference it has made! No one would ever
+think that we were sisters. Don&#8217;t you think that the shade of my hair
+is lovely?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is nothing particular the matter with the shade,&#8221; Anna
+answered, &#8220;but it is not nearly so becoming as before you touched it.
+And what on earth do you want to darken your eyebrows and use so much
+make-up for at your age? You&#8217;re exactly twenty-three, and you&#8217;re got
+up as much as a woman of forty-five.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel shrugged her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I only use the weeniest little dab of rouge,&#8221; she declared, &#8220;and it
+is really necessary, because I want to get rid of the &#8216;pallor
+effect.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna made no remark. Her disapproval was obvious enough. Annabel saw
+it, and suddenly changed her tone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are very stupid, Anna,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Can you not understand? It is
+of no use your taking my identity and all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>the burden of my iniquities
+upon your dear shoulders if I am to be recognized the moment I show my
+face in London. That is why I have dyed my hair, that is why I have
+abandoned my r&ocirc;le of <i>ingenu&egrave;e</i> and altered my whole style of dress.
+Upon my word, Anna,&#8221; she declared, with a strange little laugh, &#8220;you
+are a thousand times more like me as I was two months ago than I am
+myself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A sudden sense of the gravity of this thing came home to Anna. Her
+sister&#8217;s words were true. They had changed identities absolutely. It
+was not for a week or a month. It was for ever. A cold shiver came
+over her. That last year in Paris, when Annabel and she had lived in
+different worlds, had often been a nightmare to her. Annabel had taken
+her life into her hands with gay <i>insouciance</i>, had made her own
+friends, gone her own way. Anna never knew whither it had led
+her&mdash;sometimes she had fears. It was her past now, not Annabel&#8217;s.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is very good of you to come and see me, my dear sister,&#8221; Annabel
+remarked, throwing herself into a low chair, and clasping her hands
+over her head. &#8220;To tell you the truth, I am a little dull.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where is your husband?&#8221; Anna asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He is addressing a meeting of his constituents somewhere,&#8221; Annabel
+answered. &#8220;I do not suppose he will be home till late. Tell me how are
+you amusing yourself?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna laughed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have been amusing myself up to now by trying to earn my living,&#8221;
+she replied.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hope,&#8221; Annabel answered lazily, &#8220;that you have succeeded.
+By-the-bye, do you want any money? Sir John&#8217;s ideas of pin money are
+not exactly princely, but I can manage what you want, I dare say.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; Anna answered coldly. &#8220;I am not in need of any. I might
+add that in any case I should not touch Sir John&#8217;s.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s rather a pity,&#8221; Annabel said. &#8220;He wants to settle something on
+you, I believe. It is really amusing. He lives in constant dread of a
+reappearance of &#8216;<i>La Belle Alcide</i>,&#8217; and hearing it said that she is
+his wife&#8217;s sister. Bit priggish, isn&#8217;t it? And if he only knew it&mdash;so
+absurd. Tell me how you are earning your living here,
+Anna&mdash;typewriting, or painting, or lady&#8217;s companion?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; Anna said, &#8220;that the less you know about me the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>better. Is
+all your house on the same scale of magnificence as this, Annabel?&#8221;
+she asked, looking round.</p>
+
+<p>Annabel shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Most of it is ugly and frowsy,&#8221; she declared, &#8220;but it isn&#8217;t worth
+talking about. I have made up my mind to insist upon moving from here
+into Park Lane, or one of the Squares. It is absolutely a frightful
+neighbourhood, this. If only you could see the people who have been to
+call on me! Sir John has the most absurd ideas, too. He won&#8217;t have
+menservants inside the house, and his collection of carriages is only
+fit for a museum&mdash;where most of his friends ought to be, by-the-bye. I
+can assure you, Anna, it will take me years to get decently
+established. The man&#8217;s as obstinate as a mule.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna looked at her steadily.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He will find it difficult no doubt to alter his style of living,&#8221;
+she said. &#8220;I do not blame him. I hope you will always remember&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel held out her hands with a little cry of protest.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No lecturing, Anna!&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;I hope you have not come for
+that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I came,&#8221; Anna answered, looking her sister steadily in the face, &#8220;to
+hear all that you can tell me about a man named Hill.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel had been lying curled up on the lounge, the personification of
+graceful animal ease. At Anna&#8217;s words she seemed suddenly to stiffen.
+Her softly intertwined fingers became rigid. The little spot of rouge
+was vivid enough now by reason of this new pallor, which seemed to
+draw the colour even from her lips. But she did not speak. She made no
+attempt to answer her sister&#8217;s question. Anna looked at her curiously,
+and with sinking heart.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must answer me, Annabel,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;You must tell me the
+truth, please. It is necessary.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel rose slowly to her feet, walked to the door as though to see
+that it was shut, and came back with slow lagging footsteps.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There was a man called Montague Hill,&#8221; she said hoarsely, &#8220;but he is
+dead.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then there is also,&#8221; Anna remarked, &#8220;a Montague Hill who is very much
+alive. Not only that, but he is here in London. I have just come from
+him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel no longer attempted to conceal her emotion. She battled with a
+deadly faintness, and she tottered rather than <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>walked back to her
+seat. Anna, quitting her chair, dropped on her knees by her sister&#8217;s
+side and took her hand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do not be frightened, dear,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You must tell me the truth,
+and I will see that no harm comes to you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The only Montague Hill I ever knew,&#8221; Annabel said slowly, &#8220;is dead. I
+know he is dead. I saw him lying on the footway. I felt his heart. It
+had ceased to beat. It was a motor accident&mdash;a fatal motor accident
+the evening papers called it. They could not have called it a fatal
+motor accident if he had not been dead.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I remember,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It was the night you left Paris. They
+thought that he was dead at first, and they took him to the hospital.
+I believe that his recovery was considered almost miraculous.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Alive,&#8221; Annabel moaned, her eyes large with terror. &#8220;You say that he
+is alive.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He is certainly alive,&#8221; Anna declared. &#8220;More than that, he arrived
+to-day at the boarding-house where I am staying, greeted me with a
+theatrical start, and claimed me&mdash;as his wife. That is why I am here.
+You must tell me what it all means.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And you?&#8221; Annabel exclaimed. &#8220;What did you say?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, I considered myself justified in denying it,&#8221; Anna answered
+drily. &#8220;He produced what he called a marriage certificate, and I
+believe that nearly every one in the boarding-house, including Mrs.
+White, my landlady, believes his story. I am fairly well hardened in
+iniquity&mdash;your iniquity, Annabel&mdash;but I decline to have a husband
+thrust upon me. I really cannot have anything to do with Mr. Montague
+Hill.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A&mdash;marriage certificate!&#8221; Annabel gasped.</p>
+
+<p>Anna glanced into her sister&#8217;s face, and rose to her feet.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let me get you some water, Annabel. Don&#8217;t be frightened, dear.
+Remember&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel clutched her sister&#8217;s arm. She would not let her move. She
+seemed smitten with a paroxysm of fear.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A thick-set, coarse-looking young man, Anna!&#8221; she exclaimed in a
+hoarse excited whisper. &#8220;He has a stubbly yellow moustache, weak eyes,
+and great horrid hands.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is the same man, Annabel,&#8221; she said. &#8220;There is no doubt whatever
+about that. There was the motor accident, too. It is the same man, for
+he raved in the hospital, and they fetched me. It was you, of course,
+whom he wanted.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Alive! In London!&#8221; Annabel moaned.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes. Pull yourself together, Annabel! I must have the truth.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The girl on the lounge drew a long sobbing breath.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You shall,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Listen! There was a Meysey Hill in Paris, an
+American railway millionaire. This man and he were alike, and about
+the same age. Montague Hill was taken for the millionaire once or
+twice, and I suppose it flattered his vanity. At any rate, he began to
+deliberately personate him. He sent me flowers. Celeste introduced him
+to me&mdash;oh, how Celeste hated me! She must have known. He&mdash;wanted to
+marry me. Just then&mdash;I was nervous. I had gone further than I meant
+to&mdash;with some Englishmen. I was afraid of being talked about. You
+don&#8217;t know, Anna, but when one is in danger one realizes that the&mdash;the
+other side of the line is Hell. The man was mad to marry me. I heard
+everywhere of his enormous riches and his generosity. I consented. We
+went to the Embassy. There was&mdash;a service. Then he took me out to
+Monteaux, on a motor. We were to have breakfast there and return in
+the evening. On the way he confessed. He was a London man of business,
+spending a small legacy in Paris. He had heard me sing&mdash;the fool
+thought himself in love with me. Celeste he knew. She was chaffing him
+about being taken for Meysey Hill, and suggested that he should be
+presented to me as the millionaire. He told me with a coarse nervous
+laugh. I was his wife. We were to live in some wretched London suburb.
+His salary was a few paltry hundreds a year. Anna, I listened to all
+that he had to say, and I called to him to let me get out. He laughed.
+I tried to jump, but he increased the speed. We were going at a mad
+pace. I struck him across the mouth, and across the eyes. He lost
+control of the machine. I jumped then&mdash;I was not even shaken. I saw
+the motor dashed to pieces against the wall, and I saw him pitched on
+his head into the road. I leaned over and looked at him&mdash;he was quite
+still. I could not hear his heart beat. I thought that he was dead. I
+stole away and walked to the railway station. That night in Paris I
+saw on the bills &#8216;Fatal Motor Accidents.&#8217; <i>Le Petit Journal</i> said that
+the man was dead. I was afraid that I might be called upon as a
+witness. That is why I was so anxious to leave Paris. The man who came
+to our rooms, you know, that night was his friend.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The good God!&#8221; Anna murmured, herself shaken with fear. &#8220;You were
+married to him!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;It could not be legal,&#8221; Annabel moaned. &#8220;It couldn&#8217;t be. I thought
+that I was marrying Meysey Hill, not that creature. We stepped from
+the Embassy into the motor&mdash;and oh! I thought that he was dead. Why
+didn&#8217;t he die?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna sprang to her feet and walked restlessly up and down the room.
+Annabel watched her with wide-open, terrified eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You won&#8217;t give me away, Anna. He would never recognize me now. You
+are much more like what I was then.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna stopped in front of her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t propose, do you,&#8221; she said quietly, &#8220;that I should take
+this man for my husband?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You can drive him away,&#8221; Annabel cried. &#8220;Tell him that he is mad. Go
+and live somewhere else.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In his present mood,&#8221; Anna remarked, &#8220;he would follow me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you are strong and brave,&#8221; Annabel murmured. &#8220;You can keep him at
+arm&#8217;s length. Besides, it was under false pretences. He told me that
+he was a millionaire. It could not be a legal marriage.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am very much afraid,&#8221; Anna answered, &#8220;that it was. It might be
+upset. I am wondering whether it would not be better to tell your
+husband everything. You will never be happy with this hanging over
+you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel moistened her dry lips with a handkerchief steeped in eau de
+Cologne.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t know him, Anna,&#8221; she said with a little shudder, &#8220;or you
+would not talk like that. He is steeped in the conventions. Every
+slight action is influenced by what he imagines would be the opinion
+of other people. Anything in the least irregular is like poison to
+him. He has no imagination, no real generosity. You might tell the
+truth to some men, but never to him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna was thoughtful. A conviction that her sister&#8217;s words were true
+had from the first possessed her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Annabel,&#8221; she said slowly, &#8220;if I fight this thing out myself, can I
+trust you that it will not be a vain sacrifice? After what you have
+said it is useless for us to play with words. You do not love your
+husband, you have married him for a position&mdash;to escape from&mdash;things
+which you feared. Will you be a faithful and honest wife? Will you do
+your duty by him, and forget all your past follies? Unless, Annabel,
+you can&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I will pledge you my word,&#8221; Annabel cried passionately, &#8220;my
+solemn word. Believe me, Anna. Oh, you must believe me. I have been
+very foolish, but it is over.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Remember that you are young still, and fond of admiration,&#8221; Anna
+said. &#8220;You will not give Sir John any cause for jealousy? You will
+have no secrets from him except&mdash;concerning those things which are
+past?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Anna, I swear it!&#8221; her sister sobbed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I will do what I can,&#8221; Anna promised. &#8220;I believe that you are
+quite safe. He has had brain fever since, and, as you say, I am more
+like what you were then than you yourself are now. I don&#8217;t think for a
+moment that he would recognize you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel clutched her sister&#8217;s hands. The tears were streaming down her
+face, her voice was thick with sobs.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Anna, you are the dearest, bravest sister in the world,&#8221; she cried.
+&#8220;Oh, I can&#8217;t thank you. You dear, dear girl. I&mdash;listen.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They heard a man&#8217;s voice outside.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sir John!&#8221; Annabel gasped.</p>
+
+<p>Anna sprang to her feet and made for the dressing-room door.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;One moment, if you please!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She stopped short and looked round. Sir John stood upon the threshold.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XVI" id="Chapter_XVI"></a><i>Chapter XVI</i></h2>
+
+<h3>THE DISCOMFITURE OF SIR JOHN</h3>
+
+<p>Sir John looked from one to the other of the two sisters. His face
+darkened.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My arrival appears to be opportune,&#8221; he said stiffly. &#8220;I was hoping
+to be able to secure a few minutes&#8217; conversation with you, Miss
+Pellissier. Perhaps my wife has already prepared you for what I wish
+to say.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not in the least,&#8221; Anna answered calmly. &#8220;We have scarcely mentioned
+your name.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John coughed. He looked at Annabel, whose face was buried in her
+hands&mdash;he looked back at Anna, who was regarding him with an easy
+composure which secretly irritated him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is concerning&mdash;our future relations,&#8221; Sir John pronounced
+ponderously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Indeed!&#8221; Anna answered indifferently. &#8220;That sounds interesting.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John frowned. Anna was unimpressed. Elegant, a little scornful,
+she leaned slightly against the back of a chair and looked him
+steadily in the eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have no wish,&#8221; he said, &#8220;to altogether ignore the fact that you are
+my wife&#8217;s sister, and have therefore a certain claim upon me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna&#8217;s eyes opened a little wider, but she said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A claim,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;which I am quite prepared to recognize. It
+will give me great pleasure to settle an annuity for a moderate amount
+upon you on certain conditions.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A&mdash;what?&#8221; Anna asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An annuity&mdash;a sum of money paid to you yearly or quarterly through my
+solicitors, and which you can consider as a gift from your sister. The
+conditions are such as I think you will recognize the justice of. I
+wish to prevent a repetition of any such errand as I presume you have
+come here upon this evening. I cannot have my wife distressed or
+worried.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;May I ask,&#8221; Anna said softly, &#8220;what you presume to have been the
+nature of my errand here this evening?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John pointed to Annabel, who was as yet utterly limp.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I cannot but conclude,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that your errand involved <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>the
+recital to my wife of some trouble in which you find yourself. I
+should like to add that if a certain amount is needed to set you free
+from any debts you may have contracted, in addition to this annuity,
+you will not find me unreasonable.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna glanced momentarily towards her sister, but Annabel neither spoke
+nor moved.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With regard to the conditions I mentioned,&#8221; Sir John continued,
+gaining a little confidence from Anna&#8217;s silence, &#8220;I think you will
+admit that they are not wholly unreasonable. I should require you to
+accept no employment whatever upon the stage, and to remain out of
+England.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna&#8217;s demeanour was still imperturbable, her marble pallor untinged
+by the slightest flush of colour. She regarded him coldly, as though
+wondering whether he had anything further to say. Sir John hesitated,
+and then continued.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I trust,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that you will recognize the justice of these
+conditions. Under happier circumstances nothing would have given me
+more pleasure than to have offered you a home with your sister. You
+yourself, I am sure, recognize how impossible you have made it for me
+now to do anything of the sort. I may say that the amount of the
+annuity I propose to allow you is two hundred a year.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna looked for a moment steadily at her sister, whose face was still
+averted. Then she moved towards the door. Before she passed out she
+turned and faced Sir John. The impassivity of her features changed at
+last. Her eyes were lit with mirth, the corners of her mouth quivered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Really, Sir John,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know how to thank you. I can
+understand now these newspapers when they talk of your magnificent
+philanthropy. It is magnificent indeed. And yet&mdash;you millionaires
+should really, I think, cultivate the art of discrimination. I am so
+much obliged to you for your projected benevolence. Frankly, it is the
+funniest thing which has ever happened to me in my life. I shall like
+to think of it&mdash;whenever I feel dull. Good-bye, Anna!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel sprang up. Sir John waved her back.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do I understand you then to refuse my offer?&#8221; he asked Anna.</p>
+
+<p>She shot a sudden glance at him. Sir John felt hot and furious. It was
+maddening to be made to feel that he was in any way the inferior of
+this cool, self-possessed young woman, whose eyes seemed for a moment
+to scintillate with scorn. There were one or two bitter moments in his
+life when he had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>been made to feel that gentility laid on with a
+brush may sometimes crack and show weak places&mdash;that deportment and
+breeding are after all things apart. Anna went out.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>Her cheeks burned for a moment or two when she reached the street,
+although she held her head upright and walked blithely, even humming
+to herself fragments of an old French song. And then at the street
+corner she came face to face with Nigel Ennison.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I won&#8217;t pretend,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that this is an accident. The fates are
+never so kind to me. As a matter of fact I have been waiting for you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She raised her eyebrows.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Really,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And by what right do you do anything of the
+sort?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No right at all,&#8221; he admitted. &#8220;Only it is much too late for you to
+be out alone. You have been to see your sister, of course. How is
+she?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My sister is quite well, thank you,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;Would you mind
+calling that hansom for me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He looked at it critically and shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You really couldn&#8217;t ride in it,&#8221; he said, deprecatingly. &#8220;The horse&#8217;s
+knees are broken, and I am not sure that the man is sober. I would
+sooner see you in a &#8217;bus again.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She laughed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you mean to say that you have been here ever since I came?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid that I must confess it,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;Idiotic, isn&#8217;t
+it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Absolutely,&#8221; she agreed coldly. &#8220;I wish you would not do it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Would not do what?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, follow buses from Russell Square to Hampstead.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can assure you,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;that it isn&#8217;t a habit of mine. But
+seriously&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well seriously?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t it your own fault a little? Why do you not tell me your
+address, and allow me to call upon you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why should I? I have told you that I do not wish for acquaintances in
+London.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps not in a general way,&#8221; he answered calmly. &#8220;You <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>are quite
+right, I think. Only I am not an acquaintance at all. I am an old
+friend, and I declined to be shelved.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Would you mind telling me,&#8221; Anna asked, &#8220;how long I knew you in
+Paris?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her sideways. There was nothing to be learned from her
+face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he said slowly, &#8220;I had met you three times&mdash;before Drummond&#8217;s
+dinner.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Drummond&#8217;s dinner!&#8221; she repeated. &#8220;You were there, were you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He laughed a little impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t that rather a strange question&mdash;under the circumstances?&#8221; he
+asked quietly.</p>
+
+<p>Her cheeks flushed a dull red. She felt that there was a hidden
+meaning under his words. Yet her embarrassment was only a passing
+thing. She dismissed the whole subject with a little shrug of the
+shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We are both of us trenching upon forbidden ground,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It was
+perhaps my fault. You have not forgotten&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have forgotten nothing?&#8221; he answered, enigmatically.</p>
+
+<p>Anna hailed a bus. He looked at her reproachfully. The bus however was
+full. They fell into step again. More than ever a sense of confusion
+was upon Ennison.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Last time I saw you,&#8221; he reminded her, &#8220;you spoke, did you not, of
+obtaining some employment in London.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Quite true,&#8221; she answered briskly, &#8220;and thanks to you I have
+succeeded.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thanks to me,&#8221; he repeated, puzzled. &#8220;I don&#8217;t understand.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No? But it is very simple. It was you who were so much amazed that I
+did not try&mdash;the music hall stage here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must admit,&#8221; he declared, &#8220;that to us&mdash;who had seen you&mdash;the
+thought of your trying anything else was amazing.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At any rate,&#8221; she declared, &#8220;your remarks decided me. I have an
+engagement with a theatrical agent&mdash;I believe for the &#8216;Unusual&#8217;.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are going to sing in London?&#8221; he said quietly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>For a moment or two he did not speak. Glancing towards him she saw
+that a shadow had fallen upon his face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Tell me,&#8221; she insisted, &#8220;why you look like that. You are afraid&mdash;that
+here in London&mdash;I shall not be a success. It is that, is it not?&#8221;</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he answered readily. &#8220;It is not that. The idea of your being a
+failure would never have occurred to me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then why are you sorry that I am going to the &#8216;Unusual&#8217;? I do not
+understand.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Their eyes met for a moment. His face was very serious.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am sorry,&#8221; he said slowly. &#8220;Why, I do not know.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I positively insist upon knowing,&#8221; she declared cheerfully. &#8220;The
+sooner you tell me the better.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is very hard to explain,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I think that it is only an
+idea. Only you seem to me since the time when I knew you in Paris to
+have changed&mdash;to have changed in some subtle manner which I find at
+times utterly bewildering. I find you an impenetrable enigma. I find
+it impossible to associate you with&mdash;my little friend of the
+&#8216;Ambassador&#8217;s.&#8217; The things she said and did from you&mdash;seem impossible. I
+had a sort of idea,&#8221; he went on, &#8220;that you were starting life all over
+again, and it seemed awfully plucky.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a long silence. Then Anna spoke more seriously than usual.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that I rather like what you have said. Don&#8217;t be
+afraid to go on thinking it. Even though I am going to sing at the
+&#8216;Unusual&#8217; you may find that the &#8216;Alcide,&#8217; whom you knew in Paris does
+not exist any more. At the same time,&#8221; she added, in a suddenly
+altered tone, &#8220;it isn&#8217;t anything whatever to do with you, is it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not?&#8221; he answered. &#8220;You permitted me then to call you my friend.
+I do not intend to allow you to forget.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They passed a man who stared at them curiously. Ennison started and
+looked anxiously at Anna. She was quite unconcerned.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Did you see who that was?&#8221; he asked in a low tone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I did not recognize him,&#8221; Anna answered. &#8220;I supposed that he took off
+his hat to you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was Cheveney!&#8221; he said slowly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Cheveney!&#8221; she repeated. &#8220;I do not know any one of that name.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He caught her wrist and turned her face towards him. Her eyes were
+wide open with amazement.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Ennison!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He released her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good God!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Who are you&mdash;Annabel Pellissier or her
+ghost?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p><p>Anna laughed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If it is a choice between the two,&#8221; she answered, &#8220;I must be Annabel
+Pellissier. I am certainly no ghost.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have her face and figure,&#8221; he muttered. &#8220;You have even her name.
+Yet you can look Cheveney in the face and declare that you do not know
+him. You have changed from the veriest butterfly to a woman&mdash;you wear
+different clothes, you have the air of another world. If you do not
+help me to read the riddle of yourself, Annabel, I think that very
+soon I shall be a candidate for the asylum.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She laughed heartily, and became as suddenly grave.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So Mr. Cheveney was another Paris friend, was he?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t befool me any more,&#8221; he answered, almost roughly. &#8220;If any one
+should know&mdash;&mdash;you should! He was your friend. We were only&mdash;<i>les
+autres</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is quite untrue,&#8221; she declared cheerfully. &#8220;I certainly knew him
+no better than you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then he&mdash;and Paris&mdash;lied,&#8221; Ennison answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That,&#8221; she answered, &#8220;is far easier to believe. You are too
+credulous.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison had things to say, but he looked at her and held his tongue.
+They turned the last corner, and almost immediately a man who had been
+standing there turned and struck Ennison a violent blow on the cheek.
+Ennison reeled, and almost fell. Recovering himself quickly his
+instinct of self-defence was quicker than his recollection of Anna&#8217;s
+presence. He struck out from the shoulder, and the man measured his
+length upon the pavement.</p>
+
+<p>Anna sprang lightly away across the street. Brendon and Courtlaw who
+had been watching for her, met her at the door. She pointed across the
+road.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Please go and see that&mdash;nothing happens,&#8221; she pleaded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is the first moment we have let him out of our sight,&#8221; Brendon
+exclaimed, as he hastened across the street.</p>
+
+<p>Hill sat up on the pavement and mopped the blood from his cheek.
+Ennison&#8217;s signet-ring had cut nearly to the bone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What the devil do you mean by coming for me like that?&#8221; Ennison
+exclaimed, glowering down upon him. &#8220;Serves you right if I&#8217;d cracked
+your skull.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Hill looked up at him, an unkempt, rough-looking object, with broken
+collar, tumbled hair, and the blood slowly dripping from his face.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean, hanging round with my wife?&#8221; he answered fiercely.</p>
+
+<p>Ennison looked down on him in disgust.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You silly fool,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I know nothing about your wife. The young
+lady I was with is not married at all. Why don&#8217;t you make sure before
+you rush out like that upon a stranger?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You were with my wife,&#8221; Hill repeated sullenly. &#8220;I suppose you&#8217;re
+like the rest of them. Call her Miss Pellissier, eh? I tell you she&#8217;s
+my wife, and I&#8217;ve got the certificate in my pocket.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know who you are,&#8221; Ennison said quietly, &#8220;but you are a
+thundering liar.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Hill staggered to his feet and drew a folded paper from his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Marriage certificates don&#8217;t tell lies, at any rate,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Just
+look that through, will you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison took the document, tore it half in two without looking at it,
+and flung it back in Hill&#8217;s face. Then he turned on his heel and
+walked off.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XVII" id="Chapter_XVII"></a><i>Chapter XVII</i></h2>
+
+<h3>THE CHANGE IN &#8220;ALCIDE&#8221;</h3>
+
+<p>&#8220;By-the-bye,&#8221; his neighbour asked him languidly, &#8220;who is our hostess?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Usually known, I believe, as Lady Ferringhall,&#8221; Ennison answered,
+&#8220;unless I have mixed up my engagement list and come to the wrong
+house.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How dull you are,&#8221; the lady remarked. &#8220;Of course I mean, who was
+she?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I believe that her name was Pellissier,&#8221; Ennison answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pellissier,&#8221; she repeated thoughtfully. &#8220;There were some Hampshire
+Pellissiers.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She is one of them,&#8221; Ennison said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear me! I wonder where Sir John picked her up.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In Paris, I think,&#8221; Ennison answered. &#8220;Only married a few months ago
+and lived out at Hampstead.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Heavens!&#8221; the lady exclaimed. &#8220;I heard they came from somewhere
+outrageous.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hampstead didn&#8217;t suit Lady Ferringhall,&#8221; Ennison remarked. &#8220;They have
+just taken this house from Lady Cellender.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And what are you doing here?&#8221; the lady asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Politics!&#8221; Ennison answered grimly. &#8220;And you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Same thing. Besides, my husband has shares in Sir John&#8217;s company. Do
+you know, I am beginning to believe that we only exist nowadays by the
+tolerance of these millionaire tradesmen. Our land brings us in
+nothing. We have to get them to let us in for the profits of their
+business, and in return we ask them to&mdash;dinner. By-the-bye, have you
+seen this new woman at the &#8216;Empire&#8217;? What is it they call her&mdash;&#8216;Alcide?&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I have seen her,&#8221; Ennison answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Every one raves about her,&#8221; Lady Angela continued. &#8220;For my part I can
+see no difference in any of these French girls who come over here with
+their demure manner and atrocious songs.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Alcide&#8217;s songs are not atrocious,&#8221; Ennison remarked.</p>
+
+<p>Lady Angela shrugged her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is unimportant,&#8221; she said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> &#8220;Nobody understands them, of course,
+but we all look as though we did. Something about this woman rather
+reminds me of our hostess.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison thought so too half an hour later, when having cut out from
+one of the bridge tables he settled down for a chat with Annabel.
+Every now and then something familiar in her tone, the poise of her
+head, the play of her eyes startled him. Then he remembered that she
+was Anna&#8217;s sister.</p>
+
+<p>He lowered his voice a little and leaned over towards her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;By-the-bye, Lady Ferringhall,&#8221; he said, &#8220;do you know that I am a very
+great admirer of your sister&#8217;s? I wonder if she has ever spoken to you
+of me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The change in Lady Ferringhall&#8217;s manner was subtle but unmistakable.
+She answered him almost coldly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I see nothing of my sister,&#8221; she said. &#8220;In Paris our lives were far
+apart, and we had seldom the same friends. I have heard of you from my
+husband. You are somebody&#8217;s secretary, are you not?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was plain that the subject was distasteful to her, but Ennison,
+although famous in a small way for his social tact, did not at once
+discard it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have not seen your sister lately,&#8221; he remarked. &#8220;I believe that
+you would find her in some respects curiously altered. I have never in
+my life been so much puzzled by any one as by your sister. Something
+has changed her tremendously.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel looked at him curiously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you mean in looks?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not only that,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;In Paris your sister appeared to me to
+be a charming student of frivolity. Here she seems to have developed
+into a brilliant woman with more character and steadfastness than I
+should ever have given her credit for. Her features are the same, yet
+the change has written its mark into her face. Do you know, Lady
+Ferringhall, I am proud that your sister permits me to call myself her
+friend.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And in Paris&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In Paris,&#8221; he interrupted, &#8220;she was a very delightful companion, but
+beyond that&mdash;one did not take her seriously. I am not boring you, am
+I?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She raised her eyes to his and smiled into his face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are not boring me,&#8221; she said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> &#8220;but I would rather talk of
+something else. I suppose you will think me very unsisterly and
+cold-hearted, but there are circumstances in connexion with my
+sister&#8217;s latest exploit which are intensely irritating both to my
+husband and to myself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He recognized the force, almost the passion, which trembled in her
+tone, and he at once abandoned the subject. He remained talking with
+her however. It was easy for him to see that she desired to be
+agreeable to him. They talked lightly but confidentially until Sir
+John approached them with a slight frown upon his face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Ennison,&#8221; he said, &#8220;it is for you to cut in at Lady Angela&#8217;s
+table. Anna, do you not see that the Countess is sitting alone?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She rose, and flashed a quick smile upon Ennison behind her husband&#8217;s
+back.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must come and see me some afternoon,&#8221; she said to him.</p>
+
+<p>He murmured his delight, and joined the bridge party, where he played
+with less than his accustomed skill. On the way home he was still
+thoughtful. He turned in at the club. They were talking of &#8220;Alcide,&#8221;
+as they often did in those days.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She has improved her style,&#8221; someone declared. &#8220;Certainly her voice
+is far more musical.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Another differed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She has lost something,&#8221; he declared, &#8220;something which brought the
+men in crowds around the stage at the &#8216;Ambassador&#8217;s.&#8217; I don&#8217;t know what
+you&#8217;d call it&mdash;a sort of witchery, almost suggestiveness. She sings
+better perhaps. But I don&#8217;t think she lays hold of one so.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will tell you what there is about her which is so fetching,&#8221;
+Drummond, who was lounging by, declared. &#8220;She contrives somehow to
+strike the personal note in an amazing manner. You are wedged in
+amongst a crowd, perhaps in the promenade, you lean over the back, you
+are almost out of sight. Yet you catch her eye&mdash;you can&#8217;t seem to
+escape from it. You feel that that smile is for you, the words are for
+you, the whole song is for you. Naturally you shout yourself hoarse
+when she has finished, and feel jolly pleased with yourself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And if you are a millionaire like Drummond,&#8221; someone remarked, &#8220;you
+send round a note and ask her to come out to supper.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In the present case,&#8221; Drummond remarked, glancing across the room,
+&#8220;Cheveney wouldn&#8217;t permit it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison dropped the evening paper which he had been pretending to
+read. Cheveney strolled up, a pipe in his mouth.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Cheveney wouldn&#8217;t have anything to say about it, as it happens,&#8221; he
+remarked, a little grimly. &#8220;Ungracious little beast, I call her. I
+don&#8217;t mind telling you chaps that except on the stage I haven&#8217;t set
+eyes on her this side of the water. I&#8217;ve called half a dozen times at
+her flat, and she won&#8217;t see me. Rank ingratitude, I call it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a shout of laughter. Drummond patted him on the shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Never mind, old chap,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;Let&#8217;s hope your successor is
+worthy of you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You fellows,&#8221; Ennison said quietly, &#8220;are getting a little wild. I
+have known Miss Pellissier as long as any of you perhaps, and I have
+seen something of her since her arrival in London. I consider her a
+very charming young woman&mdash;and I won&#8217;t hear a word about Paris, for
+there are things I don&#8217;t understand about that, but I will stake my
+word upon it that to-day Miss Pellissier is entitled not only to our
+admiration, but to our respect. I firmly believe that she is as
+straight as a die.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison&#8217;s voice shook a little. They were his friends, and they
+recognized his unusual earnestness. Drummond, who had been about to
+speak, refrained. Cheveney walked away with a shrug of the shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I believe you are quite right so far as regards the present, at any
+rate,&#8221; someone remarked, from the depths of an easy chair. &#8220;You see,
+her sister is married to Ferringhall, isn&#8217;t she? and she herself must
+be drawing no end of a good screw here. I always say that it&#8217;s poverty
+before everything that makes a girl skip the line.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison escaped. He was afraid if he stayed that he would make a fool
+of himself. He walked through the misty September night to his rooms.
+On his way he made a slight divergence from the direct route and
+paused for a moment outside the flat where Anna was now living. It was
+nearly one o&#8217;clock; but there were lights still in all her windows.
+Suddenly the door of the flat opened and closed. A man came out, and
+walking recklessly, almost cannoned into Ennison. He mumbled an
+apology and then stopped short.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s Ennison, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;What the devil are you doing
+star-gazing here?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison looked at him in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I might return the compliment, Courtlaw,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;by asking why
+the devil you come lurching on to the pavement like a drunken man.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p><p>Courtlaw was pale and dishevelled. He was carelessly dressed, and
+there were marks of unrest upon his features. He pointed to where the
+lights still burned in Anna&#8217;s windows.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What do you think of that farce?&#8221; he exclaimed bitterly. &#8220;You are one
+of those who must know all about it. Was there ever such madness?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid that I don&#8217;t understand,&#8221; Ennison answered. &#8220;You seem to
+have come from Miss Pellissier&#8217;s rooms. I had no idea even that she
+was a friend of yours.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Courtlaw laughed hardly. His eyes were red. He was in a curious state
+of desperation.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nor am I now,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I have spoken too many truths to-night.
+Why do women take to lies and deceit and trickery as naturally as a
+duck to water?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are not alluding, I hope, to Miss Pellissier?&#8221; Ennison said
+stiffly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not? Isn&#8217;t the whole thing a lie? Isn&#8217;t her reputation, this
+husband of hers, the &#8216;Alcide&#8217; business, isn&#8217;t it all a cursed juggle?
+She hasn&#8217;t the right to do it. I&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He stopped short. He had the air of a man who has said too much.
+Ennison was deeply interested.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I should like to understand you,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I knew Miss Pellissier in
+Paris at the &#8216;Ambassador&#8217;s,&#8217; and I know her now, but I am convinced
+that there is some mystery in connexion with her change of life. She
+is curiously altered in many ways. Is there any truth, do you suppose,
+in this rumoured marriage?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I know nothing,&#8221; Courtlaw answered hurriedly. &#8220;Ask me nothing. I will
+not talk to you about Miss Pellissier or her affairs.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are not yourself to-night, Courtlaw,&#8221; Ennison said. &#8220;Come to my
+rooms and have a drink.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Courtlaw refused brusquely, almost rudely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am off to-night,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I am going to America. I have work
+there. I ought to have gone long ago. Will you answer me a question
+first?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If I can,&#8221; Ennison said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What were you doing outside Miss Pellissier&#8217;s flat to-night? You were
+looking at her windows. Why? What is she to you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I was there by accident,&#8221; Ennison answered. &#8220;Miss Pellissier is
+nothing to me except a young lady for whom I have the most profound
+and respectful admiration.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Courtlaw laid his hand upon Ennison&#8217;s shoulder. They <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>were at the
+corner of Pall Mall now, and had come to a standstill.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Take my advice,&#8221; he said hoarsely. &#8220;Call it warning, if you like.
+Admire her as much as you choose&mdash;at a distance. No more. Look at me.
+You knew me in Paris. David Courtlaw. Well-balanced, sane, wasn&#8217;t I?
+You never heard anyone call me a madman? I&#8217;m pretty near being one
+now, and it&#8217;s her fault. I&#8217;ve loved her for two years, I love her now.
+And I&#8217;m off to America, and if my steamer goes to the bottom of the
+Atlantic I&#8217;ll thank the Lord for it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He strode away and vanished in the gathering fog. Ennison stood still
+for a moment, swinging his latchkey upon his finger. Then he turned
+round and gazed thoughtfully at the particular spot in the fog where
+Courtlaw had disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m d&mdash;&mdash;d if I understand this,&#8221; he said thoughtfully. &#8220;I never saw
+Courtlaw with her&mdash;never heard her speak of him. He was going to tell
+me something&mdash;and he shut up. I wonder what it was.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XVIII" id="Chapter_XVIII"></a><i>Chapter XVIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3>ANNABEL AND &#8220;ALCIDE&#8221;</h3>
+
+<p>Lady Ferringhall lifted her eyes to the newcomer, and the greeting in
+them was obviously meant for him alone. She continued to fan herself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are late,&#8221; she murmured.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My chief,&#8221; he said, &#8220;took it into his head to have an impromptu
+dinner party. He brought home a few waverers to talk to them where
+they had no chance of getting away.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am bored,&#8221; she said abruptly. &#8220;This is a very foolish sort of
+entertainment. And, as usual,&#8221; she continued, a little bitterly, &#8220;I
+seem to have been sent along with the dullest and least edifying of
+Mrs. Montressor&#8217;s guests.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison glanced at the other people in the box and smiled.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I got your note just in time,&#8221; he remarked. &#8220;I knew of course that
+you were at the Montressor&#8217;s, but I had no idea that it was a music
+hall party afterwards. Are you all here?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Five boxes full,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;Some of them seem to be having an
+awfully good time too. Did you see Lord Delafield and Miss Anderson?
+They packed me in with Colonel Anson and Mrs. Hitchings, who seem to
+be absolutely engrossed in one another, and a boy of about seventeen,
+who no sooner got here than he discovered that he wanted to see a man
+in the promenade and disappeared.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison at once seated himself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I feel justified then,&#8221; he said, &#8220;in annexing his chair. I expect you
+had been snubbing him terribly.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, he was presumptuous,&#8221; Annabel remarked, &#8220;and he wasn&#8217;t nice
+about it. I wonder how it is,&#8221; she added, &#8220;that boys always make love
+so impertinently.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison laughed softly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wonder,&#8221; he said, &#8220;how you would like to be made love to&mdash;boldly or
+timorously or sentimentally.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Are you master of all three methods?&#8221; she asked, stopping her fanning
+for a moment to look at him.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed, no,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;Mine is a primitive and unstudied manner.
+It needs cultivating, I think.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>His fingers touched hers for a moment under the ledge of the box.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That sounds so uncouth,&#8221; she murmured. &#8220;I detest amateurs.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will buy books and a lay figure,&#8221; he declared, &#8220;to practise upon.
+Or shall I ask Colonel Anson for a few hints?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For Heaven&#8217;s sake no,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;I would rather put up with your
+own efforts, however clumsy. Love-making at first hand is dull enough.
+At second hand it would be unendurable.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He leaned towards her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is that a challenge?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She shrugged her shoulders, all ablaze with jewels.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not? It might amuse me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Somewhat irrelevantly he glanced at the next few boxes where the rest
+of Mrs. Montressor&#8217;s guests were.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is your husband here to-night?&#8221; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My husband!&#8221; she laughed a little derisively. &#8220;No, he wouldn&#8217;t come
+here of all places&mdash;just now. He dined, and then pleaded a political
+engagement. I was supposed to do the same, but I didn&#8217;t.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You know,&#8221; he said with some hesitation, &#8220;that your sister is
+singing.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course. I want to hear how she does it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She does it magnificently,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;I think&mdash;we all think that
+she is wonderful.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him with curious eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I remember,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that the first night I saw you, you spoke of
+my sister as your friend. Have you seen much of her lately?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nothing at all,&#8221; he answered.</p>
+
+<p>The small grey feathers of her exquisitely shaped fan waved gently
+backwards and forwards. She was watching him intently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you know,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that every one is remarking how ill you
+look. I too can see it. What has been the matter?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Toothache,&#8221; he answered laconically.</p>
+
+<p>She looked away.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You might at least,&#8221; she murmured, &#8220;have invented a more romantic
+reason.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p><p>&#8220;Oh, I might,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;have gone further still. I might have
+told you the truth.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Has my sister been unkind to you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The family,&#8221; he declared, &#8220;has not treated me with consideration.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him doubtfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You promised faithfully to be there,&#8221; he said slowly. &#8220;I loathe
+afternoon concerts, and&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She was really like her sister he thought, impressed for a moment by
+the soft brilliancy of her smile. Her fingers rested upon his.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You were really at Moulton House,&#8221; she exclaimed penitently. &#8220;I am so
+sorry. I had a perfect shoal of callers. People who would not go. I
+only arrived when everybody was coming away.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A little murmur of expectation, an audible silence announced the
+coming of &#8220;Alcide.&#8221; Then a burst of applause. She was standing there,
+smiling at the audience as at her friends. From the first there had
+always been between her and her listeners that electrical sympathy
+which only a certain order of genius seems able to create. Then she
+sang.</p>
+
+<p>Ennison listened, and his eyes glowed. Lady Ferringhall listened, and
+her cheeks grew pale. Her whole face stiffened with suppressed anger.
+She forgot Anna&#8217;s sacrifices, forgot her own callousness, forgot the
+burden which she had fastened upon her sister&#8217;s shoulders. She was
+fiercely and bitterly jealous. Anna was singing as she used to sing.
+She was <i>chic</i>, distinguished, unusual. What right had she to call
+herself &#8220;Alcide&#8221;? It was abominable, an imposture. Ennison listened,
+and he forgot where he was. He forgot Annabel&#8217;s idle attempts at
+love-making, all the <i>cul-de-sac</i> gallantry of the moment. The
+cultivated indifference, which was part of the armour of his little
+world fell away from him. He leaned forward, and looked into the eyes
+of the woman he loved, and it seemed to him that she sang back to him
+with a sudden note of something like passion breaking here and there
+through the gay mocking words which flowed with such effortless and
+seductive music from her lips.</p>
+
+<p>Neither of them joined in the applause which followed upon her exit.
+They were both conscious, however, that something had intervened
+between them. Their conversation became stilted. A spot of colour,
+brighter than any rouge, burned on her cheeks.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;She is marvellously clever,&#8221; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She appears to be very popular here,&#8221; she remarked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You too sing?&#8221; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have given it up,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;One genius in the family is
+enough.&#8221; After a pause, she added, &#8220;Do you mind fetching back my
+recalcitrant cavalier.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Anything except that,&#8221; he murmured. &#8220;I was half hoping that I might
+be allowed to see you home.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you can tear yourself away from this delightful place in five
+minutes,&#8221; she answered, &#8220;I think I can get rid of the others.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We will do it,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;If only Sir John were not Sir John I
+would ask you to come and have some supper.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t imperil my reputation before I am established,&#8221; she answered,
+smiling. &#8220;Afterwards it seems to me that there are no limits to what
+one may not do amongst one&#8217;s own set.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am frightened of Sir John,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but I suggest that we risk
+it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t tempt me,&#8221; she said, laughing, and drawing her opera-cloak
+together. &#8220;You shall drive home with me in a hansom, if you will. That
+is quite as far as I mean to tempt Providence to-night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>Again on his way homeward from Cavendish Square he abandoned the
+direct route to pass by the door of Anna&#8217;s flat. Impassive by nature
+and training, he was conscious to-night of a strange sense of
+excitement, of exhilaration tempered by a dull background of
+disappointment. Her sister had told him that it was true. Anna was
+married. After all, she was a consummate actress. Her recent attitude
+towards him was undoubtedly a pose. His long struggle with himself,
+his avoidance of her were quite unnecessary. There was no longer any
+risk in association with her. His pulses beat fast as he walked, his
+feet fell lightly upon the pavement. He slackened his pace as he
+reached the flat. The windows were still darkened&mdash;perhaps she was not
+home yet. He lit a cigarette and loitered about. He laughed once or
+twice at himself as he paced backwards and forwards. He felt like a
+boy again, the taste for adventures was keen upon his palate, the
+whole undiscovered world of rhythmical things, of love and poetry and
+passion seemed again to him a real and actual place, and he himself an
+adventurer upon the threshold.</p>
+
+<p>Then a hansom drove up, and his heart gave a great leap. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>She stepped
+on to the pavement almost before him, and his blood turned almost to
+ice as he saw that she was not alone. A young man turned to pay the
+cabman. Then she saw him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Ennison,&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;is that really you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was no sign of embarrassment in her manner. She held out her
+hand frankly. She seemed honestly glad to see him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How odd that I should almost spring into your arms just on my
+doorstep!&#8221; she remarked gaily. &#8220;Are you in a hurry? Will you come in
+and have some coffee?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He hesitated, and glanced towards her companion. He saw now that it
+was merely a boy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This is Mr. Sydney Courtlaw&mdash;Mr. Ennison,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You are coming
+in, aren&#8217;t you, Sydney?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If I may,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;Your coffee&#8217;s too good to refuse.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She led the way, talking all the time to Ennison.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you know, I have been wondering what had become of you,&#8221; she said.
+&#8220;I had those beautiful roses from you on my first night, and a tiny
+little note but no address. I did not even know where to write and
+thank you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have been abroad,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The life of a private secretary is
+positively one of slavery. I had to go at a moment&#8217;s notice.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am glad that you have a reasonable excuse for not having been to
+see me,&#8221; she said good-humouredly. &#8220;Please make yourselves comfortable
+while I see to the coffee.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was a tiny little room, daintily furnished, individual in its
+quaint colouring, and the masses of perfumed flowers set in strange
+and unexpected places. A great bowl of scarlet carnations gleamed from
+a dark corner, set against the background of a deep brown wall. A jar
+of pink roses upon a tiny table seemed to gain an extra delicacy of
+colour from the sombre curtains behind. Anna, who had thrown aside her
+sealskin coat, wore a tight-fitting walking dress of some dark shade.
+He leaned back in a low chair, and watched her graceful movements, the
+play of her white hands as she bent over some wonderful machine. A
+woman indeed this to love and be loved, beautiful, graceful, gay. A
+dreamy sense of content crept over him. The ambitions of his life, and
+they were many, seemed to lie far away, broken up dreams in some
+outside world where the way was rough and the sky always grey. A
+little table covered with a damask cloth was dragged out. There were
+cakes and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>sandwiches&mdash;for Ennison a sort of Elysian feast, long to be
+remembered. They talked lightly and smoked cigarettes till Anna, with
+a little laugh, threw open the window and let in the cool night air.</p>
+
+<p>Ennison stood by her side. They looked out over the city, grim and
+silent now, for it was long past midnight. For a moment her thoughts
+led her back to the evening when she and Courtlaw had stood together
+before the window of her studio in Paris, before the coming of Sir
+John had made so many changes in her life. She was silent, the ghost
+of a fading smile passed from her lips. She had made her way since
+then a little further into the heart of life. Yet even now there were
+so many things untouched, so much to be learned. To-night she had a
+curious feeling that she stood upon the threshold of some change. The
+great untrodden world was before her still, into which no one can pass
+alone. She felt a new warmth in her blood, a strange sense of elation
+crept over her. Sorrows and danger and disappointment she had known.
+Perhaps the day of her recompense was at hand. She glanced into her
+companion&#8217;s face, and she saw there strange things. For a moment her
+heart seemed to stop beating. Then she dropped the curtain and stepped
+back into the room. Sydney was strumming over a new song which stood
+upon the piano.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am sure,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that you mean to stay until you are turned
+out. Do you see the time?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I may come and see you?&#8221; Ennison asked, as his hand touched hers.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; she answered, looking away. &#8220;Some afternoon.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XIX" id="Chapter_XIX"></a><i>Chapter XIX</i></h2>
+
+<h3>&#8220;THIS IS NOT THE END&#8221;</h3>
+
+<p>&#8220;I said some afternoon,&#8221; she remarked, throwing open her warm coat,
+and taking off her gloves, &#8220;but I certainly did not mean to-day.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I met you accidentally,&#8221; he reminded her. &#8220;Our ways happened to lie
+together.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And our destinations also, it seems,&#8221; she added, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You asked me in to tea,&#8221; he protested.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In self-defence I had to,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;It is a delightful day for
+walking, but a great deal too cold to be standing on the pavement.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course,&#8221; he said, reaching out his hand tentatively for his hat,
+&#8220;I could go away even now. Your reputation for hospitality would
+remain under a cloud though, for tea was distinctly mentioned.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then you had better ring the bell,&#8221; she declared, laughing. &#8220;The walk
+has given me an appetite, and I do not feel like waiting till five
+o&#8217;clock. I wonder why on earth the curtains are drawn. It is quite
+light yet, and I want to have one more look at that angry red sun.
+Would you mind drawing them back?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison sprang up, but he never reached the curtains. They were
+suddenly thrown aside, and a man stepped out from his hiding-place. A
+little exclamation of surprise escaped Ennison. Anna sprang to her
+feet with a startled cry.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You!&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;What are you doing here? How dare you come to
+my rooms!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The man stepped into the middle of the room. The last few months had
+not dealt kindly with Mr. Montague Hill. He was still flashily
+dressed, with much obvious jewellery and the shiniest of patent boots,
+but his general bearing and appearance had altered for the worse. His
+cheeks were puffy, and his eyes blood-shot. He had the appearance of a
+man who has known no rest for many nights. His voice when he spoke was
+almost fiercely assertive, but there was an undernote of nervousness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not?&#8221; he exclaimed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> &#8220;I have the right to be here. I hid because
+there was no other way of seeing you. I did not reckon upon&mdash;him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He pointed to Ennison, who in his turn looked across at Anna.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You wish me to stay?&#8221; he asked, in a low tone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I would not have you go for anything,&#8221; she answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nevertheless,&#8221; Hill said doggedly, &#8220;I am here to speak to you alone.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you do not leave the room at once,&#8221; Anna answered calmly, &#8220;I shall
+ring the bell for a policeman.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He raised his hand, and they saw that he was holding a small revolver.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You need not be alarmed,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I do not wish to use this. I came
+here peaceably, and I only ask for a few words with you. But I mean to
+have them. No, you don&#8217;t!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison had moved stealthily a little nearer to him, and looked
+suddenly into the dark muzzle of the revolver.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you interfere between us,&#8221; the man said, &#8220;it will go hardly with
+you. This lady is my wife, and I have a right to be here. I have the
+right also to throw you out.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison obeyed Anna&#8217;s gesture, and was silent.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You can say what you have to say before Mr. Ennison, if at all,&#8221; Anna
+declared calmly. &#8220;In any case, I decline to see you alone.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well,&#8221; the man answered. &#8220;I have come to tell you this. You are
+my wife, and I am determined to claim you. We were properly married,
+and the certificate is at my lawyer&#8217;s. I am not a madman, or a pauper,
+or even an unreasonable person. I know that you were disappointed
+because I did not turn out to be the millionaire. Perhaps I deceived
+you about it. However, that&#8217;s over and done with. I&#8217;ll make any
+reasonable arrangement you like. I don&#8217;t want to stop your singing.
+You can live just about how you like. But you belong to me&mdash;and I want
+you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He paused for a moment, and then suddenly continued. His voice had
+broken. He spoke in quick nervous sentences.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You did your best to kill me,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You might have given me a
+chance, anyway. I&#8217;m not such a bad sort. You know&mdash;I worship you. I
+have done from the first moment I saw you. I can&#8217;t rest or work or
+settle down to anything while things are like this between you and me.
+I want you. I&#8217;ve got to have you, and by God I will.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He took a quick step forward. Anna held out her hand, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>and he paused.
+There was something which chilled even him in the cold impassivity of
+her features.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Listen,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I have heard these things from you before, and
+you have had my answer. Understand once and for all that that answer
+is final. I do not admit the truth of a word which you have said. I
+will not be persecuted in this way by you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You do not deny that you are my wife,&#8221; he asked hoarsely. &#8220;You
+cannot! Oh, you cannot.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have denied it,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;Why will you not be sensible? Go
+back to your old life and your old friends, and forget all about Paris
+and this absurd delusion of yours.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Delusion!&#8221; he muttered, glaring at her. &#8220;Delusion!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You can call it what you like,&#8221; she said. &#8220;In any case you will never
+receive any different sort of answer from me. Stay where you are, Mr.
+Ennison.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With a swift movement she gained the bell and rang it. The man&#8217;s hand
+flashed out, but immediately afterwards an oath and a cry of pain
+broke from his lips. The pistol fell to the floor. Ennison kicked it
+away with his foot.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I shall send for a policeman,&#8221; Anna said, &#8220;directly my maid answers
+the bell&mdash;unless you choose to go before.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The man made no attempt to recover the revolver. He walked unsteadily
+towards the door.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I will go. But,&#8221; and he faced them both with a
+still expressionless glance, &#8220;this is not the end!&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>Anna recovered her spirits with marvellous facility. It was Ennison
+who for the rest of his visit was quiet and subdued.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are absurd,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;It was unpleasant while it lasted,
+but it is over&mdash;and my toasted scones are delicious. Do have another.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is over for now,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;but I cannot bear to think that
+you are subject to this sort of thing.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She shrugged her shoulders slightly. Some of the delicate colour which
+the afternoon walk had brought into her cheeks had already returned.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is an annoyance, my friend,&#8221; she said, &#8220;not a tragedy.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It might become one,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;The man is dangerous.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She looked thoughtfully into the fire.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>&#8220;I am afraid,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that he must have a skeleton key to these
+rooms. If so I shall have to leave.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You cannot play at hide-and-seek with this creature all your life,&#8221;
+he answered. &#8220;Let your friends act for you. There must be ways of
+getting rid of him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid,&#8221; she murmured, &#8220;that it would be difficult. He really
+deserves a better fate, does he not? He is so beautifully persistent.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He drew a little nearer to her. The lamp was not yet lit, and in the
+dim light he bent forward as though trying to look into her averted
+face. He touched her hand, soft and cool to his fingers&mdash;she turned at
+once to look at him. Her eyes were perhaps a little brighter than
+usual, the firelight played about her hair, there seemed to him to be
+a sudden softening of the straight firm mouth. Nevertheless she
+withdrew her hand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let me help you,&#8221; he begged. &#8220;Indeed, you could have no more faithful
+friend, you could find no one more anxious to serve you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Her hand fell back into her lap. He touched it again, and this time it
+was not withdrawn.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is very nice of you,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But it is so difficult&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not at all,&#8221; he answered eagerly. &#8220;I wish you would come and see my
+lawyers. Of course I know nothing of what really did happen in
+Paris&mdash;if even you ever saw him there. You need not tell me, but a
+lawyer is different. His client&#8217;s story is safe with him. He would
+advise you how to get rid of the fellow.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will think of it,&#8221; she promised.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must do more than think of it,&#8221; he urged. &#8220;It is intolerable that
+you should be followed about by such a creature. I am sure that he can
+be got rid of.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She turned and looked at him. Her face scarcely reflected his
+enthusiasm.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It may be more difficult than you think,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You see you do
+not know how much of truth there is in his story.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If it were all true,&#8221; he said doggedly, &#8220;it may still be possible.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will think of it,&#8221; she repeated. &#8220;I cannot say more.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They talked for a while in somewhat dreamy fashion, Anna especially
+being more silent than usual. At last she glanced at a little clock in
+the corner of the room, and sprang to her feet.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Heavens, look at the time!&#8221; she exclaimed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> &#8220;It is incredible. I
+shall barely be in time for the theatre. I must go and dress at once.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He too rose.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will wait for you on the pavement, if you like,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but I am
+going to the &#8216;Unusual&#8217; with you. Your maid would not be of the least
+protection.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But your dinner!&#8221; she protested. &#8220;You will be so late.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He laughed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You cannot seriously believe,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that at the present moment I
+care a snap of the fingers whether I have any dinner or not.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She laughed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, you certainly did very well at tea,&#8221; she remarked. &#8220;If you
+really are going to wait, make yourself as comfortable as you can.
+There are cigarettes and magazines in the corner there.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna disappeared, but Ennison did not trouble either the cigarettes or
+the magazines. He sat back in an easy chair with a hand upon each of
+the elbows, and looked steadfastly into the fire.</p>
+
+<p>People spoke of him everywhere as a young man of great promise, a
+politician by instinct, a keen and careful judge of character. Yet he
+was in a state of hopeless bewilderment. He was absolutely unable to
+focus his ideas. The girl who had just left the room was as great a
+mystery to him now as on the afternoon when he had met her in
+Piccadilly and taken her to tea. And behind&mdash;there was Paris, memories
+of amazing things, memories which made his cheeks burn and his heart
+beat quickly as he sat there waiting for her. For the first time a
+definite doubt possessed him. A woman cannot change her soul. Then it
+was the woman herself who was changed. Anna was not &#8220;Alcide&#8221; of the
+&#8220;Ambassador&#8217;s,&#8221; whose subtly demure smile and piquant glances had
+called him to her side from the moment of their first meeting. It was
+impossible.</p>
+
+<p>She came in while he was still in the throes, conviction battling with
+common-sense, his own apprehension. He rose at once to his feet and
+turned a white face upon her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am going to break a covenant,&#8221; he cried. &#8220;I cannot keep silence any
+longer.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are going to speak to me of things which happened before we met
+in London?&#8221; she asked quietly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes! I must! The thing is becoming a torture to me. I must!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p><p>She threw open the door and pointed to it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My word holds,&#8221; she said. &#8220;If you speak&mdash;farewell.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He stood quite silent for a moment, his eyes fixed upon her face.
+Something he saw there had a curious effect upon him. He was suddenly
+calm.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I shall not speak,&#8221; he said, &#8220;now or at any other time. Come!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They went out together and he called a hansom. From the opposite
+corner under the trees a man with his hat slouched over his eyes stood
+and glowered at them.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XX" id="Chapter_XX"></a><i>Chapter XX</i></h2>
+
+<h3>ANNA&#8217;S SURRENDER</h3>
+
+<p>&#8220;This is indeed a gala night,&#8221; said Ennison, raising his glass, and
+watching for a moment the golden bubbles. &#8220;Was it really only this
+afternoon that I met you in St. James&#8217; Park?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna nodded, and made a careful selection from a dish of quails.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was just an hour before teatime,&#8221; she remarked. &#8220;I have had
+nothing since, and it seems a very long time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;An appetite like yours,&#8221; he said resignedly, &#8220;is fatal to all
+sentiment.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not in the least,&#8221; she assured him. &#8220;I find the two inseparable.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He sighed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have noticed,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that you seem to delight in taking a
+topsy-turvy view of life. It arises, I think, from an over developed
+sense of humour. You would find things to laugh at even in Artemus
+Ward.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You do not understand me at all,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;I think that you are
+very dense. Besides, your remark is not in the least complimentary. I
+have always understood that men avoid like the plague a woman with a
+sense of humour.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>So they talked on whilst supper was served, falling easily into the
+spirit of the place, and yet both of them conscious of some new thing
+underlying the gaiety of their tongues and manner. Anna, in her
+strange striking way, was radiantly beautiful. Without a single
+ornament about her neck, or hair, wearing the plainest of black gowns,
+out of which her shoulders shone gleaming white, she was easily the
+most noticeable and the most distinguished-looking woman in the room.
+To-night there seemed to be a new brilliancy in her eyes, a deeper
+quality in her tone. She was herself conscious of a recklessness of
+spirits almost hysterical. Perhaps, after all, the others were right.
+Perhaps she had found this new thing in life, the thing wonderful. The
+terrors and anxieties of the last few months seemed to have fallen
+from her, to have passed away like an ugly dream, dismissed with a
+shudder even from the memory. An <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>acute sense of living was in her
+veins, even the taste of her wine seemed magical. Ennison too, always
+handsome and <i>debonnair</i>, seemed transported out of his calm self. His
+tongue was more ready, his wit more keen than usual. He said daring
+things with a grace which made them irresistible, his eyes flashed
+back upon her some eloquent but silent appreciation of the change in
+her manner towards him.</p>
+
+<p>And then there came for both of them at least a temporary awakening.
+It was he who saw them first coming down the room&mdash;Annabel in a
+wonderful white satin gown in front, and Sir John stiff, unbending,
+disapproving, bringing up the rear. He bent over to Anna at once.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is your sister and her husband,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They are coming past
+our table.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel saw Ennison first, and noticing his single companion calmly
+ignored him. Then making a pretence of stooping to rearrange her
+flowing train, she glanced at Anna, and half stopped in her progress
+down the room. Sir John followed her gaze, and also saw them. His face
+clouded with anger.</p>
+
+<p>It was after all a momentary affair. Annabel passed on with a strained
+nod to her sister, and Sir John&#8217;s bow was a miracle of icy
+displeasure. They vanished through the doorway. Anna and her escort
+exchanged glances. Almost simultaneously they burst out laughing.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How do you feel?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Limp,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;As a matter of fact, I deserve to. I was engaged
+to dine with your sister and her husband, and I sent a wire.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was exceedingly wrong of you,&#8221; Anna declared. &#8220;Before I came to
+England I was told that there were two things which an Englishman who
+was <i>comme-il-faut</i> never did. The first was to break a dinner
+engagement.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And the second?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Make love to a single woman.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your knowledge of our ways,&#8221; he murmured &#8220;is profound. Yet, I suppose
+that at the present moment I am the most envied man in the room.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes were lit with humour. To have spoken lightly on such a
+subject a few hours ago would have seemed incredible.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But you do not know,&#8221; she whispered, &#8220;whether I am a married woman or
+not. There is Mr. Montague Hill.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The lights were lowered, and an attentive waiter hovered round Anna&#8217;s
+cloak. They left the room amongst the last, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>and Ennison had almost to
+elbow his way through a group of acquaintances who had all some
+pretext for detaining him, to which he absolutely refused to listen.
+They entered a hansom and turned on to the Embankment. The two great
+hotels on their right were still ablaze with lights. On their left the
+river, with its gloomy pile of buildings on the opposite side, and a
+huge revolving advertisement throwing its strange reflection upon the
+black water. A fresh cool breeze blew in their faces. Anna leaned back
+with half closed eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Delicious!&#8221; she murmured.</p>
+
+<p>His fingers closed upon her hand. She yielded it without protest, as
+though unconsciously. Not a word passed between them. It seemed to him
+that speech would be an anticlimax.</p>
+
+<p>He paid the cab, and turned to follow her. She passed inside and
+upstairs without a word. In her little sitting-room she turned on the
+electric light and looked around half fearfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Please search everywhere,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I am going through the other
+rooms. I shall not let you go till I am quite sure.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If he has a key,&#8221; Ennison said, &#8220;how are you to be safe?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I had bolts fitted on the doors yesterday,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;If he is
+not here now I can make myself safe.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was certain that he was not there. Anna came back into the
+sitting-room with a little sigh of relief.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Indeed,&#8221; she said, &#8220;it was very fortunate that I should have met you
+this afternoon. Either Sydney or Mr. Brendon always comes home with
+me, and to-night both are away. Mary is very good, but she is too
+nervous to be the slightest protection.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am very glad,&#8221; he answered, in a low tone. &#8220;It has been a
+delightful evening for me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And for me,&#8221; Anna echoed.</p>
+
+<p>A curious silence ensued. Anna was sitting before the fire a little
+distance from him&mdash;Ennison himself remained standing. Some shadow of
+reserve seemed to have crept up between them. She laughed nervously,
+but kept her eyes averted.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is strange that we should have met Annabel,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I am
+afraid your broken dinner engagement will not be so easy to explain.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He was very indifferent. In fact he was thinking of other things.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am going,&#8221; he said, &#8220;to be impertinent. I do not understand why you
+and your sister should not see more of one another. You must be lonely
+here with only a few men friends.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>&#8220;Loneliness,&#8221; she said, &#8220;is a luxury which I never permit myself.
+Besides&mdash;there is Sir John.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sir John is an ass!&#8221; he declared.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He is Annabel&#8217;s husband,&#8221; she reminded him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Annabel!&#8221; He looked at her thoughtfully. &#8220;It is rather odd,&#8221; he said,
+&#8220;but I always thought that your name was Annabel and hers Anna.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Many other people,&#8221; she remarked, &#8220;have made the same mistake.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Again,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I am going to be impertinent. I never met your
+sister in Paris, but I heard about her more than once. She is not in
+the least like the descriptions of her.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She has changed a good deal,&#8221; Anna admitted.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is some mystery about you both,&#8221; he exclaimed, with sudden
+earnestness. &#8220;No, don&#8217;t interrupt me. Why may I not be your friend?
+Somehow or other I feel that you have been driven into a false
+position. You represent to me an enigma, the solution of which has
+become the one desire of my life. I want to give you warning that I
+have set myself to solve it. To-morrow I am going to Paris.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She seemed unmoved, but she did not look at him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To Paris! But why? What do you hope to discover there?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do not know,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;but I am going to see David Courtlaw.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Then she looked up at him with frightened eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;David Courtlaw!&#8221; she repeated. &#8220;What has he to do with it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He was your sister&#8217;s master&mdash;her friend. A few days ago I saw him
+leave your house. He was like a man beside himself. He began to tell
+me something&mdash;and stopped. I am going to ask him to finish it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She rose up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I forbid it!&#8221; she said firmly.</p>
+
+<p>They were standing face to face now upon the hearthrug. She was very
+pale, and there was a look of fear in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will tell you as much as this,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;There is a secret.
+I admit it. Set yourself to find it out, if you will&mdash;but if you do,
+never dare to call yourself my friend again.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is for your good&mdash;your good only I am thinking,&#8221; he declared.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then let me be the judge of what is best,&#8221; she answered.</p>
+
+<p>He was silent. He felt his heart beat faster and faster&mdash;his
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>self-restraint slipping away. After all, what did it matter?&mdash;it or
+anything else in the world? She was within reach of his arms,
+beautiful, compelling, herself as it seemed suddenly conscious of the
+light which was burning in his eyes. A quick flush stained her cheeks.
+She put out her hands to avoid his embrace.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No!&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;You must not. It is impossible.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>His arms were around her. He only laughed his defiance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will make it possible,&#8221; he cried. &#8220;I will make all things
+possible.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna was bewildered. She did not know herself. Only she was conscious
+of an unfamiliar and wonderful emotion. She gave her lips to his
+without resistance. All her protests seemed stifled before she could
+find words to utter them. With a little sigh of happiness she accepted
+this new thing.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XXI" id="Chapter_XXI"></a><i>Chapter XXI</i></h2>
+
+<h3>HER SISTER&#8217;S SECRET</h3>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; Lady Ferringhall said, &#8220;that you are talking very
+foolishly. I was quite as much annoyed as you were to see Mr. Ennison
+with my sister last night. But apart from that, you have no particular
+objection to him, I suppose?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The occurrence of last night is quite sufficient in itself,&#8221; Sir John
+answered, &#8220;to make me wish to discontinue Mr. Ennison&#8217;s acquaintance.
+I should think, Anna, that your own sense&mdash;er&mdash;of propriety would
+enable you to see this. It is not possible for us to be on friendly
+terms with a young man who has been seen in a public place, having
+supper alone with your sister after midnight. The fact itself is
+regrettable enough&mdash;regrettable, I fear, is quite an inadequate word.
+To receive him here afterwards would be most repugnant to me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He probably does not know of the relationship,&#8221; Annabel remarked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I imagine,&#8221; Sir John said, &#8220;that your sister would acquaint him with
+it. In any case, he is liable to discover it at any time. My own
+impression is that he already knows.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why do you think so?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I noticed him call her attention to us as we passed down the room,&#8221;
+he answered. &#8220;Of course he may merely have been telling her who we
+were, but I think it improbable.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Apart from the fact of his acquaintance with Anna&mdash;Annabel,&#8221; Lady
+Ferringhall said quickly, &#8220;may I ask if you have any other objection
+to Mr. Ennison?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To the young man himself,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;no! I simply object to his
+calling here two or three times a week during my absence.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How absurd!&#8221; Annabel declared.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> &#8220;How could he call except in your
+absence, as you are never at home in the afternoon. And if I cared to
+have him come every day, why shouldn&#8217;t he? I find him very amusing and
+very useful as well. He brought his mother to call, and as you know
+the Countess goes scarcely anywhere. Hers is quite the most exclusive
+set in London.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My feeling in the matter,&#8221; Sir John said, &#8220;is as I have stated.
+Further, I do not care for you to accept social obligations from Mr.
+Ennison, or any other young man.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are jealous,&#8221; she declared contemptuously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If I am,&#8221; he answered, reddening, &#8220;you can scarcely assert that it is
+without a cause. You will forgive my remarking, Anna, that I consider
+there is a great change in your manner towards me and your general
+deportment since our marriage.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel laughed gaily.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear man,&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;wasn&#8217;t that a foregone conclusion?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You treat the matter lightly,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;To me it seems serious
+enough. I have fulfilled my part of our marriage contract. Can you
+wonder that I expect you to fulfil yours?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am not aware,&#8221; she answered, &#8220;that I have ever failed in doing so.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are at least aware,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that you have on several recent
+occasions acted in direct opposition to my wishes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For example?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your dyed hair. I was perfectly satisfied with your appearance. I
+consider even now that the present colour is far less becoming. Then
+you have altered not only that, but your manner of dressing it. You
+have darkened your eyebrows, you have even changed your style of
+dress. You have shown an almost feverish anxiety to eliminate from
+your personal appearance all that reminded me of you&mdash;when we first
+met.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she said, &#8220;has there not been some reason for this? The
+likeness to Annabel could scarcely have escaped remark. You forget
+that every one is going to the &#8216;Unusual&#8217; to see her.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He frowned heavily.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wish that I could forget it,&#8221; he said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> &#8220;Fortunately I believe that
+the relationship is not generally known. I trust that no unpleasant
+rumours will be circulated before the election, at any rate.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel yawned.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They might do you good,&#8221; she remarked. &#8220;&#8216;Alcide&#8217; is very popular.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John turned towards the door.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It does not appear to me,&#8221; he said, stiffly, &#8220;to be an affair for
+jests.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel laughed derisively and took up her book. She heard her
+husband&#8217;s heavy tread descending the stairs, and the wheels of his
+carriage as he drove off. Then she threw the volume away with a little
+impatient exclamation. She rose from her chair, and began walking up
+and down the room restlessly. Every now and then she fingered an
+ornament, moved a piece of furniture, or rearranged some draperies.
+Once she stopped in front of a mirror and looked at herself
+thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am getting plain,&#8221; she said, with a little shudder. &#8220;This life is
+killing me! Oh, it is dull, dull, dull!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly an idea seemed to strike her. She went to her room and
+changed the loose morning gown in which she had lunched for a dark
+walking dress. A few minutes later she left the house on foot, and
+taking a hansom at the corner of the Square, drove to Anna&#8217;s flat.</p>
+
+<p>Anna was having tea by herself when she entered. She rose at once with
+a little exclamation, half of surprise, half of pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear Annabel,&#8221; she said, &#8220;this is delightful, but I thought that
+it was forbidden.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is,&#8221; Annabel answered shortly. &#8220;But I wanted to see you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna wheeled an easy chair to the fire.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You will have some tea?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>Annabel ignored both the chair and the invitation. She was looking
+about her, and her face was dark with anger. The little room was
+fragrant with flowers, Anna herself bright, and with all the evidences
+of well being. Annabel was conscious then of the slow anger which had
+been burning within her since the night of her visit to the
+&#8220;Unusual.&#8221; Her voice trembled with suppressed passion.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have come for an explanation,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You are an impostor. How
+dare you use my name and sing my songs?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna looked at her sister in blank amazement.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>&#8220;Annabel!&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;Why, what is the matter with you? What do
+you mean?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel laughed scornfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you know,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Don&#8217;t be a hypocrite. You are not &#8216;Alcide.&#8217;
+You have no right to call yourself &#8216;Alcide.&#8217; You used to declare that
+you hated the name. You used to beg me for hours at a time to give it
+all up, never to go near the &#8216;Ambassador&#8217;s&#8217; again. And yet the moment
+I am safely out of the way you are content to dress yourself in my
+rags, to go and get yourself popular and admired and successful, all
+on my reputation.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Annabel! Annabel!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel stamped her foot. Her tone was hoarse with passion.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you can act!&#8221; she cried. &#8220;You can look as innocent and shocked as
+you please. I want to know who sent you those.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She pointed with shaking fingers to a great bunch of dark red
+carnations, thrust carelessly into a deep china bowl, to which the
+card was still attached. Anna followed her finger, and looked back
+into her sister&#8217;s face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They were sent to me by Mr. Nigel Ennison, Annabel. How on earth does
+it concern you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel laughed hardly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Concern me!&#8221; she repeated fiercely. &#8220;You are not content then with
+stealing from me my name. You would steal from me then the only man I
+ever cared a snap of the fingers about. They are not your flowers.
+They are mine! They were sent to &#8216;Alcide&#8217; not to you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna rose to her feet. At last she was roused. Her cheeks were
+flushed, and her eyes bright.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Annabel,&#8221; she said, &#8220;you are my sister, or I would bid you take the
+flowers if you care for them, and leave the room. But behind these
+things which you have said to me there must be others of which I know
+nothing. You speak as one injured&mdash;as though I had been the one to
+take your name&mdash;as though you had been the one to make sacrifices. In
+your heart you know very well that this is absurd. It is you who took
+my name, not I yours. It is I who took the burden of your misdeeds
+upon my shoulders that you might become Lady Ferringhall. It is I who
+am persecuted by the man who calls himself your husband.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel shivered a little and looked around her.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;He does not come here,&#8221; she exclaimed, quickly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He spends hours of every day on the pavement below,&#8221; Anna answered
+calmly. &#8220;I have been bearing this&mdash;for your sake. Shall I send him to
+Sir John?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel was white to the lips, but her anger was not yet spent.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was your own fault,&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;He would never have found you
+out if you had not personated me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;On the contrary,&#8221; Anna whispered quietly, &#8220;we met in a small
+boarding-house where I was stopping.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have not told me yet,&#8221; Annabel said, &#8220;how it is that you have
+dared to personate me. To call yourself &#8216;Alcide&#8217;! Your hair, your
+gestures, your voice, all mine! Oh, how dared you do it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must not forget,&#8221; Anna said calmly, &#8220;that it is necessary for me
+also&mdash;to live. I arrived here with something less than five pounds in
+my pocket. My reception at West Kensington you know of. I was the
+black sheep, I was hurried out of the way. You did not complain then
+that I personated you&mdash;no, nor when Sir John came to me in Paris, and
+for your sake I lied.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You did not&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wait, Annabel! When I arrived in London I went to live in the
+cheapest place I could find. I set myself to find employment. I
+offered myself as a clerk, as a milliner, as a shop girl. I would even
+have taken a place as waitress in a tea shop. I walked London till the
+soles of my shoes were worn through, and my toes were blistered. I ate
+only enough to keep body and soul together.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There was no need for such heroism,&#8221; Annabel said coldly. &#8220;You had
+only to ask&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you think,&#8221; Anna interrupted, with a note of passion trembling
+also in her tone, &#8220;that I would have taken alms from Sir John, the man
+to whom I had lied for your sake. It was not possible. I went at last
+when I had barely a shilling in my purse to a dramatic agent. By
+chance I went to one who had known you in Paris.&#8221;</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Well!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He greeted me effusively. He offered me at once an engagement. I told
+him that I was not &#8216;Alcide.&#8217; He only laughed. He had seen the
+announcement of your marriage in the papers, and he imagined that I
+simply wanted to remain unknown because of your husband&#8217;s puritanism.
+I sang to him, and he was satisfied. I did not appear, I have never
+announced myself as &#8216;Alcide.&#8217; It was the Press who forced the identity
+upon me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They were my posters,&#8221; Annabel said. &#8220;The ones Cariolus did for me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The posters at least,&#8221; Anna answered quietly, &#8220;I have some claim to.
+You know very well that you took from my easel David Courtlaw&#8217;s study
+of me, and sent it to Cariolus. You denied it at the time&mdash;but
+unfortunately I have proof. Mr. Courtlaw found the study in Cariolus&#8217;
+studio.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel laughed hardly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What did it matter?&#8221; she cried. &#8220;We are, or rather we were, so much
+alike then that the portrait of either of us would have done for the
+other. It saved me the bother of being studied.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It convinced Mr. Earles that I was &#8216;Alcide,&#8217;&#8221; Anna remarked quietly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We will convince him now to the contrary,&#8221; Annabel answered.</p>
+
+<p>Anna looked at her, startled.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>Annabel set her teeth hard, and turned fiercely towards Anna.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It means that I have had enough of this slavery,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;My
+husband and all his friends are fools, and the life they lead is
+impossible for me. It takes too many years to climb even a step in the
+social ladder. I&#8217;ve had enough of it. I want my freedom.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You mean to say,&#8221; Anna said slowly, &#8220;that you are going to leave your
+husband?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are willing to give up your position, your beautiful houses, your
+carriages and milliner&#8217;s accounts to come back to Bohemianism?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not?&#8221; Annabel declared. &#8220;I am sick of it. It is dull&mdash;deadly
+dull.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And what about this man&mdash;Mr. Montague Hill?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel put her hand suddenly to her throat and steadied herself with
+the back of a chair. She looked stealthily at Anna.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have succeeded a little too well in your personation,&#8221; she said
+bitterly,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> &#8220;to get rid very easily of Mr. Montague Hill. You are a
+great deal more like what I was a few months ago than I am now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna laughed softly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You propose, then,&#8221; she remarked, &#8220;that I shall still be saddled with
+a pseudo husband. I think not, Annabel. You are welcome to proclaim
+yourself &#8216;Alcide&#8217; if you will. I would even make over my engagement to
+you, if Mr. Earles would permit. But I should certainly want to be rid
+of Mr. Montague Hill, and I do not think that under those
+circumstances I should be long about it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel sank suddenly into a chair. Her knees were trembling, her
+whole frame was shaken with sobs.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Anna,&#8221; she moaned, &#8220;I am a jealous, ungrateful woman. But oh, how
+weary I am! I know. If only&mdash;Anna, tell me,&#8221; she broke off suddenly,
+&#8220;how did you get to know Mr. Ennison?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He spoke to me, thinking that I was you,&#8221; Anna answered. &#8220;I liked
+him, and I never undeceived him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And he sat at my table,&#8221; Annabel said bitterly, &#8220;and yet he did not
+know me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna glanced up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must remember,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that you yourself are responsible for
+your altered looks.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For the others,&#8221; Annabel said tearfully, &#8220;that is well enough. But
+for him&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Something in her sister&#8217;s tone startled Anna. She looked at her for a
+moment fixedly. When she tried to speak she found it difficult. Her
+voice seemed to come from a long way off.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean, Annabel? You only knew Mr. Ennison slightly&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a dead silence in the little room. Anna sat with the face of
+a Sphinx&mdash;waiting. Annabel thought, and thought again.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I knew Mr. Ennison better than I have ever told you,&#8221; she said
+slowly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Go on!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You know&mdash;in Paris they coupled my name with some one&#8217;s&mdash;an
+Englishman&#8217;s. Nigel Ennison was he.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna stood up. Her cheeks were aflame. Her eyes were lit with
+smouldering passion.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Go on!&#8221; she commanded. &#8220;Let me know the truth.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel looked down. It was hard to meet that gaze.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Does he never speak to you of&mdash;of old times?&#8221; she faltered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t fence with me,&#8221; Anna cried fiercely. &#8220;The truth!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel bent over her and whispered in her sister&#8217;s ear.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XXII" id="Chapter_XXII"></a><i>Chapter XXII</i></h2>
+
+<h3>AN OLD FOOL</h3>
+
+<p>Lady Ferringhall made room for him on the sofa by her side. She was
+wearing a becoming tea-gown, and it was quite certain that Sir John
+would not be home for several hours at least.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am delighted to see you, Mr. Ennison,&#8221; she said, letting her
+fingers rest in his. &#8220;Do come and cheer me up. I am bored to
+distraction.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He took a seat by her side. He was looking pale and ill. There were
+shadows under his eyes. He returned her impressive greeting almost
+mechanically.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But you yourself,&#8221; she exclaimed, glancing into his face, &#8220;you too
+look tired. You poor man, what have you been doing to yourself?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nothing except travelling all night,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I am just back
+from Paris. I am bothered. I have come to you for sympathy, perhaps
+for help.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You may be sure of the one,&#8221; she murmured. &#8220;The other too if it is
+within my power.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is within yours&mdash;if anybody&#8217;s,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;It is about your
+sister, Lady Ferringhall.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel gave a little gasp. The colour slowly left her cheeks, the
+lines of her mouth hardened. The change in her face was not a pleasant
+one.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;About my sister,&#8221; she repeated slowly.</p>
+
+<p>Her tone should have warned him, but he was too much in earnest to
+regard it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes. You remember that you saw us at the Savoy a few evenings ago?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And you knew, of course, that we were old friends?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Indeed!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lady Ferringhall, I love your sister.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You what?&#8221; she repeated incredulously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I love your sister.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lady Ferringhall sat with half closed eyes and clenched <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>teeth. Brute!
+Fool! To have come to her on such an errand. She felt a hysterical
+desire to strike him, to burst out crying, to blurt out the whole
+miserable truth. The effort to maintain her self-control was almost
+superhuman.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But&mdash;your people!&#8221; she gasped. &#8220;Surely Lady Ennison would object,
+even if it were possible. And the Duke, too&mdash;I heard him say that a
+married secretary would be worse than useless to him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The difficulties on my own side I can deal with,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I am
+not dependent upon any one. I have plenty of money, and the Duke will
+not be in the next Cabinet. My trouble is with your sister.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lady Ferringhall was conscious of some relief.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She has refused to listen to you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She has behaved in a most extraordinary manner,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;We
+parted&mdash;that night the best of friends. She knew that I cared for her,
+she had admitted that she cared for me. I suppose I was a little
+idiotic&mdash;I don&#8217;t think we either of us mentioned the future, but it
+was arranged that I should go the next afternoon and have tea with
+her. When I went I was refused admittance. I have since received a
+most extraordinary letter from her. She offers me no explanation,
+permits me absolutely no hope. She simply refuses to see or hear from
+me again. I went to the theatre that night. I waited for her at the
+back. She saw me, and, Lady Ferringhall, I shall never forget her look
+as long as I live. It was horrible. She looked at me as though I were
+some unclean thing, as though my soul were weighted with every sin in
+the calendar. I could not have spoken to her. It took my breath away.
+By the time I had recovered myself she had gone. My letters are
+returned unopened, her maid will not even allow me across the
+doorstep.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The explanation seems to me to be reasonably simple,&#8221; Annabel said
+coldly. &#8220;You seem to forget that my sister is&mdash;married.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If she is,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;I am convinced that there are circumstances
+in connexion with that marriage which would make a divorce easy.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You would marry a divorc&eacute;e?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I would marry your sister anyhow, under any circumstances,&#8221; he
+answered.</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him curiously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I want to ask you a question,&#8221; she said abruptly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> &#8220;This wonderful
+affection of yours for my sister, does it date from your first meeting
+with her in Paris?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I admired your sister in Paris,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;but I do not believe
+that I regard her now as altogether the same person. Something has
+happened to change her marvellously, either that, or she wilfully
+deceived me and every one else in those days as to her real self. She
+was a much lighter and more frivolous person, very charming and
+companionable&mdash;but with a difference&mdash;a great difference. I wonder
+whether you would mind, Lady Ferringhall,&#8221; he went on, with a sudden
+glance at her, &#8220;if I tell you that you yourself remind me a great deal
+more of what she was like then, except of course that your complexion
+and colouring are altogether different.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am highly flattered,&#8221; she remarked, with subtle irony.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Will you help me?&#8221; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What can I do?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Go and see her. Find out what I have done or failed to do. Get me an
+interview with her.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Really,&#8221; she said, with a hard little laugh, &#8220;you must regard me as a
+very good-natured person.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are,&#8221; he answered unconsciously. &#8220;I am sure that you are. I want
+her to tell me the whole truth about this extraordinary marriage. We
+will find some way out of it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You think that you can do that?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am sure of it,&#8221; he answered, confidently. &#8220;Those things are
+arranged more easily in any other country than England. At any rate
+she must see me. I demand it as a right. I must know what new thing
+has come between us that she should treat me as a lover one day and a
+monster the next.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She leaned back amongst the cushions of her chair. She was very pale,
+but she reminded him more at that minute than at any time of &#8220;Alcide&#8221;
+as he had first known her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wonder,&#8221; she said, &#8220;how much you care.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I care as a man cares only once in his life,&#8221; he answered promptly.
+&#8220;When it comes there is no mistaking it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Did it come&mdash;in Paris?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do not know,&#8221; he answered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> &#8220;I do not think so. What does it matter?
+It is here, and it is here to stay. Do help me, Lady Ferringhall. You
+need not be afraid. No trouble will ever come to your sister through
+me. If this idiotic marriage is binding then I will be her friend. But
+I have powerful friends. I only want to know the truth, and I will
+move heaven and earth to have it set aside.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The truth,&#8221; she murmured, with her eyes fixed upon him. &#8220;Well&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She stopped short. He looked at her in some embarrassment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Forgive me,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but I want to hear it from your sister. It is
+her duty to tell me, and I would not have her think that I had been
+trying to work upon your sympathies to learn her secrets.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She was silent.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You will go and see her,&#8221; he begged.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I will go,&#8221; she promised, with a queer little smile. &#8220;It is
+against my husband&#8217;s orders, and I am not sure that my sister will be
+particularly glad to see me. But I will go.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I shall always be grateful to you,&#8221; he declared.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t be too sure of that,&#8221; she answered enigmatically.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XXIII" id="Chapter_XXIII"></a><i>Chapter XXIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3>MONTAGUE HILL SEES LIGHT AT LAST</h3>
+
+<p>At exactly ten minutes past ten Annabel rang the bell of her sister&#8217;s
+flat. There was no response. She rang again with the same result.
+Then, as she was in the act of turning reluctantly away, she noticed a
+thin crack between the door and the frame. She pushed the former and
+it opened. The latch had not fully caught.</p>
+
+<p>The flat was apparently empty. Annabel turned on the electric light
+and made her way into the sitting-room. There was a coffee equipage on
+the table, and some sandwiches, and the fire had been recently made
+up. Annabel seated herself in an easy chair and determined to wait for
+her sister&#8217;s return.</p>
+
+<p>The clock struck half-past ten. The loneliness of the place somewhat
+depressed her. She took up a book and threw it down again. Then she
+examined with curiosity some knick-knacks upon a small round table by
+her side. Amongst them was a revolver. She handled it half fearfully,
+and set it carefully down again. Then for the first time she was
+conscious of an unaccountable and terrifying sensation. She felt that
+she was not alone.</p>
+
+<p>She was only a few yards from the door, but lacked the courage to rise
+and fly. Her knees shook, her breath came fast, she almost felt the
+lurid effect of those tiny patches of rouge upon her pallor-stricken
+cheeks. Her eyes were dilated&mdash;fixed in a horrified stare at the
+parting in the curtains which hung before the window.</p>
+
+<p>There was some one there. She had seen a man&#8217;s head steal out for a
+moment and draw the curtains a little closer. Even now she could trace
+the outline of his shape behind the left-hand curtain. She was wholly
+unable to conceal her knowledge of his presence. A little smothered
+cry broke from her lips&mdash;the curtains were thrown aside and a man
+stepped out. She was powerless to move from her chair. All through
+that brief but measureless space of time during which wonder kept him
+silent, as fear did her, she cowered there, a limp helpless object.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>Her courage and her presence of mind had alike deserted her. She
+could neither speak nor move nor cry out.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Annabel! God in Heaven, it is Annabel!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She did not speak. Her lips parted, but no words came.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What have you done to yourself?&#8221; he muttered. &#8220;You have dyed your
+hair and darkened your eyebrows. But you are Annabel. I should know
+you&mdash;in Heaven or Hell. Who is the other?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What other?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Her voice seemed to come from a long way off. Her lips were dry and
+cracked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The Annabel who lives here, who sings every night at the &#8216;Unusual&#8217;?
+They call her by your old name. Her hair and voice and figure are as
+yours used to be. Who is she, I say?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My sister!&#8221; Annabel faltered.</p>
+
+<p>He trembled violently. He seemed to be labouring under some great
+excitement.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am a fool,&#8221; he said. &#8220;All these days I have taken her for you. I
+have pleaded with her&mdash;no wonder that I have pleaded with her in vain.
+And all this time perhaps you have been waiting, expecting to hear
+from me. Is it so, Annabel?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I did not know,&#8221; she faltered, &#8220;anything about you. Why should I?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At last,&#8221; he murmured, &#8220;at last I have found you. I must not let you
+go again. Do you know, Annabel, that you are my wife.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she moaned, &#8220;not that. I thought&mdash;the papers said&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You thought that I was dead,&#8221; he interrupted. &#8220;You pushed the wheel
+from my hand. You jumped, and I think that you left me. Yet you knew
+that I was not dead. You came to see me in the hospital. You must have
+repented a little, or you would not have done that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I did not come,&#8221; she faltered. &#8220;It was my sister Anna. I had left
+Paris.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He passed his hand wearily over his forehead.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is where I got confused,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I opened my eyes, and she
+was bending over my bedside. Then, I thought, she has repented, all
+will be well. So I made haste and recovered. I came to London to look
+for you, and somehow the figure I saw in my dreams had got mixed up
+with you. Your sister! Great God, how like she is to what you were!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p><p>Annabel looked around her nervously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;These are her rooms,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Soon she will return.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The sooner the better,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I must explain to her. Annabel,
+I cannot believe it. I have found you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>His eyes were burning. He advanced a step towards her. She held out
+both her hands.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, no,&#8221; she cried. &#8220;You frighten me!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He smiled at her indulgently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I am your husband,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You have forgotten. I am your
+husband, though as yet your hand has scarcely lain in mine.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was a mistake,&#8221; she faltered. &#8220;You told me that your name was
+Meysey Hill. I thought that you were he.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>His face darkened.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I did it for love of you,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I lied, as I would have
+committed a murder, or done any evil deed sooner than lose you. What
+does it matter? I am not a pauper, Annabel. I can keep you. You shall
+have a house out at Balham or Sydenham, and two servants. You shall
+have the spending of every penny of my money. Annabel, tell me that
+you did not wish me dead. Tell me that you are not sorry to see me
+again.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Her passion conquered for a moment her fear.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I am sorry,&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;Our marriage must be annulled. It
+was no marriage at all.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Never,&#8221; he exclaimed vehemently. &#8220;You are mine, Annabel, and nothing
+shall ever make me give you up.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But it is too late,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;You have no right to hold me to a
+bargain which on your side was a lie. I consented to become Mrs.
+Meysey Hill&mdash;never your wife.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean&mdash;by too late?&#8221; he demanded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is some one else whom I care for!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He laughed hardly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Tell me his name,&#8221; he said, &#8220;and I promise that he shall never
+trouble you. But you,&#8221; he continued, moving imperceptibility a little
+nearer to her, &#8220;you are mine. The angels in Heaven shall not tear you
+from me. We leave this room together. I shall not part with you
+again.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she cried, &#8220;I will not. I will have nothing to do with you. You
+are not my husband.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He came towards her with that in his face which filled her with blind
+terror.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You belong to me,&#8221; he said fiercely;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> &#8220;the marriage certificate is in
+my pocket. You belong to me, and I have waited long enough.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He stepped past her to the door and closed it. Then he turned with a
+fierce movement to take her into his arms. There was a flash and a
+loud report. He threw up his hand, reeled for a moment on his feet,
+and collapsed upon the floor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Annabel;&#8221; he moaned. &#8220;You have killed me. My wife&mdash;killed me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With a little crash the pistol fell from her shaking fingers. She
+stood looking down upon him with dilated eyes. Her faculties seemed
+for a moment numbed. She could not realize what she saw. Surely it was
+a dream. A moment before he had been a strong man, she had been in his
+power, a poor helpless thing. Now he lay there, a doubled-up mass,
+with ugly distorted features, and a dark wet stain dripping slowly on
+to the carpet. It could not be she who had done this. She had never
+let off a pistol in her life. Yet the smoke was curling upwards in a
+faint innocent-looking cloud to the ceiling. The smell of gunpowder
+was strong in the room.</p>
+
+<p>It was true. She had killed him. It was as much accident as anything,
+but she had killed him. Once before&mdash;but that had been different. This
+time they would call it murder.</p>
+
+<p>She listened, listened intently for several minutes. People were
+passing in the street below. She could hear their footsteps upon the
+pavement. A hansom stopped a little way off. She could hear the bell
+tinkle as the horse shook its head. There was no one stirring in the
+flats. He himself had deadened the sound by closing the door. She
+moved a little nearer to him.</p>
+
+<p>It was horrible, but she must do it. She sank upon her knees and
+unbuttoned his coat. It was there in the breast pocket, stiff and
+legal looking. She drew it out with shaking fingers. There was a great
+splash of blood upon it, her hand was all wet and sticky. A deadly
+sickness came over her, the room seemed spinning round. She staggered
+to the fireplace and thrust it into the heart of the dying flames. She
+held it down with the poker, looking nervously over her shoulder. Then
+she put more coal on, piled it over the ashes, and stood once more
+upright.</p>
+
+<p>Still silence everywhere. She pulled down her veil and made her way to
+the door. She turned out the electric light and gained the hall. Still
+no sound. Her knees almost sank beneath her as she raised the latch of
+the front door and looked <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>out. There was no one to be seen. She
+passed down the stairs and into the street.</p>
+
+<p>She walked for a mile or more recklessly, close veiled, with swift
+level footsteps, though her brain was in a whirl and a horrible
+faintness all the time hovered about her. Then she called a hansom and
+drove home.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>&#8220;Miss Pellissier,&#8221; Brendon said gently, &#8220;I am afraid that some fresh
+trouble has come to you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She smiled at him cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Am I dull?&#8221; she said. &#8220;I am sorry.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You could never be that,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;but you are at least more
+serious than usual.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I am superstitious. This is my last week at the
+&#8216;Unusual,&#8217; you know. We begin rehearsing on Monday at the
+&#8216;Garrick&#8217;.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Surely,&#8221; he protested, &#8220;the change is all in favour of your own
+inclinations. It is your own choice, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes. But I believe that Mr. Earles thinks I am a little mad, and
+between ourselves I am not sure about it myself. It is easy enough to
+sing these little chansons in an original way&mdash;it requires a very
+different sort of ability to succeed on the stage.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have it,&#8221; he declared confidently.</p>
+
+<p>She laughed altogether in her old manner.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wonder how it is,&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;that my friends have so much
+more confidence in me than I have in myself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They know you better,&#8221; he declared.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid,&#8221; she answered, &#8220;that one&#8217;s friends can judge only of the
+externals, and the things which matter, the things inside are realized
+only by oneself&mdash;stop.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She laid her fingers upon his arm, and they both stood still. They had
+turned into the street, on the opposite side of which were the flats
+where Anna lived. Glancing idly up at her own window as they had swung
+round the corner she had seen a strange thing. The curtains which she
+had left drawn were open, and the electric lights were turned on.
+Then, even as they stood there, the room was plunged into darkness.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is someone in my rooms,&#8221; Anna said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is it your maid?&#8221; he asked.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>&#8220;I have given her two days&#8217; holiday,&#8221; Anna answered. &#8220;She has gone
+down into the country.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And no one else&mdash;has a key?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I believe,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that that man must have one. I am safe while I
+am there, for I have had bolts fitted everywhere, and a pane of glass
+in the front door. But I am always afraid that he may get in while I
+am away. Look! Is that some one coming out?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The front door of the flats stood open, and through it a woman, slim
+and veiled, passed on to the pavement and turned with swift footsteps
+in the opposite direction. Anna watched her with curious eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is it any one you know?&#8221; Brendon asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am not sure,&#8221; Anna answered. &#8220;But, of course, she may have come
+from one of the other flats.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you had better let me have your key, and I will
+go up and explore.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We will go together,&#8221; she answered.</p>
+
+<p>They crossed the street, and entering the front door passed up the
+outside stone steps of the flat. Anna herself opened the hall door.
+They stood for a moment in the passage and listened. Silence! Then
+Anna clutched her companion&#8217;s arm.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What was that?&#8221; she asked sharply.</p>
+
+<p>He had heard nothing. They both listened intently. Again silence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I thought that I heard a groan,&#8221; Anna whispered.</p>
+
+<p>He laughed reassuringly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I heard nothing,&#8221; he declared, &#8220;and my ears are good. Come.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He threw open the door of the sitting-room and switched on the
+electric light.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is no&mdash;Good God!&#8221; he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>He turned round to keep Anna out by force if possible, but he was too
+late. She was by his side. She too had seen. The thin stream of blood
+on which her eyes were fastened with a nameless horror reached almost
+to her feet.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XXIV" id="Chapter_XXIV"></a><i>Chapter XXIV</i></h2>
+
+<h3>A CASE FOR THE POLICE</h3>
+
+<p>After that first horrible moment it was perhaps Anna who was the more
+self-possessed. She dropped on her knees by his side, and gently
+unbuttoned his waistcoat. Then she looked up at Brendon.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must fetch a doctor,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I do not think that he is quite
+dead.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And leave you here alone?&#8221; he asked, in a hoarse whisper. &#8220;Come with
+me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am not afraid,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;Please hurry.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He reeled out of the room. Anna was afterwards astonished at her own
+self-possession. She bound a scarf tightly round the place where the
+blood seemed to be coming from. Then she stood up and looked around
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>There were no evidences of any struggle, no overturned chairs or
+disarranged furniture. The grate was full of fluttering ashes of burnt
+paper, and the easy chair near the fire had evidently been used. On
+the floor was a handkerchief, a little morsel of lace. Anna saw it,
+and for the first time found herself trembling.</p>
+
+<p>She moved towards it slowly and picked it up, holding it out in front
+of her whilst the familiar perfume seemed to assert itself with
+damning insistence. It was Annabel&#8217;s. The lace was family lace, easily
+recognizable. The perfume was the only one she ever used. Annabel had
+been here then. It was she who had come out from the flat only a few
+minutes before. It was she&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Anna&#8217;s nerves were not easily shaken, but she found herself suddenly
+clutching at the table for support. The room was reeling, or was it
+that she was going to faint? She recovered herself with a supreme
+effort. There were the burnt papers still in the grate. She took up
+the poker and stirred the fire vigorously. Almost at the same moment
+the door opened and Brendon entered, followed by the doctor.</p>
+
+<p>Anna turned round with a start, which was almost of guilt, the poker
+still in her hand. She met the keen grey eyes of a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>clean-shaven man,
+between forty and fifty, quietly dressed in professional attire.
+Before he even glanced at the man on the floor he stepped over to her
+side and took the poker from her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Forgive me, madam,&#8221; he said stiffly, &#8220;but in such a case as this it
+is better that nothing in the room should be disturbed until the
+arrival of the police. You have been burning paper, I see.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Are you a detective or a doctor?&#8221; she asked calmly. &#8220;Do you need me
+to remind you that your patient is bleeding to death?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He dropped on his knees by the man&#8217;s side and made a hurried
+examination.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who tied this scarf here?&#8221; he asked, looking up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I did,&#8221; Anna answered. &#8220;I hope that it has not done any harm.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He would have been dead before now without it,&#8221; the doctor answered
+shortly. &#8220;Get me some brandy and my bag.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly half an hour before they dared ask him the question.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Will he live?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The doctor shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is very doubtful,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You must send for the police at once,
+you know. You, sir,&#8221; he added, turning to Brendon, &#8220;had better take my
+card round to the police station in Werner Street and ask that
+Detective Dorling be sent round here at once on urgent business.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is it necessary to send for the police?&#8221; Anna asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Absolutely,&#8221; the doctor answered, &#8220;and the sooner the better. This is
+a case either of suicide or murder. The police are concerned in it in
+either event.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Please go then, Mr. Brendon,&#8221; Anna said. &#8220;You will come back, won&#8217;t
+you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He nodded cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course I will,&#8221; he answered.</p>
+
+<p>The doctor and Anna were left alone. Every moment or two he bent over
+his patient. He seemed to avoid meeting Anna&#8217;s eyes as much as
+possible.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Does he live here?&#8221; he asked her presently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Far away?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have no idea,&#8221; Anna answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who is the tenant of these rooms?&#8221; he inquired.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I am.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You will have no objection to his remaining here?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;A move
+of any sort would certainly be fatal.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course not,&#8221; Anna said. &#8220;Had he better have a nurse? I will be
+responsible for anything of that sort.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If he lives through the next hour,&#8221; the doctor answered, &#8220;I will send
+some one. Do you know anything of his friends? Is there any one for
+whom we ought to send?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I know very little of him beyond his name,&#8221; Anna answered. &#8220;I know
+nothing whatever of his friends or his home. He used to live in a
+boarding-house in Russell Square. That is where I first knew him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The doctor looked at her thoughtfully. Perhaps for the first time he
+realized that Anna was by no means an ordinary person. His patient was
+distinctly of a different order of life. It was possible that his
+first impressions had not been correct.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your name, I believe, is&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pellissier,&#8221; Anna answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Allow me,&#8221; the doctor said, &#8220;to give you a word of advice, Miss
+Pellissier. A detective will be here in a few moments to make
+inquiries into this affair. You may have something to conceal, you may
+not. Tell the whole truth. It always comes out sooner or later. Don&#8217;t
+try to shield anybody or hide anything. It is bad policy.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna smiled very faintly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I thank you for your advice,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I can assure you that it was
+quite unnecessary. I know less about this affair perhaps than you
+suppose. What I do know I shall have no hesitation in telling anyone
+who has the right to ask.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Just so,&#8221; the doctor remarked drily. &#8220;And if I were you I would keep
+away from the fire.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Brendon reappeared, followed by a tall thin man with a stubbly brown
+moustache and restless grey eyes. The doctor nodded to him curtly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good evening, Dorling,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Before you do anything else I
+should advise you to secure those charred fragments of paper from the
+grate. I know nothing about this affair, but some one has been burning
+documents.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The detective went down on his hands and knees. With delicate touch he
+rescued all that was possible of them, and made a careful little
+parcel. Then he stepped briskly to his feet and bent over the wounded
+man.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Shot through the lungs,&#8221; he remarked.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p><p>The doctor nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bad hemorrhage,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I am going to fetch some things that will
+be wanted if he pulls through the next hour. I found him lying like
+this, the bleeding partly stopped by this scarf, else he had been dead
+by now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The doctor glanced towards Anna. Considering his convictions he felt
+that his remark was a generous one. Anna&#8217;s face however was wholly
+impassive.</p>
+
+<p>He took up his hat and went. The detective rapidly sketched the
+appearance of the room in his notebook, and picked up the pistol from
+under the table. Then he turned to Anna.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Can you give me any information as to this affair?&#8221; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will tell you all that I know,&#8221; Anna said. &#8220;My name is Anna
+Pellissier, sometimes called Annabel. I am engaged to sing every
+evening at the &#8216;Unusual&#8217; music hall. This man&#8217;s name is Montague
+Hill. I saw him first a few months ago at Mrs. White&#8217;s boarding-house
+in Russell Square. He subjected me there to great annoyance by
+claiming me as his wife. As a matter of fact, I had never spoken to
+him before in my life. Since then he has persistently annoyed me. I
+have suspected him of possessing a skeleton key to my apartments.
+To-night I locked up my flat at six o&#8217;clock. It was then, I am sure,
+empty. I dined with a friend and went to the &#8216;Unusual.&#8217; At a quarter
+past eleven I returned here with this gentleman, Mr. Brendon. As we
+turned the corner of the street, I noticed that the electric light was
+burning in this room. We stopped for a moment to watch it, and almost
+immediately it was turned out. We came on here at once. I found the
+door locked as usual, but when we entered this room everything was as
+you see. Nothing has been touched since.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The detective nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A very clear statement, madam,&#8221; he said. &#8220;From what you saw from the
+opposite pavement then, it is certain that some person who was able to
+move about was in this room only a minute or so before you entered
+it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is so,&#8221; Anna answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You met no one upon the stairs, or saw no one leave the flats?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No one,&#8221; Anna answered firmly.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Then either this man shot himself or some one else shot him
+immediately before your arrival&mdash;or rather if it was not himself the
+person who did it was in the room, say two minutes, before you
+arrived.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is so,&#8221; Anna admitted.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will not trouble you with any questions about the other occupants
+of the flats,&#8221; Mr. Dorling said. &#8220;I shall have to go through the
+building. You say that this gentleman was with you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I was,&#8221; Brendon answered, &#8220;most providentially.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You did not notice anything which may have escaped this lady? You saw
+no one leave the flats?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No one,&#8221; Brendon answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You heard no pistol-shot?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;None.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The detective turned again to Anna.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You know of no one likely to have had a grudge against this man?&#8221; he
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is no one else who has a key to your rooms?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No one except my maid, who is away in Wiltshire.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The inference is, then,&#8221; the detective said smoothly, &#8220;that this man
+obtained admission to your rooms by means of a false key, that he
+burnt some papers here and shot himself within a few moments of your
+return. Either that or some other person also obtained admission here
+and shot him, and that person is either still upon the premises or
+escaped without your notice.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I suppose,&#8221; Anna said, &#8220;that those are reasonable deductions.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The detective thrust his notebook into his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I brought a man with me who is posted outside,&#8221; he remarked. &#8220;With
+your permission I should like to search the remainder of your rooms.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna showed him the way.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Have either of you been out of this room since you discovered what
+had happened?&#8221; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Brendon went for the doctor,&#8221; Anna answered. &#8220;I have not left
+this apartment myself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Nothing unusual was discovered in any other part of the flat. While
+they were still engaged in looking round the doctor returned with a
+nurse and assistant.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;With your permission,&#8221; he said to Anna, &#8220;I shall arrange a bed for
+him where he is. There is scarcely one chance in a dozen of saving his
+life; there would be none at all if he were moved.&#8221;</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;You can make any arrangements you like,&#8221; Anna declared. &#8220;I shall
+leave the flat to you and go to a hotel.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You would perhaps be so good as to allow one of my men to accompany
+you and see you settled,&#8221; Mr. Dorling said deferentially. &#8220;In the
+event of his death we should require you at once to attend at the
+inquest.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am going to pack my bag,&#8221; Anna answered. &#8220;In five minutes I shall
+be ready.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XXV" id="Chapter_XXV"></a><i>Chapter XXV</i></h2>
+
+<h3>THE STEEL EDGE OF THE TRUTH</h3>
+
+<p>The manservant, with his plain black clothes and black tie, had
+entered the room with a deferential little gesture.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You will pardon me, sir,&#8221; he said in a subdued tone, &#8220;but I think
+that you have forgotten to look at your engagement book. There is Lady
+Arlingford&#8217;s reception to-night, ten till twelve, and the Hatton House
+ball, marked with a cross, sir, important. I put your clothes out an
+hour ago.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Nigel Ennison looked up with a little start.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right, Dunster,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I may go to Hatton House later, but
+you needn&#8217;t wait. I can get into my clothes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The man hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Can I bring you anything, sir&mdash;a whisky and soda, or a liqueur?
+You&#8217;ll excuse me, sir, but you haven&#8217;t touched your coffee.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bring me a whisky and soda, and a box of cigarettes,&#8221; Ennison
+answered, &#8220;and then leave me alone, there&#8217;s a good fellow. I&#8217;m a
+little tired.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The man obeyed his orders noiselessly and then left the room.</p>
+
+<p>Ennison roused himself with an effort, took a long drink from his
+whisky and soda, and lit a cigarette.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What a fool I am!&#8221; he muttered, standing up on the hearthrug, and
+leaning his elbows upon the broad mantelpiece. &#8220;And yet I wonder
+whether the world ever held such another enigma in her sex. Paris
+looms behind&mdash;a tragedy of strange recollections&mdash;here she emerges
+Ph&oelig;nix-like, subtly developed, a flawless woman, beautiful,
+self-reliant, witty, a woman with the strange gift of making all
+others beside her seem plain or vulgar. And then&mdash;this sudden thrust.
+God only knows what I have done, or left undone. Something
+unpardonable is laid to my charge. Only last night she saw me, and
+there was horror in her eyes.... I have written, called&mdash;of what avail
+is anything&mdash;against that look.... What the devil is the matter,
+Dunster?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I beg your pardon, sir,&#8221; the man answered, &#8220;there is a lady here to
+see you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p><p>Ennison turned round sharply.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A lady, Dunster. Who is it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The man came a little further into the room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lady Ferringhall, sir.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lady Ferringhall&mdash;alone?&#8221; Ennison exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Quite alone, sir.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison was dismayed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For Heaven&#8217;s sake, Dunster, don&#8217;t let her out of the carriage, or
+hansom, or whatever she came in. Say I&#8217;m out, away, anything!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am sorry, sir,&#8221; the man answered, &#8220;but she had sent away her hansom
+before I answered the bell. She is in the hall now. I&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The door was thrown open. Annabel entered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Forgive my coming in,&#8221; she said to Ennison. &#8220;I heard your voices, and
+the hall is draughty. What is the matter with you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Dunster had withdrawn discreetly. Ennison&#8217;s manner was certainly not
+one of a willing host.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I cannot pretend that I am glad to see you, Lady Ferringhall,&#8221; he
+said quietly. &#8220;For your own sake, let me beg of you not to stay for a
+moment. Dunster shall fetch you a cab. I&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She threw herself into an easy chair. She was unusually pale, and her
+eyes were brilliant. Never had she seemed to him so much like Anna.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You needn&#8217;t be worried,&#8221; she said quietly. &#8220;The conventions do not
+matter one little bit. You will agree with me when you have heard what
+I have to say. For me that is all over and done with.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lady Ferringhall! Anna!&#8221; he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>She fixed her brilliant eyes upon him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Suppose you call me by my proper name,&#8221; she said quietly. &#8220;Call me
+Annabel.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He started back as though he had been shot.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Annabel?&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;That is your sister&#8217;s name.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, mine.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It came upon him like a flash. Innumerable little puzzles were
+instantly solved. He could only wonder that this amazing thing had
+remained so long a secret to him. He remembered little whispered
+speeches of hers, so like the Annabel of Paris, so unlike the woman he
+loved, a hundred little things should have told him long ago.
+Nevertheless it was overwhelming.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;But your hair,&#8221; he gasped.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dyed!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And your figure?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;One&#8217;s <i>corseti&egrave;re</i> arranges that. My friend, I am only grieved that
+you of all others should have been so deceived. I have seen you with
+Anna, and I have not known whether to be glad or sorry. I have been in
+torment all the while to know whether it was to Anna or to Annabel
+that you were making love so charmingly. Nigel, do you know that I
+have been very jealous?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He avoided the invitation of her eyes. He was indeed still in the
+throes of his bewilderment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But Sir John?&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;What made you marry him? What made you
+leave Paris without a word to any one? What made you and your sister
+exchange identities?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is one answer to all those questions, Nigel,&#8221; she said, with a
+nervous little shudder. &#8220;It is a hateful story. Come close to me, and
+let me hold your hand, dear. I am a little afraid.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a strange look in her face, the look of a frightened child.
+Ennison seemed to feel already the shadow of tragedy approaching. He
+stood by her side, and he suffered her hands to rest in his.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You remember the man in Paris who used to follow me about&mdash;Meysey
+Hill they called him?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Miserable bounder,&#8221; he murmured. &#8220;Turned out to be an impostor, too.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He imposed on me,&#8221; Annabel continued. &#8220;I believed that he was the
+great multi-millionaire. He worried me to marry him. I let him take me
+to the English Embassy, and we went through some sort of a ceremony. I
+thought it would be magnificent to have a great house in Paris, and
+more money than any other woman. Afterwards we started for <i>d&eacute;jeuner</i>
+in a motor. On the way he confessed. He was not Meysey Hill, but an
+Englishman of business, and he had only a small income. Every one took
+him for the millionaire, and he had lost his head about me. I&mdash;well, I
+lost my temper. I struck him across the face, twisted the steering
+wheel of the motor, sprang out myself, and left him for dead on the
+road with the motor on top of him. This is the first act.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Served the beast right,&#8221; Ennison declared. &#8220;I think I can tell you
+something which may be very good news for you presently. But go on.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>&#8220;Act two,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;Enter Sir John, very honest, very much in
+love with me. I thought that Hill was dead, but I was frightened, and
+I wanted to get away from Paris. Sir John heard gossip about us&mdash;about
+Anna the recluse, a paragon of virtue, and Annabel alias &#8216;Alcide&#8217; a
+dancer at the <i>caf&eacute;s chantants</i>, and concerning whom there were many
+stories which were false, and a few&mdash;which were true. I&mdash;well, I
+borrowed Anna&#8217;s name. I made her my unwilling confederate. Sir John
+followed me to London and married me. To this day he and every one
+else thinks that he married Anna.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Act three. Anna comes to London. She is poor, and she will take
+nothing from my husband, the man she had deceived for my sake, and he,
+on his part, gravely disapproves of her as &#8216;Alcide.&#8217; She tries every way
+of earning a living and fails. Then she goes to a dramatic agent.
+Curiously enough nothing will persuade him that she is not &#8216;Alcide.&#8217;
+He believes that she denies it simply because owing to my marriage
+with Sir John, whom they call the &#8216;Puritan Knight,&#8217; she wants to keep
+her identity secret. He forces an engagement upon her. She never calls
+herself &#8216;Alcide.&#8217; It is the Press who find her out. She is the image
+of what I was like, and she has a better voice. Then enter Mr. Hill
+again&mdash;alive. He meets Anna, and claims her as his wife. It is Anna
+again who stands between me and ruin.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I cannot let you go on,&#8221; Ennison interrupted. &#8220;I believe that I can
+give you great news. Tell me where the fellow Hill took you for this
+marriage ceremony.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was behind the Place de Vendome, on the other side from the Ritz.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I knew it,&#8221; Ennison exclaimed. &#8220;Cheer up, Annabel. You were never
+married at all. That place was closed by the police last month. It was
+a bogus affair altogether, kept by some blackguard or other of an
+Englishman. Everything was done in the most legal and imposing way,
+but the whole thing was a fraud.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I was never married to him at all?&#8221; Annabel said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Never&mdash;but, by Jove, you had a narrow escape,&#8221; Ennison exclaimed.
+&#8220;Annabel, I begin to see why you are here. Think! Had you not better
+hurry back before Sir John discovers? You are his wife right enough.
+You can tell me the rest another time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She smiled faintly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The rest,&#8221; she said, holding tightly to his hands,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> &#8220;is the most
+important of all. You came to me, you wished me to speak to Anna. I
+went to her rooms to-night. There was no one at home, and I was coming
+away when I saw that the door was open. I decided to go in and wait.
+In her sitting-room I found Montague Hill. He had gained admission
+somehow, and he too was waiting for Anna. But&mdash;he was cleverer than
+any of you. He knew me, Nigel. &#8216;At last,&#8217; he cried, &#8216;I have found
+you!&#8217; He would listen to nothing. He swore that I was his wife, and&mdash;I
+shot him, Nigel, as his arms were closing around me. Shot him, do you
+hear?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good God!&#8221; he exclaimed, looking at her curiously. &#8220;Is this true,
+Annabel? Is he dead?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I shot him. I saw the blood come as he rolled over. I tore the
+marriage certificate from his pocket and burnt it. And then I came
+here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You came&mdash;here!&#8221; he repeated, vaguely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nigel, Nigel,&#8221; she cried. &#8220;Don&#8217;t you understand? It is I whom you
+cared for in Paris, not Anna. She is a stranger to you. You cannot
+care for her. Think of those days in Paris. Do you remember when we
+went right away, Nigel, and forgot everything? We went down the river
+past Veraz, and the larks were singing all over those deep brown
+fields, and the river further on wound its way like a coil of silver
+across the rich meadowland, and along the hillside vineyards. Oh, the
+scent of the flowers that day, the delicious quiet, the swallows that
+dived before us in the river. Nigel! You have not forgotten. It was
+the first day you kissed me, under the willows, coming into Veraz.
+Nigel, you have not forgotten!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he said, with a little bitter smile. &#8220;I have never forgotten.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She suddenly caught hold of his shoulders and drew him down towards
+her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nigel, don&#8217;t you understand. I must leave England to-night. I must go
+somewhere into hiding, a long, long way off. I killed him, Nigel. They
+will say that it was murder. But if only you will come I do not care.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He shook her hands off almost roughly. He stood away from her. She
+listened with dumb fear in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Listen, Annabel,&#8221; he said hoarsely.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> &#8220;We played at love-making in
+Paris. It was very pretty and very dainty while it lasted, but we
+played it with our eyes open, and we perfectly understood the
+game&mdash;both of us. Other things came. We went our ways. There was no
+broken faith&mdash;not even any question of anything of the sort. I met you
+here as Lady Ferringhall. We have played at a little mild love-making
+again. It has been only the sort of nonsense which passes lightly
+enough between half the men and women in London. You shall know the
+truth. I do not love you. I have never loved you. I call myself a man
+of the world, a man of many experiences, but I never knew what love
+meant&mdash;until I met your sister.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You love&mdash;Anna?&#8221; she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I always shall. Now if you are ready to go with
+me, I too am ready. We will go to Ostend by the early morning boat and
+choose a hiding place from there. I will marry you when Sir John gets
+his divorce, and I will do all I can to keep you out of harm. But you
+had better know the truth to start with. I will do all this not
+because I love you, but&mdash;because you are Anna&#8217;s sister.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel rose to her feet.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are magnificent,&#8221; she said, &#8220;but the steel of your truth is a
+little oversharpened. It cuts. Will you let your servant call me a
+hansom,&#8221; she continued, opening the door before he could reach her
+side. &#8220;I had no idea that it was so abominably late.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He scarcely saw her face again. She pulled her veil down, and he knew
+that silence was best.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where to?&#8221; he asked, as the hansom drove up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Home, of course,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;Eight, Cavendish Square.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XXVI" id="Chapter_XXVI"></a><i>Chapter XXVI</i></h2>
+
+<h3>ANNABEL IS WARNED</h3>
+
+<p>&#8220;You!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>David Courtlaw crossed the floor of the dingy little sitting-room with
+outstretched hands.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You cannot say that you did not expect me,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I got
+Sydney&#8217;s telegram at ten o&#8217;clock, and caught the ten-thirty from the
+Gare du Nord.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is very nice of you,&#8221; Anna said softly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Rubbish!&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I could not have stayed in Paris and waited
+for news. Tell me exactly what has happened. Even now I do not
+understand. Is this man Hill dead?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He was alive at four o&#8217;clock this afternoon,&#8221; she answered, &#8220;but the
+doctors give little hope of his recovery.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is there to be feared?&#8221; he asked her quietly.</p>
+
+<p>She hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are my friend,&#8221; she said, &#8220;if any one is. I think that I will
+tell you. The man Hill has persecuted me for months&mdash;ever since I have
+been in England. He claimed me for his wife, and showed to every one a
+marriage certificate. He shot at me at the &#8216;Unusual,&#8217; and the
+magistrates bound him over to keep the peace. I found him once in my
+rooms, and I believe that he had a key to my front door. Last night
+Mr. Brendon and I returned from the &#8216;Unusual,&#8217; and found him lying
+in my room shot through the lungs. In the grate were some charred
+fragments of a marriage certificate. We fetched the doctor and the
+police. From the first I could see that neither believed my story. I
+am suspected of having shot the man.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But that is ridiculous!&#8221; he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>She laughed a little bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am under police surveillance,&#8221; she said. &#8220;So is Mr. Brendon.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But there is not a shadow of evidence against you,&#8221; he objected.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> &#8220;The
+man alone could supply any, and if he recovers sufficiently to say
+anything, what he would say would exonerate you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a moment&#8217;s silence. Anna&#8217;s face was half turned from him,
+but her expression, and the tone of her monosyllable puzzled him. He
+stepped quickly towards her. Her eyes seemed to be looking backwards.
+She distinctly shivered as he forced her to look at him. He was
+bewildered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Anna!&#8221; he exclaimed hoarsely. &#8220;Look at me. What is it? Good God!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>An unhappy little smile parted her lips. She clenched her hands
+together and leaned forward in her chair, gazing steadily into the
+fire.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that I will tell you everything. I must tell
+somebody&mdash;and you would understand.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am your friend,&#8221; he said slowly, &#8220;whatever you may have to tell me.
+You can trust me, Anna. You know that. I will be as silent as the
+grave.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not long ago,&#8221; she said, &#8220;you left me in anger, partly because of
+this exchange of identities between Annabel and myself. You said that
+it would bring trouble. It has.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Annabel&#8217;s real reason for wishing to leave Paris, the real reason she
+married Sir John Ferringhall, was because of a very foolish thing
+which she did. It was&mdash;in connection with this man Hill. He personated
+over there a millionaire named Meysey Hill, and it seems that he
+induced Annabel to go through some sort of marriage with him at the
+Embassy.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where?&#8221; Courtlaw asked quickly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In Paris.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Courtlaw seemed about to say something. He changed his mind however,
+and simply motioned to her to proceed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then there was a motor accident only an hour or so after this
+ceremony, and Hill was reported to be killed. Annabel believed it,
+came to England and married Sir John. Now you can understand why I
+have been obliged to&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, yes, I understand that,&#8221; Courtlaw interrupted. &#8220;But about last
+night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Annabel knew where I lived,&#8221; Anna continued slowly. &#8220;She has been to
+my flat before. I saw her come out from the flat buildings two minutes
+before we entered it last night. I picked up her handkerchief on the
+floor.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>&#8220;You mean&mdash;you think&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hush! I think that he was concealed in my room, and Annabel and he
+met there. What passed between them I cannot think&mdash;I dare not. The
+pistol was his own, it is true, but it was one which was taken from
+him when he forced his way in upon me before. Now you can understand
+why every minute is a torture to me. It is not for myself I fear. But
+if he speaks&mdash;I fear what he may tell.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have been to her?&#8221; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I dare not,&#8221; she answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will go,&#8221; he said. &#8220;She must be warned. She had better escape if
+she can.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She will take her risk,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;I am sure of it. If he
+recovers he may not accuse her. If he dies she is safe.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He paced the room for a minute or two restlessly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There are some people,&#8221; he said at last, &#8220;who seem fated to carry on
+their shoulders the burdens of other people. You, Anna, are one of
+them. I know in Paris you pinched and scraped that your sister might
+have the dresses and entertainments she desired. You fell in at once
+with her quixotic and damnable scheme of foisting her reputation and
+her follies upon your shoulders whilst she marries a rich man and
+commences all over again a life of selfish pleasure. You on the other
+hand have to come to London, a worker, with the responsibility of life
+upon your own shoulders&mdash;and in addition all the burden of her
+follies.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You forget,&#8221; she said, looking up at him with a faint smile, &#8220;that
+under the cloak of her name I am earning more money a week than I
+could ever have earned in a year by my own labours.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is an accident,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;Besides, it is not so. You sing
+better than Annabel ever did, you have even a better style. &#8216;Alcide&#8217;
+or no &#8216;Alcide,&#8217; there is not a music hall manager in London or Paris
+who would not give you an engagement on your own merits.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps not,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;And yet in a very few weeks I shall have
+done with it all. Do you think that I shall ever make an actress, my
+friend?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I doubt it,&#8221; he answered bluntly. &#8220;You have not feeling enough.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She smiled at him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is like old times,&#8221; she said, &#8220;to hear these home truths. All the
+same, I don&#8217;t admit it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>He shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To be an actress,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you require a special and peculiar
+temperament. I do not believe that there has ever lived a really great
+actress whose moral character from the ordinary point of view would
+bear inspection.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then I,&#8221; she said, &#8220;have too much character.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Too much character, and too little sentiment,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;Too much
+sensibility and too cold a heart. Too easily roused emotions and too
+little passion. How could you draw the curtain aside which hides the
+great and holy places of life&mdash;you, who have never loved?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have become French to the core,&#8221; she murmured. &#8220;You would believe
+that life is kindled by the passions alone.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was silence between them. Then a servant girl brought in a
+telegram. Anna tore it open and passed it to Courtlaw. It was from
+Brendon.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>&#8220;Hill gradually recovering consciousness. Doctor says depositions
+to-night. Recovery impossible.&mdash;<span class="smcap">Brendon</span>.&#8221;</p></div>
+
+<p>He looked at her gravely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that some one ought to warn her.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is Number 8, Cavendish Square,&#8221; she answered simply.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>Courtlaw found himself ushered without questions into Annabel&#8217;s long
+low drawing-room, fragrant with flowers and somewhat to his surprise,
+crowded with guests. From the further end of the apartment came the
+low music of a violin. Servants were passing backwards and forwards
+with tea and chocolate. For a moment he did not recognize Annabel.
+Then she came a few steps to meet him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Courtlaw, is it not,&#8221; she remarked, with lifted eyebrows. &#8220;Really
+it is very kind of you to have found me out.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He was bereft of words for a moment, and in that moment she escaped,
+having passed him on deftly to one of the later arrivals.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lady Mackinnor,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I am sure that you must have heard of Mr.
+David Courtlaw. Permit me to make him known to you&mdash;Mr. Courtlaw&mdash;Lady
+Mackinnor.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With a murmured word of excuse she glided away, and Courtlaw, who had
+come with a mission which seemed to him to be one of life or death,
+was left to listen to the latest art jargon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>from Chelsea. He bore it
+as long as he could, watching all the time with fascinated eyes
+Annabel moving gracefully about amongst her guests, always gay, with a
+smile and a whisper for nearly everybody. Grudgingly he admired her.
+To him she had always appeared as a mere pleasure-loving
+parasite&mdash;something quite insignificant. He had pictured her, if
+indeed she had ever had the courage to do this thing, as sitting
+alone, convulsed with guilty fear, starting at her own shadow, a slave
+to constant terror. And instead he found her playing the great lady,
+and playing it well. She knew, or guessed his mission too, for more
+than once their eyes met, and she laughed mockingly at him. At last he
+could bear it no longer. He left his companion in the midst of a
+glowing eulogy of Bastien Leparge, and boldly intercepted his hostess
+as she moved from one group to join another.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Can you spare me a moment?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;I have a message from your
+sister.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Are you in a hurry,&#8221; she asked carelessly. &#8220;A lot of these people
+will be going presently.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My message is urgent,&#8221; he said firmly. &#8220;If you cannot listen to me
+now it must remain undelivered.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She shrugged her shoulders and led him towards a small recess. &#8220;So you
+come from Anna, do you?&#8221; she remarked. &#8220;Well, what is it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Montague Hill is recovering consciousness,&#8221; he said. &#8220;He will
+probably make a statement to-night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That sounds very interesting,&#8221; she answered coolly. &#8220;Perhaps I should
+better be able to understand its significance if you would explain to
+me who Mr. Montague Hill is.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your husband,&#8221; he answered bluntly.</p>
+
+<p>She did not wince. She laughed a little contemptuously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You and Anna,&#8221; she said, &#8220;seem to have stumbled upon a mare&#8217;s nest.
+If that is my sister&#8217;s message, pray return to her and say that the
+doings and sayings of Mr. Montague Hill do not interest me in the
+least.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t be foolish,&#8221; he said sharply. &#8220;You were seen to leave the flat,
+and your handkerchief was found there. Very likely by this time the
+whole truth is known.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She smiled at him, an understanding smile, but her words defied him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What a beautiful mare&#8217;s nest!&#8221; she exclaimed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> &#8220;I can see you and Anna
+groaning and nodding your grave heads together. Bah! She does not know
+me very well, and you&mdash;not at all. Do have some tea, won&#8217;t you? If
+you must, go then.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Courtlaw was dismissed. As he passed out he saw in the hall a quietly
+dressed man with keen grey eyes, talking to one of the footmen. He
+shivered and looked behind as he stepped into his hansom. Had it come
+already?</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XXVII" id="Chapter_XXVII"></a><i>Chapter XXVII</i></h2>
+
+<h3>JOHN FERRINGHAM, GENTLEMAN</h3>
+
+<p>&#8220;Confess, my dear husband,&#8221; Annabel said lightly, &#8220;that you are
+bewildered.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John smiled.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear Anna,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;To tell you the truth, it has seemed
+just lately as though we were becoming in some measure estranged. You
+certainly have not shown much desire for my society, have you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have been wrapped up in your politics,&#8221; she murmured.</p>
+
+<p>He shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There have been other times,&#8221; he said a little sadly.</p>
+
+<p>Her little white hand stole across the table. There was a look in her
+eyes which puzzled him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have been very selfish,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;But you must forgive me,
+John.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I would forgive you a great deal more,&#8221; he answered readily, &#8220;for the
+sake of an evening like this. You have actually given up a
+dinner-party to dine alone with me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And made you give up a political meeting,&#8221; she reminded him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Quite an unimportant one,&#8221; he assured her. &#8220;I would have given up
+anything to see you your old self again&mdash;as you are this evening.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid I have not been very nice,&#8221; she said sadly. &#8220;Never mind.
+You must think of this evening, John, sometimes&mdash;as a sort of
+atonement.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hope,&#8221; he answered, looking at her in some surprise, &#8220;that we shall
+have many more such to think about.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They were lingering over their dessert. The servants had left the
+room. Annabel half filled her glass with wine, and taking a little
+folded packet from her plate, shook the contents into it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am developing ailments,&#8221; she said, meeting his questioning eyes.
+&#8220;It is nothing of any importance. John, I have something to say to
+you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you want to ask a favour,&#8221; he remarked smiling,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> &#8220;you have made it
+almost impossible for me to refuse you anything.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am going to ask more than a favour,&#8221; she said slowly. &#8220;I am going
+to ask for your forgiveness.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He was a little uneasy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do not know what you mean,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but if you are referring to
+any little coolness since our marriage let us never speak of it again.
+I am something of an old fogey, Anna, I&#8217;m afraid, but if you treat me
+like this you will teach me to forget it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel looked intently into her glass.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;John,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I am afraid that I am going to make you unhappy. I
+am very, very sorry, but you must listen to me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He relapsed into a stony silence. A few feet away, across the low
+vases of pink and white roses, sat Annabel, more beautiful to-night
+perhaps than ever before in her life. She wore a wonderful dress of
+turquoise blue, made by a great dressmaker for a function which she
+knew very well now that she would never attend. Her hair once more was
+arranged with its old simplicity. There was a new softness in her
+eyes, a hesitation, a timidity about her manner which was almost
+pathetic.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You remember our first meeting?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he answered hoarsely. &#8220;I remember it very well indeed. You have
+the look in your eyes to-night which you had that day, the look of a
+frightened child.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She looked into her glass.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I was frightened then,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;I am frightened now. But it is
+all very different. There was hope for me then. Now there is none. No,
+none at all.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You talk strangely, Anna,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Go on!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;People talked to you in Paris about us,&#8221; she continued, &#8220;about Anna
+the virtuous and Annabel the rake. You were accused of having been
+seen with the latter. You denied it, remembering that I had called
+myself Anna. You went even to our rooms and saw my sister. Anna lied
+to you, I lied to you. I was Annabel the rake, &#8216;Alcide&#8217; of the music
+halls. My name is Annabel, not Anna. Do you understand?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do not,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;How could I, when your sister sings now at
+the &#8216;Unusual&#8217; every night and the name &#8216;Alcide&#8217; flaunts from every
+placard in London?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The likeness between us,&#8221; she said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> &#8220;before I began to disfigure
+myself with rouge and ill-dressed hair, was remarkable. Anna failed in
+her painting, our money was gone, and she was forced to earn her own
+living. She came to London, and tried several things without any
+success.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But why&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John stopped short. With a moment of inward shame he remembered
+his deportment towards Anna. It was scarcely likely that she would
+have accepted his aid. Some one had once, in his hearing, called him a
+prig. He remembered it suddenly. He thought of his severe attitude
+towards the girl who was rightly and with contempt refusing his
+measured help. He looked across at Annabel, and he groaned. This was
+his humiliation as well as hers.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Anna of course would not accept any money from us,&#8221; she continued.
+&#8220;She tried everything, and last of all she tried the stage. She went
+to a dramatic agent, and he turned out to be the one who had heard me
+sing in Paris. He refused to believe that Anna was not &#8216;Alcide.&#8217; He
+thought she wished to conceal her identity because of the connexion
+with you, and he offered her an engagement at once. She was never
+announced as &#8216;Alcide,&#8217; but directly she walked on she simply became
+&#8216;Alcide&#8217; to every one. She had a better voice than I, and the rest I
+suppose is only a trick. The real &#8216;Alcide&#8217;,&#8221; she wound up with a faint
+smile across the table at him, &#8220;is here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He sat like a man turned to stone. Some part of the stiff vigour of
+the man seemed to have subsided. He seemed to have shrunken in his
+seat. His eyes were fixed upon her face, but he opened his lips twice
+before he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;When you married me&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Her little hand flashed out across the table.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;John,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I can spare you that question. I had been about as
+foolish and selfish as a girl could be. I had done the most
+compromising things, and behaved in the most ridiculous way. But from
+the rest&mdash;you saved me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John breathed a long deep sigh. He sat up in his chair again, the
+colour came back to his cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;John, don&#8217;t!&#8221; she cried. &#8220;You think that this is all. You are going
+to be generous and forgive. It isn&#8217;t all. There is worse to come.
+There is a tragedy to come.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Out with it, then,&#8221; he cried, almost roughly. &#8220;Don&#8217;t you know, child,
+that this is torture for me? What in God&#8217;s name more can you have to
+tell me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Her face had become almost like a marble image. She spoke with a
+certain odd deliberation carefully chosen words which fell like drops
+of ice upon the man who sat listening.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Before I met you I was deluded into receiving upon friendly terms a
+man named Hill, who passed himself off as Meysey Hill the railway man,
+but who was in reality an Englishman in poor circumstances. He was
+going to settle I forget how many millions upon me, and I think that I
+was dazzled. I went with him to what I supposed to be the British
+Embassy, and went through a ceremony which I understood to be the
+usual form of the marriage one used there. Afterwards we started for a
+motor ride to a place outside Paris for <i>d&eacute;jeuner</i>, and I suppose the
+man&#8217;s nerve failed him. I questioned him too closely about his
+possessions, and remarked upon the fact that he was a most inexpert
+driver, although Meysey Hill had a great reputation as a motorist.
+Anyhow he confessed that he was a fraud. I struck him across the face,
+jumped out and went back by train to Paris. He lost control of the
+machine, was upset and nearly killed.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Did you say,&#8221; Sir John asked, &#8220;that the man&#8217;s name was Hill?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; she answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The man who was found dead in your sister&#8217;s room was named Hill?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is the man,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;I killed him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John clutched at the table with both hands. A slow horror was
+dawning in his fixed eyes. This was not the sort of confession which
+he had been expecting. Annabel had spoken calmly enough and steadily,
+but his brain refused at first to accept the full meaning of her
+words. It seemed to him that a sort of mist had risen up between them.
+Everything was blurred. Only her face was clear, frail and delicate,
+almost flower-like, with the sad haunting eyes ever watching his.
+Annabel a murderess! It was not possible.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Child!&#8221; he cried. &#8220;You do not know what you say. This is part of a
+dream&mdash;some evil fancy. Think! You could not have done it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head deliberately, hopelessly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think that I know very well what I am saying,&#8221; she answered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> &#8220;I
+went to Anna&#8217;s rooms because I felt that I must see her. He was there
+concealed, waiting her return. He recognized me at once, and he
+behaved like a madman. He swore that I was his wife, that chance had
+given me to him at last. John, he was between me and the door. A
+strong coarse man, and there were things in his eyes which made my
+blood run cold with terror. He came over to me. I was helpless.
+Beside me on Anna&#8217;s table was a pistol. I was not even sure whether
+it was loaded. I snatched it up, pointed it blindly at him, and
+fired.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; Sir John exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He fell over at my feet,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;I saw him stagger and sink
+down, and the pistol was smoking still in my hand. I bent over him.
+Anna had told me that he carried always with him this bogus marriage
+certificate. I undid his coat, and I took it from his pocket. I burned
+it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But the marriage itself?&#8221; Sir John asked. &#8220;I do not understand.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There was no marriage,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;I was very foolish to have
+been deceived even for a moment. There was no marriage, and I hated,
+oh, how I hated the man.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Did any one see you leave the flat?&#8221; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do not know. But David Courtlaw has been here. To-night they say he
+will be conscious. He will say who it was. So there is no escape. And
+listen, John.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I went from Anna&#8217;s flat to Nigel Ennison&#8217;s rooms. I told him the
+truth. I asked him to take me away, and hide me. He refused. He sent
+me home.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John&#8217;s head bent lower and lower. There was nothing left now of
+the self-assured, prosperous man of affairs. His shoulders were bent,
+his face was furrowed with wrinkles. He looked no longer at his wife.
+His eyes were fixed upon the tablecloth.</p>
+
+<p>There was a gentle rustling of skirts. Softly she rose to her feet. He
+felt her warm breath upon his cheek, the perfume of her hair as she
+leaned over him. He did not look up, so he did not know that in her
+other hand she held a glass of wine.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear husband,&#8221; she murmured. &#8220;I am so very, very sorry. I have
+brought disgrace upon you, and I haven&#8217;t been the right sort of wife
+at all. But it is all over now, and presently there will be some one
+else. I should like to have had you forgive me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He did not move. He seemed to be thinking hard. She paused for a
+moment. Then she raised the glass nearer to her lips.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good-bye, John,&#8221; she said simply.</p>
+
+<p>Something in her tone made him look up. In a second the glass lay
+shattered upon the carpet. There was a stain of wine upon her dress.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;God in Heaven, Annabel!&#8221; he cried. &#8220;What were you doing?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Her voice was a little hysterical. Her unnatural calm was giving way.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was poison&mdash;why not?&#8221; she answered. &#8220;Who is there to care
+and&mdash;John.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>His arms were around her. He kissed her once on the lips with a
+passion of which, during all their days of married life, he had given
+no sign.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You poor little girl!&#8221; he cried. &#8220;Forgive you, indeed. There isn&#8217;t a
+husband breathing, Annabel, who wouldn&#8217;t have blessed that pistol in
+your hands, and prayed God that the bullet might go straight. It is no
+crime, none at all. It is one of God&#8217;s laws that a woman may defend
+her honour, even with the shedding of blood. While you talked I was
+only making our plans. It was necessary to think, and think quickly.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She was altogether hysterical now.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I&mdash;I went to Nigel Ennison for help. I asked him&mdash;to take me
+away.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She saw him flinch, but he gave no sign of it in his tone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I have been to blame. It must be my fault that
+you have not learnt that your husband is the man to come to&mdash;at such a
+time as this. Oh, I think I understand, Annabel. You were afraid of
+me, afraid that I should have been shocked, afraid of the scandal.
+Bah. Little woman, you have been brave enough before. Pull yourself
+together now. Drink this!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He poured out a glass of wine with a firm hand, and held it to her
+lips. She drank it obediently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good,&#8221; he said, as he watched the colour come back to her cheeks.
+&#8220;Now listen. You go to your room and ring for your maid. I received a
+telegram, as you know, during dinner. It contains news of the serious
+illness of a near relation at Paris. Your maid has twenty minutes to
+pack your dressing case for one night, and you have the same time to
+change into a travelling dress. In twenty minutes we meet in the hall,
+remember. I will tell you our plans on the way to the station.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But you,&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;you are not coming. There is the
+election&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He laughed derisively.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Election be hanged!&#8221; he exclaimed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> &#8220;Don&#8217;t be childish, Annabel. We
+are off for a second honeymoon. Just one thing more. We may be
+stopped. Don&#8217;t look so frightened. You called yourself a murderess.
+You are nothing of the sort. What you did is called manslaughter, and
+at the worst there is only a very slight penalty, nothing to be
+frightened about in the least. Remember that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She kissed him passionately, and ran lightly upstairs. In the hall
+below she could hear his firm voice giving quick commands to the
+servants.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XXVIII" id="Chapter_XXVIII"></a><i>Chapter XXVIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3>THE HISSING OF &#8220;ALCIDE&#8221;</h3>
+
+<p>There was a strange and ominous murmur of voices, a shuffling of feet
+in the gallery, a silence, which was like the silence before a storm.
+Anna, who had sung the first verse of her song, looked around the
+house, a little surprised at the absence of the applause which had
+never yet failed her. She realized in a moment what had happened. Even
+though the individual faces of her audience were not to be singled
+out, she had been conscious from the first moment of her appearance
+that something was wrong. She hesitated, and for a moment thought of
+omitting her second verse altogether. The manager, however, who stood
+in the wings, nodded to her to proceed, and the orchestra commenced
+the first few bars of the music. Then the storm broke. A long shrill
+cat-call in the gallery seemed to be the signal. Then a roar of
+hisses. They came from every part, from the pit, the circle and the
+gallery, even from the stalls. And there arose too, a background of
+shouts.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who killed her husband?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Go and nurse him, missus!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Murderess!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna looked from left to right. She was as pale as death, but she
+seemed to have lost the power of movement. They shouted to her from
+the wings to come off. She could not stir hand or foot. A paralyzing
+horror was upon her. Her eardrums were burning with the echoes of
+those hideous shouts. A crumpled-up newspaper thrown from the gallery
+hit her upon the cheek. The stage manager came out from the wings, and
+taking her hand led her off. There was more shouting.</p>
+
+<p>The stage manager reappeared presently, and made a speech. He
+regretted&mdash;more deeply than he could say&mdash;the occurrence of this
+evening. He fancied that when they had had time to reflect, they would
+regret it still more. (&#8220;No, no.&#8221;) They had shown themselves grossly
+ignorant of facts. They had chosen to deliberately and wickedly insult
+a lady who had done her best to entertain them for many weeks. He
+could not promise that she would ever appear again in that house.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>(&#8220;Good job.&#8221;) Well, they might say that, but he knew very well that
+before long they would regret it. Of his own certain knowledge he
+could tell them that. For his own part he could not sufficiently
+admire the pluck of this lady, who, notwithstanding all that she had
+been through, had chosen to appear this evening rather than break her
+engagement. He should never sufficiently be able to regret the return
+which they had made to her. He begged their attention for the next
+turn.</p>
+
+<p>He had spoken impressively, and most likely Anna, had she reappeared,
+would have met with a fair reception. She, however, had no idea of
+doing anything of the sort. She dressed rapidly and left the theatre
+without a word to any one. The whole incident was so unexpected that
+neither Courtlaw nor Brendon were awaiting. The man who sat behind a
+pigeon-hole, and regulated the comings and goings, was for a moment
+absent. Anna stood on the step and looked up and down the street for a
+hansom. Suddenly she felt her wrist grasped by a strong hand. It was
+Ennison, who loomed up through the shadows.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Anna! Thank God I have found you at last. But you have not finished
+surely. Your second turn is not over, is it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She laughed a little hardly. Even now she was dazed. The horror of
+those few minutes was still with her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Have you not heard?&#8221; she said. &#8220;For me there is no second turn. I
+have said good-bye to it all. They hissed me!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Beasts!&#8221; he muttered. &#8220;But was it wise to sing to-night?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not? The man was nothing to me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have not seen the evening paper?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No. What about them?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He called a hansom.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They are full of the usual foolish stories. To-morrow they will all
+be contradicted. To-night all London believes that he was your
+husband.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is why they hissed me, then?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course. To-morrow they will know the truth.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She shivered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is this hansom for me?&#8221; she said. &#8220;Thank you&mdash;and good-bye.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am coming with you,&#8221; he said firmly.</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t!&#8221; she begged.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are in trouble,&#8221; he said. &#8220;No one has a better right than I to be
+with you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have no right at all,&#8221; she answered coldly.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I have the right of the man who loves you,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;Some day
+you will be my wife, and it would not be well for either of us to
+remember that in these unhappy days you and I were separated.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna gave her address to the driver. She leaned back in the cab with
+half-closed eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This is all madness,&#8221; she declared wearily. &#8220;Do you think it is fair
+of you to persecute me just now?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is not persecution, Anna,&#8221; he answered gently. &#8220;Only you are the
+woman I love, and you are in trouble. And you are something of a
+heroine, too. You see, my riddle is solved. I know all.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You know all?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your sister has told me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have seen her&mdash;since last night?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna shivered a little. She asked no further questions for the moment.
+Ennison himself, with the recollection of Annabel&#8217;s visit still fresh
+in his mind, was for a moment constrained and ill at ease. When they
+reached her rooms she stepped lightly out upon the pavement.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now you must go,&#8221; she said firmly. &#8220;I have had a trying evening and I
+need rest.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You need help and sympathy more, Anna,&#8221; he pleaded, &#8220;and I have the
+right, yes I have the right to offer you both. I will not be sent
+away.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is my wish to be alone,&#8221; she said wearily. &#8220;I can say no more.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She turned and fitted the latchkey into the door. He hesitated for a
+moment and then he followed her. She turned the gas up in her little
+sitting-room, and sank wearily into an easy chair. On the mantelpiece
+in front of her was a note addressed to her in Annabel&#8217;s handwriting.
+She looked at it with a little shudder, but she made no motion to take
+it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Will you say what you have to say, please, and go. I am tired, and I
+want to be alone.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He came and stood on the hearthrug close to her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Anna,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you make it all indescribably hard for me. Will you
+not remember what has passed between us? I have the right to take my
+place by your side.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have no right at all,&#8221; she answered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> &#8220;Further than that, I am
+amazed that you should dare to allude to those few moments, to that
+single moment of folly. If ever I could bring myself to ask you any
+favour, I would ask you to forget even as I have forgotten.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why in Heaven&#8217;s name should I forget?&#8221; he cried. &#8220;I love you, Anna,
+and I want you for my wife. There is nothing but your pride which
+stands between us.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There is great deal more,&#8221; she answered coldly. &#8220;For one thing I am
+going to marry David Courtlaw.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He stepped back as though he had received a blow.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is not possible,&#8221; he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because you are mine. You have told me that you cared. Oh, you cannot
+escape from it. Anna, my love, you cannot have forgotten so soon.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He fancied that she was yielding, but her eyes fell once more upon
+that fatal envelope, and her tone when she spoke was colder than ever.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That was a moment of madness,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I was lonely. I did not
+know what I was saying.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will have your reason for this,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I will have your true
+reason.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him for a moment with fire in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You need a reason. Ask your own conscience. What sort of a standard
+of life yours may be I do not know, yet in your heart you know very
+well that every word you have spoken to me has been a veiled insult,
+every time you have come into my presence has been an outrage. That is
+what stands between us, if you would know&mdash;that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She pointed to the envelope still resting upon the mantelpiece. He
+recognized the handwriting, and turned a shade paler. Her eyes noted
+it mercilessly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But your sister,&#8221; he said. &#8220;What has she told you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Everything.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He was a little bewildered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you do not blame me altogether?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She rose to her feet.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am tired,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and I want to rest. But if you do not leave
+this room I must.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He took up his hat.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You are unjust and quixotic, Anna, you have no
+right to treat any one as you are treating me. And yet&mdash;I love you.
+When you send for me I shall come back. I do not believe that you will
+marry David Courtlaw. I do not think that you will dare to marry
+anybody else.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p><p>He left the room, and she stood motionless, with flaming cheeks,
+listening to his retreating footsteps. When she was quite sure that he
+was gone she took her sister&#8217;s note from the mantelpiece and slowly
+broke the seal.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">&#8220;Dearest A</span>&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I lied to you. Nigel Ennison was my very good friend, but there
+is not the slightest reason for your not marrying him, if you
+wish to do so.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My husband knows all. We leave England to-night.</p>
+
+<p class="right">&#8220;Ever yours,</p>
+
+<p class="right2"><span class="smcap">&#8220;Annabel</span>.&#8221;</p></div>
+
+<p>Anna moved softly to the window, and threw up the sash. Ennison had
+disappeared.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XXIX" id="Chapter_XXIX"></a><i>Chapter XXIX</i></h2>
+
+<h3>MONTAGUE HILL PLAYS THE GAME</h3>
+
+<p>The man opened his eyes and looked curiously about him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where am I?&#8221; he muttered.</p>
+
+<p>Courtlaw, who was sitting by the bedside, bent over him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are in a private room of St. Felix Hospital,&#8221; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hospital? What for? What&#8217;s the matter with me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Courtlaw&#8217;s voice sank to a whisper. A nurse was at the other end of
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There was an accident with a pistol in Miss Pellissier&#8217;s room,&#8221; he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>The light of memory flashed in the man&#8217;s face. His brows drew a little
+nearer together.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Accident! She shot me,&#8221; he muttered. &#8220;I had found her at last, and
+she shot me. Listen, you. Am I going to die?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid that you are in a dangerous state,&#8221; Courtlaw answered
+gravely. &#8220;The nurse will fetch the doctor directly. I wanted to speak
+to you first.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who are you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am a friend of Miss Pellissier&#8217;s,&#8221; Courtlaw answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Which one?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The Miss Pellissier in whose rooms you were, and who sings at the
+&#8216;Unusual,&#8217;&#8221; Courtlaw answered. &#8220;The Miss Pellissier who was at
+White&#8217;s with us.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The man nodded.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I remember you now,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So it seems that I was wrong. Annabel
+was in hiding all the time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Annabel Pellissier is married,&#8221; Courtlaw said quietly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s my wife,&#8221; the man muttered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is possible,&#8221; Courtlaw said, &#8220;that you too were deceived. Where
+were you married?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;At the English Embassy in Paris. You will find the certificate in my
+pocket.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And who made the arrangements for you, and sent you there?&#8221; Courtlaw
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hainault, Celeste&#8217;s friend. He did everything.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I thought so,&#8221; Courtlaw said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> &#8220;You too were deceived. The place to
+which you went was not the English Embassy, and the whole performance
+was a fraud. I heard rumours of it in Paris, and the place since then
+has been closed.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But Hainault&mdash;assured&mdash;me&mdash;that the marriage was binding.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So it would have been at the English Embassy,&#8221; Courtlaw answered,
+&#8220;but the place to which you went was not the English Embassy. It was
+rigged up for the occasion as it has been many a time before.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But Hainault&mdash;was&mdash;a pal. I&mdash;I don&#8217;t understand,&#8221; the man faltered
+wearily.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hainault was Celeste&#8217;s friend, and Celeste was Annabel&#8217;s enemy,&#8221;
+Courtlaw said. &#8220;It was a plot amongst them all to humiliate her.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then she has never been my wife.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Never for a second. She is the wife now of another man.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Hill closed his eyes. For fully five minutes he lay quite motionless.
+Then he opened them again suddenly, to find Courtlaw still by his
+side.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was a bad day for me,&#8221; he said, speaking slowly and painfully. &#8220;A
+bad thing for me when that legacy came. I thought I&#8217;d see Paris, do
+the thing&mdash;like a toff. And I heard &#8216;Alcide&#8217; sing, and that little
+dance she did. I was in the front row, and I fancied she smiled at me.
+Lord, what a state I was in! Night after night I sat there, I watched
+her come in, I watched her go. She dropped a flower&mdash;it&#8217;s in my
+pocket-book now. I couldn&#8217;t rest or eat or sleep. I made Hainault&#8217;s
+acquaintance, stood him drinks, lent him money. He shook his head all
+the time. Annabel Pellissier was not like the others, he said. She had
+a few acquaintances, English gentlemen, but she lived with her
+sister&mdash;was a lady. But one day he came to me. It was Celeste&#8217;s idea.
+I could be presented as Meysey Hill. We were alike. He was&mdash;a
+millionaire. And I passed myself off as Meysey Hill, and
+since&mdash;then&mdash;I haven&#8217;t had a minute&#8217;s peace. God help me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Courtlaw was alarmed at the man&#8217;s pallor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You mustn&#8217;t talk any more,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but I want you to listen to me
+just for a moment. The doctor will be here to see you in five minutes.
+The nurse sent for him as soon as she saw that you were conscious. It
+is very possible that he will ask you to tell him before witnesses how
+you received your wound.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The man smiled at him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are their friend, then?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am,&#8221; Courtlaw answered.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>&#8220;Which one?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The one whose life you have been making a burden, who has been all
+the time shielding her sister. I would have married her long ago, but
+she will not have me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bring her&mdash;here,&#8221; Hill muttered. &#8220;I&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The door opened, and the doctor entered softly. Hill closed his eyes.
+Courtlaw stood up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He has asked to see some one,&#8221; he whispered to the doctor. &#8220;Is there
+any urgency?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The doctor bent over his patient, who seemed to have fallen asleep.
+Presently he turned to Courtlaw.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that I would fetch any one whom he has asked to
+see. His condition is not unfavourable, but there may be a relapse at
+any moment.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>So only a few minutes after Ennison&#8217;s departure, while Anna stood
+indeed with her sister&#8217;s open letter still in her hand, Courtlaw drove
+up in hot haste. She opened the door to him herself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Will you come round to the hospital?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;Hill has asked for
+you, and they will take his depositions to-night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She slipped on her cloak and stepped into the hansom with him. They
+drove rapidly through the emptying streets.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Will he die?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Impossible to say,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;We have a private room at St.
+Felix. Everything is being done that can be.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are sure that he asked for me&mdash;not for Annabel?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Certain,&#8221; Courtlaw answered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Has he accused any one yet?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not yet,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I have scarcely left his side.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He was still conscious when they reached the hospital and his state
+was much more favourable. The doctor and another man were by his
+bedside when they entered the room, and there were writing materials
+which had evidently been used close at hand. He recognised Anna, and
+at once addressed her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank you&mdash;for coming,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The doctor has asked me to give
+them my reasons&mdash;for shooting myself. I&#8217;ve told them all that was
+necessary, but I&mdash;wanted to ask your pardon&mdash;for having made myself a
+nuisance to you, and for breaking into your rooms&mdash;and to thank
+you&mdash;the doctor says you bound up my wound&mdash;or I should have bled to
+death.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I forgive you willingly,&#8221; Anna said, bending over him. &#8220;It has all
+been a mistake, hasn&#8217;t it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No more talking,&#8221; the doctor interposed.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I want two words&mdash;with Miss Pellissier alone,&#8221; Hill pleaded.</p>
+
+<p>The doctor frowned.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Remember,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you are not by any means a dying man now, but
+you&#8217;ll never pull through if you don&#8217;t husband your strength.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Two words only,&#8221; Hill repeated.</p>
+
+<p>They all left the room. Anna leaned over so that he needed only to
+whisper.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Tell your sister she was right to shoot, quite right. I meant
+mischief. But tell her this, too. I believed that our marriage was
+genuine. I believed that she was my wife, or she would have been safe
+from me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will tell her,&#8221; Anna promised.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She has nothing to be afraid of,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;I have signed a
+statement that I shot myself; bad trade and drink, both true&mdash;both
+true.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>His eyes were closed. Anna left the room on tiptoe. She and Courtlaw
+drove homewards together.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XXX" id="Chapter_XXX"></a><i>Chapter XXX</i></h2>
+
+<h3>SIR JOHN&#8217;S NECKTIE</h3>
+
+<p>Sir John, in a quiet dark travelling suit, was sitting in a pokey
+little room writing letters. The room was worse than pokey, it was
+shabby; and the view from the window, of chimney pots and slate roofs,
+wholly uninspiring. Nevertheless, Sir John had the look of a man who
+was enjoying himself. He seemed years younger, and the arrangement of
+his tie and hair were almost rakish. He stamped his last letter as
+Annabel entered.</p>
+
+<p>She was dressed for the street very much as her own maid was
+accustomed to dress, and there was a thick veil attached to her hat.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;John,&#8221; she declared, &#8220;I must eat or die. Do get your hat, and we will
+go to that corner caf&eacute;.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Right,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I know the place you mean&mdash;very good cooking
+for such an out-of-the-way show. I&#8217;ll be ready in a moment.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John stamped his letters, brushed his hat, and carefully gave his
+moustache an upward curl before the looking-glass.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I really do not believe,&#8221; he announced with satisfaction, &#8220;that any
+one would recognize me. What do you think, Annabel?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think they would,&#8221; she admitted. &#8220;You seem to have cultivated
+quite a jaunty appearance, and you certainly look years younger. One
+would think that you enjoyed crawling away out of your world into
+hiding, with a very foolish wicked wife.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Upon my word,&#8221; he declared, &#8220;you are right. I really am enjoying it.
+It is like a second honeymoon. If it wasn&#8217;t for the fear that after
+all&mdash;but we won&#8217;t think of that. I don&#8217;t believe any one could have
+traced us here. You see, we travelled second class, and we are in the
+least known quarter of Paris. To-night we leave for Marseilles. On
+Thursday we embark for South America.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are a marvellous courier,&#8221; she declared, as they passed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>into the
+street. &#8220;You see, I will take your arm. It looks so French to be
+affectionate.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There are some French customs,&#8221; he declared, &#8220;which are admirable. I
+presume that I may not kiss you in the street?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Certainly not, sir,&#8221; she replied, laughing. &#8220;If you attempted such a
+thing it would be in order that I should smack you hard with the palm
+of my hand upon the cheek.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is another French custom,&#8221; he remarked, &#8220;which is not so
+agreeable. Here we are. Shall we sit outside and drink a <i>petit verre</i>
+of something to give us an appetite while dinner is being prepared?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Certainly not,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;I am already so hungry that I shall
+begin on the <i>petit pains</i>. I have an appetite which I dare not
+increase.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They entered the place, a pleasant little caf&eacute; of the sort to be met
+with in the outlying parts of Paris. Most of the tables were for those
+who smoked only and drank wine, but there were a few spread with
+tablecloths and laid for dinner. Sir John and Annabel seated
+themselves at one of them, and the proprietor himself, a small
+dark-visaged man, radiant with smiles, came hurrying up, followed by a
+waiter.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Monsieur would dine! It was very good! And Madame, of course?&#8221; with a
+low bow. The <i>carte de jour</i> was before Monsieur. He had but to give
+his orders. Monsieur could rely upon his special attention, and for
+the cooking&mdash;well, he had his customers, who came from their homes to
+him year after year. And always they were well satisfied. He waited
+the pleasure of Monsieur.</p>
+
+<p>Sir John gave his order, deliberately stumbling now and then over a
+word, and anglicizing others. When he had finished he took up the wine
+list and ordered a bottle of dry champagne.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid,&#8221; he said to Anna afterwards, &#8220;that it was a mistake to
+order the champagne sec. They will guess that I am English.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel leaned back in her chair and laughed till the tears stood in
+her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Did you&mdash;did you really think that they would take you for a
+Frenchman?&#8221; she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t see why not,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;These clothes are French, and I&#8217;m
+sure this floppy bow would make a Frenchman of me anyhow. Perhaps I
+ought to have let you order the dinner, but I think I got through it
+pretty well.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You did,&#8221; Anna exclaimed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> &#8220;Thank Heaven, they are bringing the <i>hors
+d&#8217;oeuvres</i>. John, I shall eat that whole tin of sardines. Do take them
+away from me after I have had four.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;After all,&#8221; Sir John remarked complacently, &#8220;it is astonishing how
+easy it is for people with brains and a little knowledge of the world
+to completely hide themselves. I am absolutely certain that up to the
+present we have escaped all notice, and I do not believe that any
+casual observer would take us for English people.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A man who had been sitting with his hat tilted over his eyes at an
+adjacent table had risen to his feet and stood suddenly before them.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Permit me to offer you the English paper which has just arrived, Sir
+John,&#8221; he said, holding out a <i>Daily Telegraph</i>. &#8220;You may find in it a
+paragraph of some interest to you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John was speechless. It was Annabel who caught at the paper.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&mdash;appear to know my name, sir,&#8221; Sir John said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes,&#8221; the stranger remarked good-humouredly. &#8220;I know you very
+well by sight, Sir John. It is my business to know most people. We
+were fellow passengers from Charing Cross, and we have been fellow
+lodgers in the Rue d&#8217;Entrepot. I trust you will not accuse me of
+discourtesy if I express my pleasure that henceforth our ways will lie
+apart.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A little sobbing cry from Annabel arrested Sir John&#8217;s attention. The
+stranger with a bow returned to his table.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Read this, John.&#8221;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="center">&#8220;<span class="smcap">The Bucknall Mansions Mystery</span>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Montague Hill, the man who was found lying wounded in Bucknall
+Mansions late on Wednesday night in the rooms of a well-known
+artiste, has recovered sufficiently to make a statement to the
+police. It appears that he was an unsuccessful admirer of the
+lady in question, and he admits that, under the influence of
+drink, he broke into her rooms, and there made a determined
+attempt at suicide. He further gave the name and address of the
+firm from whom he purchased the revolver and cartridges, a member
+of which firm has since corroborated his statement.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hill&#8217;s confession will finally refute a number of absurd stories
+which have been in circulation during the last few days. We
+understand that, notwithstanding the serious nature of the man&#8217;s
+injuries, there is every possibility of his recovery.&#8221;</p></div>
+
+<p>Annabel pulled down her veil to hide the tears. Sir John filled his
+glass with trembling hand.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>&#8220;Thank God,&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;The fellow is not such a blackguard, after
+all.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel&#8217;s hand stole into his.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And I have dragged you all over here for nothing,&#8221; she murmured.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For nothing, do you call it?&#8221; he declared. &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t have been
+without this trip for worlds. It has been a real honeymoon trip,
+Annabel, for I feel that it has given me a wife.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel pulled up her veil.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are a dear,&#8221; she exclaimed affectionately. &#8220;I do hope that I
+shall be able to make it up to you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John&#8217;s reply was incoherent. He called a waiter.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Gar&ccedil;on,&#8221; he said, &#8220;will you ask the gentleman at the next table if he
+will do me the honour of taking a glass of wine with me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The stranger came over to them smiling. He had been on the point of
+leaving the restaurant. He accepted the glass of wine, and bowed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I drink your very good health, Sir John and Lady Ferringhall,&#8221; he
+said, &#8220;and I wish you a pleasant journey back to England. If I might
+take the liberty, Sir John,&#8221; he added, with a humorous gleam in his
+eyes, &#8220;I should like to congratulate you upon your tie.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, damn the thing!&#8221; Sir John exclaimed, tucking the loose ends
+inside his coat.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>&#8220;I propose,&#8221; Sir John said, &#8220;that we pay for our dinner&mdash;which we
+haven&#8217;t had&mdash;tip the gar&ccedil;on a sovereign, and take a cab to the Ritz.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Annabel shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Look at our clothes,&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;and besides, the funny little
+proprietor has gone down himself to help it along. He would be so
+disappointed. I am sure it will be good, John, and I could eat
+anything. No, let us dine here, and then go and have our coffee on the
+boulevards. We can take our things up with us and stay at the
+Continental or the Ritz.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Excellent,&#8221; Sir John declared. &#8220;We will do Paris like the tourists,
+and thank God here comes dinner.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Everything was good. The gar&ccedil;on was tipped as he had never been tipped
+before in his life. They drove up into Paris in an open <i>fiacre</i> with
+a soft cool wind blowing in their faces, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>hand in hand beneath the
+rug. They went first to a hotel, and then out again on to the
+boulevards. The natural gaiety of the place seemed to have affected
+them both. They laughed and talked and stared about them. She took his
+hand in hers.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear John,&#8221; she whispered. &#8220;We are to begin our married life
+to-night&mdash;here where I first met you. I shall only pray that I may
+reward you for all your goodness to me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sir John, frankly oblivious of the possibility of passers-by, took her
+into his arms and kissed her. Then he stood up and hailed a <i>fiacre</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hotel Ritz!&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XXXI" id="Chapter_XXXI"></a><i>Chapter XXXI</i></h2>
+
+<h3>ANNA&#8217;S TEA PARTY</h3>
+
+<p>&#8220;I suppose you haven&#8217;t the least idea who I am,&#8221; Lady Lescelles said,
+as she settled herself in Anna&#8217;s most comfortable chair.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have heard of you, of course,&#8221; Anna answered hesitatingly,
+&#8220;but&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You cannot imagine what I have come to see you about. Well, I am
+Nigel Ennison&#8217;s sister!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; Anna said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nigel is like all men,&#8221; Lady Lescelles continued. &#8220;He is a sad
+blunderer. He has helped me out of scrapes though, no end of times. He
+is an awfully good sort&mdash;and now he has come to me to help him if I
+can. Do you know that he is very much in love with you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna smiled.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she admitted. &#8220;He has said something of the sort.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And you have sent him about his business. He tells me that you will
+not even see him. I don&#8217;t want to bother you, of course. A woman has a
+perfect right to choose her own husband, but Nigel seemed to think
+that there was something a little mysterious about your treatment of
+him. You seemed, he thought, to have some grievance which you would
+not explain and which he thought must arise from a misunderstanding.
+There, that sounds frightfully involved, doesn&#8217;t it, but perhaps you
+can make out what I mean. Don&#8217;t you care for Nigel at all?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna was silent for a moment or two.</p>
+
+<p>Lady Lescelles, graceful, very fashionably but quietly dressed, leaned
+back and watched her with shrewd kindly eyes.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I like your brother better than any other man I know,&#8221; Anna said at
+last.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, I don&#8217;t think you told him as much as that, did you?&#8221; Lady
+Lescelles asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I did not,&#8221; Anna answered. &#8220;To be frank with you, Lady Lescelles,
+when your brother asked me the other day to be his wife I was under a
+false impression as regards his relations&mdash;with some other person. I
+know now that I was mistaken.&#8221;</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p>
+<p>&#8220;That sounds more promising,&#8221; Lady Lescelles declared. &#8220;May I tell
+Nigel to come and see you again? I am not here to do his love-making
+for him, you know. I came to see you on my own account.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank you very much,&#8221; Anna said. &#8220;It is very nice of you to come, but
+I do not think for the present, at any rate, I could give him any
+other answer. I do not intend to be married, or to become engaged just
+at present.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, why not?&#8221; Lady Lescelles asked, smiling. &#8220;I can only be a few
+years older than you, and I have been married four years. I can assure
+you, I wouldn&#8217;t be single again for worlds. One gets a lot more fun
+married.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Our cases are scarcely similar,&#8221; Anna remarked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why not?&#8221; Lady Lescelles answered. &#8220;You are one of the Hampshire
+Pellissiers, I know, and your family are quite as good as ours. As for
+money, Nigel has tons of it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t exactly that,&#8221; Anna answered, &#8220;but to tell you the truth, I
+cannot bear to look upon myself as a rank failure. We girls, my sister
+and I, were left quite alone when our father died, and I made up my
+mind to make some little place in the world for myself. I tried
+painting and couldn&#8217;t get on. Then I came to London and tried almost
+everything&mdash;all failures. I had two offers of marriage from men I
+liked very much indeed, but it never occurred to me to listen to
+either of them. You see I am rather obstinate. At last I tried a
+dramatic agent, and got on the music hall stage.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, you can&#8217;t say you&#8217;re a failure there,&#8221; Lady Lescelles remarked,
+smiling. &#8220;I&#8217;ve been to hear you lots of times.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have been more fortunate than I deserved,&#8221; Anna answered, &#8220;but I
+only meant to stay upon the music hall stage until I could get
+something better. I am rehearsing now for a new play at the &#8216;Garrick&#8217;
+and I have quite made up my mind to try and make some sort of position
+for myself as an actress.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you think it is really worth while?&#8221; Lady Lescelles asked gently.
+&#8220;I am sure you will marry Nigel sooner or later, and then all your
+work will be thrown away.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If I were to marry now,&#8221; she said, &#8220;it would be with a sense of
+humiliation. I should feel that I had been obliged to find some one
+else to fight my battles for me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What else,&#8221; Lady Lescelles murmured, &#8220;are men for?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna laughed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Afterwards,&#8221; she said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> &#8220;I should be perfectly content to have
+everything done for me. But I do think that if a girl is to feel
+comfortable about it they should start fairly equal. Take your case,
+for instance. You brought your husband a large fortune, your people
+were well known in society, your family interest I have heard was
+useful to him in his parliamentary career. So far as I am concerned, I
+am just now a hopeless nonentity. Your brother has everything&mdash;I have
+not shown myself capable even of earning my own living except in a way
+which could not possibly bring any credit upon anybody. And beyond
+this, Lady Lescelles, as you must know, recent events have set a good
+many people&#8217;s tongues wagging, and I am quite determined to live down
+all this scandal before I think of marrying any one.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am sure,&#8221; Lady Lescelles said, gently, &#8220;that the last consideration
+need not weigh with you in the least. No one in the world is beyond
+the shaft of scandal&mdash;we all catch it terribly sometimes. It simply
+doesn&#8217;t count.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are very kind,&#8221; Anna said. &#8220;I do hope I have been able to make
+you understand how I feel, that you don&#8217;t consider me a hopeless prig.
+It does sound a little horrid to talk so much about oneself and to
+have views.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; Lady Lescelles said, putting down her teacup, &#8220;that I must
+send Nigel to plead his own cause. I may tell him, at any rate, that
+you will see him?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I shall like to see him,&#8221; Anna answered. &#8220;I really owe him something
+of an apology.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will tell him,&#8221; Lady Lescelles said. &#8220;And now let us leave the men
+alone and talk about ourselves.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>&#8220;I am delighted to see you all here,&#8221; Anna said smiling upon them from
+behind the tea-tray, &#8220;but I shall have to ask you to excuse me for a
+few minutes. My agent is here, and he has brought his contract for me
+to sign. I will give you all some tea, and then I must leave you for a
+few minutes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The three men, who had arrived within a minute or two of one another,
+received her little speech in dead silence. Ennison, who had been
+standing with his back to the window, came suddenly a little further
+into the room.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Miss Pellissier,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I came here this afternoon hoping
+particularly to see you for a few moments before you signed that
+contract.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p><p>She shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We may just as well have our talk afterwards,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and I need
+not keep poor Mr. Earles waiting.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Courtlaw suddenly interposed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;May I be allowed to say,&#8221; he declared, &#8220;that I came here with the
+same intention.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And I also,&#8221; Brendon echoed.</p>
+
+<p>Anna was suddenly very quiet.</p>
+
+<p>She was perhaps as near tears as ever before in her life.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If I had three hands,&#8221; she said, with a faint smile, &#8220;I would give
+one to each of you. I know that you are all my friends, and I know
+that you all have very good advice to give me. But I am afraid I am a
+shockingly obstinate and a very ungrateful person. No, don&#8217;t let me
+call myself that. I am grateful, indeed I am. But on this matter my
+mind is quite made up.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Ennison hesitated for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Miss Pellissier,&#8221; he said, &#8220;these gentlemen are your friends, and
+therefore they are my friends. If I am to have no other opportunity I
+will speak before them. I came here to beg you not to sign that
+contract. I came to beg you instead to do me the honour of becoming my
+wife.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And I,&#8221; Courtlaw said, &#8220;although I have asked before in vain, have
+come to ask you once more the same thing.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And I,&#8221; Brendon said, humbly, &#8220;although I am afraid there is no
+chance for me, my errand was the same.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Anna looked at them for a moment with a pitiful attempt at a smile.
+Then her head disappeared suddenly in her hands, and her shoulders
+shook violently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Please forgive me&mdash;for one moment,&#8221; she sobbed. &#8220;I&mdash;I shall be all
+right directly.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Brendon rushed to the piano and strummed out a tune.</p>
+
+<p>The others hurried to the window. And Anna was conscious of a few
+moments of exquisite emotion. After all, life had still its
+pulsations. The joy of being loved thrilled her as nothing before had
+ever done, a curious abstract joy which had nothing in it at that
+moment of regret or even pity.</p>
+
+<p>She called them back very soon.</p>
+
+<p>The signs of tears had all gone, but some subtle change seemed to have
+stolen into her face. She spoke readily enough, but there was a new
+timidity in her manner.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My friends,&#8221; she said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> &#8220;my dear friends, I am going to make the same
+answer to all of you&mdash;and that is perhaps you will say no answer at
+all. At present I cannot marry, I will not become bound even to any
+one. It would be very hard perhaps to make you understand just how I
+feel about it. I won&#8217;t try. Only I feel that you all want to make life
+too easy for me, and I am determined to fight my own battles a little
+longer. If any of you&mdash;or all of you feel the same in six months&#8217; time
+from to-day, will you come, if you care to, and see me then?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a brief silence. Ennison spoke at last.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You will sign the contract?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I shall sign the contract. I think that I am very fortunate to have
+it to sign.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you mean,&#8221; Courtlaw asked, &#8220;that from now to the end of the six
+months you do not wish to see us&mdash;any of us?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes were a little dim again.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do mean that,&#8221; she declared. &#8220;I want to have no distractions. My
+work will be all sufficient. I have an aunt who is coming to live with
+me, and I do not intend to receive any visitors at all. It will be a
+little lonely sometimes,&#8221; she said, looking around at them, &#8220;and I
+shall miss you all, but it is the fairest for myself&mdash;and I think for
+you. Do not avoid me if we meet by accident, but I trust to you all
+not to let the accident happen if you can help it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Brendon rose and came towards her with outstretched hand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good-bye, Miss Pellissier, and success to you,&#8221; he said. &#8220;May you
+have as much good fortune as you deserve, but not enough to make you
+forget us.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Courtlaw rose too.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are of the genus obstinate,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I do not know whether to
+wish you success or not. I will wish you success or failure, whichever
+is the better for you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And I,&#8221; Ennison said, holding her fingers tightly, and forcing her to
+look into his eyes, &#8220;I will tell you what I have wished for you when
+we meet six months from to-day.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XXXII" id="Chapter_XXXII"></a><i>Chapter XXXII</i></h2>
+
+<h3>SIX MONTHS AFTER</h3>
+
+<p>Up the moss-grown path, where the rose bushes run wild, almost met,
+came Anna in a spotless white gown, with the flush of her early
+morning walk in her cheeks, and something of the brightness of it in
+her eyes. In one hand she carried a long-stalked red rose, dripping
+with dew, in the other the post-bag.</p>
+
+<p>She reached a tiny yellow-fronted cottage covered with flowering
+creepers, and entered the front room by the wide-open window.
+Breakfast was laid for one, a dish of fruit and a shining coffee
+equipage. By the side of her plate was a small key. With trembling
+fingers she opened the post-bag. There was one letter. One only.</p>
+
+<p>She opened and read it at once. It was dated from the House of Commons
+on the previous day.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>&#8220;<span class="smcap">My Dear Miss Pellissier</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To-morrow the six months will be up. For days I have been
+undecided as to whether I would come to you or no. I would like
+you to believe that the decision I have arrived at&mdash;to stay
+away&mdash;is wholly and entirely to save you pain. It should be the
+happiest day of your life, and I would not detract from its
+happiness by letting you remember for a moment that there are
+others to whom your inevitable decision must bring some pain.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For I know that you love Ennison. You tried bravely enough to
+hide your preference, to look at us all with the same eyes, to
+speak to us in the same tone. It was not your fault you failed.
+If by any chance I have made a mistake a word will bring me to
+you. But I know very well that that word will never be spoken.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your great success has been my joy, our joy as well as yours.
+You have made for yourself a unique place upon the stage. We have
+so many actresses who aspire to great things in the drama, not
+one who can interpret as you have interpreted it, the delicate
+finesse, the finer lights and shades of true comedy. Ennison will
+make a thousand enemies if he takes you from the stage. Yet I
+think that he will do it.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>&#8220;For my own part I have come fully now into my inheritance. I am
+bound to admit that I greatly enjoy my altered life. Every minute
+I spend here is an education to me. Before very long I hope to
+have definite work. Some of my schemes are already in hand.
+People shrug their shoulders and call me a crazy socialist. Yet I
+fancy that we who have been poor ourselves must be the best
+judges of the needs of the people.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You will write to me, I am sure&mdash;and from the date of your
+letter I trust most earnestly that I may come back to my old
+place as</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+&#8220;Your devoted friend,</p>
+
+<p class="right2">&#8220;<span class="smcap">Walter Brendon</span>.&#8221;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>She set the letter down, and drew from her pocket another with a
+foreign post mark which had come the day before. This one too she
+read.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="right">&#8220;<span class="smcap">Hassell&#8217;s Camp</span>,</p>
+<p class="right2">&#8220;<span class="smcap">Near Colorado</span>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;On or about the day you receive this letter, Anna, the six
+months will be up. Do you expect me, I wonder. I think not. At
+any rate, here I am, and here I shall be, twenty thousand feet
+above all your poison-reeking cities, up where God&#8217;s wind comes
+fresh from heaven, very near indeed to the untrodden snows.
+Sometimes I tremble, Anna, to think how near I came to passing
+through life without a single glimpse, a moment&#8217;s revelation of
+this greatest and most awful of mysteries, the mystery of
+primaeval nature. It is a true saying that in the mountains there
+is peace. One&#8217;s sense of proportion, battered out of all shape in
+the daily life of cities, reasserts itself. I love you still,
+Anna, but life holds other things than the love of man for woman.
+Some day I shall come back, and I will show you on canvas the
+things which have come to me up here amongst the eternal silence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Many nights I have thought of you, Anna. Your face has flitted
+out of my watch-fire, and then I have been a haunted man. But
+with the morning, the glorious unstained morning the passion of
+living would stir even the blood of a clod. It comes over the
+mountains, Anna, pink darkening into orange red, everywhere a
+wonderful cloud sea, scintillating with colour. It is enough to
+make a man throw away canvas and brushes into the bottomless
+precipices, enough to make one weep with despair at his utter and
+absolute impotence. Nature is God, Anna, and the greatest artist
+of us all a pigmy. When I think of those ateliers of ours, the
+art jargon, the decadents with their flamboyant talk I long <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>for
+a two-edged sword and a minute of Divinity. To perdition with
+them all.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I shall come back, if at all, a new man. I have a new cult to
+teach, a new enthusiasm. I feel years younger, a man again. My
+first visit will be to you. I must tell you all about God&#8217;s land,
+this marvellous virgin country, with its silent forests and
+dazzling peaks. I make no apology for not being with you now. You
+love Ennison. Believe me, the bitterness of it has almost
+departed, crushed out of me together with much of the weariness
+and sorrow I brought with me here by the nameless glory of these
+lonely months. Yet I shall think of you to-day. I pray, Anna,
+that you may find your happiness.</p>
+
+<p class="right">&#8220;Your friend,</p>
+<p class="right2">&#8220;<span class="smcap">David Courtlaw</span>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;P.S.&mdash;I do not congratulate you on your success. I was certain
+of it. I am glad or sorry according as it has brought you
+happiness.&#8221;</p></div>
+
+<p>Anna&#8217;s eyes were a little dim as she poured out her coffee, and the
+laugh she attempted was not altogether a success.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This is all very well,&#8221; she said, &#8220;but two out of the three are rank
+deserters&mdash;and if the papers tell the truth the third is as bad. I
+believe I am doomed to be an old maid.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She finished her breakfast and strolled out across the garden with the
+letters still in her hand. Beyond was a field sloping steeply upwards,
+and at the top a small pine plantation. She climbed slowly towards it,
+keeping close to the hedge side, fragrant with wild roses, and holding
+her skirts high above the dew-laden grass. Arrived in the plantation
+she sat down with her back against a tree trunk.</p>
+
+<p>Already the warm sun was drawing from the pines their delicious odour.
+Below her stretched a valley of rich meadowland, of yellow cornfields,
+and beyond moorland hillside glorious with purple heather and golden
+gorse. She tried to compose her thoughts, to think of the last six
+months, to steep herself in the calm beauty of the surroundings. And
+she found herself able to do nothing of the sort. A new restlessness
+seemed to have stolen in upon her. She started at the falling of a
+leaf, at the lumbering of a cow through the hedge. Her heart was
+beating with quite unaccustomed vigour, her hands were hot, she was
+conscious of a warmth in her blood which the summer sunshine was
+scarcely responsible for. She struggled against it quite uselessly.
+She knew very well that a new thing was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>stirring in her. The period
+of repression was over. It is foolish, she murmured to herself,
+foolish. He will not come. He cannot.</p>
+
+<p>And then all her restlessness was turned to joy. She sprang to her
+feet and stood listening with parted lips and eager eyes. So he found
+her when he came round the corner of the spinney.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Anna,&#8221; he cried eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>She held out her arms to him and smiled.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+
+<p>&#8220;And where,&#8221; he asked, &#8220;are my rivals?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Deserters,&#8221; she answered, laughing. &#8220;It is you alone, Nigel, who have
+saved me from being an old maid. Here are their letters.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He took them from her and read them. When he came to a certain
+sentence in Brendon&#8217;s letter he stopped short and looked up at her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So Brendon and I,&#8221; he said, &#8220;have been troubled with the same fears.
+I too, Anna, have watched and read of your success with&mdash;I must
+confess it&mdash;some misgiving.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Please tell me why?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you need me to tell you? You have tasted the luxury of power. You
+have made your public, you are already a personage. And I want you for
+myself&mdash;for my wife.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She took his hand and smiled upon him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you understand, Nigel,&#8221; she said softly, &#8220;that it was precisely
+for this I have worked so hard. It is just the aim I have had in view
+all the time. I wanted to have something to give up. I did not
+care&mdash;no woman really cares&mdash;to play the beggar maid to your King
+Cophetua.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Then you will really give it all up!&#8221; he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>She laughed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;When we go indoors I will show you the offers I have refused,&#8221; she
+answered. &#8220;They have all been trying to turn my head. I think that
+nearly every manager in London has made me an offer. My reply to all
+of them has been the same. My engagement at the &#8216;Garrick&#8217; terminates
+Saturday week, and then I am free.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You will make me horribly conceited,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I think that I
+shall be the most unpopular man in London. You are not playing
+to-night, are you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>&#8220;Not to-night,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;I am giving my understudy a chance. I
+am going up to dine with my sister.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Annabel is a prophetess,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;I too am asked.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is a conspiracy,&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;Come, we must go home and have
+some luncheon. My little maidservant will think that I am lost.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They clambered down the hill together. The air was sweet with the
+perfume of flowers, and the melody of murmuring insects, the blue sky
+was cloudless, the heat of the sun was tempered by the heather-scented
+west wind. Ennison paused by the little gate.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that you have found the real home of the
+lotus-eaters. Here one might live the life of golden days.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head gently.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Neither you nor I, Nigel, are made of such stuff,&#8221; she answered.
+&#8220;These are the playgrounds of life. The great heart of the world beats
+only where men and women are gathered together. You have your work
+before you, and I&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He kissed her on the lips.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I believe,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that you mean me to be Prime Minister.&#8221;</p>
+
+<h3>TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:</h3>
+
+<p>Typesetting and editing of the original book from which this e-text
+has been transcribed was inconsistent. In addition to minor changes in
+punctuation, the theater in London in which the main character was a
+singer was referred to as the &#8216;Unusual&#8217; and as the 'Universal'; this
+has been changed to refer to the theater consistently as the
+&#8216;Unusual.&#8217; Additionally, Russell Square, the area in London where the
+main character resided was referred to twice as Russell Street; this
+has been changed to be consistent throughout this etext. Otherwise,
+every effort has been made to remain true to the author's words and
+intent.
+</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Anna the Adventuress, by E. Phillips Oppenheim
+
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@@ -0,0 +1,9226 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Anna the Adventuress, by E. Phillips Oppenheim
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Anna the Adventuress
+
+Author: E. Phillips Oppenheim
+
+Release Date: September 11, 2008 [EBook #26596]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANNA THE ADVENTURESS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by D. Alexander and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ ANNA
+ THE ADVENTURESS
+
+ By
+
+ E. Phillips Oppenheim
+
+ AUTHOR OF "THE SECRET", "THE TRAITORS", ETC.
+
+ WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED
+ LONDON AND MELBOURNE
+
+
+
+
+ MADE IN ENGLAND
+
+ _Printed in Great Britain by C. Tinling & Co., Ltd.,
+ Liverpool, London and Prescot._
+
+
+
+
+ABOUT THE STORY
+
+
+Annabel Pellissier, for reasons of her own, allows Sir John
+Ferringhall to believe that she is her sister Anna. Anna lets the
+deception continue and has to bear the burden of her sister's
+reputation which, in Paris at any rate, is that of being a coquette.
+Endless complications ensue when both sisters return to London.
+
+This is one of the late E. Phillips Oppenheim's most intriguing
+stories.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER                                                     PAGE
+
+      I THE CARPET-KNIGHT AND THE LADY                        7
+     II THE ADVENTURE OF ANNABEL                             15
+    III ANNA? OR ANNABEL?                                    20
+     IV THE TEMPERAMENT OF AN ARTIST                         26
+      V "ALCIDE"                                             31
+     VI A QUESTION OF IDENTIFICATION                         36
+    VII MISS PELLISSIER'S SUSPICIONS                         41
+   VIII "WHITE'S"                                            45
+     IX BRENDON'S LUCK                                       54
+      X THE TRAGEDY OF AN APPETITE                           61
+     XI THE PUZZLEMENT OF NIGEL ENNISON                      66
+    XII THE POSTER OF "ALCIDE"                               70
+   XIII "HE WILL NOT FORGET!"                                76
+    XIV "THIS IS MY WIFE"                                    81
+     XV A MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE                               89
+    XVI THE DISCOMFITURE OF SIR JOHN                         96
+   XVII THE CHANGE IN "ALCIDE"                              103
+  XVIII ANNABEL AND "ALCIDE"                                109
+    XIX "THIS IS NOT THE END"                               115
+     XX ANNA'S SURRENDER                                    121
+    XXI HER SISTER'S SECRET                                 126
+   XXII AN OLD FOOL                                         134
+  XXIII MONTAGUE HILL SEES LIGHT AT LAST                    138
+   XXIV A CASE FOR THE POLICE                               144
+    XXV THE STEEL EDGE OF THE TRUTH                         150
+   XXVI ANNABEL IS WARNED                                   156
+  XXVII JOHN FERRINGHAM, GENTLEMAN                          162
+ XXVIII THE HISSING OF "ALCIDE"                             169
+   XXIX MONTAGUE HILL PLAYS THE GAME                        174
+    XXX SIR JOHN'S NECKTIE                                  178
+   XXXI ANNA'S TEA PARTY                                    183
+  XXXII SIX MONTHS AFTER                                    188
+
+
+
+
+ANNA THE ADVENTURESS
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter I_
+
+THE CARPET-KNIGHT AND THE LADY
+
+
+The girl paused and steadied herself for a moment against a field
+gate. Her breath came fast in little sobbing pants. Her dainty shoes
+were soiled with dust and there was a great tear in her skirt. Very
+slowly, very fearfully, she turned her head. Her cheeks were the
+colour of chalk, her eyes were filled with terror. If a cart were
+coming, or those labourers in the field had heard, escape was
+impossible.
+
+The terror faded from her eyes. A faint gleam of returning colour gave
+her at once a more natural appearance. So far as the eye could reach,
+the white level road, with its fringe of elm-trees, was empty. Away
+off in the fields the blue-smocked peasants bent still at their toil.
+They had heard nothing, seen nothing. A few more minutes, and she was
+safe.
+
+Yet before she turned once more to resume her flight she schooled
+herself with an effort to look where it had happened. A dark mass of
+wreckage, over which hung a slight mist of vapour, lay half in the
+ditch, half across the hedge, close under a tree from the trunk of
+which the bark had been torn and stripped. A few yards further off
+something grey, inert, was lying, a huddled-up heap of humanity
+twisted into a strange unnatural shape. Again the chalky pallor spread
+even to her lips, her eyes became lit with the old terror. She
+withdrew her head with a little moan, and resumed her flight. Away up
+on the hillside was the little country railway station. She fixed her
+eyes upon it and ran, keeping always as far as possible in the shadow
+of the hedge, gazing fearfully every now and then down along the
+valley for the white smoke of the train.
+
+She reached the station, and mingling with a crowd of excursionists
+who had come from the river on the other side, took her place in the
+train unnoticed. She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.
+Until the last moment she was afraid.
+
+Arrived in Paris she remembered that she had not the money for a
+_fiacre_. She was in ill trim for walking, but somehow or other she
+made her way as far as the Champs Elysees, and sank down upon an empty
+seat.
+
+She had not at first the power for concealment. Her nerves were
+shattered, her senses dazed by this unexpected shock. She sat there, a
+mark for boulevarders, the unconscious object of numberless wondering
+glances. Paris was full, and it was by no means a retired spot which
+she had found. Yet she never once thought of changing it. A person of
+somewhat artificial graces and mannerisms, she was for once in her
+life perfectly natural. Terror had laid a paralyzing hand upon her,
+fear kept her almost unconscious of the curious glances which she was
+continually attracting.
+
+Then there came briskly along the path towards her, an Englishman. He
+was perhaps forty-five years of age. He was dressed with the utmost
+care, and he set his feet upon the broad walk as though the action
+were in some way a condescension. He was alert, well-groomed, and
+yet--perhaps in contrast with the more volatile French type--there was
+a suggestion of weight about him, not to say heaviness. He too looked
+at the girl, slackened his pace and looked at her again through his
+eye-glasses, looked over his shoulder after he had passed, and finally
+came to a dead stop. He scratched his upper lip reflectively.
+
+It was a habit of his to talk to himself. In the present case it did
+not matter, as there was no one else within earshot.
+
+"Dear me!" he said. "Dear me! I wonder what I ought to do. She is
+English! I am sure of that. She is English, and apparently in some
+distress. I wonder----"
+
+He turned slowly round. He was inclined to be a good-natured person,
+and he had no nervous fears of receiving a snub. The girl was pretty,
+and apparently a lady.
+
+"She cannot be aware," he continued, "that she is making herself
+conspicuous. It would surely be only common politeness to drop her a
+hint--a fellow countrywoman too. I trust that she will not
+misunderstand me. I believe--I believe that I must risk it."
+
+He stood before her, his hat in his hand, his head bent, his voice
+lowered to a convenient pitch.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he said, "but you appear to be a
+fellow countrywoman of mine, and in some distress. Can I be of any
+assistance? I can assure you that it would give me very much
+pleasure."
+
+Her first upward glance was one of terrified apprehension. When she
+saw however that this man was a stranger, and obviously harmless, her
+expression changed as though by magic. A delicate flush of colour
+streamed into her cheeks. Her eyes fell, and then sought his again
+with timid interest. Her natural instincts reasserted themselves. She
+began to act.
+
+"You are very kind," she said hesitatingly, "but I don't remember--I
+don't think that I know you, do I?"
+
+"I am afraid that you do not," he admitted, with a smile which he
+meant to be encouraging. "You remind me of the story which they tell
+against us over here, you know--of the Englishman who refused to be
+saved from drowning because he was unacquainted with his rescuer.
+Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Ferringhall--Sir John
+Ferringhall."
+
+There was genuine interest in her eyes now. Sir John saw it, and was
+flattered.
+
+"You are Sir John Ferringhall," she repeated. "Yes, I remember you
+now. You were pointed out to me at--a few nights ago."
+
+He was not in the least surprised. A millionaire and a knight, even
+though his money has been made in carpets, is used to being a person
+of interest.
+
+"Very likely," he answered. "I am fairly well known here. I must
+apologize, I suppose, for speaking to you, but your appearance
+certainly indicated that you were in some sort of trouble, and you
+were becoming--pardon me--an object of comment to the passers-by."
+
+The girl sat up and looked at him with a curious twist at the corners
+of her mouth--humorous or pathetic, he could not tell which. As though
+accidentally she swept her skirts from a chair close drawn to her own.
+Sir John hesitated. She was marvellously pretty, but he was not quite
+sure--yet--that it was advisable for him to sit with her in so public
+a place. His inclinations prompted him most decidedly to take the
+vacant chair. Prudence reminded him that he was a county magistrate,
+and parliamentary candidate for a somewhat difficult borough, where
+his principal supporters were dissenters of strict principles who took
+a zealous interest in his moral character. He temporized, and the girl
+raised her eyes once more to his.
+
+"You are the Sir John Ferringhall who has bought the Lyndmore estate,
+are you not?" she remarked. "My father's sisters used once to live in
+the old manor house. I believe you have had it pulled down, have you
+not?"
+
+"The Misses Pellissier!" he exclaimed. "Then your name----"
+
+"My name is Pellissier. My father was Colonel Pellissier. He had an
+appointment in Jersey, you know, after he left the army."
+
+Sir John did not hesitate any longer. He sat down.
+
+"Upon my word," he exclaimed, "this is most extraordinary. I----"
+
+Then he stopped short, for he began to remember things. He was not
+quite sure whether, after all, he had been wise. He would have risen
+again, but for the significance of the action.
+
+"Dear me!" he said. "Then some of your family history is known to me.
+One of your aunts died, I believe, and the other removed to London."
+
+The girl nodded.
+
+"She is living there now," she remarked.
+
+"Your father is dead too, I believe," he continued, "and your mother."
+
+"Two years ago," she answered. "They died within a few months of one
+another."
+
+"Very sad--very sad indeed," he remarked uneasily. "I remember hearing
+something about it. I believe that the common report was that you and
+your sister had come to Paris to study painting."
+
+She assented gently.
+
+"We have a small studio," she murmured, "in the Rue de St. Pierre."
+
+Sir John looked at her sideways. Her eyes were fixed upon the ground,
+the pink colour coming and going in her cheeks was very delicate and
+girlish. After all, this could never be the black sheep. He had been
+quite right to sit down. It was astonishing how seldom it was that his
+instincts betrayed him. He breathed a little sigh of satisfaction.
+
+"Come," he continued, "the world after all is a very small place. We
+are not altogether strangers, are we? I feel that under the
+circumstances I have the right to offer you my advice, and if
+necessary my help. I beg that you will consider me your friend."
+
+She looked at him with fluttering eyelids--sweetly grateful. It was
+such an unexpected stroke of fortune. Sir John was not used to such
+glances, and he liked them.
+
+"It is so difficult," she murmured, "so impossible to explain. Even to
+my own brother--if I had one--I could not tell everything, and you,
+although you are so kind, you are almost a stranger, aren't you?"
+
+"No, no!" he protested. "You must not think of me as one. Try and
+consider me your elder brother, or an old family friend, whichever you
+like best."
+
+She thanked him with one of her shy little glances. More than ever Sir
+John was glad that he had sat down.
+
+"It is very, very difficult," she continued, looking steadfastly at
+the ground. "Only--I have come face to face--with something terrible,
+and wholly unexpected trouble. I want to leave Paris to-day--this very
+day. I want to leave it for ever."
+
+He looked at her very gravely.
+
+"But your sister?" he asked. "What of her? Have you quarrelled with
+her?"
+
+The girl shook her head.
+
+"No," she answered. "I have not quarrelled with her. It is simply our
+point of view which is altogether different. I want to get away--to go
+to London. I cannot explain beyond that."
+
+"Then I am sure," Sir John declared, "that I shall not ask you. I know
+nothing about the matter, but I feel convinced that you are right. You
+ought to have had better advice two years ago. Paris is not the place
+for two young girls. I presume that you have been living alone?"
+
+She sighed gently.
+
+"My sister," she murmured, "is so independent. She is Bohemian to the
+finger-tips. She makes me feel terribly old-fashioned."
+
+Sir John smiled and congratulated himself upon his insight. He was so
+seldom wrong.
+
+"The next question, Miss Anna," he said, "is how am I to help you? I
+am wholly at your disposal."
+
+She looked up at him quickly. Her expression was a little changed,
+less innocent, more discerning.
+
+"Anna!" she repeated. "How do you know--why do you think that my name
+is Anna?" He smiled in a quietly superior way.
+
+"I think," he said, "that I am right. I am very good at guessing
+names."
+
+"I am really curious," she persisted. "You must have heard--have
+you--oh, tell me, won't you?" she begged. "Have you heard things?"
+
+The tears stood in her eyes. She leaned a little towards him. Nothing
+but the publicity of the place and the recollection of that terrible
+constituency kept him from attempting some perfectly respectful but
+unmistakable evidence of his sympathy.
+
+"I am afraid," he said gravely, "that your sister has been a little
+indiscreet. It is nothing at all for you to worry about."
+
+She looked away from him.
+
+"I knew," she said, in a low despairing tone, "that people would
+talk."
+
+He coughed gently.
+
+"It was inevitable," he declared. "It is not, of course, a pleasant
+subject of conversation for you or for me, yet I think I may venture
+to suggest to you that your sister's--er--indiscretions--have reached
+a point which makes a separation between you almost a necessity."
+
+She covered her face with her hands.
+
+"It--it--must come," she faltered.
+
+"I do not lay claim," he continued, "to any remarkable amount of
+insight, but it is possible, is it not, that I have stumbled upon your
+present cause of distress."
+
+"You are wonderful!" she murmured.
+
+He smiled complacently.
+
+"Not at all. This is simply a chapter of coincidences. Now what I want
+you to feel is this. I want you to feel that you have found a friend
+who has a strong desire to be of service to you. Treat me as an elder
+brother, if you like. He is here by your side. How can he help you?"
+
+She threw such a look upon him that even he, Sir John Ferringhall,
+carpet-merchant, hide-bound Englishman, slow-witted, pompous,
+deliberate, felt his heart beat to music. Perhaps the Parisian
+atmosphere had affected him. He leaned towards her, laid his hand
+tenderly upon hers.
+
+"I hope you realize," he went on, in a lower and less assured tone,
+"that I am in earnest--very much in earnest. You must let me do
+whatever I can for you. I shall count it a privilege."
+
+"I believe you," she murmured. "I trust you altogether. I am going to
+take you entirely at your word. I want to leave Paris to-day. Will you
+lend me the money for my ticket to London?"
+
+"With all the pleasure in the world," he answered heartily. "Let me
+add too that I am thankful for your decision. You have somewhere to go
+to in London, I hope."
+
+She nodded.
+
+"There is my aunt," she said. "The one who used to live at Lyndmore.
+She will take me in until I can make some plans. It will be horribly
+dull, and she is a very trying person. But anything is better than
+this."
+
+He took out his watch.
+
+"Let me see," he said. "Your best route will be via Boulogne and
+Folkestone at nine o'clock from the Gare du Nord. What about your
+luggage?"
+
+"I could get a few of my things, at any rate," she said. "My sister is
+sure to be out."
+
+"Very well," he said. "It is just six o'clock now. Supposing you fetch
+what you can, and if you will allow me, I will see you off. It would
+give me great pleasure if you would dine with me somewhere first."
+
+She looked at him wistfully, but with some unwilling doubt in her
+wrinkled forehead. It was excellently done, especially as she loved
+good dinners.
+
+"You are very kind to think of it," she said, "but--don't you think
+perhaps--that I had better not?"
+
+He smiled indulgently.
+
+"My dear child," he said, "with me you need have no apprehension. I am
+almost old enough to be your father."
+
+She looked at him with uplifted eyebrows--a look of whimsical
+incredulity. Sir John felt that after all forty-five was not so very
+old.
+
+"That sounds quite absurd," she answered. "Yet it is my last evening,
+and I think--if you are sure that you would like to have me--that I
+will risk it."
+
+"We will go to a very quiet place," he assured her, "a place where I
+have often taken my own sisters. You will be wearing your travelling
+dress, and no doubt you would prefer it. Shall we say at half-past
+seven?"
+
+She rose from her chair.
+
+"I will take a carriage," she said, "and fetch my things."
+
+"Let us say that Cafe Maston, in the Boulevard des Italiennes, at
+half-past seven then," he decided. "I shall be waiting for you there,
+and in the meantime, if you will help yourself--pray don't look like
+that. It is a very small affair, after all, and you can pay me back if
+you will."
+
+She took the pocket-book and looked up at him with a little impulsive
+movement. Her voice shook, her eyes were very soft and melting.
+
+"I cannot thank you, Sir John," she said. "I shall never be able to
+thank you."
+
+"Won't you postpone the attempt, then?" he said gallantly, "until I
+have done something to deserve your gratitude? You will not
+forget--seven-thirty, Cafe Maston, Boulevard des Italiennes."
+
+She drove off in a little _fiacre_, nodding and smiling at Sir John,
+who remained upon the Avenue. He too, when she had disappeared, called
+a carriage.
+
+"Hotel Ritz," he said mechanically to the coachman. "If only her
+sister is half as pretty, no wonder that she has set the Parisians
+talking."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter II_
+
+THE ADVENTURE OF ANNABEL
+
+
+The man spoke mercilessly, incisively, as a surgeon. Only he hated the
+words he uttered, hated the blunt honesty which forced them from his
+lips. Opposite, his pupil stood with bowed head and clasped hands.
+
+"You have the temperament," he said. "You have the ideas. Your first
+treatment of a subject is always correct, always suggestive. But of
+what avail is this? You have no execution, no finish. You lack only
+that mechanical knack of expression which is the least important part
+of an artist's equipment, but which remains a tedious and absolute
+necessity. We have both tried hard to develop it--you and I--and we
+have failed. It is better to face the truth."
+
+"Much better," she agreed. "Oh, much better."
+
+"Personally," he went on, "I must confess to a great disappointment. I
+looked upon you from the first as the most promising of my pupils. I
+overlooked the mechanical imperfections of your work, the utter lack
+of finish, the crudeness of your drawing. I said to myself, 'this will
+come.' It seems that I was mistaken. You cannot draw. Your fingers are
+even now as stiff as a schoolgirl's. You will never be able to draw.
+You have the ideas. You are an artist by the Divine right of birth,
+but whatever form of expression may come to you at some time it will
+not be painting. Take my advice. Burn your palette and your easel.
+Give up your lonely hours of work here. Look somewhere else in life.
+Depend upon it, there is a place for you--waiting. Here you only waste
+your time."
+
+She was silent, and in the gloom of the dimly lit apartment he could
+not see her face. He drew a little breath of relief. The worst was
+over now. He continued tenderly, almost affectionately.
+
+"After all, there are great things left in the world for you. Painting
+is only one slender branch of the great tree. To-night all this may
+seem hard and cruel. To-morrow you will feel like a freed woman.
+To-morrow I shall come and talk to you again--of other things."
+
+A man of infinite tact and kindness, he spoke his message and went.
+The girl, with a little moan, crossed the room and threw open the
+window.
+
+She looked steadfastly out. Paris, always beautiful even in the
+darkness, glittered away to the horizon. The lights of the Champs
+Elysees and the Place de la Concorde, suggestive, brilliant,
+seductive, shone like an army of fireflies against the deep cool
+background of the night. She stood there with white set face and
+nervously clenched fingers. The echo of those kindly words seemed
+still to ring in her ears. She was crushed with a sense of her own
+terrible impotency. A failure! She must write herself down a failure!
+At her age, with her ambitions, with her artistic temperament and
+creative instincts, she was yet to be denied all coherent means of
+expression. She was to fall back amongst the ruck, a young woman of
+talent, content perhaps to earn a scanty living by painting Christmas
+cards, or teaching at a kindergarten. Her finger-nails dug into her
+flesh. It was the bitterest moment of her life. She flung herself back
+into the bare little room, cold, empty, comfortless. In a momentary
+fury she seized and tore in pieces the study which remained upon the
+easel. The pieces fell to the ground in a little white shower. It was
+the end, she told herself, fiercely. And then, as she stood there,
+with the fragments of the torn canvas at her feet, some even caught
+upon her skirt, the door was thrown open, and a girl entered humming a
+light tune.
+
+The newcomer stopped short upon the threshold.
+
+"Anna! What tragedy has happened, little sister? No lights, no supper,
+no coffee--and, above all, no Mr. Courtlaw. How dreary it all looks.
+Never mind. Come and help me pack. I'm off to England."
+
+"Annabel, are you mad? To England! You are joking, of course. But come
+in, dear. I will light the stove, and there shall be some coffee
+presently."
+
+"Coffee! Bah!"
+
+The newcomer picked her way across the floor with daintily uplifted
+skirts, and subsided into a deck chair of stretched canvas.
+
+"I will not rob you of your coffee, most dutiful of sisters!" she
+exclaimed. "I have had adventures--oh, more than one, I can assure
+you. It has been a marvellous day--and I am going to England."
+
+Anna looked at her sister gravely. Even in her painting smock and with
+her disarranged hair, the likeness between the two girls was
+marvellous.
+
+"The adventures I do not doubt, Annabel," she said. "They seem to
+come to you as naturally as disappointment--to other people. But to
+England! What has happened, then?"
+
+Already the terror of a few hours ago seemed to have passed away from
+the girl who leaned back so lazily in her chair, watching the tip of
+her patent shoe swing backwards and forwards. She could even think of
+what had happened. Very soon she would be able to forget it.
+
+"Happened! Oh, many things," she declared indolently. "The most
+important is that I have a new admirer."
+
+The wonderful likeness between the two girls was never less noticeable
+than at that moment. Anna stood looking down upon her sister with
+grave perturbed face. Annabel lounged in her chair with a sort of
+insolent _abandon_ in her pose, and wide-open eyes which never
+flinched or drooped. One realized indeed then where the differences
+lay; the tender curves about Anna's mouth transformed into hard sharp
+lines in Annabel's, the eyes of one, truthful and frank, the other's
+more beautiful but with less expression--windows lit with dazzling
+light, but through which one saw--nothing.
+
+"A new admirer, Annabel? But what has that to do with your going to
+England?"
+
+"Everything! He is Sir John Ferringhall--very stupid, very
+respectable, very egotistical. But, after all, what does that matter?
+He is very much taken with me. He tries hard to conceal it, but he
+cannot."
+
+"Then why," Anna asked quietly, "do you run away? It is not like you."
+
+Annabel laughed softly.
+
+"How unkind!" she exclaimed. "Still, since it is better to tell you,
+Sir John is very much in earnest, but his respectability is something
+altogether too overpowering. Of course I knew all about him years ago,
+and he is exactly like everybody's description of him. I am afraid,
+Anna, just a little afraid, that in Paris I and my friends here might
+seem a trifle advanced. Besides, he might hear things. That is why I
+called myself Anna."
+
+"You--you did what?" Anna exclaimed.
+
+"Called myself Anna," the girl repeated coolly. "It can't make any
+difference to you, and there are not half a dozen people in Paris who
+could tell us apart."
+
+Anna tried to look angry, but her mouth betrayed her. Instead, she
+laughed, laughed with lips and eyes, laughed till the tears ran down
+her cheeks.
+
+"You little wretch!" she exclaimed weakly. "Why should I bear the
+burden of your wickedness? Who knows what might come of it? I shall
+permit nothing of the sort."
+
+Annabel shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"Too late, my dear girl," she exclaimed. "I gave your name. I called
+myself Anna. After all, what can it matter? It was just to make sure.
+Three little letters can't make a bit of difference."
+
+"But it may matter very much indeed," Anna declared. "Perhaps for
+myself I do not mind, but this man is sure to find out some day, and
+he will not like having been deceived. Tell him the truth, Annabel."
+
+"The truth!"
+
+There was a brief but intense silence. Anna felt that her words had
+become charged with a fuller and more subtle meaning than any which
+she had intended to impart. "The truth!" It was a moment of
+awkwardness between the two sisters--a moment, too, charged with its
+own psychological interest, for there were secrets between them which
+for many months had made their intercourse a constrained and difficult
+thing. It was Annabel who spoke.
+
+"How crude you are, Anna!" she exclaimed with a little sigh. "Sir John
+is not at all that sort. He is the kind of man who would much prefer a
+little dust in his eyes. But heavens, I must pack!"
+
+She sprang to her feet and disappeared in the room beyond, from which
+she emerged a few minutes later with flushed cheeks and dishevelled
+hair.
+
+"It is positively no use, Anna," she declared, appealingly. "You must
+pack for me. I am sorry, but you have spoilt me. I can't do it even
+decently myself, and I dare not run the risk of ruining all my
+clothes."
+
+Anna laughed, gave in and with deft fingers created order out of
+chaos. Soon the trunk, portmanteau and hat box were ready. Then she
+took her sister's hand.
+
+"Annabel," she said, "I have never asked you for your confidence. We
+have lived under the same roof, but our ways seem to have lain wide
+apart. There are many things which I do not understand. Have you
+anything to tell me before you go?"
+
+Annabel laughed lightly.
+
+"My dear Anna! As though I should think of depressing you with my long
+list of misdeeds."
+
+"You have nothing to tell me?"
+
+"Nothing!"
+
+So Annabel departed with the slightest of farewells, wearing a thick
+travelling veil, and sitting far back in the corner of a closed
+carriage. Anna watched her from the windows, watched the carriage jolt
+away along the cobbled street and disappear. Then she stepped back
+into the empty room and stood for a moment looking down upon the
+scattered fragments of her last canvas.
+
+"It is a night of endings," she murmured to herself. "Perhaps for me,"
+she added, with a sudden wistful look out of the bare high window, "a
+night of beginnings."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter III_
+
+ANNA? OR ANNABEL?
+
+
+Sir John was wholly unable to understand the laugh and semi-ironical
+cheer which greeted his entrance to the smoking-room of the English
+Club on the following evening. He stood upon the threshold, dangling
+his eye-glasses in his fingers, stolid, imperturbable, mildly
+interrogative. He wanted to know what the joke against him was--if
+any.
+
+"May I enquire," he asked smoothly, "in what way my appearance
+contributes to your amusement? If there is a joke I should like to
+share it."
+
+A fair-haired young Englishman looked up from the depths of his easy
+chair.
+
+"You hear him?" he remarked, looking impressively around. "A joke!
+Sir John, if you had presented yourself here an hour ago we should
+have greeted you in pained silence. We had not then recovered from
+thef shock. Our ideal had fallen. A sense of loss was amongst us.
+Drummond," he continued, looking across at his _vis-a-vis_, "we look
+to you to give expression to our sentiments. Your career at the bar
+had given you a command of language, also a self-control not
+vouchsafed to us ordinary mortals. Explain to Sir John our feelings."
+
+Drummond, a few years older, dark, clean-shaven, with bright eyes and
+humorous mouth, laid down his paper and turned towards Sir John. He
+removed his cigarette from his lips and waved it gently in the air.
+
+"Holcroft," he remarked, "in bald language, and with the usual
+limitations of his clouded intellect, has still given some slight
+expression to the consternation which I believe I may say is general
+amongst us. We looked upon you, my dear Sir John, with reverence,
+almost with awe. You represented to us the immaculate Briton, the one
+Englishman who typified the Saxonism, if I may coin a word, of our
+race. We have seen great and sober-minded men come to this unholy
+city, and become degenerates. We have known men who have come here for
+no other purpose than to prove their unassailable virtue, who have
+strode into the arena of temptation, waving the--the what is it--the
+white flower of a blameless life, only to exchange it with marvellous
+facility for the violets of the Parisienne. But you, Ferringhall, our
+pattern, an erstwhile Sheriff of London, a county magistrate, a
+prospective politician, a sober and an upright man, one who, had he
+aspired to it, might even have filled the glorious position of Lord
+Mayor--James, a whisky and Apollinaris at once. I cannot go on. My
+feelings overpower me."
+
+"You all seem to be trying to pull my leg," Sir John remarked quietly.
+"I suppose you'll come to the point soon--if there is one."
+
+Drummond shook his head in melancholy fashion.
+
+"He dissembles," he said. "After all, how easy the descent is, even
+for the greatest of us. I hope that James will not be long with that
+whisky and Apollinaris. My nerves are shaken. I require stimulant."
+
+Sir John seated himself deliberately.
+
+"I should imagine," he said, shaking out a copy of _The Times_, "that
+it is your brain which is addled."
+
+Drummond looked up with mock eagerness.
+
+"This," he exclaimed, "must be either the indifference of an utterly
+callous nature, or it may be--ye gods, it may be--innocence. Holcroft,
+we may have been mistaken."
+
+"Think not," that young man remarked laconically.
+
+"I will put the question," Drummond said gravely. "Ferringhall, were
+you or were you not dining last night at a certain restaurant in the
+Boulevard des Italiennes with--_la petite_ Pellissier?"
+
+Now indeed Sir John was moved. He sat up in his chair as though the
+question had stung him. _The Times_ slipped from his fingers. His eyes
+were bright, and his voice had in it an unaccustomed _timbre_.
+
+"It is true," he said, "that I was dining last night at a restaurant
+in the Boulevard des Italiennes, and it is true that my companion was
+a young lady whose name is Pellissier. What of it?"
+
+There was a shout of laughter. Sir John looked about him, and somehow
+the laugh died away. If such a thing in connexion with him had been
+possible they would have declared that he was in a towering rage. An
+uncomfortable silence followed. Sir John once more looked around him.
+
+"I repeat, gentlemen," he said, in an ominously low tone, "what of
+it?"
+
+Drummond shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"You seem to be taking our little joke more seriously than it
+deserves, Ferringhall," he remarked.
+
+"I fail to see the joke," Sir John said. "Kindly explain it to me."
+
+"Certainly! The thing which appeals to our sense of humour is the fact
+that you and _la petite_ Pellissier were dining together."
+
+"Will you tell me," Sir John said ponderously, "by what right you call
+that young lady--_la petite_ Pellissier? I should be glad to know how
+you dare to allude to her in a public place in such a disrespectful
+manner!"
+
+Drummond looked at him and smiled.
+
+"Don't be an ass, Ferringhall," he said tersely. "Annabel Pellissier
+is known to most of us. I myself have had the pleasure of dining with
+her. She is very charming, and we all admire her immensely. She sings
+twice a week at the 'Ambassador's' and the 'Casino Mavise'----"
+
+Sir John held up his hand.
+
+"Stop," he said. "You do not even know what you are talking about. The
+young lady with whom I was dining last night was Miss Anna Pellissier.
+Miss Annabel is her sister. I know nothing of that young lady."
+
+There was a moment's silence. Drummond took up a cigarette and lit it.
+
+"The young lady, I presume, told you that her name was Anna," he
+remarked.
+
+"It was not necessary," Sir John answered stiffly. "I was already
+aware of the fact. I may add that the family is well known to me. The
+two aunts of these young ladies lived for many years in the dower
+house upon my estate in Hampshire. Under the circumstances you must
+permit me to be the best judge of the identity of the young lady who
+did me the honour, as an old family friend, of dining with me."
+
+Like most men who lie but seldom, he lied well. Drummond smoked his
+cigarette meditatively. He remembered that he had heard stories about
+the wonderful likeness between these two sisters, one of whom was an
+artist and a recluse, whilst the other had attached herself to a very
+gay and a very brilliant little _coterie_ of pleasure-seekers. There
+was a bare chance that he had been mistaken. He thought it best to let
+the matter drop. A few minutes later Sir John left the room.
+
+He walked out into the Champs Elysees and sat down. His cigar burnt
+out between his fingers, and he threw it impatiently away. He had
+seldom been more perturbed. He sat with folded arms and knitted brows,
+thinking intently. The girl had told him distinctly that her name was
+Anna. Her whole conduct and tone had been modest and ladylike. He went
+over his interview with her again, their conversation at dinner-time.
+She had behaved in every way perfectly. His spirits began to rise.
+Drummond had made an abominable mistake. It was not possible for him
+to have been deceived. He drew a little sigh of relief.
+
+Sir John, by instinct and training, was an unimaginative person. He
+was a business man, pure and simple, his eyes were fastened always
+upon the practical side of life. Such ambitions as he had were
+stereotyped and material. Yet in some hidden corner was a vein of
+sentiment, of which for the first time in his later life he was now
+unexpectedly aware. He was conscious of a peculiar pleasure in sitting
+there and thinking of those few hours which already were becoming to
+assume a definite importance in his mind--a place curiously apart from
+those dry-as-dust images which had become the gods of his prosaic
+life. Somehow or other his reputation as a hardened and unassailable
+bachelor had won for him during the last few years a comparative
+immunity from attentions on the part of those women with whom he had
+been brought into contact. It was a reputation by no means deserved. A
+wife formed part of his scheme of life, for several years he had been
+secretly but assiduously looking for her. In his way he was critical.
+The young ladies in the somewhat mixed society amongst which he moved
+neither satisfied his taste nor appealed in any way to his affections.
+This girl whom he had met by chance and befriended had done both. She
+possessed what he affected to despise, but secretly worshipped--the
+innate charm of breeding. The Pellissiers had been an old family in
+Hampshire, while his grandfather had driven a van.
+
+As in all things, so his thoughts came to him deliberately. He
+pictured himself visiting the girl in this shabby little home of her
+aunt's--she had told him that it was shabby--and he recalled that
+delicious little smile with which she would surely greet him, a smile
+which seemed to be a matter of the eyes as well as the lips. She was
+poor. He was heartily thankful for it. He thought of his wealth for
+once from a different point of view. How much he would be able to do
+for her. Flowers, theatre boxes, carriages, the "open sesame" to the
+whole world of pleasure. He himself, middle-aged, steeped in
+traditions of the City and money-making, very ill-skilled in all the
+lighter graces of life, as he himself well knew, could yet come to her
+invested with something of the halo of romance by the almost magical
+powers of an unlimited banking account. She should be lifted out of
+her narrow little life, and it should be all owing to him. And
+afterwards! Sir John drew his cigar from his lips, and looked upwards
+where the white-lights flashed strangely amongst the deep cool green
+of the lime-trees. His lips parted in a rare smile. Afterwards was the
+most delightful part of all!...
+
+If only there had not been this single torturing thought--a mere
+pin-prick, but still curiously persistent. Suddenly he stopped short.
+He was in front of one of the more imposing of the _cafes
+chantants_--opposite, illuminated with a whole row of lights, was the
+wonderful poster which had helped to make "Alcide" famous. He had
+looked at it before without comprehension. To-night the subtle
+suggestiveness of those few daring lines, fascinating in their very
+simplicity, the head thrown back, the half-closed eyes--the inner
+meaning of the great artist seemed to come to him with a rush. He
+stood still, almost breathless. A slow anger burned in the man. It was
+debauching, this--a devilish art which drew such strange allurements
+from a face and figure almost Madonna-like in their simplicity.
+Unwillingly he drew a little nearer, and became one of the group of
+loiterers about the entrance. A woman touched him lightly on the arm,
+and smiled into his face.
+
+"Monsieur admires the poster?"
+
+As a rule Sir John treated such advances with cold silence. This
+woman, contrary to his custom, he answered.
+
+"It is hateful--diabolical!" he exclaimed.
+
+The woman shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"It is a great art," she said in broken English. "The little English
+girl is very fortunate. For what indeed does she do? A simple song, no
+gesture, no acting, nothing. And they pay her. Monsieur is going
+inside perhaps?"
+
+But Sir John's eyes were still riveted upon the poster, and his heart
+was beating with unaccustomed force. For just as though a vague
+likeness is sometimes borne swiftly in upon one, so a vague
+dissimilarity between the face on the poster and the heroine of his
+thoughts had slowly crept into his consciousness. He drew a little
+breath and stepped back. After all, he had the means of setting this
+tormenting doubt at rest. She had mentioned the address where she and
+her sister had lived. He would go there. He would see this sister. He
+would know the truth then once and for all. He walked hastily to the
+side of the broad pavement and summoned a _fiacre_.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter IV_
+
+THE TEMPERAMENT OF AN ARTIST
+
+
+"You may sit there and smoke, and look out upon your wonderful Paris,"
+Anna said lightly. "You may talk--if you can talk cheerfully, not
+unless."
+
+"And you?" asked David Courtlaw.
+
+"Well, if I find your conversation interesting I shall listen. If not,
+I have plenty to think about," she answered, leaning back in her
+chair, and watching the smoke from her own cigarette curl upwards.
+
+"For instance?"
+
+She smiled.
+
+"How I am to earn enough _sous_ for my dinner to-morrow--or failing
+that, what I can sell."
+
+His face darkened.
+
+"And yet," he said, "you bid me talk cheerfully, or not at all."
+
+"Why not? Your spirits at least should be good. It is not you who runs
+the risk of going dinnerless to-morrow."
+
+He turned upon her almost fiercely.
+
+"You know," he muttered, "you know quite well that your troubles are
+far more likely to weigh upon me than my own. Do you think that I am
+utterly selfish?"
+
+She raised her eyebrows.
+
+"Troubles, my friend," she exclaimed lightly. "But I have no
+troubles."
+
+He stared at her incredulously, and she laughed very softly.
+
+"What a gloomy person you are!" she murmured. "You call yourself an
+artist--but you have no temperament. The material cares of life hang
+about your neck like a millstone. A doubt as to your dinner to-morrow
+would make you miserable to-night. You know I call that positively
+wicked. It is not at all what I expected either. On the whole, I think
+that I have been disappointed with the life here. There is so little
+_abandon_, so little real joyousness."
+
+"And yet," he murmured, "one of the greatest of our writers has
+declared that the true spirit of Bohemianism is denied to your sex."
+
+"He was probably right," she declared. "Bohemianism is the least
+understood word ever coined. I do not think that I have the Bohemian
+spirit at all."
+
+He looked at her thoughtfully. She wore a plain black dress, reaching
+almost to her throat--her small oval face, with the large brown eyes,
+was colourless, delicately expressive, yet with something mysterious
+in its Sphinx-like immobility. A woman hard to read, who seemed to
+delight in keeping locked up behind that fascinating rigidity of
+feature the intense sensibility which had been revealed to him, her
+master, only in occasional and rare moments of enthusiasm. She
+reminded him sometimes of the one holy and ineffable Madonna, at
+others of Berode, the great courtezan of her day, who had sent kings
+away from her doors, and had just announced her intention of ending
+her life in a convent.
+
+"I believe that you are right," he said softly. "It is the worst of
+including in our vocabulary words which have no definite meaning,
+perhaps I should say of which the meaning varies according to one's
+personal point of view. You, for instance, you live, you are not
+afraid to live. Yet you make our Bohemianism seem like a vulgar
+thing."
+
+She stirred gently in her chair.
+
+"My friend," she said, "I have been your pupil for two years. You have
+watched all the uncouth creations of my brain come sprawling out upon
+the canvas, and besides, we have been companions. Yet the fact remains
+that you do not understand me at all. No, not one little bit. It is
+extraordinary."
+
+"It is," he replied, "the one humiliation of my life. My opportunities
+have been immense, and my failure utter. If I had been your companion
+only, and not your master, I might very well have been content to
+accept you for what you seem. But there have been times, Anna, when
+your work has startled me. Ill-drawn, without method or sense of
+proportion, you have put wonderful things on to canvas, have drawn
+them out of yourself, notwithstanding your mechanical inefficiency.
+God knows how you did it. You are utterly baffling."
+
+She laughed at him easily and mirthfully.
+
+"Dear friend," she said, "do not magnify me into a physiological
+problem. I should only disappoint you terribly some day. I think I
+know where I am puzzling you now----"
+
+"Then for Heaven's sake be merciful," he exclaimed. "Lift up one
+corner of the curtain for me."
+
+"Very well. You shall tell me if I am wrong. You see me here, an
+admitted failure in the object to which I have devoted two years of my
+life. You know that I am practically destitute, without means or any
+certain knowledge of where my next meal is coming from. I speak
+frankly, because you also know that no possible extremity would induce
+me to accept help from any living person. You notice that I have
+recently spent ten francs on a box of the best Russian cigarettes, and
+that there are roses upon my table. You observe that I am, as usual,
+fairly cheerful, and moderately amiable. It surprises you. You do not
+understand, and you would like to. Very well! I will try to help you."
+
+Her hand hung over the side of her chair nearest to him. He looked at
+it eagerly, but made no movement to take it. During all their long
+comradeship he had never so much as ventured to hold her fingers. This
+was David Courtlaw, whose ways, too, had never been very different
+from the ways of other men as regards her sex.
+
+"You see, it comes after all," she continued, "from certain original
+convictions which have become my religion. Rather a magniloquent term,
+perhaps, but what else am I to say? One of these is that the most
+absolutely selfish thing in the world is to give way to depression, to
+think of one's troubles at all except of how to overcome them. I spend
+many delightful hours thinking of the pleasant and beautiful things of
+life. I decline to waste a single second even in considering the ugly
+ones. Do you know that this becomes a habit?"
+
+"If you would only teach us all," he murmured, "how to acquire it."
+
+"I suppose people would say that it is a matter of temperament," she
+continued. "With me I believe that it is more. It has become a part of
+the order of my life. Whatever may happen to-morrow I shall be none
+the better for anticipating its miseries to-day."
+
+"I wonder," he said, a trifle irrelevantly, "what the future has in
+store for you."
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"Is that not rather a profitless speculation, my friend?"
+
+He seemed deaf to her interruption. His grey eyes burned under his
+shaggy eyebrows. He leaned towards her as though anxious to see more
+of her face than that faint delicate profile gleaming like marble in
+the uncertain light.
+
+"You were born for great things," he said huskily. "For great
+passions, for great accomplishments. Will you find your destiny, I
+wonder, or will you go through life like so many others--a wanderer,
+knocking ever at empty doors, homeless to the last? Oh, if one could
+but find the way to your heart."
+
+She laughed gaily.
+
+"Dear friend," she said, "remember that you are speaking to one who
+has failed in the only serious object which she has ever sought to
+accomplish. My destiny, I am afraid, is going to lead me into the
+ruts."
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"You were never born," he declared, "to follow the well worn roads. I
+wonder," he added, after a moment's pause, "whether you ever realize
+how young you are."
+
+"Young? I am twenty-four."
+
+"Yet you are very young. Anna, why will you persist in this
+single-handed combat with life?"
+
+"Don't!" she cried.
+
+"But I must, I will," he answered fiercely. "Oh, I know you would stop
+me if you could. This time you cannot. You are the woman I love, Anna.
+Let me make your future for you. Don't be afraid that I shall stunt
+it. I will give you a broad free life. You shall have room to develop,
+you shall live as you will, where you will, only give me the right to
+protect you, to free you from all these petty material cares."
+
+She laid her hand softly upon his.
+
+"Dear friend," she said, "do you not think that you are breaking an
+unspoken compact? I am very sorry. In your heart you know quite well
+that all that you have said is useless."
+
+"Ay," he repeated, looking away from her. "Useless--worse than
+useless."
+
+"You are foolish," she declared, with a note of irritability in her
+tone. "You would appear to be trying to destroy a comradeship which
+has been very, very pleasant. For you know that I have made up my mind
+to dig a little way into life single-handed. I, too, want to
+understand--to walk with my head in the light. Love is a great thing,
+and happiness a joy. Let me go my own way towards them. We may
+meet--who can tell? But I will not be fettered, even though you would
+make the chains of roses. Listen."
+
+She stopped short. There was a sharp knocking at the outside door.
+Courtlaw rose to his feet.
+
+"It is too late for visitors," she remarked. "I wonder would you mind
+seeing who it is."
+
+Courtlaw crossed the room and threw open the door. He had come to
+Anna's rooms from a dinner party, and he was in evening dress. Sir
+John, who was standing outside, looked past him at the girl still
+sitting in the shadow.
+
+"I believe," he said stiffly, "that these are the apartments of Miss
+Pellissier. I must apologize for disturbing you at such an unseemly
+hour, but I should be very much obliged if Miss Pellissier would allow
+me a few minutes' conversation. My name is Ferringhall--Sir John
+Ferringhall."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter V_
+
+"ALCIDE"
+
+
+Courtlaw took up his hat and coat at once, but Anna motioned him to
+remain.
+
+"Please stay," she said briefly. "Will you come in, Sir John. I
+believe that I have heard my sister speak of you. This is my friend,
+Mr. David Courtlaw--Sir John Ferringhall."
+
+Sir John acknowledged the introduction without cordiality. He entered
+the room with his usual deliberation, and looked covertly about him.
+He noticed the two chairs close together. Anna was still holding her
+cigarette between her fingers. Her likeness to her sister gave him at
+first almost a shock; a moment afterwards he was conscious of a
+wonderful sense of relief. For if the likeness between the sisters was
+remarkable, the likeness between this girl and the poster which he had
+come from studying was more remarkable still.
+
+"I must repeat," Sir John said, "that I much regret disturbing you at
+such an unseemly hour. My only excuse is that I missed my way here,
+and I am leaving Paris early to-morrow morning."
+
+"If your business with me is of any importance," Anna said calmly, "it
+does not matter in the least about the hour. Have you brought me a
+message from my sister? I understood, I believe, that she was seeing
+you last night."
+
+"Your sister," he answered, "did me the honour of dining with me last
+night."
+
+"Yes."
+
+After all, it was not so easy. The girl's eyes never left his face.
+She was civil, but she was obviously impatient to know his errand.
+Afraid, no doubt, he thought grimly, that her other visitor would
+leave.
+
+"I believe," he said slowly, "that I shall do best to throw myself
+upon your consideration and tell you the truth. I have recently made
+your sister's acquaintance, and in the course of conversation I
+understood from her that her Christian name was Anna. Some friends who
+saw us dining together persist in alluding to her as Miss Annabel
+Pellissier. I am guilty practically of the impertinence of coming to
+ask you whether I misunderstood your sister."
+
+"Is my sister's Christian name, then, of so much importance to you?"
+she asked with a faint smile.
+
+"The things involved in it are," he answered gravely.
+
+She accepted his rejoinder with a brief nod. Courtlaw opened his lips,
+but remained silent in the face of her imperative gesture. "Let me
+hasten," she said, "to reassure you. My sister was scarcely likely to
+make a mistake. She told you--the truth."
+
+Courtlaw's walking stick, which he had been handling, fell with a
+crash to the ground. He stooped to recover it, and his face was
+hidden. Sir John felt and looked several years younger.
+
+"I am much obliged to you," he said. "Really, I do not know why I
+should have doubted it."
+
+"Nor I," she remarked tersely.
+
+He looked at her with a certain curiosity. She was a very elegant
+young woman, slightly taller perhaps than her sister, and with an air
+of reserved strength underneath her quiet face and manner which
+Annabel may have lacked. It was hard to associate her with the stories
+which he and all Paris had heard of "Alcide."
+
+"You, then," he said, "are 'Alcide.' That wonderful poster--is of
+you."
+
+She lifted her eyebrows.
+
+"I am sorry," she said, "if you find the likeness unsatisfactory. My
+friends consider it wonderfully faithful. Have you any more questions
+to ask me?"
+
+Sir John, on his way down, had determined to hint to this young woman
+that, providing certain contingencies which he had in his mind should
+come to pass, he would be prepared to make her a handsome offer to
+change her name. He found, however, that now the time had come he
+utterly lacked the courage to attempt any such speech.
+
+"None, I thank you," he answered. "I will not intrude upon you
+further."
+
+"Wait," she said.
+
+He turned back at once.
+
+"I have answered all your questions," she said. "Perhaps you will not
+object to answering one for me. You have thought it worth while to
+take some considerable pains to resolve for yourself my sister's
+identity. May I ask the nature of your interest in her?"
+
+He hesitated.
+
+"It is not an easy matter," he said, "for me to offer you an
+altogether adequate explanation. I have only seen your sister for a
+very brief time, and I am a little past the age when a man does
+headstrong things. At the same time, I must say that I am most anxious
+to improve my acquaintance with her. I am a single man, and----"
+
+"Thank you," she interrupted. "I will not ask you to explain further.
+Good night."
+
+He left at once, immensely relieved, yet scarcely satisfied with
+himself as regarded his share of the interview with this young woman.
+They heard his footsteps descending the stone staircase, growing
+fainter and fainter. Then Courtlaw looked across at her with a white
+puzzled face.
+
+"Why did you lie to that man?" he asked fiercely. "How dared you do
+yourself this injustice?"
+
+"I did it for her sake," she answered. "It may be her salvation. I
+believe that he will marry her."
+
+"You would let him--knowing--all that you know?"
+
+"Why not? She is my flesh and blood. She is more dear to me than
+anything else. Perhaps if I had watched over her more closely, things
+would have been different."
+
+"You! Why, you have been an angel to her," he exclaimed impatiently.
+"You know very well that she is selfish and pleasure-loving to the
+backbone. You have made enough sacrifices for her surely without this.
+Besides, you cannot tell where it will end. You have taken upon your
+shoulders the burden of her misdeeds. You may have to carry them
+further and longer than you think. Oh, it is unbearable."
+
+The man's face was dark with passion. It was as though he were
+personally aggrieved. His tone was rough, almost threatening. The girl
+only smiled at him serenely, but she laid her hand for a moment
+quietly upon his.
+
+"Dear friend," she said, "this is a matter which you must leave to me
+to do as I think best. Annabel is my only sister, you know, almost my
+only relative. If I do not look after her, she has no one. And she is
+very young, younger than her years."
+
+It was significant of her influence over him that he answered her
+calmly, although a storm of angry thoughts were struggling for
+expression within him.
+
+"Look after her! Why not? But you have done it all your life. You have
+been her guardian angel. But even you cannot alter her character.
+Annabel was born soulless, a human butterfly, if ever there was one.
+The pursuit of pleasure, self-gratification, is an original instinct
+with her. Blood and bone, body and spirit, she is selfish through and
+through. Even you have not been able to hold her back. I speak no harm
+of her. She is your sister, and God knows I wish her none. But----"
+
+A look checked him.
+
+"I know," she said quietly, "that Paris, where she has been so much
+admired, is not a good place for her. That is why I am glad that she
+has gone to London."
+
+He rose from his chair, and walked restlessly up and down the room.
+The passion of pent-up speech compelled action of some sort. There was
+a black fear in his heart. He stopped before her suddenly.
+
+"You, too," he said abruptly. "You mean to follow her. You will go to
+London?"
+
+"It is necessary," she answered. "You yourself have decided
+that--apart from the question of Annabel."
+
+He was suddenly calm.
+
+"It is part of the irony of life," he said. "One is always playing the
+surgeon, one kills always the thing one loves best. I meant to lie to
+you. Would to God I had."
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"The surgeon's knife is surely a kindly weapon," she declared. "It was
+best for me to know. Later on I could scarcely have forgiven you."
+
+"And now--I am to lose you."
+
+"For a little time," she answered. "I meant to say good-bye to you
+to-night. Or, after all, is it worth while? The Channel is a little
+broader than the Boulevards--but one crosses it sometimes."
+
+He looked at her with white, set face.
+
+"Yes," he said, "I shall come. That is very certain. But, after all,
+it will be different. I think that I have become a drug drinker. I
+need you every day. In the mornings I find labour easy because I am
+going to see you. In the afternoon my brain and fingers leap to their
+work because you have been with me. Anna, you shall not go. I cannot
+let you go."
+
+She threw away the end of her cigarette. Without turning or looking
+in his direction she leaned forwards, her head supported upon her
+fingers, her elbows upon her knees. She gazed steadily out of the
+window at that arc of glittering lights. He made a quick movement
+towards her, but she did not flinch. His arm fell to his side. The
+effort of self-repression cost him a sob.
+
+"David," she said, "you are not a coward, are you?"
+
+"I do not know," he muttered. "The bravest of us have joints in our
+armour."
+
+"You are not a coward," she repeated, "or you would not be my friend.
+A woman may choose any one for her lover, but for her friend she makes
+no mistake. You are not a coward David, and you must not talk like
+one. Put out your hand and bid me God-speed. It is the only way."
+
+"I cannot do it!" he cried hoarsely. "I cannot part with you. You have
+grown into my life. Anna----"
+
+Again she stopped him, but this time it was not so easy. The man's
+passion became almost unbearable at the thought of losing her. And
+yet, as she rose slowly to her feet and stood looking at him with
+outstretched hands, a strange mixture of expressions shining in her
+wonderful eyes, he realized in some measure the strength of her
+determination, felt the utter impotence of anything which he could say
+to her. He forgot for the moment his own self-pity, the egotism of his
+own passionate love. He took her hands firmly in his and raised them
+to his lips.
+
+"You shall go," he declared. "I will make of the days and weeks one
+long morning, but remember the afternoon must come. Always remember
+that."
+
+Her hands fell to her side. She remained for a few moments standing as
+though listening to his retreating footsteps. Then she turned, and
+entering the inner room, commenced to dress hastily for the street.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter VI_
+
+A QUESTION OF IDENTIFICATION
+
+
+The little man with the closely-cropped beard and hair looked at her
+keenly through his gold eye-glasses. He sat before a desk littered all
+over with papers and official looking documents. The walls of the room
+were lined with shelves, on which were glass jars, retorts, countless
+bottles and many appliances of surgical science. A skeleton was
+propped against the mantelpiece. The atmosphere seemed heavy with the
+odour of drugs.
+
+"You are Mademoiselle Pellissier?" he asked, without rising to his
+feet.
+
+Anna admitted the fact.
+
+"We sent for you several hours ago," he remarked.
+
+"I came directly I was disengaged," Anna answered. "In any case, there
+is probably some mistake. I have very few friends in Paris."
+
+He referred to a sheet of paper by his side.
+
+"Your name and address were upon an envelope found in the pocket of an
+Englishman who was brought here late last night suffering from serious
+injuries," he said in a dry official tone. "As it is doubtful whether
+the man will live, we should be glad if you would identify him."
+
+"It is most unlikely that I shall be able to do so," Anna answered.
+"To the best of my belief, I have not a single English acquaintance in
+the city."
+
+"My dear young lady," the official said irritably, "this man would not
+have your name and address in his pocket without an object. You cannot
+tell whether you know him or not until you have seen him. Be so good
+as to come this way."
+
+With a little shrug of the shoulders Anna followed him. They ascended
+by a lift to one of the upper floors, passed through a long ward, and
+finally came to a bed in the extreme corner, round which a screen had
+been arranged. A nurse came hurrying up.
+
+"He is quiet only this minute," she said to the official. "All the
+time he is shouting and muttering. If this is the young lady, she can
+perhaps calm him."
+
+Anna stepped to the foot of the bed. An electric light flashed out
+from the wall. The face of the man who lay there was clearly visible.
+Anna merely glanced at the coarse, flushed features, and at once shook
+her head.
+
+"I have never seen him in my life," she said to the official. "I have
+not the least idea who he is."
+
+Just then the man's eyes opened. He saw the girl, and sprang up in
+bed.
+
+"Annabel at last," he shouted. "Where have you been? All these hours I
+have been calling for you. Annabel, I was lying. Who says that I am
+not Meysey Hill? I was trying to scare you. See, it is on my cards--M.
+Hill, Meysey Hill. Don't touch the handle, Annabel! Curse the thing,
+you've jammed it now. Do you want to kill us both? Stop the thing.
+Stop it!"
+
+Anna stepped back bewildered, but the man held out his arms to her.
+
+"I tell you it was a lie!" he shouted wildly. "Can't you believe me? I
+am Meysey Hill. I am the richest man in England. I am the richest man
+in the world. You love money. You know you do, Annabel. Never mind,
+I've got plenty. We'll go to the shops. Diamonds! You shall have all
+that you can carry away, sacks full if you like. Pearls too! I mean
+it. I tell you I'm Meysey Hill, the railway man. Don't leave me. Don't
+leave me in this beastly thing. Annabel! Annabel!"
+
+His voice became a shriek. In response to an almost imperative gesture
+from the nurse, Anna laid her hand upon his. He fell back upon the
+pillows with a little moan, clutching the slim white fingers fiercely.
+In a moment his grasp grew weaker. The perspiration stood out upon his
+forehead. His eyes closed.
+
+Anna stepped back at once with a little gasp of relief. The hand which
+the man had been holding hung limp and nerveless at her side. She held
+it away from her with an instinctive repulsion, born of her
+unconquerable antipathy to the touch of strangers. She began rubbing
+it with her pocket-handkerchief. The man himself was not a pleasant
+object. Part of his head was swathed in linen bandages. Such of his
+features as were visible were of coarse mould. His eyes were set too
+close together. Anna turned deliberately away from the bedside. She
+followed the official back into his room.
+
+"Well?" he asked her tersely.
+
+"I can only repeat what I said before," she declared. "To the best of
+my belief, I have never seen the man in my life."
+
+"But he recognized you," the official objected.
+
+"He fancied that he did," she corrected him coolly. "I suppose
+delusions are not uncommon to patients in his condition."
+
+The official frowned.
+
+"Your name and address in his pocket was no delusion," he said
+sharply. "I do not wish to make impertinent inquiries into your
+private life. Nothing is of any concern of ours except the discovery
+of the man's identity. He was picked up from amongst the wreckage of a
+broken motor on the road to Versailles last night, and we have
+information that a lady was with him only a few minutes before the
+accident occurred."
+
+"You are very unbelieving," Anna said coldly. "I hope you will not
+compel me to say again that I do not know the man's name, nor, to the
+best of my belief, have I ever seen him before in my life."
+
+The official shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"You decline to help us in any way, then," he said. "Remember that the
+man will probably die. He had little money about him, and unless
+friends come to his aid he must be treated as a pauper."
+
+"I do not wish to seem unfeeling," Anna said, slowly, "but I can only
+repeat that I am absolutely without concern in the matter. The man is
+a stranger to me."
+
+The official had no more to say. Only it was with a further and most
+unbelieving shrug of the shoulders that he resumed his seat.
+
+"You will be so good as to leave us your correct name and address,
+mademoiselle," he said curtly.
+
+"You have them both," Anna answered.
+
+He opened the door for her with a faint disagreeable smile.
+
+"It is possible, mademoiselle," he said, "that this affair is not yet
+ended. It may bring us together again."
+
+She passed out without reply. Yet she took with her an uneasy
+consciousness that in this affair might lie the germs of future
+trouble.
+
+As she crossed the square, almost within a stone's throw of her
+lodgings, she came face to face with Courtlaw. He stopped short with a
+little exclamation of surprise.
+
+"My dear friend," she laughed, "not so tragic, if you please."
+
+He recovered himself.
+
+"I was surprised, I admit," he said. "You did not tell me that you
+were going out, or I would have offered my escort. Do you know how
+late it is?"
+
+She nodded.
+
+"I heard the clock strike as I crossed the square," she answered. "I
+was sent for to go to the Hospital St. Denis. But what are you doing
+here?"
+
+"Old Pere Runeval met me on your doorstep, and he would not let me go.
+I have been sitting with him ever since. The Hospital St. Denis, did
+you say? I hope that no one of our friends has met with an accident."
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"They wanted me to identify some one whom I had certainly never seen
+before in my life, and to tell you the truth, they were positively
+rude to me because I could not. Have you ever heard the name of Meysey
+Hill?"
+
+"Meysey Hill?" He repeated it after her, and she knew at once from his
+tone and his quick glance into her face that the name possessed some
+significance for him.
+
+"Yes, I have heard of him, and I know him by sight," he admitted. "He
+was a friend of your sister's, was he not?"
+
+"I never heard her mention his name," she answered. "Still, of course,
+it is possible. This man was apparently not sure whether he was Meysey
+Hill or not."
+
+"How long had he been in the hospital?" Courtlaw asked.
+
+"Since last night."
+
+"Then, whoever he may be, he is not Meysey Hill," Courtlaw said. "That
+young man was giving a luncheon party to a dozen friends at the Cafe
+de Paris to-day. I sat within a few feet of him. I feel almost
+inclined to regret the fact."
+
+"Why?" she asked.
+
+"If one half of the stories about Meysey Hill are true," he answered,
+"I would not stretch out my little finger to save his life."
+
+"Isn't that a little extreme?"
+
+"I am an extreme person at times. This man has an evil reputation. I
+know of scandalous deeds which he has done."
+
+Anna had reached the house where she lodged, but she hesitated on the
+doorstep.
+
+"Have you ever seen Annabel with him?" she asked.
+
+"Never."
+
+"It is odd that this man at the hospital should call himself Meysey
+Hill," she remarked.
+
+"If you wish," he said, "I will go there in the morning and see what
+can be done for him."
+
+"It would be very kind of you," she declared. "I am only sorry that I
+did not ask you to go with me."
+
+She rang the bell, and he waited by her side until she was admitted to
+the tall, gloomy lodging-house. And ever after it struck him that her
+backward smile as she disappeared was charged with some special
+significance. The door closed upon her, and he moved reluctantly away.
+When next he asked for her, some twelve hours later, he was told that
+Mademoiselle had left. His most eager inquiries and most lavish bribes
+could gain no further information than that she had left for England,
+and that her address was--London.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter VII_
+
+MISS PELLISSIER'S SUSPICIONS
+
+
+"Anna!"
+
+Anna kissed her sister and nodded to her aunt. Then she sat
+down--uninvited--and looked from one to the other curiously. There was
+something about their greeting and the tone of Annabel's exclamation
+which puzzled her.
+
+"I wish," she said, "that you would leave off looking at me as though
+I were something grisly. I am your very dutiful niece, aunt, and your
+most devoted sister, Annabel. I haven't murdered any one, or broken
+the law in any way that I know of. Perhaps you will explain the state
+of panic into which I seem to have thrown you."
+
+Annabel, who was looking very well, and who was most becomingly
+dressed, moved to a seat from which she could command a view of the
+road outside. She was the first to recover herself. Her aunt, a faded,
+anaemic-looking lady of somewhat too obtrusive gentility, was still
+sitting with her hand pressed to her heart.
+
+Annabel looked up and down the empty street, and then turned to her
+sister.
+
+"For one thing, Anna," she remarked, "we had not the slightest idea
+that you had left, or were leaving Paris. You did not say a word about
+it last week, nor have you written. It is quite a descent from the
+clouds, isn't it?"
+
+"I will accept that," Anna said, "as accounting for the surprise.
+Perhaps you will now explain the alarm."
+
+Miss Pellissier was beginning to recover herself. She too at once
+developed an anxious interest in the street outside.
+
+"I am sure, Anna," she said, "I do not see why we should conceal the
+truth from you. We are expecting a visit from Sir John Ferringhall at
+any moment. He is coming here to tea."
+
+"Well?" Anna remarked calmly.
+
+"Sir John," her aunt repeated, with thin emphasis, "is coming to see
+your sister."
+
+Anna drummed impatiently with her fingers against the arm of her
+chair.
+
+"Well!" she declared good-humouredly. "I shan't eat him."
+
+Miss Pellissier stiffened visibly.
+
+"This is not a matter altogether for levity, Anna," she said. "Your
+sister's future is at stake. I imagine that even you must realize that
+this is of some importance."
+
+Anna glanced towards her sister, but the latter avoided her eyes.
+
+"I have always," she admitted calmly, "taken a certain amount of
+interest in Annabel's future. I should like to know how it is
+concerned with Sir John Ferringhall, and how my presence intervenes."
+
+"Sir John," Miss Pellissier said impressively, "has asked your sister
+to be his wife. It is a most wonderful piece of good fortune, as I
+suppose you will be prepared to admit. The Ferringhalls are of course
+without any pretence at family, but Sir John is a very rich man, and
+will be able to give Annabel a very enviable position in the world.
+The settlements which he has spoken of, too, are most munificent. No
+wonder we are anxious that nothing should happen to make him change
+his mind."
+
+"I still----"
+
+Anna stopped short. Suddenly she understood. She grew perhaps a shade
+paler, and she glanced out into the street, where her four-wheeler
+cab, laden with luggage, was still waiting.
+
+"Sir John of course disapproves of me," she remarked slowly.
+
+"Sir John is a man of the world," her aunt answered coldly. "He
+naturally does not wish for connexions which are--I do not wish to
+hurt you feelings, Anna, but I must say it--not altogether desirable."
+
+The irrepressible smile curved Anna's lips. She glanced towards her
+sister, and curiously enough found in her face some faint reflection
+of her own rather sombre mirth. She leaned back in her chair. It was
+no use. The smile had become a laugh. She laughed till the tears stood
+in her eyes.
+
+"I had a visit from Sir John in my rooms," she said. "Did he tell you,
+Annabel?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"He mentioned the matter to me also," Miss Pellissier remarked
+stiffly. "The visit seems to have made a most painful impression upon
+him. To tell you the truth, he spoke to me very seriously upon the
+subject."
+
+Anna sprang up.
+
+"I will be off," she declared. "My cab with all that luggage would
+give the whole show away. Good-bye, aunt."
+
+Miss Pellissier tried ineffectually to conceal her relief.
+
+"I do not like to seem inhospitable, Anna," she said hesitatingly.
+"And of course you are my niece just as Annabel is, although I am
+sorry to learn that your conduct has been much less discreet than
+hers. But at the same time, I must say plainly that I think your
+presence here just now would be a great misfortune. I wish very much
+that you had written before leaving Paris."
+
+Anna nodded.
+
+"Quite right," she said. "I ought to have done. Good-bye aunt. I'll
+come and see you again later on. Annabel, come to the door with me,"
+she added a little abruptly. "There is something which I must say to
+you."
+
+Annabel rose and followed her sister from the room. A maidservant held
+the front door open. Anna sent her away.
+
+"Annabel," she said brusquely. "Listen to me."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Sir John came to me--that you know--and you can guess what I told
+him. No, never mind about thanking me. I want to ask you a plain
+question, and you must answer me faithfully. Is all that folly done
+with--for ever?"
+
+Annabel shivered ever so slightly.
+
+"Of course it is, Anna. You ought to know that. I am going to make a
+fresh start."
+
+"Be very sure that you do," Anna said slowly. "If I thought for a
+moment that there was any chance of a relapse, I should stop here and
+tell him the truth even now."
+
+Annabel looked at her with terrified eyes.
+
+"Anna," she cried, "you must believe me. I am really in earnest. I
+would not have him know--now--for the world."
+
+"Very well," Anna said. "I will believe you. Remember that he's not at
+all a bad sort, and to speak frankly, he's your salvation. Try and let
+him never regret it. There's plenty to be got out of life in a decent
+sort of way. Be a good wife to him. You can if you will."
+
+"I promise," Annabel declared. "He is very kind, Anna, really, and not
+half such a prig as he seems."
+
+Anna moved towards the door, but her sister detained her.
+
+"Won't you tell me why you have come to England?" she said. "It was
+such a surprise to see you. I thought that you loved Paris and your
+work so much."
+
+A momentary bitterness crept into Anna's tone.
+
+"I have made no progress with my work," she said slowly, "and the
+money was gone. I had to ask Mr. Courtlaw for his true verdict, and he
+gave it me. I have given up painting."
+
+"Anna!"
+
+"It is true, dear. After all there are other things. All that I regret
+are the wasted years, and I am not sure that I regret them. Only of
+course I must begin something else at once. That is why I came to
+London."
+
+"But what are you going to do--where are you going to live?" Annabel
+asked. "Have you any money?"
+
+"Lots," Anna answered laconically. "Never mind me. I always fall on my
+feet, you know."
+
+"You will let us hear from you--let us know where you are, very soon?"
+Annabel called out from the step.
+
+Anna nodded as she briskly crossed the pavement.
+
+"Some day," she answered. "Run in now. There's a hansom coming round
+the corner."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Anna sat back in her cab, but found it remain stationary.
+
+"Gracious!" she exclaimed to herself. "I don't know where to go to."
+
+The cabman, knocking with the butt end of his whip upon the window,
+reminded her that he was in a similar predicament.
+
+"Drive towards St. Pancras," she directed, promptly. "I will tell you
+when to stop."
+
+The cab rumbled off. Anna leaned forward, watching the people in the
+streets. It was then for the first time she remembered that she had
+said nothing to her sister of the man in the hospital.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter VIII_
+
+"WHITE'S"
+
+
+Northwards, away from the inhospitality of West Kensington, rumbled
+the ancient four-wheel cab, laden with luggage and drawn by a wheezy
+old horse rapidly approaching its last days. Inside was Anna, leaning
+a little forward to watch the passers-by, bright-eyed, full to the
+brim of the insatiable curiosity of youth--the desire to understand
+and appreciate this new world in which she found herself. She was
+practically an outcast, she had not even the ghost of a plan as to her
+future, and she had something less than five pounds in her pocket. She
+watched the people and hummed softly to herself.
+
+Suddenly she thrust her head out of the window.
+
+"Please stop, cabman," she ordered.
+
+The man pulled up. It was not a difficult affair.
+
+"Is this Montague Street, W.C.?" she asked.
+
+The man looked as though he would have liked to deny it, but could
+not.
+
+"Stay where you are for a moment," she directed. "I want to find an
+address."
+
+The man contented himself with a nod. Anna rummaged about in her
+dressing-case, and finally drew out a letter. On the envelope was
+written--
+
+               Sydney Courtlaw, Esq.,
+                  13, Montague St.
+
+She put her head out of the window.
+
+"Number 13, please, cabman."
+
+"We've come past it, miss," the man answered, with a note of finality
+in his gruff voice.
+
+"Then turn round and go back there," she directed.
+
+The man muttered something inaudible, and gathered up the reins. His
+horse, which had apparently gone to sleep, preferred to remain where
+he was. After a certain amount of manoeuvring, however, he was
+induced to crawl around, and in a few minutes came to stop again
+before a tall brightly-painted house, which seemed like an oasis of
+colour and assertive prosperity in a long dingy row. This was number
+13, Montague Street, familiarly spoken of in the neighbourhood as
+"White's."
+
+Anna promptly alighted with the letter in her hand. The door was
+opened for her by a weary-looking youth in a striped jacket several
+sizes too large for him. The rest of his attire was nondescript.
+
+"Does Mr. Courtlaw, Mr. Sydney Courtlaw, live here, please?" Anna
+asked him.
+
+"Not home yet, miss," the young man replied. "Generally gets here
+about seven."
+
+Anna hesitated, and then held out the letter.
+
+"I think that I will leave this letter for him," she said. "It is from
+his brother in Paris. Say that I will call again or let him know my
+address in London."
+
+The young man accepted the letter and the message, and seemed about to
+close the door when a lady issued from one of the front rooms and
+intervened. She wore a black satin dress, a little shiny at the seams,
+a purposeless bow of white tulle at the back of her neck, and a huge
+chatelaine. She addressed Anna with a beaming smile and a very
+creditable mixture of condescension and officiousness. Under the
+somewhat trying incandescent light her cheeks pleaded guilty to a
+recent use of the powder puff.
+
+"I think that you were inquiring for Mr. Courtlaw," she remarked. "He
+is one of our guests--perhaps I should say boarders here, but he
+seldom returns before dinner-time. We dine at seven-thirty. Can I give
+him any message for you?"
+
+"Thank you," Anna answered. "I have a letter for him from his brother,
+which I was just leaving."
+
+"I will see that he gets it immediately on his return," the lady
+promised. "You did not wish to see him particularly this evening,
+then?"
+
+Anna hesitated.
+
+"Well, no," she answered. "To tell you the truth though, I am quite a
+stranger in London, and it occurred to me that Mr. Courtlaw might have
+been able to give me an idea where to stop."
+
+The lady in black satin looked at the pile of luggage outside and
+hesitated.
+
+"Were you thinking of private apartments, a boarding-house or an
+hotel?" she asked.
+
+"I really had not thought about it at all," Anna answered smiling. "I
+expected to stay with a relation, but I found that their arrangements
+did not allow of it. I have been used to living in apartments in
+Paris, but I suppose the system is different here."
+
+The lady in black satin appeared undecided. She looked from Anna, who
+was far too nice-looking to be travelling about alone, to that
+reassuring pile of luggage, and wrinkled her brows thoughtfully.
+
+"Of course," she said diffidently, "this is a boarding-house, although
+we never take in promiscuous travellers. The class of guests we have
+are all permanent, and I am obliged to be very careful indeed. But--if
+you are a friend of Mr. Courtlaw's--I should like to oblige Mr.
+Courtlaw."
+
+"It is very nice of you to think of it," Anna said briskly. "I should
+really like to find somewhere to stay, if it was only for a few
+nights."
+
+The lady stood away from the door.
+
+"Will you come this way," she said, "into the drawing-room? There is
+no one there just now. Most of my people are upstairs dressing for
+dinner. The gentlemen are so particular now, and a good thing too, I
+say. I was always used to it, and I think it gives quite a tone to an
+establishment. Please sit down, Miss--dear me, I haven't asked you
+your name yet."
+
+"My name is Pellissier," Anna said, "Anna Pellissier."
+
+"I am Mrs. White," the lady in black satin remarked. "It makes one
+feel quite awkward to mention such a thing, but after all I think that
+it is best for both parties. Could you give me any references?"
+
+"There is Mr. Courtlaw," Anna said, "and my solicitors, Messrs. Le
+Mercier and Stowe of St. Heliers. They are rather a long way off, but
+you could write to them. I am sorry that I do not know any one in
+London. But after all, Mrs. White, I am not sure that I could afford
+to come to you. I am shockingly poor. Please tell me what your terms
+are."
+
+"Well," Mrs. White said slowly, "it depends a good deal upon what
+rooms you have. Just now my best ones are all taken."
+
+"So much the better," Anna declared cheerfully. "The smallest will do
+for me quite well."
+
+Mrs. White looked mysteriously about the room as though to be sure
+that no one was listening.
+
+"I should like you to come here," she said. "It's a great deal for a
+young lady who's alone in the world, as I suppose you are at present,
+to have a respectable home, and I do not think in such a case that
+private apartments are at all desirable. We have a very nice set of
+young people here too just at present, and you would soon make some
+friends. I will take you for thirty-five shillings a week. Please
+don't let any one know that."
+
+"I have no idea what it costs to live in London," Anna said, "but I
+should like very much to come for a short time if I might."
+
+"Certainly," Mrs. White said. "Two days' notice shall be sufficient on
+either side."
+
+"And I may bring my luggage in and send that cabman away?" Anna asked.
+"Dear me, what a relief! If I had had any nerves that man would have
+trampled upon them long ago."
+
+"Cabmen are so trying," Mrs. White assented. "You need have no further
+trouble. The manservant shall bring your trunks in and pay the fare
+too, if you like."
+
+Anna drew out her purse at once.
+
+"You are really a good Samaritan," she declared. "I am perfectly
+certain that that man meant to be rude to me. He has been bottling it
+up all the way from West Kensington."
+
+Mrs. White rang the bell.
+
+"Come upstairs," she said, "and I will show you your room. And would
+you mind hurrying a little. You won't want to be late the first
+evening, and it's ten minutes past seven now. Gracious, there's the
+gong. This way, my dear--and--you'll excuse my mentioning it, but a
+quiet blouse and a little chiffon, you know, will be quite sufficient.
+It's your first evening, and early impressions do count for so much.
+You understand me, I'm sure."
+
+Anna was a little puzzled, but she only laughed.
+
+"Perhaps, as I've only just arrived," she remarked, "I might be
+forgiven if I do not change my skirt. I packed so hurriedly that it
+will take me a long time to find my things."
+
+"Certainly," Mrs. White assured her. "Certainly. I'll mention it.
+You're tired, of course. This is your room. The gong will go at
+seven-thirty. Don't be late if you can help it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Anna was not late, but her heart sank within her when she entered the
+drawing-room. It was not a hopeful looking group. Two or three
+podgy-looking old men with wives to match, half-a-dozen overdressed
+girls, and a couple of underdressed American ones, who still wore the
+clothes in which they had been tramping half over London since
+breakfast time. A sprinkling of callow youths, and a couple of
+pronounced young Jews, who were talking loudly together in some
+unintelligible jargon of the City. What had she to do with such as
+these? She had hard work to keep a smiling face, as Mrs. White, who
+had risen to greet her, proceeded with a formal, and from Anna's point
+of view, a wholly unnecessary round of introductions. And then
+suddenly--a relief. A young man--almost a boy, slight, dark, and with
+his brother's deep grey eyes--came across the room to her.
+
+"You must be the Miss Pellissier of whom David has told me so much,"
+he said, shyly. "I am very glad that you have come here. I heard from
+David about you only this morning."
+
+"You are marvellously like your brother," Anna said, beaming upon him.
+"I have a letter for you, and no end of messages. Where can we sit
+down and talk?"
+
+He led her across the room towards a window recess, in which a tall,
+fair young man was seated with an evening paper in his hand.
+
+"Let me introduce my friend to you," Courtlaw said. "Arthur, this is
+Miss Pellissier--Mr. Brendon. Brendon and I are great chums," he went
+on nervously. "We are clerks in the same bank. I don't think that the
+rest of the people here like us very well, do they, Arthur, so we're
+obliged to be friends."
+
+Anna shook hands with Brendon--a young man also, but older and more
+self-possessed than Sydney Courtlaw.
+
+"Sydney is quite right, Miss Pellissier," he said. "He and I don't
+seem to get on at all with our fellow-guests, as Mrs. White calls
+them. You really ought not to stay here and talk to us. It is a most
+inauspicious start for you."
+
+"Dear me," Anna laughed, "how unfortunate! What ought I to do? Should
+I be forgiven, do you think, if I were to go and hold that skein of
+wool for the old lady in the yellow cap?"
+
+"Don't speak of her irreverently," Brendon said, in an awed whisper.
+"Her husband was a county councillor, and she has a niece who comes to
+see her in a carriage. I wish she wouldn't look like that at us over
+her glasses."
+
+Horace, the manservant, transformed now into the semblance of a
+correctly garbed waiter, threw open the door.
+
+"Dinner is served, ma'am," he announced to Mrs. White.
+
+There was no rush. Everything was done in a genteel and ordinary way,
+but on the other hand, there was no lingering. Anna found herself next
+Sydney Courtlaw, with his friend close at hand. Opposite to her was a
+sallow-visaged young man, whose small tie seemed like a smudge of
+obtusively shiny black across the front of a high close-drawn collar.
+As a rule, Courtlaw told her softly, he talked right and left, and to
+everybody throughout the whole of the meal--to-night he was almost
+silent, and seemed to devote his whole attention to staring at Anna.
+After the first courses however she scarcely noticed him. Her two new
+friends did their best to entertain her.
+
+"I can't imagine, Miss Pellissier," Brendon said, leaning towards her,
+"whatever made you think of coming to stay if only for a week at a
+Montague Street boarding-house. Are you going to write a novel?"
+
+"Not I," she answered gaily. "I came to London unexpectedly, and my
+friends could not take me in. I had a vague sort of idea that this was
+the region where one finds apartments, so I told my cabman to drive in
+this direction while I sat inside his vehicle and endeavoured to form
+a plan of campaign. He brought me past this house, and I thought I
+would call and leave your brother's letter. Then I saw Mrs. White----"
+
+"No more," Sydney Courtlaw begged, laughingly. "You were booked of
+course. An unexpected vacancy, wasn't it? Every one comes in on
+unexpected vacancy."
+
+"And they go?"
+
+"When they get the chance. It really isn't so easy to go as it seems.
+We have come to the conclusion, Brendon and I, that Mrs. White is
+psychologically gifted. She throws a sort of spell over us all. We
+struggle against it at first, but in the end we have to submit. She
+calls us her guests, but in reality we are her prisoners. We simply
+can't get away. There's that old gentleman at the end of the
+table--Bullding his name is. He will tell you confidentially that he
+simply hates the place. Yet he's been here for six years, and he's as
+much a fixture as that sham mahogany sideboard. Everyone will grumble
+to you confidentially--Miss Ellicot, she's our swagger young lady, you
+know--up there, next to Miss White, she will tell you that it is so
+out of the world here, so far away from everyone one knows. Old
+Kesterton, choleric-looking individual nearly opposite, will curse the
+cooking till he's black in the face, but he never misses a dinner.
+The Semitic looking young man opposite, who seems to have been
+committing you to memory piecemeal, will tell you that he was never so
+bored in all his life as he has been here. Yet he stays. They all
+stay!"
+
+"And you yourself?"
+
+Brendon laughed.
+
+"Oh, we are also under the spell," he declared, "but I think that we
+are here mainly because it is cheap. It is really cheap, you know. To
+appreciate it you should try rooms."
+
+"Is this a fair sample of the dinner?" Anna asked, who had the healthy
+appetite of a strong young woman.
+
+"It is, if anything, a little above the average," Brendon admitted.
+
+Anna said nothing. The young man opposite was straining his ears to
+listen to their conversation. Mrs. White caught her eye, and smiled
+benignly down the table.
+
+"I hope that Mr. Courtlaw is looking after you, Miss Pellissier," she
+said.
+
+"Admirably, thank you," Anna answered.
+
+The young lady with frizzled hair, whom Brendon had pointed out to her
+as Miss Ellicot, leaned forward from her hostess's side. She had very
+frizzy hair indeed, very black eyebrows, a profusion of metallic
+adornments about her neck and waist, and an engaging smile.
+
+"We are so interested to hear, Miss Pellissier," she said, "that you
+have been living in Paris. We shall expect you to tell us all what to
+wear."
+
+Anna smiled very faintly, and shook her head.
+
+"I have come from a very unfashionable quarter," she said, "and I do
+not think that I have been inside a milliner's shop for a year.
+Besides, it is all reversed now, you know. Paris copies London."
+
+Brendon leaned over confidentially.
+
+"You are in luck, Miss Pellissier," he declared. "Your success here is
+absolutely meteoric. Miss Ellicot has spoken to you, the great Mr.
+Bullding is going to. For five minutes he has been trying to think of
+something to say. I am not sure, but I believe that he has just
+thought of something."
+
+"May I be prepared?" Anna asked. "Which is Mr. Bullding?"
+
+"Stout old gentleman four places down on the left. Look out, it's
+coming."
+
+Anna raised her eyes, and caught the earnest gaze of an elderly
+gentleman with a double chin, a protuberant under lip, and a
+snuff-stained coat.
+
+"I was in Paris four years ago," Mr. Building announced solemnly. "It
+rained the whole of the time, but we saw all the sights, and the place
+never seemed dull."
+
+"It takes a great deal of bad weather to depress the true Parisian,"
+Anna admitted.
+
+"A volatile temperament--yes, a volatile temperament," Mr. Bullding
+repeated, rather struck with the phrase. "It is a pity that as nations
+we are not more friendly."
+
+Anna nodded and turned again to Courtlaw.
+
+"I will not be drawn into a conversation with Mr. Bullding," she
+declared. "I believe that he would bore me. Tell me, what are these
+bananas and nuts for?"
+
+"Dessert."
+
+Anna laid down her serviette.
+
+"Let us escape," she said. "Couldn't we three go out and have some
+coffee somewhere? The thought of that drawing-room paralyses me."
+
+Brendon laughed softly.
+
+"We can," he said, "and we will. But it is only fair to warn you that
+it isn't expected. Mrs. White is proud of her drawing-room evenings.
+There is a musical programme, and we have the windows open and blinds
+up, and a pink lamp shade over the piano lamp--a sort of advertisement
+of the place, you know. Strangers look in and long, and neighbours are
+moved to envy."
+
+Anna hesitated no longer. She almost sprang to her feet. Conscious of
+Mrs. White's surprise as she swung easily down the room, followed by
+the two young men, she smiled a careless explanation at her.
+
+"I am dying to renew my acquaintance with London, Mrs. White," she
+remarked.
+
+"You are not going out--this evening, I trust," that lady asked, a
+trifle dismayed.
+
+Anna did not pause, but she looked over her shoulder with slightly
+lifted eyebrows.
+
+"Why not? They tell me that London is impossible till after ten, and I
+want my first impressions to be favourable."
+
+"There will be some coffee and music in the drawing-room in a few
+minutes," Mrs. White said.
+
+"Thanks, I'm not very fond of coffee," Anna answered, "and I hate
+music. Good night."
+
+Mrs. White gasped, and then stiffened. Miss Ellicot, who sang ballads,
+and liked Brendon to turn over the pages for her, tossed her head.
+Anna passed serenely out.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter IX_
+
+BRENDON'S LUCK
+
+
+Anna sat in a chair in her room and sighed. She was alone, and the
+mask of her unchanging high spirits was for the moment laid aside. She
+was a little paler than when she had come to London, a little paler
+and a little thinner. There were dark rims under her eyes, soft now
+with unshed tears. For this three weeks had been the hardest of her
+life. There had been disappointments and humiliations, and although
+she hated to admit it even to herself, she was in desperate straits.
+Nevertheless, she was still fighting.
+
+"There is one thing I must concentrate on at the moment," she told
+herself, "and that is how to pay my next week's bill to Mrs. White. It
+ought not to be much. I have gone without dinner for three nights,
+and--come in."
+
+Sydney Courtlaw followed his timid knock. Anna raised her eyebrows at
+the sight of him. He was in evening dress: swallow-tailed coat and
+white tie.
+
+"Is this a concession to Mrs. White?" she asked, laughing. "How
+gratified she must have been! If only I had known I would have made an
+effort to get home in time for dinner."
+
+"Not exactly," he answered nervously. "Please forgive me coming up,
+Miss Pellissier, but you have not been down to dinner for three
+nights, and--Brendon and I--we were afraid that you might be unwell."
+
+"Never better in my life," Anna declared briskly. "I had lunch very
+late to-day, and I did not get home in time for dinner."
+
+She smiled grimly at the recollection of that lunch--tea and roll at a
+cheap cafe. Sydney was watching her eagerly.
+
+"I'm glad you're all right," he said, "because we want you to do us a
+favour. Brendon's had an awful stroke of luck."
+
+"I'm delighted," she exclaimed. "Do tell me all about it."
+
+"He only heard this afternoon," Sydney continued. "An uncle in New
+York is dead, and has left him loads of money. A lawyer has come all
+the way from America about it. We want to celebrate, and we want you
+to help us. Brendon suggests supper at the Carlton. We meant to make
+it dinner and a theatre, but you were not home. We thought of
+starting in half an hour's time, and trying for a theatre somewhere on
+the way."
+
+"How delightful!" exclaimed Anna. "I should love to come. It is very
+sweet of you to have waited for me. Run away now, please. I must see
+if I have a gown fit to wear."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"This," Anna declared, as she sipped her wine and looked around her,
+"reminds me more of Paris than any place I have yet seen. I suppose it
+is the mirrors and decorations."
+
+"And the people?" Brendon asked. "What do you think of them?"
+
+Anna extended her critical survey and shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"What can one say?" she exclaimed. "Did you ever see women so
+weary-looking and so dowdy? They do not talk. They seem to spend their
+time yawning and inspecting their neighbour's dresses through those
+hateful glasses. It never seems to enter their heads to try and amuse
+their menkind."
+
+Two young men on their way down the room came suddenly to a standstill
+before Anna. The foremost, tall, clean-shaven, perfectly groomed, half
+extended his hand with a smile of recognition.
+
+"Miss Pellissier, isn't it?" he said. "Glad to see you in London. No
+idea that you were here, though."
+
+Anna looked up with a doubtful smile of non-recognition.
+
+"My name is certainly Pellissier," she said, "but I am very sorry--I
+do not recognize you in the least."
+
+The tall young man dropped his eye-glass and smiled.
+
+"Had the pleasure of dining with you at the 'Ambassador's' one night,
+before the show, you know--last September I think it was. Charley
+Pevenill was our host. My name is Armytage--Lord Ernest Armytage."
+
+Anna had suddenly stiffened. She regarded the young man coldly. Her
+tone was icy.
+
+"I am afraid that you are making a mistake," she said. "I was never at
+any such dinner, and I am quite sure that I do not know you."
+
+"Perhaps you remember me, Miss Pellissier," the second young man
+interposed. "I had the pleasure of--er--meeting you more than once, I
+believe."
+
+A spot of colour flared in Anna's cheek as she glanced towards the
+speaker. Something in his smile, in the cynical suggestiveness of his
+deferential tone, maddened her.
+
+"To the best of my belief," she said, with quiet dignity, "I have
+never seen either of you before in my life."
+
+For a fraction of a second the two young men hesitated. Then the
+foremost bowed and passed on.
+
+"I am exceedingly sorry," he said. "Pray accept my apologies."
+
+"And mine," murmured his companion, with the smile still lingering
+upon his lips.
+
+They took their places at a distant table. Anna sat quite still for a
+moment, and then the colour suddenly returned to her cheeks. She
+laughed softly, and leaned across the table.
+
+"Do not look so uncomfortable, both of you," she begged. "Those young
+men startled me at first, because they knew my name. I am quite sure
+though that they did not mean to be rude."
+
+"Impudent beggars," Sydney growled. "I never wanted to kick any one so
+much in my life as that second fellow."
+
+"I think," Anna said, "that it was only his manner. Do look at this
+tragedy in mauve, who has just come in. What can she be? The wife of a
+country tradesman, or a duchess? And such a meek little husband too.
+What can she have done to deserve such a fate? Oh!"
+
+They both turned round at Anna's exclamation. A familiar figure was
+making his way towards them. Sydney sprang up.
+
+"Why, it's David!" he exclaimed. "Hullo!"
+
+Courtlaw, haggard, his deep-set eyes more brilliant than ever, took
+Anna's hand into his, and breathed a little close drawn sigh of
+content. He was introduced to Brendon, and a chair was brought by an
+attentive waiter. He declined supper, but took wine.
+
+"Have you dropped from the skies?" Sydney asked wonderingly. "It was
+only yesterday I had your letter, and you never mentioned coming
+over."
+
+"I had some unexpected business," Courtlaw answered shortly.
+
+"And how did you find us here?"
+
+"I called at Montague Street a few minutes after you had left. Mrs.
+White told me where to find you."
+
+He leaned back in his chair as though wearied. Yet either the rest or
+the wine seemed already to have done him good. The lines about his
+mouth gradually softened. He talked very little and rather absently.
+In no way could he be said to contribute to the gaiety of the little
+party. But when they were on their way out he whispered in Anna's ear.
+
+"Please let me drive you home. I want to talk to you, and I must
+return to-morrow."
+
+Anna hesitated.
+
+"We are Mr. Brendon's guests," she said, "and I scarcely think it
+would be nice of me to leave him alone with Sydney."
+
+Courtlaw turned abruptly to Brendon.
+
+"Mr. Brendon," he said, "may I rob you of your guest just for the
+drive home? I have only a few hours in England, and Miss Pellissier is
+an old friend."
+
+"By all means," Brendon answered. "We will follow you in another cab."
+
+They passed out on to the pavement, and the commissionaire called a
+hansom. The man looked closely at Anna as she crossed the footway, and
+as he held her skirt from the wheel he pressed something into her
+hand. Her fingers closed upon it instinctively. It was a letter. She
+slipped it calmly into her pocket. The commissionaire smiled. It was a
+sovereign easily earned.
+
+The hansom drove off. Suddenly Anna felt her hand seized and
+imprisoned in Courtlaw's burning fingers. She glanced into his face.
+It was enough.
+
+"I have stood it for a month, Anna," he exclaimed. "You will not even
+answer my letters. I could not keep away any longer."
+
+"Do you think that it was wise of you, or kind to come?" she asked
+quietly.
+
+"Wise! Kind! What mockery words are! I came because I had to. I cannot
+live without you, Anna. Come back--you must come back. We can be
+married to-morrow in Paris. There! You are trying to take your hand
+away."
+
+"You disappoint me," she said wearily. "You are talking like a boy.
+What is the use of it? I do not wish to marry you. I do not wish to
+return to Paris. You are doing your best to break our friendship."
+
+"It is you," he cried, "you, who are talking folly, when you speak of
+friendship between you and me. It is not the woman who speaks there.
+It is the vapouring school girl. I tell you that I love you, Anna, and
+I believe that you love me. You are necessary to me. I shall give you
+my life, every moment and thought of my life. You must come back. See
+what you have made of me. I cannot work, I cannot teach. You have
+grown into my life, and I cannot tear you out."
+
+Anna was silent. She was trembling a little. The man's passion was
+infectious. She had to school herself to speak the words which she
+knew would cut him like a knife.
+
+"You are mistaken, David. I have counted you, and always hoped to
+count you, the best of my friends. But I do not love you. I do not
+love any one."
+
+"I don't believe it," he answered hoarsely. "We have come too close
+together for me to believe it. You care for me a little, I know. I
+will teach you how to make that little sufficient."
+
+"You came to tell me this?"
+
+"I came for you," he declared fiercely.
+
+The hansom sped through the crowded streets. Anna suddenly leaned
+forward and looked around her.
+
+"We are not going the right way," she exclaimed.
+
+"You are coming my way," Courtlaw answered. "Anna," he pleaded, "be
+merciful. You care for me just a little, I know. You are alone in the
+world, you have no one save yourself to consider. Come back with me
+to-night. Your old rooms are there, if you choose. I kept them on
+myself till the sight of your empty chair and the chill loneliness of
+it all nearly sent me mad."
+
+Anna lifted her hand and pushed open the trap door.
+
+"Drive to 13, Montague Street, cabman," she ordered.
+
+The man pulled up his horse grumbling, and turned round. Courtlaw sat
+with folded arms. He said nothing.
+
+"My friend," she said, "no! Let me tell you this. Nothing would induce
+me to marry you, or any man at present. I am a pauper, and as yet I
+have not discovered how to earn money. I am determined to fight my own
+little battle with the world--there must be a place for me somewhere,
+and I mean to find it. Afterwards, it may be different. If I were to
+marry you now I should feel a dependent being all my life--a sort of
+parasitical creature without blood or muscle. I should lose every
+scrap of independence--even my self-respect. However good you were to
+me, and however happy I was in other ways, I should find this
+intolerable."
+
+"All these things," he muttered bitterly, "this desperate resolve to
+take your life into your own hands, your unnatural craving for
+independence, would never trouble you for a moment--if you really
+cared."
+
+"Then perhaps," she answered, with a new coldness in her tone,
+"perhaps I really do not care. No, don't interrupt me. I think that I
+am a little disappointed in you. You appear to be amongst those strong
+enough in all ordinary matters, but who seem to think it quite
+natural and proper to give in at once and play the weakling
+directly--one cares. Do you think that it makes for happiness to force
+oneself into the extravagant belief that love is the only thing in the
+world worth having, and to sacrifice for it independence,
+self-respect, one's whole scheme of life. I cannot do it, David.
+Perhaps, as you say, I do not really care--but I cannot do it."
+
+He was strangely silent. He did not even reply to her for several
+minutes.
+
+"I cannot reason with you," he said at last wearily. "I speak from my
+heart, and you answer from your brain."
+
+"Believe me that I have answered you wisely," she said, in a gentler
+tone, "wisely for you too, as well as myself. And now you must go
+back, take up your work and think all this over. Presently you will
+see that I am right, and then you shall take your vacation over here,
+and we will be good comrades again."
+
+He smiled bitterly as he handed her from the cab. He declined to come
+in.
+
+"Will you tell Sydney that I will see him in the morning," he said. "I
+am staying at the Savoy. He can come round there."
+
+"You will shake hands with me, please," she begged.
+
+He took her fingers and lifted his eyes to hers. Something he saw
+there made him feel for a moment ashamed. He pressed the long shapely
+hand warmly in his.
+
+"Good-bye," he said earnestly. "Please forgive me. You are right.
+Quite right."
+
+She was able to go straight to her room without delay, and she at once
+locked the door with a little sigh of relief. She found herself
+struggling with a storm of tears.
+
+A sob was strangled in her throat. She struggled fiercely not to give
+way.
+
+"Oh, I am lonely," she moaned. "I am lonely. If I could but----"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+To escape from her thoughts she began to undress, humming a light tune
+to herself, though her eyes were hot with unshed tears, and the sobs
+kept rising in her throat. As she drew off her skirt she felt
+something in the pocket, and remembered the letter which the
+commissionaire at the Carlton had given her. She tore open the
+envelope and read it.
+
+     "MY DEAR GIRL,--
+
+     "I am so sorry if we made asses of ourselves to-night. The fact
+     is I was so glad to see you again that it never occurred to me
+     that a little discretion might be advisable. I'm afraid I'm a
+     terribly clumsy fellow.
+
+     "I hope that you are going to allow me to see something of you
+     during your stay in London, for the sake of old times. Could you
+     come to tea at my rooms one afternoon, or would you dine with me
+     somewhere, and do a theatre? We could have a private room, of
+     course, if you do not wish to be seen about London, and a box at
+     the theatre. I often think of those delightful evenings in Paris.
+     May we not repeat them once, at any rate, in London?
+
+               "Ever yours,
+                  "NIGEL ENNISON.
+
+     "P.S. My address is 94, Pall Mall."
+
+Anna read, and her cheeks grew slowly scarlet. She crushed the letter
+in her hand.
+
+"I wonder," she murmured to herself, "if this is the beginning."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter X_
+
+THE TRAGEDY OF AN APPETITE
+
+
+Anna, notwithstanding her quiet clothes, a figure marvellously out of
+accord with her surroundings, sat before a small marble-topped table
+at a crowded A.B.C., and munched a roll and butter with hearty
+appetite.
+
+"If only I could afford another!" she thought regretfully. "I wonder
+why I am always hungry nowadays. It is so ridiculous."
+
+She lingered over her tea, and glancing around, a sudden reflection on
+the change in her surroundings from the scene of her last night's
+supper brought a faint, humorous smile to her lips.
+
+"In two days," she reflected, "Mrs. White will present her bill. I
+have one shilling and sevenpence halfpenny left. I have two days in
+which to earn nearly thirty shillings--that is with no dinners, and
+get a situation. I fancy that this is a little more than playing at
+Bohemianism."
+
+"So far," she continued, eyeing hungrily the last morsel of roll which
+lay upon her plate, "my only chance of occupation has lain with a
+photographer who engaged me on the spot and insulted me in half an
+hour. What beasts men are! I cannot typewrite, my three stories are
+still wandering round, two milliners have refused me as a lay figure
+because business was so bad. I am no use for a clerk, because I do not
+understand shorthand. After all, I fancy that I shall have to apply
+for a situation as a nursery governess who understands French. Faugh!"
+
+She took up the last morsel of roll, and held it delicately between
+her long slim fingers. Then her white teeth gleamed, and her excuse
+for remaining any longer before that little marble table was gone. She
+rose, paid her bill, and turned westwards.
+
+She walked with long swinging steps, scorning the thought of buses or
+the tube. If ever she felt fatigue in these long tramps which had
+already taken her half over London, she never admitted it. Asking her
+way once or twice, she passed along Fleet Street into the Strand, and
+crossed Trafalgar Square, into Piccadilly. Here she walked more
+slowly, looking constantly at the notices in the shop windows. One she
+entered and met with a sharp rebuff, which she appeared to receive
+unmoved. But when she reached the pavement outside her teeth were
+clenched, and she carried herself unconsciously an inch or so higher.
+It was just then that she came face to face with Nigel Ennison.
+
+He was walking listlessly along, well-dressed, _debonnair_,
+good-looking. Directly he saw Anna he accosted her. His manner was
+deferential, even eager. Anna, who was disposed to be sharply
+critical, could find no fault with it.
+
+"How fortunate I am, Miss Pellissier! All day I have been hoping that
+I might run across you. You got my note?"
+
+"I certainly received a note," Anna admitted.
+
+"You were going to answer it?"
+
+"Certainly not!" she said deliberately.
+
+He looked at her with an expression of comical despair.
+
+"What have I done, Miss Pellissier?" he pleaded. "We were good friends
+in Paris, weren't we? You made me all sorts of promises, we planned
+no end of nice things, and then--without a word to any one you
+disappeared. Now we meet again, and you will scarcely look at me. You
+seem altogether altered, too. Upon my word--you are Miss Pellissier,
+aren't you?"
+
+"I certainly am," she admitted.
+
+He looked at her for a moment in a puzzled sort of way.
+
+"Of course!" he said. "You have changed somehow--and you certainly are
+less friendly."
+
+She laughed. After all, his was a pleasant face, and a pleasant voice,
+and very likely Annabel had behaved badly.
+
+"Perhaps," she said, "it is the London climate. It depresses one, you
+know."
+
+He nodded.
+
+"You look more like your old self when you smile," he remarked. "But,
+forgive me, you are tired. Won't you come and have some tea with me?
+There is a new place in Bond Street," he hastened to say, "where
+everything is very well done, and they give us music, if that is any
+attraction to you."
+
+She hesitated and looked for a moment straight into his eyes. He
+certainly bore inspection. He was tall and straight, and his
+expression was good.
+
+"I will come--with pleasure," she said, "if you will promise to treat
+me as a new acquaintance--not to refer to--Paris--at all."
+
+"I promise," he answered heartily. "Allow me."
+
+He took his place by her side, and they talked lightly of London, the
+shops and people. They found a cosy little table in the tea-rooms, and
+everything was delicious. Anna, with her marvellous capacity for
+enjoyment, ate cakes and laughed, and forgot that she had had tea an
+hour or so ago at an A.B.C., or that she had a care in the world.
+
+"By-the-bye," he said, presently, "your sister was married to old
+Ferringhall the other day, wasn't she? I saw the notice in the
+papers."
+
+Anna never flinched. But after the first shock came a warm glow of
+relief. After all, it was what she had been praying for--and Annabel
+could not have known her address.
+
+"My sister and I," she said slowly, "have seen very little of each
+other lately. I fancy that Sir John does not approve of me."
+
+Ennison shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Sort of man who can see no further than his nose," he remarked
+contemptuously. "Fearful old fogey! I can't imagine any sister of
+yours putting up with him for a moment. I thought perhaps you were
+staying with them, as you did not seem particularly anxious to
+recognize your old friends."
+
+Anna shook her head.
+
+"No, I am alone," she answered.
+
+"Then we must try and make London endurable for you," he remarked
+cheerfully. "What night will you dine and go to the theatre with
+me?--and how about Hurlingham on Saturday?"
+
+Anna shook her head.
+
+"Thank you," she said coolly. "Those things are not for me just at
+present."
+
+He was obviously puzzled. Anna sighed as she reflected that her sister
+had simply revelled in her indiscretions.
+
+"Come," he said, "you can't be meaning to bury yourself. There must be
+something we can do. What do you say to Brighton----"
+
+Anna looked at him quietly--and he never finished his sentence.
+
+"May I ask whether you are staying with friends in town?" he inquired
+deferentially. "Perhaps your engagements are made for you."
+
+"I am staying," she answered coolly, "at a small boarding-house near
+Russell Square."
+
+He dropped his eye-glass with a clatter.
+
+"At a boarding-house?" he gasped.
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Yes. I am an independent sort of person," she continued, "and I am
+engaged in an attempt to earn my own living. You don't happen to know
+of any one, I suppose, who wants a nursery governess, or a
+clerk--without shorthand--or a tryer-on, or a copyist, or----"
+
+"For Heaven's sake stop, Miss Pellissier," he interrupted. "What a
+hideous repertoire! If you are in earnest about wanting to earn money,
+why on earth don't you accept an engagement here?"
+
+"An engagement?" she queried.
+
+"On the stage? Yes. You would not have the slightest difficulty."
+
+She laughed softly to herself.
+
+"Do you know," she confessed, "I never thought of that?"
+
+He looked at her as though doubting even now whether she could
+possibly be in earnest.
+
+"I cannot conceive," he said, "how any other occupation could ever
+have occurred to you. You do not need me to remind you of your success
+at Paris. The papers are continually wondering what has become of
+'Alcide.' Your name alone would fill any music hall in London."
+
+Again that curious smile which puzzled him so much parted her lips for
+a moment.
+
+"Dear me," she said, "I fancy you exaggerate my fame. I can't imagine
+Londoners--particularly interested in me."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders. Even now he was not at all sure that she
+was not playing with him. There were so many things about her which he
+could not understand. She began to draw on her gloves thoughtfully.
+
+"I am very much obliged for the tea," she said. "This is a charming
+place, and I have enjoyed the rest."
+
+"It was a delightful piece of good fortune that I should have met
+you," he answered. "I hope that whatever your plans may be, you will
+give me the opportunity of seeing something of you now and then."
+
+"I am afraid," she said, preceding him down the narrow stairs, "that I
+am going to be too busy to have much time for gadding about. However,
+I daresay that we shall come across one another before long."
+
+"That is provokingly indefinite," he answered, a little ruefully.
+"Won't you give me your address?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"It is such a very respectable boarding-house," she said. "I feel
+quite sure that Mrs. White would not approve of callers."
+
+"I have a clue, at any rate," he remarked, smiling. "I must try the
+Directory."
+
+"I wish you good luck," she answered. "There are a good many Whites in
+London."
+
+"May I put you in a hansom?" he asked, lifting his stick.
+
+"For Heaven's sake, no," she answered quickly. "Do you want to ruin
+me? I shall walk back."
+
+"I may come a little way, then?" he begged.
+
+"If you think it worth while," she answered doubtfully.
+
+Apparently he thought it very much worth while. Restraining with an
+effort his intense curiosity, he talked of general subjects only,
+trying his best to entertain her. He succeeded so well that they were
+almost in Montague Street before Anna stopped short.
+
+"Heavens!" she exclaimed. "I have brought you very nearly to my door.
+Go back at once, please."
+
+He held out his hand obediently.
+
+"I'll go," he said, "but I warn you that I shall find you out."
+
+For a moment she was grave.
+
+"Well," she said. "I may be leaving where I am in a few days, so very
+likely you will be no better off."
+
+He looked at her intently.
+
+"Miss Pellissier," he said, "I don't understand this change in you.
+Every word you utter puzzles me. I have an idea that you are in some
+sort of trouble. Won't you let me--can't I be of any assistance?"
+
+He was obviously in earnest. His tone was kind and sympathetic.
+
+"You are very good," she said. "Indeed I shall not forget your offer.
+But just now there is nothing which you or anybody can do. Good-bye."
+
+He was dismissed, and he understood it. Anna crossed the street, and
+letting herself in at No. 13 with a latchkey went humming lightly up
+to her room. She was in excellent spirits, and it was not until she
+had taken off her hat, and was considering the question of dinner or
+no dinner, that she remembered that another day had passed, and she
+was not a whit nearer being able to pay her to-morrow's bill.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XI_
+
+THE PUZZLEMENT OF NIGEL ENNISON
+
+
+Nigel Ennison walked towards his club the most puzzled man in London.
+There could not, he decided, possibly be two girls so much alike.
+Besides, she had admitted her identity. And yet--he thought of the
+supper party where he had met Annabel Pellissier, the stories about
+her, his own few minutes' whispered love-making! He was a
+self-contained young man, but his cheeks grew hot at the thought of
+the things which it had seemed quite natural to say to her then, but
+which he knew very well would have been instantly resented by the girl
+whom he had just left. He went over her features one by one in his
+mind. They were the same. He could not doubt it. There was the same
+airy grace of movement, the same deep brown hair and alabaster skin.
+He found himself thinking up all the psychology which he had ever
+read. Was this the result of some strange experiment? It was the
+person of Annabel Pellissier--the soul of a very different order of
+being.
+
+He spent the remainder of the afternoon looking for a friend whom he
+found at last in the billiard room of one of the smaller clubs to
+which he belonged. After the usual laconic greetings, he drew him on
+one side.
+
+"Fred," he said, "do you remember taking me to dinner at the
+'Ambassador's,' one evening last September, to meet a girl who was
+singing there? Hamilton and Drummond and his lot were with us."
+
+"Of course," his friend answered. "_La belle_ 'Alcide,' wasn't it?
+Annabel Pellissier was her real name. Jolly nice girl, too."
+
+Ennison nodded.
+
+"I thought I saw her in town to-day," he said. "Do you happen to know
+whether she is supposed to be here?"
+
+"Very likely indeed," Captain Fred Meddoes answered, lighting a
+cigarette. "I heard that she had chucked her show at the French places
+and gone in for a reform all round. Sister's got married to that
+bounder Ferringhall."
+
+Ennison took an easy chair.
+
+"What a little brick!" he murmured. "She must have character. It's no
+half reform either. What do you know about her, Fred? I am
+interested."
+
+Meddoes turned round from the table on which he was practising shots
+and shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Not much," he answered, "and yet about all there is to be known, I
+fancy. There were two sisters, you know. Old Jersey and Hampshire
+family, the Pellissiers, and a capital stock, too, I believe."
+
+"Any one could see that the girls were ladies," Ennison murmured.
+
+"No doubt about that," Meddoes continued. "The father was in the army,
+and got a half-pay job at St. Heliers. Died short, I suppose, and the
+girls had to shift for themselves. One went in for painting, kept
+straight and married old Ferringhall a week or so ago--the Lord help
+her. The other kicked over the traces a bit, made rather a hit with
+her singing at some of those French places, and went the pace in a
+mild, ladylike sort of way. Cheveney was looking after her, I think,
+then. If she's over, he probably knows all about it."
+
+Ennison looked steadily at the cigarette which he was tapping on his
+forefinger.
+
+"So Cheveney was her friend, you think, eh?" he remarked.
+
+"No doubt about that, I fancy," Meddoes answered lightly. "He ran some
+Austrian fellow off. She was quite the rage, in a small way, you know.
+Strange, demure-looking young woman, with wonderful complexion and
+eyes, and a style about her, too. Care for a hundred up?"
+
+Ennison shook his head.
+
+"Can't stop, thanks," he answered. "See you to-night, I suppose?"
+
+He sauntered off.
+
+"I'm damned if I'll believe it," he muttered to himself savagely.
+
+But for the next few days he avoided Cheveney like the plague.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The same night he met Meddoes and Drummond together, the latter over
+from Paris on a week's leave from the Embassy.
+
+"Odd thing," Meddoes remarked, "we were just talking about the
+Pellissier girl. Drummond was telling me about the way old Ferringhall
+rounded upon them all at the club."
+
+"Sounds interesting," Ennison remarked. "May I hear?"
+
+"It really isn't much to tell," Drummond answered. "You know what a
+fearful old prig Ferringhall is, always goes about as though the whole
+world were watching him? We tried to show him around Paris, but he
+wouldn't have any of it. Talked about his years, his position and his
+constituents, and always sneaked off back to his hotel just when the
+fun was going to begin. Well one night, some of us saw him, or thought
+we saw him, at a cafe dining with 'Alcide,'--as a matter of fact, it
+seems that it was her sister. He came into the club next day, and of
+course we went for him thick. Jove, he didn't take to it kindly, I can
+tell you. Stood on his dignity and shut us up in great style. It seems
+that he was a sort of family friend of the Pellissiers, and it was the
+artist sister whom he was with. The joke of it is that he's married to
+her now, and cuts me dead."
+
+"I suppose," Ennison said, "the likeness between the sisters must be
+rather exceptional?"
+
+"I never saw the goody-goody one close to, so I can't say," Drummond
+answered. "Certainly I was a little way off at the cafe, and she had a
+hat and veil on, but I could have sworn that it was 'Alcide.'"
+
+"Is 'Alcide' still in Paris?" Ennison asked.
+
+"Don't think so," Drummond answered. "I heard the other day that she'd
+been taken in by some cad of a fellow who was cutting a great dash in
+Paris, personating Meysey Hill, the great railway man. Anyhow, she's
+disappeared for some reason or other. Perhaps Ferringhall has
+pensioned her off. He's the sort of johnny who wouldn't care about
+having a sister-in-law on the loose."
+
+"Ennison here thought he saw her in London," Meddoes remarked.
+
+Drummond nodded.
+
+"Very likely. The two sisters were very fond of one another, I
+believe. Perhaps Sir John is going to take the other one under his
+wing. Who's for a rubber of whist?"
+
+Ennison made so many mistakes that he was glad to cut out early in the
+evening. He walked across the Park and called upon his sister.
+
+"Is Lady Lescelles in?" he asked the butler.
+
+"Her ladyship dined at home," the man answered. "I have just ordered a
+carriage for her. I believe that her ladyship is going to Carey House,
+and on to the Marquis of Waterford's ball," he added, hastily
+consulting a diary on the hall table.
+
+A tall elegantly dressed woman, followed by a maid, came down the
+broad staircase.
+
+"Is that you, Nigel?" she asked. "I hope you are going to Carey
+House."
+
+He shook his head, and threw open the door of a great dimly-lit
+apartment on the ground floor.
+
+"Come in here a moment, will you, Blanche," he said. "I want to speak
+to you."
+
+She assented, smiling. He was her only brother, and she his favourite
+sister. He closed the door.
+
+"I want to ask you a question," he said. "A serious question."
+
+She stopped buttoning her glove, and looked at him.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"You and all the rest of them are always lamenting that I do not
+marry. Supposing I made up my mind to marry some one of good enough
+family, but who was in a somewhat doubtful position, concerning whose
+antecedents, in fact there was a certain amount of scandal. Would you
+stand by me--and her?"
+
+"My dear Nigel!" she exclaimed. "Are you serious?"
+
+"You know very well that I should never joke on such a subject. Mind,
+I am anticipating events. Nothing is settled upon. It may be, it
+probably will all come to, nothing. But I want to know whether in such
+an event you would stand by me?"
+
+She held out her hand.
+
+"You can count upon me, Nigel," she said. "But for you Dad would never
+have let me marry Lescelles. He was only a younger son, and you know
+what trouble we had. I am with you through thick and thin, Nigel."
+
+He kissed her, and handed her into the carriage. Then he went back to
+his rooms and lit a cigar.
+
+"There are two things to be done," he said softly to himself. "The
+first is to discover what she is here for, and where she is staying.
+The second is to somehow meet Lady Ferringhall. These fellows must be
+right," he added thoughtfully, "and yet--there's a mystery somewhere."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XII_
+
+THE POSTER OF "ALCIDE"
+
+
+On Saturday mornings there was deposited on the plate of each guest at
+breakfast time, a long folded paper with Mrs. White's compliments.
+Anna thrust hers into her pocket unopened, and for the first time left
+the house without a smile upon her face. She was practically destitute
+of jewellery. The few pence left in her purse would only provide a
+very scanty lunch. Another day of non-success would mean many
+disagreeable things.
+
+And even she was forced to admit to herself that this last resource of
+hers was a slender reed on which to lean. She mounted the stairs of
+the theatrical agent's office with very much less than her usual
+buoyancy, nor did she find much encouragement in the general
+appearance of the room into which she was shown. There was already a
+score or more of people there, some standing up and talking together,
+others seated in chairs ranged along the wall. Beyond was another
+door, on which was painted in black letters:
+
+               MR. EARLES,
+               Strictly Private
+
+Every one stared at Anna. Anna stared back at every one with undaunted
+composure. A young man with shiny frock coat and very high collar,
+advanced towards her languidly.
+
+"Want to see Mr. Earles?" he inquired.
+
+"I do," Anna answered. "Here is my card. Will you take it in to him?"
+
+The young man smiled in a superior manner.
+
+"Have to take your turn," he remarked laconically. "There's twenty
+before you, and Mr. Earles is going out at twelve sharp--important
+engagement. Better come another morning."
+
+"Thank you," Anna answered. "I will take my chance."
+
+She removed some posters from a chair, and seated herself coolly. The
+young man looked at her.
+
+"Unless you have an appointment, which you haven't," he said, "you'll
+only waste your time here."
+
+"I can spare it," Anna answered suavely.
+
+The young man entered into a lively little war of words with a
+yellow-haired young person near the door. Anna picked up an ancient
+magazine, and began to turn over the pages in a leisurely way. The
+conversation which her entrance had interrupted began to buzz again
+all around her. A quarter of an hour passed. Then the inner door
+opened abruptly. A tall, clean-shaven man came out and walked rapidly
+through the room, exchanging greetings right and left, but evidently
+anxious to avoid being detained. Mr. Earles himself stood upon the
+threshold of his sanctum, the prototype of the smart natty Jew, with
+black hair, waxed moustache, and a wired flower in his button-hole. A
+florid-looking young woman rose up and accosted him eagerly.
+
+"I'm next, Mr. Earles," she exclaimed. "Been sitting on the doorstep
+almost for two hours."
+
+"In a minute, in a minute," he answered, his eyes fixed upon Anna.
+"Reuben, come here."
+
+The young man obeyed the summons. His employer retreated into the
+further apartment, leaving the door ajar.
+
+"What's that young lady's name--girl in dark brown, stranger here?"
+Mr. Earles asked sharply.
+
+The youth produced a crumpled-up card from his waistcoat pocket. A
+sense of impending disaster was upon him. Mr. Earles glanced at it,
+and his eyes flashed with anger.
+
+"You blithering idiot!" he exclaimed.
+
+Mr. Earles strode into the waiting-room. His face was wreathed in
+smiles, his be-ringed hand was cordially outstretched.
+
+"My dear Miss Pellissier," he said impressively, "this is an
+unexpected pleasure. Come in! Come in, do. I must apologize for my
+young puppy of a clerk. If I had known that you were here you should
+not have been kept waiting for a second."
+
+It took a good deal to surprise Anna, but it was all she could do to
+follow Mr. Earles with composure into the inner room. There was a
+little murmur of consternation from the waiting crowd, and the florid
+young woman showed signs of temper, to which Mr. Earles was absolutely
+indifferent. He installed Anna in a comfortable easy chair, and placed
+his own between her and the door.
+
+"Come," he said, "this is capital, capital. It was only a few months
+ago that I told you you must come to London, and you only laughed at
+me. Yet here you are, and at precisely the right moment, too.
+By-the-bye," he added, in a suddenly altered tone, "I hope, I
+trust--that you have not entered into any arrangements with any one
+here?"
+
+"I--oh no!" Anna said, a little faintly. "I have made no arrangements
+as yet--none at all."
+
+Mr. Earles recovered his spirits.
+
+"Excellent!" he exclaimed. "Your arrival is really most opportune. The
+halls are on the lookout for something new. By-the-bye, do you
+recognize that?"
+
+Anna looked and gasped. An enormous poster almost covered one side of
+the wall--_the_ poster. The figure of the girl upon it in plain black
+dress, standing with her hands behind her, was an undeniable and
+astonishing likeness of herself. It was her figure, her style of
+dress, her manner of arranging the hair. Mr. Earles regarded it
+approvingly.
+
+"A wonderful piece of work," he declared. "A most wonderful likeness,
+too. I hope in a few days, Miss Pellissier, that these posters will be
+livening up our London hoardings."
+
+Anna leaned back in the chair and laughed softly. Even this man had
+accepted her for "Alcide" without a moment's question. Then all the
+embarrassments of the matter flashed in upon her. She was suddenly
+grave.
+
+"I suppose, Mr. Earles," she said, "that if I were to tell you that
+although that poster was designed from a rough study of me, and
+although my name is Pellissier, that nevertheless, I am not 'Alcide'
+would you believe me?"
+
+"You can try it on, if you like," Mr. Earles remarked genially. "My
+only answer would be to ask you to look at that mirror and then at the
+poster. The poster is of 'Alcide.' It's a duplicate of the French
+one."
+
+Anna got up and looked at the mirror and then at the poster. The
+likeness was ridiculous.
+
+"Well?" she said, sitting down again. "I want an engagement."
+
+"Capital!" Mr. Earles declared. "Any choice as to which of the Halls?
+You can pick and choose, you know. I recommend the 'Unusual.'"
+
+"I have no choice," Anna declared.
+
+"I can get you," Mr. Earles said, slowly, keeping his eyes fixed upon
+her, "forty at the 'Unusual,' two turns, encores voluntary, six for
+matinees. We should not bar any engagements at private houses, but in
+other respects the arrangement must be exclusive."
+
+"Forty what?" Anna asked bewildered.
+
+"Guineas, of course," Mr. Earles answered, glibly. "Forty guineas a
+week. I mentioned sixty, I believe, when I was in Paris, but there are
+expenses, and just now business is bad."
+
+Anna was speechless, but she had presence of mind enough to sit still
+until she had recovered herself. Mr. Earles watched her anxiously. She
+appeared to be considering.
+
+"Of course," he ventured, "I could try for more at the 'Alhambra.' Very
+likely they would give----"
+
+"I should be satisfied with the sum you mention," Anna said quietly,
+"but there are difficulties."
+
+"Don't use such a word, my dear young lady," Mr. Earles said
+persuasively. "Difficulties indeed. We'll make short work of them."
+
+"I hope that you may," Anna answered enigmatically. "In the first
+place, I have no objection to the posters, as they have no name on
+them, but I do not wish to appear at all upon the stage as 'Alcide.'
+If you engage me it must be upon my own merits. You are taking it for
+granted that I am 'Alcide.' As a matter of fact, I am not."
+
+"Excuse me," Mr. Earles said, "but this is rubbish."
+
+"Call it what you like," Anna answered. "I can sing the songs 'Alcide'
+sang, and in the same style. But I will not be engaged as 'Alcide' or
+advertised under that name."
+
+Mr. Earles scratched his chin for a moment thoughtfully. Then a light
+seemed to break in upon him. He slapped his knee.
+
+"By Jove!" he exclaimed. "Of course, I remember now. It was your
+sister who married Sir John Ferringhall the other day, wasn't it?"
+
+Anna nodded.
+
+"It was," she admitted.
+
+"You needn't say a word more," Mr. Earles declared. "I see the
+difficulty. The old fool's been working on you through your sister to
+keep off the stage. He's a prig to the finger-tips, is Sir
+John--doesn't know what an artist is. It's awkward, but we'll get
+round it somehow. Now I'll tell you what I propose. Let me run you for
+six months. I'll give you, say, thirty-five guineas a week clear of
+expenses, and half of anything you earn above the two turns a night.
+What do you say?"
+
+"I agree," Anna said coldly, "if you will make it three months."
+
+"Better say six," Mr. Earles protested, seating himself before the
+desk, and dipping his pen in the ink.
+
+"Four," Anna decided firmly. "I shall not agree to six."
+
+"It scarcely gives me a chance," Mr. Earles said, with a resigned
+sigh, "but I shall rely upon you to stick to me so long as I do the
+right thing by you. You can't do without an agent, and there's no one
+can run you better than I can."
+
+"You must also put in the agreement," Anna said, "that I do not
+represent myself to be 'Alcide,' and that I am not advertised to the
+public by that name."
+
+Mr. Earles threw down his pen with a little exclamation.
+
+"Come this way," he said.
+
+He opened the door of still another room, in one corner of which was a
+grand piano. He seated himself before it.
+
+"Go to the far corner," he said, "and sing the last verse of _Les
+Petites_."
+
+He struck a note, and Anna responded. Playing with one hand he turned
+on his stool to glance at her. Instinctively she had fallen into the
+posture of the poster, her hands behind her, her head bent slightly
+forward, her chin uplifted, her eyes bright with the drollery of the
+song. Mr. Earles closed the piano with a little bang.
+
+"You are a funny, a very funny young lady," he said, "but we waste
+time here. You do not need my compliments. We will get on with the
+agreement and you shall have in it whatever rubbish you like."
+
+Anna laughed, and went back to her easy chair. She knew that her voice
+was superior to Annabel's, and she had no further qualms. Whilst she
+was wondering how to frame her request for an advance, Mr. Earles drew
+out his cheque book.
+
+"You will not object," he said, glancing towards her, "to accepting a
+deposit. It is customary even where an agreement is drawn."
+
+"I shall have no objection at all," Anna assured him.
+
+He handed her a cheque for thirty-one pounds, ten shillings, and read
+the agreement through to her. Anna took up the pen, and signed, after
+a moment's hesitation,
+
+               A. PELLISSIER.
+
+"I will send you a copy," Mr. Earles said, rubbing his hands together,
+"by post. Now, will you do me the honour of lunching with me, Miss
+Pellissier?"
+
+Anna hesitated.
+
+"Perhaps," he queried, "you wish to avoid being seen about with any
+one--er--connected with the profession, under present circumstances.
+If so, do not hesitate to tell me. Be frank, I beg you, Miss
+Pellissier. I am already too much flattered that you should have given
+me your confidence."
+
+"You are very good, Mr. Earles," Anna said. "I think, perhaps if you
+will excuse me, that we will defer the luncheon."
+
+"Just as you wish," Mr. Earles declared good-humouredly, "but I shall
+not let you go without drinking a glass of wine to our success."
+
+He plunged into one of his drawers, and brought up a small gold-foiled
+bottle. The cork came out with a loud pop, and Anna could not help
+wondering how it must sound to the patient little crowd outside. She
+drank her glass of wine, however, and clanked glasses good-naturedly
+with Mr. Earles.
+
+"You must leave me your address if you please," he said, as she rose
+to go.
+
+She wrote it down. He looked at it with uplifted eyebrows, but made no
+remark.
+
+"I shall probably want you to come down to the 'Unusual' to-morrow
+morning," he said. "Bring any new songs you may have."
+
+Anna nodded, and Mr. Earles attended her obsequiously to the door. She
+descended the stairs, and found herself at last in the street--alone.
+It was a brief solitude, however. A young man, who had been spending
+the last hour walking up and down on the opposite side of the way,
+came quickly over to her. She looked up, and recognized Mr. Brendon.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XIII_
+
+"HE WILL NOT FORGET!"
+
+
+The external changes in Brendon following on his alteration of fortune
+were sufficiently noticeable. From head to foot he was attired in the
+fashionable garb of the young man of the moment. Not only that, but he
+carried himself erect--the slight slouch which had bent his shoulders
+had altogether disappeared. He came to her at once, and turning,
+walked by her side.
+
+"Now I should like to know," she said, looking at him with a quiet
+smile, "what you are doing here? It is not a particularly inspiring
+neighbourhood for walking about by yourself."
+
+"I plead guilty, Miss Pellissier," he answered at once. "I saw you go
+into that place, and I have been waiting for you ever since."
+
+"I am not sure whether I feel inclined to scold or thank you," she
+declared. "I think as I feel in a good humour it must be the latter."
+
+He faced her doggedly.
+
+"Miss Pellissier," he said, "I am going to take a liberty."
+
+"You alarm me," she murmured, smiling.
+
+"Don't think that I have been playing the spy upon you," he continued.
+"Neither Sydney nor I would think of such a thing. But we can't help
+noticing. You have been going out every morning, and coming home
+late--tired out--too tired to come down to dinner. Forgive me, but you
+have been looking, have you not, for some employment?"
+
+"Quite true!" she answered. "I have found out at last what a useless
+person I am--from a utilitarian point of view. It has been very
+humiliating."
+
+"And that, I suppose," he said, waving his stick towards Mr. Earles'
+office, "was your last resource."
+
+"It certainly was," she admitted. "I changed my last shilling
+yesterday."
+
+He was silent for a moment or two. His lips were tight drawn. His eyes
+flashed as he turned towards her.
+
+"Do you think that it is kind of you, Miss Pellissier," he said,
+almost roughly, "to ignore your friends so? In your heart you know
+quite well that you could pay Sydney or me no greater compliment than
+to give us just a little of your confidence. We know London, and you
+are a stranger here. Surely our advice would have been worth having,
+at any rate. You might have spared yourself many useless journeys and
+disappointments, and us a good deal of anxiety. Instead, you are
+willing to go to a place like that where you ought not to be allowed
+to think of showing yourself."
+
+"Why not?" she asked quietly.
+
+"The very question shows your ignorance," he declared. "You know
+nothing about the stage. You haven't an idea what the sort of
+employment you could get there would be like, the sort of people you
+would be mixed up with. It is positively hateful to think of it."
+
+She laid her fingers for a moment upon his arm.
+
+"Mr. Brendon," she said, "if I could ask for advice, or borrow money
+from any one, I would from you--there! But I cannot. I never could. I
+suppose I ought to have been a man. You see, I have had to look after
+myself so long that I have developed a terrible bump of independence."
+
+"Such independence," he answered quickly, "is a vice. You see to what
+it has brought you. You are going to accept a post as chorus girl, or
+super, or something of that sort."
+
+"You do not flatter me," she laughed.
+
+"I am too much in earnest," he answered, "to be able to take this
+matter lightly."
+
+"I am rebuked," she declared. "I suppose my levity is incorrigible.
+But seriously, things are not so bad as you think."
+
+He groaned.
+
+"They never seem so at first!" he said.
+
+"You do not quite understand," she said gently. "I will tell you the
+truth. It is true that I have accepted an engagement from Mr. Earles,
+but it is a good one. I am not going to be a chorus girl, or even a
+super. I have never told you so, or Sydney, but I can sing--rather
+well. When my father died, and we were left alone in Jersey, I was
+quite a long time deciding whether I would go in for singing
+professionally or try painting. I made a wrong choice, it seems--but
+my voice remains."
+
+"You are really going on the stage, then?" he said slowly.
+
+"In a sense--yes."
+
+Brendon went very pale.
+
+"Miss Pellissier," he said, "don't!"
+
+"Why not?" she asked, smiling. "I must live, you know."
+
+"I haven't told any one the amount," he went on. "It sounds too
+ridiculous. But I have two hundred thousand pounds. Will you marry
+me?"
+
+Anna looked at him in blank amazement. Then she burst into a peal of
+laughter.
+
+"My dear boy," she exclaimed. "How ridiculous! Fancy you with all that
+money! For heaven's sake, though, do not go about playing the Don
+Quixote like this. It doesn't matter with me, but there are at least a
+dozen young women in Mr. Earles' waiting-room who would march you
+straight off to a registrar's office."
+
+"You have not answered my question," he reminded her.
+
+"Nor am I going to," she answered, smiling. "I am going to ignore it.
+It was really very nice of you, but to-morrow you will laugh at it as
+I do now."
+
+"Is it necessary," he said, "for me to tell you----"
+
+"Stop, please," she said firmly.
+
+Brendon was silent.
+
+"Do not force me to take you seriously," she continued. "I like to
+think of your offer. It was impulsive and natural. Now let us forget
+it."
+
+"I understand," he said, doggedly.
+
+"And you must please not look at me as though I were an executioner,"
+she declared lightly. "I will tell you something if you like. One of
+the reasons why I left Paris and came to London was because there was
+a man there who wanted me to marry him. I really cared for him a
+little, but I am absolutely determined not to marry for some time at
+any rate. I do not want to get only a second-hand flavour of life. One
+can learn and understand only by personal experience, by actual
+contact with the realities of life. I did not want anything made
+smooth and easy for me. That is why I would not marry this man whom I
+did and whom I do care for a little. Later on--well then the time may
+come. Then perhaps I shall send for him if he has not forgotten."
+
+"I do not know who he is," Brendon said quietly, "but he will not
+forget."
+
+Anna shrugged her shoulders lightly.
+
+"Who can tell?" she said. "Your sex is a terrible fraud. It is
+generally deficient in the qualities it prides itself upon most. Men
+do not understand constancy as women do."
+
+Brendon was not inclined to be led away from the point.
+
+"We will take it then," he said, "that you have refused or ignored
+one request I have made you this morning. I have yet another. Let me
+lend you some money. Between comrades it is the most usual thing in
+the world, and I do not see how your sex intervenes. Let me keep you
+from that man's clutches. Then we can look out together for such
+employment--as would be more suitable for you. I know London better
+than you, and I have had to earn my own living. You cannot refuse me
+this."
+
+He looked at her anxiously, and she met his glance with a dazzling
+smile of gratitude.
+
+"Indeed," she said, "I would not. But it is no longer necessary. I
+cannot tell you much about it, but my bad times are over for the
+present. I will tell you what you shall give me, if you like."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Lunch! I am hungry--tragically hungry."
+
+He called for a hansom.
+
+"After all," he said, "I am not sure that you are not a very material
+person."
+
+"I am convinced of it," she answered. "Let us go to that little place
+at the back of the Palace. I'm not half smart enough for the West
+End."
+
+"Wherever you like!" he answered, a little absently.
+
+They alighted at the restaurant, and stood for a moment in the passage
+looking into the crowded room. Suddenly a half stifled exclamation
+broke from Anna's lips. Brendon felt his arm seized. In a moment they
+were in the street outside. Anna jumped into a waiting hansom.
+
+"Tell him to drive--anywhere," she exclaimed.
+
+Brendon told him the name of a distant restaurant and sprang in by her
+side. She was looking anxiously at the entrance to the restaurant. The
+commissionaire stood there, tall and imperturbable. There was no one
+else in the doorway. She leaned back in the corner of the cab with a
+little sigh of relief. A smile flickered upon her lips as she glanced
+towards Brendon, who was very serious indeed. Her sense of humour
+could not wholly resist his abnormal gravity.
+
+"I am so sorry to have startled you," she said, "but I was startled
+myself. I saw someone in there whom I have always hoped that I should
+never meet again. I hope--I am sure that he did not see me."
+
+"He certainly did not follow you out," Brendon answered.
+
+"His back was towards me," Anna said. "I saw his face in a mirror. I
+wonder----"
+
+"London is a huge place," Brendon said. "Even if he lives here you may
+go all your life and never come face to face with him again."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XIV_
+
+"THIS IS MY WIFE"
+
+
+Anna, notwithstanding her momentary fright in the middle of the day,
+was in high spirits. She felt that for a time at any rate her
+depressing struggle against continual failure was at an end. She had
+paid her bill, and she had enough left in her purse to pay many such.
+Beyond that everything was nebulous. She knew that in her new role she
+was as likely as not to be a rank failure. But the relief from the
+strain of her immediate necessities was immense. She had been in the
+drawing-room for a few minutes before the gong had sounded, and had
+chattered gaily to every one. Now, in her old place, she was doing her
+best thoroughly to enjoy a most indifferent dinner.
+
+"Your brother has gone?" she asked Sydney, between the courses.
+
+He nodded.
+
+"Yes. David left this afternoon. I do not think that he has quite got
+over his surprise at finding you established here."
+
+She laughed.
+
+"After all, why should he be surprised?" she remarked. "Of course, one
+lives differently in Paris, but then--Paris is Paris. I think that a
+boarding-house is the very best place for a woman who wants to develop
+her sense of humour. Only I wish that it did not remind one so much of
+a second-hand clothes shop."
+
+Sydney looked at her doubtfully.
+
+"Now I suppose Brendon understands exactly what you mean," he
+remarked. "He looks as though he did, at any rate. I don't! Please
+enlighten me."
+
+She laughed gaily--and she had a way when she laughed of throwing back
+her head and showing her beautiful white teeth, so that mirth from her
+was a thing very much to be desired.
+
+"Look round the table," she said. "Aren't we all just odds and ends of
+humanity--the left-overs, you know. There is something inconglomerate
+about us. We are amiable to one another, but we don't mix. We can't."
+
+"You and I and Brendon get on all right, don't we?" Sydney objected.
+
+"But that's quite different," replied Anna. "You are neither of you in
+the least like the ordinary boarding-house young man. You don't wear a
+dinner coat with a flower in your button-hole, or last night's shirt,
+or very glossy boots, nor do you haunt the drawing-room in the
+evening, or play at being musical. Besides----"
+
+She stopped short. She herself, and one other there, recognized the
+interposition of something akin to tragedy. A thickly-set, sandy young
+man, with an unwholesome complexion and grease-smooth hair, had
+entered the room. He wore a black tail coat buttoned tightly over his
+chest, and a large diamond pin sparkled in a white satin tie which had
+seen better days. He bowed awkwardly to Mrs. White, who held out her
+hand and beamed a welcome upon him.
+
+"Now isn't this nice!" that lady exclaimed. "I'm sure we're all
+delighted to see you again, Mr. Hill. I do like to see old friends
+back here. If there's any one here whom you have not met I will make
+you acquainted with them after dinner. Will you take your old place by
+Miss Ellicot."
+
+Miss Ellicot swept aside her skirts from the vacant chair and welcomed
+the newcomer with one of her most engaging smiles.
+
+"We were afraid that you had deserted us for good, Mr. Hill," she said
+graciously. "I suppose Paris is very, very distracting. You must come
+and tell me all about it, although I am not sure whether we shall
+forgive you for not having written to any of us."
+
+Mr. Hill was exchanging greetings with his hostess, and salutations
+around the table.
+
+"Thank you, ma'am. Glad to get back, I'm sure," he said briskly.
+"Looks like old times here, I see. Sorry I'm a bit late the first
+evening. Got detained in the City, and----"
+
+Then he met the fixed, breathless gaze of those wonderful eyes from
+the other side of the table, and he, too, broke off in the middle of
+his sentence. He breathed heavily, as though he had been running. His
+large, coarse lips drew wider apart. Slowly a mirthless and very
+unpleasant smile dawned upon his face.
+
+"Great Scott!" he exclaimed huskily. "Why--it's--it's you!"
+
+Amazement seemed to dry up the torrents of his speech. The girl
+regarded him with the face of a Sphinx. Only in her eyes there seemed
+to be some apprehension of the fact that the young man's clothes and
+manners were alike undesirable things.
+
+"Are you speaking to me?" she asked calmly. "I am afraid that you are
+making a mistake. I am quite sure that I do not know you."
+
+A dull flush burned upon his cheeks. He took his seat at the table,
+but leaned forward to address her. A note of belligerency had crept
+into his tone.
+
+"Don't know me, eh? I like that. You are--or rather you were----" he
+corrected himself with an unpleasant little laugh, "Miss Pellissier,
+eh?"
+
+A little sensation followed upon his words. Miss Ellicot pursed her
+lips and sat a little more upright. The lady whose husband had been
+Mayor of Hartlepool looked at Anna and sniffed. Mrs. White became
+conscious of a distinct sense of uneasiness, and showed it in her
+face. She was obliged, as she explained continually to every one who
+cared to listen, to be so very particular. On the other hand the two
+young men who sat on either side of Anna were already throwing
+murderous glances at the newcomer.
+
+"My name," Anna replied calmly, "is certainly Pellissier, but I repeat
+that I do not know you. I never have known you."
+
+He unfolded his serviette with fingers which shook all the time. His
+eyes never left her face. An ugly flush stained his cheeks.
+
+"I've plenty of pals," he said, "who, when they've been doing Paris on
+the Q.T., like to forget all about it--even their names. But you----"
+
+Something seemed to catch his breath. He never finished his sentence.
+There was a moment's breathless and disappointed silence. If only he
+had known it, sympathy was almost entirely with him. Anna was no
+favourite at No. 13 Montague Street.
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"You appear," she said, without any sign of anger in her tone, and
+with unruffled composure, "to be a very impertinent person. Do you
+mind talking to some one else."
+
+Mrs. White leaned forward in her chair with an anxious smile designed
+to throw oil upon the troubled waters.
+
+"Come," she said. "We mustn't have any unpleasantness, and Mr. Hill's
+first night back amongst us, too. No doubt there's some little
+mistake. We all get deceived sometimes. Mr. Hill, I hope you won't
+find everything cold. You're a little late, you must remember, and we
+are punctual people here."
+
+"I shall do very well, thank you, ma'am," he answered shortly.
+
+Sydney and Brendon vied with one another in their efforts to engage
+Anna in conversation, and Miss Ellicot, during the momentary lull,
+deemed it a favourable opportunity to recommence siege operations. The
+young man was mollified by her sympathy, and flattered by the obvious
+attempts of several of the other guests to draw him into conversation.
+Yet every now and then, during the progress of the meal, his attention
+apparently wandered, and leaning forward he glanced covertly at Anna
+with a curious mixture of expressions on his face.
+
+Anna rose a few minutes before the general company. At the same time
+Sydney and Brendon also vacated their places. To reach the door they
+had to pass the end of the table, and behind the chair where Mr. Hill
+was seated. He rose deliberately to his feet and confronted them.
+
+"I should like to speak to you for a few minutes," he said to Anna,
+dropping his voice a little. "It is no good playing a game. We had
+better have it over."
+
+She eyed him scornfully. In any place her beauty would have been an
+uncommon thing. Here, where every element of her surroundings was
+tawdry and commonplace, and before this young man of vulgar origin and
+appearance, it was striking.
+
+"I do not know you," she said coldly. "I have nothing to say to you."
+
+He stood before the door. Brendon made a quick movement forward. She
+laid her hand upon his arm.
+
+"Please don't," she said. "It really is not necessary. Be so good as
+to let me pass, sir," she added, looking her obstructor steadily in
+the face.
+
+He hesitated.
+
+"This is all rot!" he declared angrily. "You can't think that I'm fool
+enough to be put off like this."
+
+She glanced at Brendon, who stood by her side, tall and threatening.
+Her eyebrows were lifted in expostulation. A faint, delightfully
+humorous smile parted her lips.
+
+"After all," she said, "if this person will not be reasonable, I am
+afraid----"
+
+It was enough. A hand of iron fell upon the scowling young man's
+shoulder.
+
+"Be so good as to stand away from that door at once, sir," Brendon
+ordered.
+
+Hill lost a little of his truculency. He knew very well that his
+muscles were flabby, and his nerve by no means what it should be. He
+was no match for Brendon. He yielded his place and struck instead with
+his tongue. He turned to Mrs. White.
+
+"I'm sorry, ma'am, to seem the cause of any disturbance, but this," he
+pointed to Anna, "is my wife."
+
+The sensation produced was gratifying enough. The man's statement was
+explicit, and spoken with confidence. Every one looked at Anna. For a
+moment she too had started and faltered in her exit from the room. Her
+fingers clutched the side of the door as though to steady herself. She
+caught her breath, and her eyes were lit with a sudden terror. She
+recovered herself, however, with amazing facility. Scarcely any one
+noticed the full measure of her consternation. From the threshold she
+looked her accuser steadily and coldly in the face.
+
+"What you have said is a ridiculous falsehood," she declared
+scornfully. "I do not even know who you are."
+
+She swept out of the room. Hill would have followed her, but Mrs.
+White and Miss Ellicot laid each a hand upon his arm, one on either
+side. The echoes of his hard, unpleasant laugh reached Anna on her way
+upstairs.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was a queer little bed-sitting-room almost in the roof, with a
+partition right across it. As usual Brendon lit the candles, and
+Sydney dragged out the spirit-lamp and set it going. Anna opened a
+cupboard and produced cups and saucers and a tin of coffee.
+
+"Only four spoonsful left," she declared briskly, "and your turn to
+buy the next pound, Sydney."
+
+"Right!" he answered. "I'll bring it to-morrow. Fresh ground, no
+chicory, and all the rest of it. But--Miss Pellissier!"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Are you quite sure that you want us this evening? Wouldn't you rather
+be alone? Just say the word, and we'll clear out like a shot."
+
+She laughed softly.
+
+"You are afraid," she said, "that the young man who thinks that he is
+my husband has upset me."
+
+"Madman!"
+
+"Blithering ass!"
+
+The girl looked into the two indignant faces and held out both her
+hands.
+
+"You're very nice, both of you," she said gently. "But I'm afraid you
+are going to be in a hopeless minority here as regards me."
+
+They eyed her incredulously.
+
+"You can't imagine," Sydney exclaimed, "that the people downstairs
+will be such drivelling asses as to believe piffle like that."
+
+Anna measured out the coffee. Her eyes were lit with a gleam of
+humour. After all, it was really rather funny.
+
+"Well, I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "I always notice that
+people find it very easy to believe what they want to believe, and you
+see I'm not in the least popular. Miss Ellicot, for instance,
+considers me a most improper person."
+
+"Miss Ellicot! That old cat!" Sydney exclaimed indignantly.
+
+"Miss Ellicot!" Brendon echoed. "As if it could possibly matter what
+such a person thinks of you."
+
+Anna laughed outright.
+
+"You are positively eloquent to-night--both of you," she declared.
+"But, you see, appearances are very much against me. He knew my name,
+and also that I had been living in Paris, and a man doesn't risk
+claiming a girl for his wife, as a rule, for nothing. He was painfully
+in earnest, too. I think you will find that his story will be
+believed, whatever I say; and in any case, if he is going to stay on
+here, I shall have to go away."
+
+"Don't say that," Sydney begged. "We will see that he never annoys
+you."
+
+Anna shook her head.
+
+"He is evidently a friend of Mrs. White's," she said, "and if he is
+going to persist in this delusion, we cannot both remain here. I'd
+rather not go," she added. "This is much the cheapest place I know of
+where things are moderately clean, and I should hate rooms all by
+myself. Dear me, what a nuisance it is to have a pseudo husband shot
+down upon one from the skies."
+
+"And such a beast of a one," Sydney remarked vigorously.
+
+Brendon looked across the room at her thoughtfully.
+
+"I wonder," he said, "is there anything we could do to help you to get
+rid of him?"
+
+"Can you think of anything?" Anna answered. "I can't! He appears to be
+a most immovable person."
+
+Brendon hesitated for a moment. He was a little embarrassed.
+
+"There ought to be some means of getting at him," he said. "The fellow
+seems to know your name, Miss Pellissier, and that you have lived in
+Paris. Might we ask you if you have ever seen him, if you knew him at
+all before this evening?"
+
+She stood up suddenly, and turning her back to them, looked steadily
+out of the window. Below was an uninspiring street, a thoroughfare of
+boarding-houses and apartments. The steps, even the pavements, were
+invaded by little knots of loungers driven outside by the unusual heat
+of the evening, most of them in evening dress, or what passed for
+evening dress in Montague Street. The sound of their strident voices
+floated upwards, the high nasal note of the predominant Americans, the
+shrill laughter of girls quick to appreciate the wit of such of their
+male companions as thought it worth while to be amusing. A young man
+was playing the banjo. In the distance a barrel-organ was grinding out
+a _pot pourri_ of popular airs. Anna raised her eyes. Above the
+housetops it was different. She drew a long breath. After all, why
+need one look down. Always the other things remained.
+
+"I think," she said, "that I would rather not have anything to say
+about that man."
+
+"It isn't necessary," they both declared breathlessly.
+
+Brendon dismissed the subject with a wave of the hand. He glanced at
+his watch.
+
+"Let us walk round to Covent Garden," he suggested. "I daresay the
+gallery will be full, but there is always the chance, and I know you
+two are keen on Melba."
+
+The girl shook her head.
+
+"Not to-night," she said. "I have to go out."
+
+They hesitated. As a rule their comings and goings were discussed with
+perfect confidence, but on this occasion they both felt that there was
+intent in her silence as to her destination. Nevertheless Sydney,
+clumsily, but earnestly, had something to say about it.
+
+"I am afraid--I really think that one of us ought to go with you," he
+said. "That beast of a fellow is certain to be hanging about."
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"It is a secret mission," she declared. "There are policemen--and
+buses."
+
+"You shall not need either," Brendon said grimly. "We will see that he
+doesn't follow you."
+
+She thanked him with a look and rose to her feet.
+
+"Go down and rescue the rags of my reputation," she said, smiling. "I
+expect it is pretty well in shreds by now. To-morrow morning I shall
+have made up my mind what to do."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XV_
+
+A MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
+
+
+Anna looked about her admiringly. It was just such a bedroom as she
+would have chosen for herself. The colouring was green and white, with
+softly shaded electric lights, an alcove bedstead, which was a miracle
+of daintiness, white furniture, and a long low dressing-table littered
+all over with a multitude of daintily fashioned toilet appliances.
+Through an open door was a glimpse of the bathroom--a vision of
+luxury, out of which Annabel herself, in a wonderful dressing-gown and
+followed by a maid presently appeared.
+
+"Too bad to keep you waiting," Annabel exclaimed. "I'm really very
+sorry. Collins, you can go now. I will ring if I want you."
+
+The maid discreetly withdrew, and Anna stood transfixed, gazing with
+puzzled frown at her sister.
+
+"Annabel! Why, what on earth have you been doing to yourself, child?"
+she exclaimed.
+
+Annabel laughed a little uneasily.
+
+"The very question, my dear sister," she said, "tells me that I have
+succeeded. Dear me, what a difference it has made! No one would ever
+think that we were sisters. Don't you think that the shade of my hair
+is lovely?"
+
+"There is nothing particular the matter with the shade," Anna
+answered, "but it is not nearly so becoming as before you touched it.
+And what on earth do you want to darken your eyebrows and use so much
+make-up for at your age? You're exactly twenty-three, and you're got
+up as much as a woman of forty-five."
+
+Annabel shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"I only use the weeniest little dab of rouge," she declared, "and it
+is really necessary, because I want to get rid of the 'pallor
+effect.'"
+
+Anna made no remark. Her disapproval was obvious enough. Annabel saw
+it, and suddenly changed her tone.
+
+"You are very stupid, Anna," she said. "Can you not understand? It is
+of no use your taking my identity and all the burden of my iniquities
+upon your dear shoulders if I am to be recognized the moment I show my
+face in London. That is why I have dyed my hair, that is why I have
+abandoned my role of _ingenuee_ and altered my whole style of dress.
+Upon my word, Anna," she declared, with a strange little laugh, "you
+are a thousand times more like me as I was two months ago than I am
+myself."
+
+A sudden sense of the gravity of this thing came home to Anna. Her
+sister's words were true. They had changed identities absolutely. It
+was not for a week or a month. It was for ever. A cold shiver came
+over her. That last year in Paris, when Annabel and she had lived in
+different worlds, had often been a nightmare to her. Annabel had taken
+her life into her hands with gay _insouciance_, had made her own
+friends, gone her own way. Anna never knew whither it had led
+her--sometimes she had fears. It was her past now, not Annabel's.
+
+"It is very good of you to come and see me, my dear sister," Annabel
+remarked, throwing herself into a low chair, and clasping her hands
+over her head. "To tell you the truth, I am a little dull."
+
+"Where is your husband?" Anna asked.
+
+"He is addressing a meeting of his constituents somewhere," Annabel
+answered. "I do not suppose he will be home till late. Tell me how are
+you amusing yourself?"
+
+Anna laughed.
+
+"I have been amusing myself up to now by trying to earn my living,"
+she replied.
+
+"I hope," Annabel answered lazily, "that you have succeeded.
+By-the-bye, do you want any money? Sir John's ideas of pin money are
+not exactly princely, but I can manage what you want, I dare say."
+
+"Thank you," Anna answered coldly. "I am not in need of any. I might
+add that in any case I should not touch Sir John's."
+
+"That's rather a pity," Annabel said. "He wants to settle something on
+you, I believe. It is really amusing. He lives in constant dread of a
+reappearance of '_La Belle Alcide_,' and hearing it said that she is
+his wife's sister. Bit priggish, isn't it? And if he only knew it--so
+absurd. Tell me how you are earning your living here,
+Anna--typewriting, or painting, or lady's companion?"
+
+"I think," Anna said, "that the less you know about me the better. Is
+all your house on the same scale of magnificence as this, Annabel?"
+she asked, looking round.
+
+Annabel shook her head.
+
+"Most of it is ugly and frowsy," she declared, "but it isn't worth
+talking about. I have made up my mind to insist upon moving from here
+into Park Lane, or one of the Squares. It is absolutely a frightful
+neighbourhood, this. If only you could see the people who have been to
+call on me! Sir John has the most absurd ideas, too. He won't have
+menservants inside the house, and his collection of carriages is only
+fit for a museum--where most of his friends ought to be, by-the-bye. I
+can assure you, Anna, it will take me years to get decently
+established. The man's as obstinate as a mule."
+
+Anna looked at her steadily.
+
+"He will find it difficult no doubt to alter his style of living,"
+she said. "I do not blame him. I hope you will always remember----"
+
+Annabel held out her hands with a little cry of protest.
+
+"No lecturing, Anna!" she exclaimed. "I hope you have not come for
+that."
+
+"I came," Anna answered, looking her sister steadily in the face, "to
+hear all that you can tell me about a man named Hill."
+
+Annabel had been lying curled up on the lounge, the personification of
+graceful animal ease. At Anna's words she seemed suddenly to stiffen.
+Her softly intertwined fingers became rigid. The little spot of rouge
+was vivid enough now by reason of this new pallor, which seemed to
+draw the colour even from her lips. But she did not speak. She made no
+attempt to answer her sister's question. Anna looked at her curiously,
+and with sinking heart.
+
+"You must answer me, Annabel," she continued. "You must tell me the
+truth, please. It is necessary."
+
+Annabel rose slowly to her feet, walked to the door as though to see
+that it was shut, and came back with slow lagging footsteps.
+
+"There was a man called Montague Hill," she said hoarsely, "but he is
+dead."
+
+"Then there is also," Anna remarked, "a Montague Hill who is very much
+alive. Not only that, but he is here in London. I have just come from
+him."
+
+Annabel no longer attempted to conceal her emotion. She battled with a
+deadly faintness, and she tottered rather than walked back to her
+seat. Anna, quitting her chair, dropped on her knees by her sister's
+side and took her hand.
+
+"Do not be frightened, dear," she said. "You must tell me the truth,
+and I will see that no harm comes to you."
+
+"The only Montague Hill I ever knew," Annabel said slowly, "is dead. I
+know he is dead. I saw him lying on the footway. I felt his heart. It
+had ceased to beat. It was a motor accident--a fatal motor accident
+the evening papers called it. They could not have called it a fatal
+motor accident if he had not been dead."
+
+Anna nodded.
+
+"Yes, I remember," she said. "It was the night you left Paris. They
+thought that he was dead at first, and they took him to the hospital.
+I believe that his recovery was considered almost miraculous."
+
+"Alive," Annabel moaned, her eyes large with terror. "You say that he
+is alive."
+
+"He is certainly alive," Anna declared. "More than that, he arrived
+to-day at the boarding-house where I am staying, greeted me with a
+theatrical start, and claimed me--as his wife. That is why I am here.
+You must tell me what it all means."
+
+"And you?" Annabel exclaimed. "What did you say?"
+
+"Well, I considered myself justified in denying it," Anna answered
+drily. "He produced what he called a marriage certificate, and I
+believe that nearly every one in the boarding-house, including Mrs.
+White, my landlady, believes his story. I am fairly well hardened in
+iniquity--your iniquity, Annabel--but I decline to have a husband
+thrust upon me. I really cannot have anything to do with Mr. Montague
+Hill."
+
+"A--marriage certificate!" Annabel gasped.
+
+Anna glanced into her sister's face, and rose to her feet.
+
+"Let me get you some water, Annabel. Don't be frightened, dear.
+Remember----"
+
+Annabel clutched her sister's arm. She would not let her move. She
+seemed smitten with a paroxysm of fear.
+
+"A thick-set, coarse-looking young man, Anna!" she exclaimed in a
+hoarse excited whisper. "He has a stubbly yellow moustache, weak eyes,
+and great horrid hands."
+
+Anna nodded.
+
+"It is the same man, Annabel," she said. "There is no doubt whatever
+about that. There was the motor accident, too. It is the same man, for
+he raved in the hospital, and they fetched me. It was you, of course,
+whom he wanted."
+
+"Alive! In London!" Annabel moaned.
+
+"Yes. Pull yourself together, Annabel! I must have the truth."
+
+The girl on the lounge drew a long sobbing breath.
+
+"You shall," she said. "Listen! There was a Meysey Hill in Paris, an
+American railway millionaire. This man and he were alike, and about
+the same age. Montague Hill was taken for the millionaire once or
+twice, and I suppose it flattered his vanity. At any rate, he began to
+deliberately personate him. He sent me flowers. Celeste introduced him
+to me--oh, how Celeste hated me! She must have known. He--wanted to
+marry me. Just then--I was nervous. I had gone further than I meant
+to--with some Englishmen. I was afraid of being talked about. You
+don't know, Anna, but when one is in danger one realizes that the--the
+other side of the line is Hell. The man was mad to marry me. I heard
+everywhere of his enormous riches and his generosity. I consented. We
+went to the Embassy. There was--a service. Then he took me out to
+Monteaux, on a motor. We were to have breakfast there and return in
+the evening. On the way he confessed. He was a London man of business,
+spending a small legacy in Paris. He had heard me sing--the fool
+thought himself in love with me. Celeste he knew. She was chaffing him
+about being taken for Meysey Hill, and suggested that he should be
+presented to me as the millionaire. He told me with a coarse nervous
+laugh. I was his wife. We were to live in some wretched London suburb.
+His salary was a few paltry hundreds a year. Anna, I listened to all
+that he had to say, and I called to him to let me get out. He laughed.
+I tried to jump, but he increased the speed. We were going at a mad
+pace. I struck him across the mouth, and across the eyes. He lost
+control of the machine. I jumped then--I was not even shaken. I saw
+the motor dashed to pieces against the wall, and I saw him pitched on
+his head into the road. I leaned over and looked at him--he was quite
+still. I could not hear his heart beat. I thought that he was dead. I
+stole away and walked to the railway station. That night in Paris I
+saw on the bills 'Fatal Motor Accidents.' _Le Petit Journal_ said that
+the man was dead. I was afraid that I might be called upon as a
+witness. That is why I was so anxious to leave Paris. The man who came
+to our rooms, you know, that night was his friend."
+
+"The good God!" Anna murmured, herself shaken with fear. "You were
+married to him!"
+
+"It could not be legal," Annabel moaned. "It couldn't be. I thought
+that I was marrying Meysey Hill, not that creature. We stepped from
+the Embassy into the motor--and oh! I thought that he was dead. Why
+didn't he die?"
+
+Anna sprang to her feet and walked restlessly up and down the room.
+Annabel watched her with wide-open, terrified eyes.
+
+"You won't give me away, Anna. He would never recognize me now. You
+are much more like what I was then."
+
+Anna stopped in front of her.
+
+"You don't propose, do you," she said quietly, "that I should take
+this man for my husband?"
+
+"You can drive him away," Annabel cried. "Tell him that he is mad. Go
+and live somewhere else."
+
+"In his present mood," Anna remarked, "he would follow me."
+
+"Oh, you are strong and brave," Annabel murmured. "You can keep him at
+arm's length. Besides, it was under false pretences. He told me that
+he was a millionaire. It could not be a legal marriage."
+
+"I am very much afraid," Anna answered, "that it was. It might be
+upset. I am wondering whether it would not be better to tell your
+husband everything. You will never be happy with this hanging over
+you."
+
+Annabel moistened her dry lips with a handkerchief steeped in eau de
+Cologne.
+
+"You don't know him, Anna," she said with a little shudder, "or you
+would not talk like that. He is steeped in the conventions. Every
+slight action is influenced by what he imagines would be the opinion
+of other people. Anything in the least irregular is like poison to
+him. He has no imagination, no real generosity. You might tell the
+truth to some men, but never to him."
+
+Anna was thoughtful. A conviction that her sister's words were true
+had from the first possessed her.
+
+"Annabel," she said slowly, "if I fight this thing out myself, can I
+trust you that it will not be a vain sacrifice? After what you have
+said it is useless for us to play with words. You do not love your
+husband, you have married him for a position--to escape from--things
+which you feared. Will you be a faithful and honest wife? Will you do
+your duty by him, and forget all your past follies? Unless, Annabel,
+you can----"
+
+"Oh, I will pledge you my word," Annabel cried passionately, "my
+solemn word. Believe me, Anna. Oh, you must believe me. I have been
+very foolish, but it is over."
+
+"Remember that you are young still, and fond of admiration," Anna
+said. "You will not give Sir John any cause for jealousy? You will
+have no secrets from him except--concerning those things which are
+past?"
+
+"Anna, I swear it!" her sister sobbed.
+
+"Then I will do what I can," Anna promised. "I believe that you are
+quite safe. He has had brain fever since, and, as you say, I am more
+like what you were then than you yourself are now. I don't think for a
+moment that he would recognize you."
+
+Annabel clutched her sister's hands. The tears were streaming down her
+face, her voice was thick with sobs.
+
+"Anna, you are the dearest, bravest sister in the world," she cried.
+"Oh, I can't thank you. You dear, dear girl. I--listen."
+
+They heard a man's voice outside.
+
+"Sir John!" Annabel gasped.
+
+Anna sprang to her feet and made for the dressing-room door.
+
+"One moment, if you please!"
+
+She stopped short and looked round. Sir John stood upon the threshold.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XVI_
+
+THE DISCOMFITURE OF SIR JOHN
+
+
+Sir John looked from one to the other of the two sisters. His face
+darkened.
+
+"My arrival appears to be opportune," he said stiffly. "I was hoping
+to be able to secure a few minutes' conversation with you, Miss
+Pellissier. Perhaps my wife has already prepared you for what I wish
+to say."
+
+"Not in the least," Anna answered calmly. "We have scarcely mentioned
+your name."
+
+Sir John coughed. He looked at Annabel, whose face was buried in her
+hands--he looked back at Anna, who was regarding him with an easy
+composure which secretly irritated him.
+
+"It is concerning--our future relations," Sir John pronounced
+ponderously.
+
+"Indeed!" Anna answered indifferently. "That sounds interesting."
+
+Sir John frowned. Anna was unimpressed. Elegant, a little scornful,
+she leaned slightly against the back of a chair and looked him
+steadily in the eyes.
+
+"I have no wish," he said, "to altogether ignore the fact that you are
+my wife's sister, and have therefore a certain claim upon me."
+
+Anna's eyes opened a little wider, but she said nothing.
+
+"A claim," he continued, "which I am quite prepared to recognize. It
+will give me great pleasure to settle an annuity for a moderate amount
+upon you on certain conditions."
+
+"A--what?" Anna asked.
+
+"An annuity--a sum of money paid to you yearly or quarterly through my
+solicitors, and which you can consider as a gift from your sister. The
+conditions are such as I think you will recognize the justice of. I
+wish to prevent a repetition of any such errand as I presume you have
+come here upon this evening. I cannot have my wife distressed or
+worried."
+
+"May I ask," Anna said softly, "what you presume to have been the
+nature of my errand here this evening?"
+
+Sir John pointed to Annabel, who was as yet utterly limp.
+
+"I cannot but conclude," he said, "that your errand involved the
+recital to my wife of some trouble in which you find yourself. I
+should like to add that if a certain amount is needed to set you free
+from any debts you may have contracted, in addition to this annuity,
+you will not find me unreasonable."
+
+Anna glanced momentarily towards her sister, but Annabel neither spoke
+nor moved.
+
+"With regard to the conditions I mentioned," Sir John continued,
+gaining a little confidence from Anna's silence, "I think you will
+admit that they are not wholly unreasonable. I should require you to
+accept no employment whatever upon the stage, and to remain out of
+England."
+
+Anna's demeanour was still imperturbable, her marble pallor untinged
+by the slightest flush of colour. She regarded him coldly, as though
+wondering whether he had anything further to say. Sir John hesitated,
+and then continued.
+
+"I trust," he said, "that you will recognize the justice of these
+conditions. Under happier circumstances nothing would have given me
+more pleasure than to have offered you a home with your sister. You
+yourself, I am sure, recognize how impossible you have made it for me
+now to do anything of the sort. I may say that the amount of the
+annuity I propose to allow you is two hundred a year."
+
+Anna looked for a moment steadily at her sister, whose face was still
+averted. Then she moved towards the door. Before she passed out she
+turned and faced Sir John. The impassivity of her features changed at
+last. Her eyes were lit with mirth, the corners of her mouth quivered.
+
+"Really, Sir John," she said, "I don't know how to thank you. I can
+understand now these newspapers when they talk of your magnificent
+philanthropy. It is magnificent indeed. And yet--you millionaires
+should really, I think, cultivate the art of discrimination. I am so
+much obliged to you for your projected benevolence. Frankly, it is the
+funniest thing which has ever happened to me in my life. I shall like
+to think of it--whenever I feel dull. Good-bye, Anna!"
+
+Annabel sprang up. Sir John waved her back.
+
+"Do I understand you then to refuse my offer?" he asked Anna.
+
+She shot a sudden glance at him. Sir John felt hot and furious. It was
+maddening to be made to feel that he was in any way the inferior of
+this cool, self-possessed young woman, whose eyes seemed for a moment
+to scintillate with scorn. There were one or two bitter moments in his
+life when he had been made to feel that gentility laid on with a
+brush may sometimes crack and show weak places--that deportment and
+breeding are after all things apart. Anna went out.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Her cheeks burned for a moment or two when she reached the street,
+although she held her head upright and walked blithely, even humming
+to herself fragments of an old French song. And then at the street
+corner she came face to face with Nigel Ennison.
+
+"I won't pretend," he said, "that this is an accident. The fates are
+never so kind to me. As a matter of fact I have been waiting for you."
+
+She raised her eyebrows.
+
+"Really," she said. "And by what right do you do anything of the
+sort?"
+
+"No right at all," he admitted. "Only it is much too late for you to
+be out alone. You have been to see your sister, of course. How is
+she?"
+
+"My sister is quite well, thank you," she answered. "Would you mind
+calling that hansom for me?"
+
+He looked at it critically and shook his head.
+
+"You really couldn't ride in it," he said, deprecatingly. "The horse's
+knees are broken, and I am not sure that the man is sober. I would
+sooner see you in a 'bus again."
+
+She laughed.
+
+"Do you mean to say that you have been here ever since I came?"
+
+"I am afraid that I must confess it," he answered. "Idiotic, isn't
+it?"
+
+"Absolutely," she agreed coldly. "I wish you would not do it."
+
+"Would not do what?"
+
+"Well, follow buses from Russell Square to Hampstead."
+
+"I can assure you," he answered, "that it isn't a habit of mine. But
+seriously----"
+
+"Well seriously?"
+
+"Isn't it your own fault a little? Why do you not tell me your
+address, and allow me to call upon you."
+
+"Why should I? I have told you that I do not wish for acquaintances in
+London."
+
+"Perhaps not in a general way," he answered calmly. "You are quite
+right, I think. Only I am not an acquaintance at all. I am an old
+friend, and I declined to be shelved."
+
+"Would you mind telling me," Anna asked, "how long I knew you in
+Paris?"
+
+He looked at her sideways. There was nothing to be learned from her
+face.
+
+"Well," he said slowly, "I had met you three times--before Drummond's
+dinner."
+
+"Oh, Drummond's dinner!" she repeated. "You were there, were you?"
+
+He laughed a little impatiently.
+
+"Isn't that rather a strange question--under the circumstances?" he
+asked quietly.
+
+Her cheeks flushed a dull red. She felt that there was a hidden
+meaning under his words. Yet her embarrassment was only a passing
+thing. She dismissed the whole subject with a little shrug of the
+shoulders.
+
+"We are both of us trenching upon forbidden ground," she said. "It was
+perhaps my fault. You have not forgotten----"
+
+"I have forgotten nothing?" he answered, enigmatically.
+
+Anna hailed a bus. He looked at her reproachfully. The bus however was
+full. They fell into step again. More than ever a sense of confusion
+was upon Ennison.
+
+"Last time I saw you," he reminded her, "you spoke, did you not, of
+obtaining some employment in London."
+
+"Quite true," she answered briskly, "and thanks to you I have
+succeeded."
+
+"Thanks to me," he repeated, puzzled. "I don't understand."
+
+"No? But it is very simple. It was you who were so much amazed that I
+did not try--the music hall stage here."
+
+"You must admit," he declared, "that to us--who had seen you--the
+thought of your trying anything else was amazing."
+
+"At any rate," she declared, "your remarks decided me. I have an
+engagement with a theatrical agent--I believe for the 'Unusual'."
+
+"You are going to sing in London?" he said quietly.
+
+"Yes."
+
+For a moment or two he did not speak. Glancing towards him she saw
+that a shadow had fallen upon his face.
+
+"Tell me," she insisted, "why you look like that. You are afraid--that
+here in London--I shall not be a success. It is that, is it not?"
+
+"No," he answered readily. "It is not that. The idea of your being a
+failure would never have occurred to me."
+
+"Then why are you sorry that I am going to the 'Unusual'? I do not
+understand."
+
+Their eyes met for a moment. His face was very serious.
+
+"I am sorry," he said slowly. "Why, I do not know."
+
+"I positively insist upon knowing," she declared cheerfully. "The
+sooner you tell me the better."
+
+"It is very hard to explain," he answered. "I think that it is only an
+idea. Only you seem to me since the time when I knew you in Paris to
+have changed--to have changed in some subtle manner which I find at
+times utterly bewildering. I find you an impenetrable enigma. I find
+it impossible to associate you with--my little friend of the
+'Ambassador's.' The things she said and did from you--seem impossible. I
+had a sort of idea," he went on, "that you were starting life all over
+again, and it seemed awfully plucky."
+
+There was a long silence. Then Anna spoke more seriously than usual.
+
+"I think," she said, "that I rather like what you have said. Don't be
+afraid to go on thinking it. Even though I am going to sing at the
+'Unusual' you may find that the 'Alcide,' whom you knew in Paris does
+not exist any more. At the same time," she added, in a suddenly
+altered tone, "it isn't anything whatever to do with you, is it?"
+
+"Why not?" he answered. "You permitted me then to call you my friend.
+I do not intend to allow you to forget."
+
+They passed a man who stared at them curiously. Ennison started and
+looked anxiously at Anna. She was quite unconcerned.
+
+"Did you see who that was?" he asked in a low tone.
+
+"I did not recognize him," Anna answered. "I supposed that he took off
+his hat to you."
+
+"It was Cheveney!" he said slowly.
+
+"Cheveney!" she repeated. "I do not know any one of that name."
+
+He caught her wrist and turned her face towards him. Her eyes were
+wide open with amazement.
+
+"Mr. Ennison!"
+
+He released her.
+
+"Good God!" he exclaimed. "Who are you--Annabel Pellissier or her
+ghost?"
+
+Anna laughed.
+
+"If it is a choice between the two," she answered, "I must be Annabel
+Pellissier. I am certainly no ghost."
+
+"You have her face and figure," he muttered. "You have even her name.
+Yet you can look Cheveney in the face and declare that you do not know
+him. You have changed from the veriest butterfly to a woman--you wear
+different clothes, you have the air of another world. If you do not
+help me to read the riddle of yourself, Annabel, I think that very
+soon I shall be a candidate for the asylum."
+
+She laughed heartily, and became as suddenly grave.
+
+"So Mr. Cheveney was another Paris friend, was he?" she asked.
+
+"Don't befool me any more," he answered, almost roughly. "If any one
+should know----you should! He was your friend. We were only--_les
+autres_."
+
+"That is quite untrue," she declared cheerfully. "I certainly knew him
+no better than you."
+
+"Then he--and Paris--lied," Ennison answered.
+
+"That," she answered, "is far easier to believe. You are too
+credulous."
+
+Ennison had things to say, but he looked at her and held his tongue.
+They turned the last corner, and almost immediately a man who had been
+standing there turned and struck Ennison a violent blow on the cheek.
+Ennison reeled, and almost fell. Recovering himself quickly his
+instinct of self-defence was quicker than his recollection of Anna's
+presence. He struck out from the shoulder, and the man measured his
+length upon the pavement.
+
+Anna sprang lightly away across the street. Brendon and Courtlaw who
+had been watching for her, met her at the door. She pointed across the
+road.
+
+"Please go and see that--nothing happens," she pleaded.
+
+"It is the first moment we have let him out of our sight," Brendon
+exclaimed, as he hastened across the street.
+
+Hill sat up on the pavement and mopped the blood from his cheek.
+Ennison's signet-ring had cut nearly to the bone.
+
+"What the devil do you mean by coming for me like that?" Ennison
+exclaimed, glowering down upon him. "Serves you right if I'd cracked
+your skull."
+
+Hill looked up at him, an unkempt, rough-looking object, with broken
+collar, tumbled hair, and the blood slowly dripping from his face.
+
+"What do you mean, hanging round with my wife?" he answered fiercely.
+
+Ennison looked down on him in disgust.
+
+"You silly fool," he said. "I know nothing about your wife. The young
+lady I was with is not married at all. Why don't you make sure before
+you rush out like that upon a stranger?"
+
+"You were with my wife," Hill repeated sullenly. "I suppose you're
+like the rest of them. Call her Miss Pellissier, eh? I tell you she's
+my wife, and I've got the certificate in my pocket."
+
+"I don't know who you are," Ennison said quietly, "but you are a
+thundering liar."
+
+Hill staggered to his feet and drew a folded paper from his pocket.
+
+"Marriage certificates don't tell lies, at any rate," he said. "Just
+look that through, will you."
+
+Ennison took the document, tore it half in two without looking at it,
+and flung it back in Hill's face. Then he turned on his heel and
+walked off.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XVII_
+
+THE CHANGE IN "ALCIDE"
+
+
+"By-the-bye," his neighbour asked him languidly, "who is our hostess?"
+
+"Usually known, I believe, as Lady Ferringhall," Ennison answered,
+"unless I have mixed up my engagement list and come to the wrong
+house."
+
+"How dull you are," the lady remarked. "Of course I mean, who was
+she?"
+
+"I believe that her name was Pellissier," Ennison answered.
+
+"Pellissier," she repeated thoughtfully. "There were some Hampshire
+Pellissiers."
+
+"She is one of them," Ennison said.
+
+"Dear me! I wonder where Sir John picked her up."
+
+"In Paris, I think," Ennison answered. "Only married a few months ago
+and lived out at Hampstead."
+
+"Heavens!" the lady exclaimed. "I heard they came from somewhere
+outrageous."
+
+"Hampstead didn't suit Lady Ferringhall," Ennison remarked. "They have
+just taken this house from Lady Cellender."
+
+"And what are you doing here?" the lady asked.
+
+"Politics!" Ennison answered grimly. "And you?"
+
+"Same thing. Besides, my husband has shares in Sir John's company. Do
+you know, I am beginning to believe that we only exist nowadays by the
+tolerance of these millionaire tradesmen. Our land brings us in
+nothing. We have to get them to let us in for the profits of their
+business, and in return we ask them to--dinner. By-the-bye, have you
+seen this new woman at the 'Empire'? What is it they call
+her--'Alcide?'"
+
+"Yes, I have seen her," Ennison answered.
+
+"Every one raves about her," Lady Angela continued. "For my part I can
+see no difference in any of these French girls who come over here with
+their demure manner and atrocious songs."
+
+"'Alcide's' songs are not atrocious," Ennison remarked.
+
+Lady Angela shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"It is unimportant," she said. "Nobody understands them, of course,
+but we all look as though we did. Something about this woman rather
+reminds me of our hostess."
+
+Ennison thought so too half an hour later, when having cut out from
+one of the bridge tables he settled down for a chat with Annabel.
+Every now and then something familiar in her tone, the poise of her
+head, the play of her eyes startled him. Then he remembered that she
+was Anna's sister.
+
+He lowered his voice a little and leaned over towards her.
+
+"By-the-bye, Lady Ferringhall," he said, "do you know that I am a very
+great admirer of your sister's? I wonder if she has ever spoken to you
+of me."
+
+The change in Lady Ferringhall's manner was subtle but unmistakable.
+She answered him almost coldly.
+
+"I see nothing of my sister," she said. "In Paris our lives were far
+apart, and we had seldom the same friends. I have heard of you from my
+husband. You are somebody's secretary, are you not?"
+
+It was plain that the subject was distasteful to her, but Ennison,
+although famous in a small way for his social tact, did not at once
+discard it.
+
+"You have not seen your sister lately," he remarked. "I believe that
+you would find her in some respects curiously altered. I have never in
+my life been so much puzzled by any one as by your sister. Something
+has changed her tremendously."
+
+Annabel looked at him curiously.
+
+"Do you mean in looks?" she asked.
+
+"Not only that," he answered. "In Paris your sister appeared to me to
+be a charming student of frivolity. Here she seems to have developed
+into a brilliant woman with more character and steadfastness than I
+should ever have given her credit for. Her features are the same, yet
+the change has written its mark into her face. Do you know, Lady
+Ferringhall, I am proud that your sister permits me to call myself her
+friend."
+
+"And in Paris----"
+
+"In Paris," he interrupted, "she was a very delightful companion, but
+beyond that--one did not take her seriously. I am not boring you, am
+I?"
+
+She raised her eyes to his and smiled into his face.
+
+"You are not boring me," she said, "but I would rather talk of
+something else. I suppose you will think me very unsisterly and
+cold-hearted, but there are circumstances in connexion with my
+sister's latest exploit which are intensely irritating both to my
+husband and to myself."
+
+He recognized the force, almost the passion, which trembled in her
+tone, and he at once abandoned the subject. He remained talking with
+her however. It was easy for him to see that she desired to be
+agreeable to him. They talked lightly but confidentially until Sir
+John approached them with a slight frown upon his face.
+
+"Mr. Ennison," he said, "it is for you to cut in at Lady Angela's
+table. Anna, do you not see that the Countess is sitting alone?"
+
+She rose, and flashed a quick smile upon Ennison behind her husband's
+back.
+
+"You must come and see me some afternoon," she said to him.
+
+He murmured his delight, and joined the bridge party, where he played
+with less than his accustomed skill. On the way home he was still
+thoughtful. He turned in at the club. They were talking of "Alcide,"
+as they often did in those days.
+
+"She has improved her style," someone declared. "Certainly her voice
+is far more musical."
+
+Another differed.
+
+"She has lost something," he declared, "something which brought the
+men in crowds around the stage at the 'Ambassador's.' I don't know what
+you'd call it--a sort of witchery, almost suggestiveness. She sings
+better perhaps. But I don't think she lays hold of one so."
+
+"I will tell you what there is about her which is so fetching,"
+Drummond, who was lounging by, declared. "She contrives somehow to
+strike the personal note in an amazing manner. You are wedged in
+amongst a crowd, perhaps in the promenade, you lean over the back, you
+are almost out of sight. Yet you catch her eye--you can't seem to
+escape from it. You feel that that smile is for you, the words are for
+you, the whole song is for you. Naturally you shout yourself hoarse
+when she has finished, and feel jolly pleased with yourself."
+
+"And if you are a millionaire like Drummond," someone remarked, "you
+send round a note and ask her to come out to supper."
+
+"In the present case," Drummond remarked, glancing across the room,
+"Cheveney wouldn't permit it."
+
+Ennison dropped the evening paper which he had been pretending to
+read. Cheveney strolled up, a pipe in his mouth.
+
+"Cheveney wouldn't have anything to say about it, as it happens," he
+remarked, a little grimly. "Ungracious little beast, I call her. I
+don't mind telling you chaps that except on the stage I haven't set
+eyes on her this side of the water. I've called half a dozen times at
+her flat, and she won't see me. Rank ingratitude, I call it."
+
+There was a shout of laughter. Drummond patted him on the shoulder.
+
+"Never mind, old chap," he declared. "Let's hope your successor is
+worthy of you."
+
+"You fellows," Ennison said quietly, "are getting a little wild. I
+have known Miss Pellissier as long as any of you perhaps, and I have
+seen something of her since her arrival in London. I consider her a
+very charming young woman--and I won't hear a word about Paris, for
+there are things I don't understand about that, but I will stake my
+word upon it that to-day Miss Pellissier is entitled not only to our
+admiration, but to our respect. I firmly believe that she is as
+straight as a die."
+
+Ennison's voice shook a little. They were his friends, and they
+recognized his unusual earnestness. Drummond, who had been about to
+speak, refrained. Cheveney walked away with a shrug of the shoulders.
+
+"I believe you are quite right so far as regards the present, at any
+rate," someone remarked, from the depths of an easy chair. "You see,
+her sister is married to Ferringhall, isn't she? and she herself must
+be drawing no end of a good screw here. I always say that it's poverty
+before everything that makes a girl skip the line."
+
+Ennison escaped. He was afraid if he stayed that he would make a fool
+of himself. He walked through the misty September night to his rooms.
+On his way he made a slight divergence from the direct route and
+paused for a moment outside the flat where Anna was now living. It was
+nearly one o'clock; but there were lights still in all her windows.
+Suddenly the door of the flat opened and closed. A man came out, and
+walking recklessly, almost cannoned into Ennison. He mumbled an
+apology and then stopped short.
+
+"It's Ennison, isn't it?" he exclaimed. "What the devil are you doing
+star-gazing here?"
+
+Ennison looked at him in surprise.
+
+"I might return the compliment, Courtlaw," he answered, "by asking why
+the devil you come lurching on to the pavement like a drunken man."
+
+Courtlaw was pale and dishevelled. He was carelessly dressed, and
+there were marks of unrest upon his features. He pointed to where the
+lights still burned in Anna's windows.
+
+"What do you think of that farce?" he exclaimed bitterly. "You are one
+of those who must know all about it. Was there ever such madness?"
+
+"I am afraid that I don't understand," Ennison answered. "You seem to
+have come from Miss Pellissier's rooms. I had no idea even that she
+was a friend of yours."
+
+Courtlaw laughed hardly. His eyes were red. He was in a curious state
+of desperation.
+
+"Nor am I now," he answered. "I have spoken too many truths to-night.
+Why do women take to lies and deceit and trickery as naturally as a
+duck to water?"
+
+"You are not alluding, I hope, to Miss Pellissier?" Ennison said
+stiffly.
+
+"Why not? Isn't the whole thing a lie? Isn't her reputation, this
+husband of hers, the 'Alcide' business, isn't it all a cursed juggle?
+She hasn't the right to do it. I----"
+
+He stopped short. He had the air of a man who has said too much.
+Ennison was deeply interested.
+
+"I should like to understand you," he said. "I knew Miss Pellissier in
+Paris at the 'Ambassador's,' and I know her now, but I am convinced
+that there is some mystery in connexion with her change of life. She
+is curiously altered in many ways. Is there any truth, do you suppose,
+in this rumoured marriage?"
+
+"I know nothing," Courtlaw answered hurriedly. "Ask me nothing. I will
+not talk to you about Miss Pellissier or her affairs."
+
+"You are not yourself to-night, Courtlaw," Ennison said. "Come to my
+rooms and have a drink."
+
+Courtlaw refused brusquely, almost rudely.
+
+"I am off to-night," he said. "I am going to America. I have work
+there. I ought to have gone long ago. Will you answer me a question
+first?"
+
+"If I can," Ennison said.
+
+"What were you doing outside Miss Pellissier's flat to-night? You were
+looking at her windows. Why? What is she to you?"
+
+"I was there by accident," Ennison answered. "Miss Pellissier is
+nothing to me except a young lady for whom I have the most profound
+and respectful admiration."
+
+Courtlaw laid his hand upon Ennison's shoulder. They were at the
+corner of Pall Mall now, and had come to a standstill.
+
+"Take my advice," he said hoarsely. "Call it warning, if you like.
+Admire her as much as you choose--at a distance. No more. Look at me.
+You knew me in Paris. David Courtlaw. Well-balanced, sane, wasn't I?
+You never heard anyone call me a madman? I'm pretty near being one
+now, and it's her fault. I've loved her for two years, I love her now.
+And I'm off to America, and if my steamer goes to the bottom of the
+Atlantic I'll thank the Lord for it."
+
+He strode away and vanished in the gathering fog. Ennison stood still
+for a moment, swinging his latchkey upon his finger. Then he turned
+round and gazed thoughtfully at the particular spot in the fog where
+Courtlaw had disappeared.
+
+"I'm d----d if I understand this," he said thoughtfully. "I never saw
+Courtlaw with her--never heard her speak of him. He was going to tell
+me something--and he shut up. I wonder what it was."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XVIII_
+
+ANNABEL AND "ALCIDE"
+
+
+Lady Ferringhall lifted her eyes to the newcomer, and the greeting in
+them was obviously meant for him alone. She continued to fan herself.
+
+"You are late," she murmured.
+
+"My chief," he said, "took it into his head to have an impromptu
+dinner party. He brought home a few waverers to talk to them where
+they had no chance of getting away."
+
+She nodded.
+
+"I am bored," she said abruptly. "This is a very foolish sort of
+entertainment. And, as usual," she continued, a little bitterly, "I
+seem to have been sent along with the dullest and least edifying of
+Mrs. Montressor's guests."
+
+Ennison glanced at the other people in the box and smiled.
+
+"I got your note just in time," he remarked. "I knew of course that
+you were at the Montressor's, but I had no idea that it was a music
+hall party afterwards. Are you all here?"
+
+"Five boxes full," she answered. "Some of them seem to be having an
+awfully good time too. Did you see Lord Delafield and Miss Anderson?
+They packed me in with Colonel Anson and Mrs. Hitchings, who seem to
+be absolutely engrossed in one another, and a boy of about seventeen,
+who no sooner got here than he discovered that he wanted to see a man
+in the promenade and disappeared."
+
+Ennison at once seated himself.
+
+"I feel justified then," he said, "in annexing his chair. I expect you
+had been snubbing him terribly."
+
+"Well, he was presumptuous," Annabel remarked, "and he wasn't nice
+about it. I wonder how it is," she added, "that boys always make love
+so impertinently."
+
+Ennison laughed softly.
+
+"I wonder," he said, "how you would like to be made love to--boldly or
+timorously or sentimentally."
+
+"Are you master of all three methods?" she asked, stopping her fanning
+for a moment to look at him.
+
+"Indeed, no," he answered. "Mine is a primitive and unstudied manner.
+It needs cultivating, I think."
+
+His fingers touched hers for a moment under the ledge of the box.
+
+"That sounds so uncouth," she murmured. "I detest amateurs."
+
+"I will buy books and a lay figure," he declared, "to practise upon.
+Or shall I ask Colonel Anson for a few hints?"
+
+"For Heaven's sake no," she declared. "I would rather put up with your
+own efforts, however clumsy. Love-making at first hand is dull enough.
+At second hand it would be unendurable."
+
+He leaned towards her.
+
+"Is that a challenge?"
+
+She shrugged her shoulders, all ablaze with jewels.
+
+"Why not? It might amuse me."
+
+Somewhat irrelevantly he glanced at the next few boxes where the rest
+of Mrs. Montressor's guests were.
+
+"Is your husband here to-night?" he asked.
+
+"My husband!" she laughed a little derisively. "No, he wouldn't come
+here of all places--just now. He dined, and then pleaded a political
+engagement. I was supposed to do the same, but I didn't."
+
+"You know," he said with some hesitation, "that your sister is
+singing."
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Of course. I want to hear how she does it."
+
+"She does it magnificently," he declared. "I think--we all think that
+she is wonderful."
+
+She looked at him with curious eyes.
+
+"I remember," she said, "that the first night I saw you, you spoke of
+my sister as your friend. Have you seen much of her lately?"
+
+"Nothing at all," he answered.
+
+The small grey feathers of her exquisitely shaped fan waved gently
+backwards and forwards. She was watching him intently.
+
+"Do you know," she said, "that every one is remarking how ill you
+look. I too can see it. What has been the matter?"
+
+"Toothache," he answered laconically.
+
+She looked away.
+
+"You might at least," she murmured, "have invented a more romantic
+reason."
+
+"Oh, I might," he answered, "have gone further still. I might have
+told you the truth."
+
+"Has my sister been unkind to you?"
+
+"The family," he declared, "has not treated me with consideration."
+
+She looked at him doubtfully.
+
+"You promised faithfully to be there," he said slowly. "I loathe
+afternoon concerts, and----"
+
+She was really like her sister he thought, impressed for a moment by
+the soft brilliancy of her smile. Her fingers rested upon his.
+
+"You were really at Moulton House," she exclaimed penitently. "I am so
+sorry. I had a perfect shoal of callers. People who would not go. I
+only arrived when everybody was coming away."
+
+A little murmur of expectation, an audible silence announced the
+coming of "Alcide." Then a burst of applause. She was standing there,
+smiling at the audience as at her friends. From the first there had
+always been between her and her listeners that electrical sympathy
+which only a certain order of genius seems able to create. Then she
+sang.
+
+Ennison listened, and his eyes glowed. Lady Ferringhall listened, and
+her cheeks grew pale. Her whole face stiffened with suppressed anger.
+She forgot Anna's sacrifices, forgot her own callousness, forgot the
+burden which she had fastened upon her sister's shoulders. She was
+fiercely and bitterly jealous. Anna was singing as she used to sing.
+She was _chic_, distinguished, unusual. What right had she to call
+herself "Alcide"? It was abominable, an imposture. Ennison listened,
+and he forgot where he was. He forgot Annabel's idle attempts at
+love-making, all the _cul-de-sac_ gallantry of the moment. The
+cultivated indifference, which was part of the armour of his little
+world fell away from him. He leaned forward, and looked into the eyes
+of the woman he loved, and it seemed to him that she sang back to him
+with a sudden note of something like passion breaking here and there
+through the gay mocking words which flowed with such effortless and
+seductive music from her lips.
+
+Neither of them joined in the applause which followed upon her exit.
+They were both conscious, however, that something had intervened
+between them. Their conversation became stilted. A spot of colour,
+brighter than any rouge, burned on her cheeks.
+
+"She is marvellously clever," he said.
+
+"She appears to be very popular here," she remarked.
+
+"You too sing?" he asked.
+
+"I have given it up," she answered. "One genius in the family is
+enough." After a pause, she added, "Do you mind fetching back my
+recalcitrant cavalier."
+
+"Anything except that," he murmured. "I was half hoping that I might
+be allowed to see you home."
+
+"If you can tear yourself away from this delightful place in five
+minutes," she answered, "I think I can get rid of the others."
+
+"We will do it," he declared. "If only Sir John were not Sir John I
+would ask you to come and have some supper."
+
+"Don't imperil my reputation before I am established," she answered,
+smiling. "Afterwards it seems to me that there are no limits to what
+one may not do amongst one's own set."
+
+"I am frightened of Sir John," he said, "but I suggest that we risk
+it."
+
+"Don't tempt me," she said, laughing, and drawing her opera-cloak
+together. "You shall drive home with me in a hansom, if you will. That
+is quite as far as I mean to tempt Providence to-night."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Again on his way homeward from Cavendish Square he abandoned the
+direct route to pass by the door of Anna's flat. Impassive by nature
+and training, he was conscious to-night of a strange sense of
+excitement, of exhilaration tempered by a dull background of
+disappointment. Her sister had told him that it was true. Anna was
+married. After all, she was a consummate actress. Her recent attitude
+towards him was undoubtedly a pose. His long struggle with himself,
+his avoidance of her were quite unnecessary. There was no longer any
+risk in association with her. His pulses beat fast as he walked, his
+feet fell lightly upon the pavement. He slackened his pace as he
+reached the flat. The windows were still darkened--perhaps she was not
+home yet. He lit a cigarette and loitered about. He laughed once or
+twice at himself as he paced backwards and forwards. He felt like a
+boy again, the taste for adventures was keen upon his palate, the
+whole undiscovered world of rhythmical things, of love and poetry and
+passion seemed again to him a real and actual place, and he himself an
+adventurer upon the threshold.
+
+Then a hansom drove up, and his heart gave a great leap. She stepped
+on to the pavement almost before him, and his blood turned almost to
+ice as he saw that she was not alone. A young man turned to pay the
+cabman. Then she saw him.
+
+"Mr. Ennison," she exclaimed, "is that really you?"
+
+There was no sign of embarrassment in her manner. She held out her
+hand frankly. She seemed honestly glad to see him.
+
+"How odd that I should almost spring into your arms just on my
+doorstep!" she remarked gaily. "Are you in a hurry? Will you come in
+and have some coffee?"
+
+He hesitated, and glanced towards her companion. He saw now that it
+was merely a boy.
+
+"This is Mr. Sydney Courtlaw--Mr. Ennison," she said. "You are coming
+in, aren't you, Sydney?"
+
+"If I may," he answered. "Your coffee's too good to refuse."
+
+She led the way, talking all the time to Ennison.
+
+"Do you know, I have been wondering what had become of you," she said.
+"I had those beautiful roses from you on my first night, and a tiny
+little note but no address. I did not even know where to write and
+thank you."
+
+"I have been abroad," he said. "The life of a private secretary is
+positively one of slavery. I had to go at a moment's notice."
+
+"I am glad that you have a reasonable excuse for not having been to
+see me," she said good-humouredly. "Please make yourselves comfortable
+while I see to the coffee."
+
+It was a tiny little room, daintily furnished, individual in its
+quaint colouring, and the masses of perfumed flowers set in strange
+and unexpected places. A great bowl of scarlet carnations gleamed from
+a dark corner, set against the background of a deep brown wall. A jar
+of pink roses upon a tiny table seemed to gain an extra delicacy of
+colour from the sombre curtains behind. Anna, who had thrown aside her
+sealskin coat, wore a tight-fitting walking dress of some dark shade.
+He leaned back in a low chair, and watched her graceful movements, the
+play of her white hands as she bent over some wonderful machine. A
+woman indeed this to love and be loved, beautiful, graceful, gay. A
+dreamy sense of content crept over him. The ambitions of his life, and
+they were many, seemed to lie far away, broken up dreams in some
+outside world where the way was rough and the sky always grey. A
+little table covered with a damask cloth was dragged out. There were
+cakes and sandwiches--for Ennison a sort of Elysian feast, long to be
+remembered. They talked lightly and smoked cigarettes till Anna, with
+a little laugh, threw open the window and let in the cool night air.
+
+Ennison stood by her side. They looked out over the city, grim and
+silent now, for it was long past midnight. For a moment her thoughts
+led her back to the evening when she and Courtlaw had stood together
+before the window of her studio in Paris, before the coming of Sir
+John had made so many changes in her life. She was silent, the ghost
+of a fading smile passed from her lips. She had made her way since
+then a little further into the heart of life. Yet even now there were
+so many things untouched, so much to be learned. To-night she had a
+curious feeling that she stood upon the threshold of some change. The
+great untrodden world was before her still, into which no one can pass
+alone. She felt a new warmth in her blood, a strange sense of elation
+crept over her. Sorrows and danger and disappointment she had known.
+Perhaps the day of her recompense was at hand. She glanced into her
+companion's face, and she saw there strange things. For a moment her
+heart seemed to stop beating. Then she dropped the curtain and stepped
+back into the room. Sydney was strumming over a new song which stood
+upon the piano.
+
+"I am sure," she said, "that you mean to stay until you are turned
+out. Do you see the time?"
+
+"I may come and see you?" Ennison asked, as his hand touched hers.
+
+"Yes," she answered, looking away. "Some afternoon."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XIX_
+
+"THIS IS NOT THE END"
+
+
+"I said some afternoon," she remarked, throwing open her warm coat,
+and taking off her gloves, "but I certainly did not mean to-day."
+
+"I met you accidentally," he reminded her. "Our ways happened to lie
+together."
+
+"And our destinations also, it seems," she added, smiling.
+
+"You asked me in to tea," he protested.
+
+"In self-defence I had to," she answered. "It is a delightful day for
+walking, but a great deal too cold to be standing on the pavement."
+
+"Of course," he said, reaching out his hand tentatively for his hat,
+"I could go away even now. Your reputation for hospitality would
+remain under a cloud though, for tea was distinctly mentioned."
+
+"Then you had better ring the bell," she declared, laughing. "The walk
+has given me an appetite, and I do not feel like waiting till five
+o'clock. I wonder why on earth the curtains are drawn. It is quite
+light yet, and I want to have one more look at that angry red sun.
+Would you mind drawing them back?"
+
+Ennison sprang up, but he never reached the curtains. They were
+suddenly thrown aside, and a man stepped out from his hiding-place. A
+little exclamation of surprise escaped Ennison. Anna sprang to her
+feet with a startled cry.
+
+"You!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here? How dare you come to
+my rooms!"
+
+The man stepped into the middle of the room. The last few months had
+not dealt kindly with Mr. Montague Hill. He was still flashily
+dressed, with much obvious jewellery and the shiniest of patent boots,
+but his general bearing and appearance had altered for the worse. His
+cheeks were puffy, and his eyes blood-shot. He had the appearance of a
+man who has known no rest for many nights. His voice when he spoke was
+almost fiercely assertive, but there was an undernote of nervousness.
+
+"Why not?" he exclaimed. "I have the right to be here. I hid because
+there was no other way of seeing you. I did not reckon upon--him."
+
+He pointed to Ennison, who in his turn looked across at Anna.
+
+"You wish me to stay?" he asked, in a low tone.
+
+"I would not have you go for anything," she answered.
+
+"Nevertheless," Hill said doggedly, "I am here to speak to you alone."
+
+"If you do not leave the room at once," Anna answered calmly, "I shall
+ring the bell for a policeman."
+
+He raised his hand, and they saw that he was holding a small revolver.
+
+"You need not be alarmed," he said. "I do not wish to use this. I came
+here peaceably, and I only ask for a few words with you. But I mean to
+have them. No, you don't!"
+
+Ennison had moved stealthily a little nearer to him, and looked
+suddenly into the dark muzzle of the revolver.
+
+"If you interfere between us," the man said, "it will go hardly with
+you. This lady is my wife, and I have a right to be here. I have the
+right also to throw you out."
+
+Ennison obeyed Anna's gesture, and was silent.
+
+"You can say what you have to say before Mr. Ennison, if at all," Anna
+declared calmly. "In any case, I decline to see you alone."
+
+"Very well," the man answered. "I have come to tell you this. You are
+my wife, and I am determined to claim you. We were properly married,
+and the certificate is at my lawyer's. I am not a madman, or a pauper,
+or even an unreasonable person. I know that you were disappointed
+because I did not turn out to be the millionaire. Perhaps I deceived
+you about it. However, that's over and done with. I'll make any
+reasonable arrangement you like. I don't want to stop your singing.
+You can live just about how you like. But you belong to me--and I want
+you."
+
+He paused for a moment, and then suddenly continued. His voice had
+broken. He spoke in quick nervous sentences.
+
+"You did your best to kill me," he said. "You might have given me a
+chance, anyway. I'm not such a bad sort. You know--I worship you. I
+have done from the first moment I saw you. I can't rest or work or
+settle down to anything while things are like this between you and me.
+I want you. I've got to have you, and by God I will."
+
+He took a quick step forward. Anna held out her hand, and he paused.
+There was something which chilled even him in the cold impassivity of
+her features.
+
+"Listen," she said. "I have heard these things from you before, and
+you have had my answer. Understand once and for all that that answer
+is final. I do not admit the truth of a word which you have said. I
+will not be persecuted in this way by you."
+
+"You do not deny that you are my wife," he asked hoarsely. "You
+cannot! Oh, you cannot."
+
+"I have denied it," she answered. "Why will you not be sensible? Go
+back to your old life and your old friends, and forget all about Paris
+and this absurd delusion of yours."
+
+"Delusion!" he muttered, glaring at her. "Delusion!"
+
+"You can call it what you like," she said. "In any case you will never
+receive any different sort of answer from me. Stay where you are, Mr.
+Ennison."
+
+With a swift movement she gained the bell and rang it. The man's hand
+flashed out, but immediately afterwards an oath and a cry of pain
+broke from his lips. The pistol fell to the floor. Ennison kicked it
+away with his foot.
+
+"I shall send for a policeman," Anna said, "directly my maid answers
+the bell--unless you choose to go before."
+
+The man made no attempt to recover the revolver. He walked unsteadily
+towards the door.
+
+"Very well," he said, "I will go. But," and he faced them both with a
+still expressionless glance, "this is not the end!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Anna recovered her spirits with marvellous facility. It was Ennison
+who for the rest of his visit was quiet and subdued.
+
+"You are absurd," she declared. "It was unpleasant while it lasted,
+but it is over--and my toasted scones are delicious. Do have another."
+
+"It is over for now," he answered, "but I cannot bear to think that
+you are subject to this sort of thing."
+
+She shrugged her shoulders slightly. Some of the delicate colour which
+the afternoon walk had brought into her cheeks had already returned.
+
+"It is an annoyance, my friend," she said, "not a tragedy."
+
+"It might become one," he answered. "The man is dangerous."
+
+She looked thoughtfully into the fire.
+
+"I am afraid," she said, "that he must have a skeleton key to these
+rooms. If so I shall have to leave."
+
+"You cannot play at hide-and-seek with this creature all your life,"
+he answered. "Let your friends act for you. There must be ways of
+getting rid of him."
+
+"I am afraid," she murmured, "that it would be difficult. He really
+deserves a better fate, does he not? He is so beautifully persistent."
+
+He drew a little nearer to her. The lamp was not yet lit, and in the
+dim light he bent forward as though trying to look into her averted
+face. He touched her hand, soft and cool to his fingers--she turned at
+once to look at him. Her eyes were perhaps a little brighter than
+usual, the firelight played about her hair, there seemed to him to be
+a sudden softening of the straight firm mouth. Nevertheless she
+withdrew her hand.
+
+"Let me help you," he begged. "Indeed, you could have no more faithful
+friend, you could find no one more anxious to serve you."
+
+Her hand fell back into her lap. He touched it again, and this time it
+was not withdrawn.
+
+"That is very nice of you," she said. "But it is so difficult----"
+
+"Not at all," he answered eagerly. "I wish you would come and see my
+lawyers. Of course I know nothing of what really did happen in
+Paris--if even you ever saw him there. You need not tell me, but a
+lawyer is different. His client's story is safe with him. He would
+advise you how to get rid of the fellow."
+
+"I will think of it," she promised.
+
+"You must do more than think of it," he urged. "It is intolerable that
+you should be followed about by such a creature. I am sure that he can
+be got rid of."
+
+She turned and looked at him. Her face scarcely reflected his
+enthusiasm.
+
+"It may be more difficult than you think," she said. "You see you do
+not know how much of truth there is in his story."
+
+"If it were all true," he said doggedly, "it may still be possible."
+
+"I will think of it," she repeated. "I cannot say more."
+
+They talked for a while in somewhat dreamy fashion, Anna especially
+being more silent than usual. At last she glanced at a little clock in
+the corner of the room, and sprang to her feet.
+
+"Heavens, look at the time!" she exclaimed. "It is incredible. I
+shall barely be in time for the theatre. I must go and dress at once."
+
+He too rose.
+
+"I will wait for you on the pavement, if you like," he said, "but I am
+going to the 'Unusual' with you. Your maid would not be of the least
+protection."
+
+"But your dinner!" she protested. "You will be so late."
+
+He laughed.
+
+"You cannot seriously believe," he said, "that at the present moment I
+care a snap of the fingers whether I have any dinner or not."
+
+She laughed.
+
+"Well, you certainly did very well at tea," she remarked. "If you
+really are going to wait, make yourself as comfortable as you can.
+There are cigarettes and magazines in the corner there."
+
+Anna disappeared, but Ennison did not trouble either the cigarettes or
+the magazines. He sat back in an easy chair with a hand upon each of
+the elbows, and looked steadfastly into the fire.
+
+People spoke of him everywhere as a young man of great promise, a
+politician by instinct, a keen and careful judge of character. Yet he
+was in a state of hopeless bewilderment. He was absolutely unable to
+focus his ideas. The girl who had just left the room was as great a
+mystery to him now as on the afternoon when he had met her in
+Piccadilly and taken her to tea. And behind--there was Paris, memories
+of amazing things, memories which made his cheeks burn and his heart
+beat quickly as he sat there waiting for her. For the first time a
+definite doubt possessed him. A woman cannot change her soul. Then it
+was the woman herself who was changed. Anna was not "Alcide" of the
+"Ambassador's," whose subtly demure smile and piquant glances had
+called him to her side from the moment of their first meeting. It was
+impossible.
+
+She came in while he was still in the throes, conviction battling with
+common-sense, his own apprehension. He rose at once to his feet and
+turned a white face upon her.
+
+"I am going to break a covenant," he cried. "I cannot keep silence any
+longer."
+
+"You are going to speak to me of things which happened before we met
+in London?" she asked quietly.
+
+"Yes! I must! The thing is becoming a torture to me. I must!"
+
+She threw open the door and pointed to it.
+
+"My word holds," she said. "If you speak--farewell."
+
+He stood quite silent for a moment, his eyes fixed upon her face.
+Something he saw there had a curious effect upon him. He was suddenly
+calm.
+
+"I shall not speak," he said, "now or at any other time. Come!"
+
+They went out together and he called a hansom. From the opposite
+corner under the trees a man with his hat slouched over his eyes stood
+and glowered at them.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XX_
+
+ANNA'S SURRENDER
+
+
+"This is indeed a gala night," said Ennison, raising his glass, and
+watching for a moment the golden bubbles. "Was it really only this
+afternoon that I met you in St. James' Park?"
+
+Anna nodded, and made a careful selection from a dish of quails.
+
+"It was just an hour before teatime," she remarked. "I have had
+nothing since, and it seems a very long time."
+
+"An appetite like yours," he said resignedly, "is fatal to all
+sentiment."
+
+"Not in the least," she assured him. "I find the two inseparable."
+
+He sighed.
+
+"I have noticed," he said, "that you seem to delight in taking a
+topsy-turvy view of life. It arises, I think, from an over developed
+sense of humour. You would find things to laugh at even in Artemus
+Ward."
+
+"You do not understand me at all," she declared. "I think that you are
+very dense. Besides, your remark is not in the least complimentary. I
+have always understood that men avoid like the plague a woman with a
+sense of humour."
+
+So they talked on whilst supper was served, falling easily into the
+spirit of the place, and yet both of them conscious of some new thing
+underlying the gaiety of their tongues and manner. Anna, in her
+strange striking way, was radiantly beautiful. Without a single
+ornament about her neck, or hair, wearing the plainest of black gowns,
+out of which her shoulders shone gleaming white, she was easily the
+most noticeable and the most distinguished-looking woman in the room.
+To-night there seemed to be a new brilliancy in her eyes, a deeper
+quality in her tone. She was herself conscious of a recklessness of
+spirits almost hysterical. Perhaps, after all, the others were right.
+Perhaps she had found this new thing in life, the thing wonderful. The
+terrors and anxieties of the last few months seemed to have fallen
+from her, to have passed away like an ugly dream, dismissed with a
+shudder even from the memory. An acute sense of living was in her
+veins, even the taste of her wine seemed magical. Ennison too, always
+handsome and _debonnair_, seemed transported out of his calm self. His
+tongue was more ready, his wit more keen than usual. He said daring
+things with a grace which made them irresistible, his eyes flashed
+back upon her some eloquent but silent appreciation of the change in
+her manner towards him.
+
+And then there came for both of them at least a temporary awakening.
+It was he who saw them first coming down the room--Annabel in a
+wonderful white satin gown in front, and Sir John stiff, unbending,
+disapproving, bringing up the rear. He bent over to Anna at once.
+
+"It is your sister and her husband," he said. "They are coming past
+our table."
+
+Annabel saw Ennison first, and noticing his single companion calmly
+ignored him. Then making a pretence of stooping to rearrange her
+flowing train, she glanced at Anna, and half stopped in her progress
+down the room. Sir John followed her gaze, and also saw them. His face
+clouded with anger.
+
+It was after all a momentary affair. Annabel passed on with a strained
+nod to her sister, and Sir John's bow was a miracle of icy
+displeasure. They vanished through the doorway. Anna and her escort
+exchanged glances. Almost simultaneously they burst out laughing.
+
+"How do you feel?" she asked.
+
+"Limp," he answered. "As a matter of fact, I deserve to. I was engaged
+to dine with your sister and her husband, and I sent a wire."
+
+"It was exceedingly wrong of you," Anna declared. "Before I came to
+England I was told that there were two things which an Englishman who
+was _comme-il-faut_ never did. The first was to break a dinner
+engagement."
+
+"And the second?"
+
+"Make love to a single woman."
+
+"Your knowledge of our ways," he murmured "is profound. Yet, I suppose
+that at the present moment I am the most envied man in the room."
+
+Her eyes were lit with humour. To have spoken lightly on such a
+subject a few hours ago would have seemed incredible.
+
+"But you do not know," she whispered, "whether I am a married woman or
+not. There is Mr. Montague Hill."
+
+The lights were lowered, and an attentive waiter hovered round Anna's
+cloak. They left the room amongst the last, and Ennison had almost to
+elbow his way through a group of acquaintances who had all some
+pretext for detaining him, to which he absolutely refused to listen.
+They entered a hansom and turned on to the Embankment. The two great
+hotels on their right were still ablaze with lights. On their left the
+river, with its gloomy pile of buildings on the opposite side, and a
+huge revolving advertisement throwing its strange reflection upon the
+black water. A fresh cool breeze blew in their faces. Anna leaned back
+with half closed eyes.
+
+"Delicious!" she murmured.
+
+His fingers closed upon her hand. She yielded it without protest, as
+though unconsciously. Not a word passed between them. It seemed to him
+that speech would be an anticlimax.
+
+He paid the cab, and turned to follow her. She passed inside and
+upstairs without a word. In her little sitting-room she turned on the
+electric light and looked around half fearfully.
+
+"Please search everywhere," she said. "I am going through the other
+rooms. I shall not let you go till I am quite sure."
+
+"If he has a key," Ennison said, "how are you to be safe?"
+
+"I had bolts fitted on the doors yesterday," she answered. "If he is
+not here now I can make myself safe."
+
+It was certain that he was not there. Anna came back into the
+sitting-room with a little sigh of relief.
+
+"Indeed," she said, "it was very fortunate that I should have met you
+this afternoon. Either Sydney or Mr. Brendon always comes home with
+me, and to-night both are away. Mary is very good, but she is too
+nervous to be the slightest protection."
+
+"I am very glad," he answered, in a low tone. "It has been a
+delightful evening for me."
+
+"And for me," Anna echoed.
+
+A curious silence ensued. Anna was sitting before the fire a little
+distance from him--Ennison himself remained standing. Some shadow of
+reserve seemed to have crept up between them. She laughed nervously,
+but kept her eyes averted.
+
+"It is strange that we should have met Annabel," she said. "I am
+afraid your broken dinner engagement will not be so easy to explain."
+
+He was very indifferent. In fact he was thinking of other things.
+
+"I am going," he said, "to be impertinent. I do not understand why you
+and your sister should not see more of one another. You must be lonely
+here with only a few men friends."
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"Loneliness," she said, "is a luxury which I never permit myself.
+Besides--there is Sir John."
+
+"Sir John is an ass!" he declared.
+
+"He is Annabel's husband," she reminded him.
+
+"Annabel!" He looked at her thoughtfully. "It is rather odd," he said,
+"but I always thought that your name was Annabel and hers Anna."
+
+"Many other people," she remarked, "have made the same mistake."
+
+"Again," he said, "I am going to be impertinent. I never met your
+sister in Paris, but I heard about her more than once. She is not in
+the least like the descriptions of her."
+
+"She has changed a good deal," Anna admitted.
+
+"There is some mystery about you both," he exclaimed, with sudden
+earnestness. "No, don't interrupt me. Why may I not be your friend?
+Somehow or other I feel that you have been driven into a false
+position. You represent to me an enigma, the solution of which has
+become the one desire of my life. I want to give you warning that I
+have set myself to solve it. To-morrow I am going to Paris."
+
+She seemed unmoved, but she did not look at him.
+
+"To Paris! But why? What do you hope to discover there?"
+
+"I do not know," he answered, "but I am going to see David Courtlaw."
+
+Then she looked up at him with frightened eyes.
+
+"David Courtlaw!" she repeated. "What has he to do with it?"
+
+"He was your sister's master--her friend. A few days ago I saw him
+leave your house. He was like a man beside himself. He began to tell
+me something--and stopped. I am going to ask him to finish it."
+
+She rose up.
+
+"I forbid it!" she said firmly.
+
+They were standing face to face now upon the hearthrug. She was very
+pale, and there was a look of fear in her eyes.
+
+"I will tell you as much as this," she continued. "There is a secret.
+I admit it. Set yourself to find it out, if you will--but if you do,
+never dare to call yourself my friend again."
+
+"It is for your good--your good only I am thinking," he declared.
+
+"Then let me be the judge of what is best," she answered.
+
+He was silent. He felt his heart beat faster and faster--his
+self-restraint slipping away. After all, what did it matter?--it or
+anything else in the world? She was within reach of his arms,
+beautiful, compelling, herself as it seemed suddenly conscious of the
+light which was burning in his eyes. A quick flush stained her cheeks.
+She put out her hands to avoid his embrace.
+
+"No!" she exclaimed. "You must not. It is impossible."
+
+His arms were around her. He only laughed his defiance.
+
+"I will make it possible," he cried. "I will make all things
+possible."
+
+Anna was bewildered. She did not know herself. Only she was conscious
+of an unfamiliar and wonderful emotion. She gave her lips to his
+without resistance. All her protests seemed stifled before she could
+find words to utter them. With a little sigh of happiness she accepted
+this new thing.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXI_
+
+HER SISTER'S SECRET
+
+
+"I think," Lady Ferringhall said, "that you are talking very
+foolishly. I was quite as much annoyed as you were to see Mr. Ennison
+with my sister last night. But apart from that, you have no particular
+objection to him, I suppose?"
+
+"The occurrence of last night is quite sufficient in itself," Sir John
+answered, "to make me wish to discontinue Mr. Ennison's acquaintance.
+I should think, Anna, that your own sense--er--of propriety would
+enable you to see this. It is not possible for us to be on friendly
+terms with a young man who has been seen in a public place, having
+supper alone with your sister after midnight. The fact itself is
+regrettable enough--regrettable, I fear, is quite an inadequate word.
+To receive him here afterwards would be most repugnant to me."
+
+"He probably does not know of the relationship," Annabel remarked.
+
+"I imagine," Sir John said, "that your sister would acquaint him with
+it. In any case, he is liable to discover it at any time. My own
+impression is that he already knows."
+
+"Why do you think so?" she asked.
+
+"I noticed him call her attention to us as we passed down the room,"
+he answered. "Of course he may merely have been telling her who we
+were, but I think it improbable."
+
+"Apart from the fact of his acquaintance with Anna--Annabel," Lady
+Ferringhall said quickly, "may I ask if you have any other objection
+to Mr. Ennison?"
+
+Sir John hesitated.
+
+"To the young man himself," he answered, "no! I simply object to his
+calling here two or three times a week during my absence."
+
+"How absurd!" Annabel declared. "How could he call except in your
+absence, as you are never at home in the afternoon. And if I cared to
+have him come every day, why shouldn't he? I find him very amusing and
+very useful as well. He brought his mother to call, and as you know
+the Countess goes scarcely anywhere. Hers is quite the most exclusive
+set in London."
+
+"My feeling in the matter," Sir John said, "is as I have stated.
+Further, I do not care for you to accept social obligations from Mr.
+Ennison, or any other young man."
+
+"You are jealous," she declared contemptuously.
+
+"If I am," he answered, reddening, "you can scarcely assert that it is
+without a cause. You will forgive my remarking, Anna, that I consider
+there is a great change in your manner towards me and your general
+deportment since our marriage."
+
+Annabel laughed gaily.
+
+"My dear man," she exclaimed, "wasn't that a foregone conclusion?"
+
+"You treat the matter lightly," he continued. "To me it seems serious
+enough. I have fulfilled my part of our marriage contract. Can you
+wonder that I expect you to fulfil yours?"
+
+"I am not aware," she answered, "that I have ever failed in doing so."
+
+"You are at least aware," he said, "that you have on several recent
+occasions acted in direct opposition to my wishes."
+
+"For example?"
+
+"Your dyed hair. I was perfectly satisfied with your appearance. I
+consider even now that the present colour is far less becoming. Then
+you have altered not only that, but your manner of dressing it. You
+have darkened your eyebrows, you have even changed your style of
+dress. You have shown an almost feverish anxiety to eliminate from
+your personal appearance all that reminded me of you--when we first
+met."
+
+"Well," she said, "has there not been some reason for this? The
+likeness to Annabel could scarcely have escaped remark. You forget
+that every one is going to the 'Unusual' to see her."
+
+He frowned heavily.
+
+"I wish that I could forget it," he said. "Fortunately I believe that
+the relationship is not generally known. I trust that no unpleasant
+rumours will be circulated before the election, at any rate."
+
+Annabel yawned.
+
+"They might do you good," she remarked. "'Alcide' is very popular."
+
+Sir John turned towards the door.
+
+"It does not appear to me," he said, stiffly, "to be an affair for
+jests."
+
+Annabel laughed derisively and took up her book. She heard her
+husband's heavy tread descending the stairs, and the wheels of his
+carriage as he drove off. Then she threw the volume away with a little
+impatient exclamation. She rose from her chair, and began walking up
+and down the room restlessly. Every now and then she fingered an
+ornament, moved a piece of furniture, or rearranged some draperies.
+Once she stopped in front of a mirror and looked at herself
+thoughtfully.
+
+"I am getting plain," she said, with a little shudder. "This life is
+killing me! Oh, it is dull, dull, dull!"
+
+Suddenly an idea seemed to strike her. She went to her room and
+changed the loose morning gown in which she had lunched for a dark
+walking dress. A few minutes later she left the house on foot, and
+taking a hansom at the corner of the Square, drove to Anna's flat.
+
+Anna was having tea by herself when she entered. She rose at once with
+a little exclamation, half of surprise, half of pleasure.
+
+"My dear Annabel," she said, "this is delightful, but I thought that
+it was forbidden."
+
+"It is," Annabel answered shortly. "But I wanted to see you."
+
+Anna wheeled an easy chair to the fire.
+
+"You will have some tea?" she asked.
+
+Annabel ignored both the chair and the invitation. She was looking
+about her, and her face was dark with anger. The little room was
+fragrant with flowers, Anna herself bright, and with all the evidences
+of well being. Annabel was conscious then of the slow anger which had
+been burning within her since the night of her visit to the
+"Unusual." Her voice trembled with suppressed passion.
+
+"I have come for an explanation," she said. "You are an impostor. How
+dare you use my name and sing my songs?"
+
+Anna looked at her sister in blank amazement.
+
+"Annabel!" she exclaimed. "Why, what is the matter with you? What do
+you mean?"
+
+Annabel laughed scornfully.
+
+"Oh, you know," she said. "Don't be a hypocrite. You are not 'Alcide.'
+You have no right to call yourself 'Alcide.' You used to declare that
+you hated the name. You used to beg me for hours at a time to give it
+all up, never to go near the 'Ambassador's' again. And yet the moment
+I am safely out of the way you are content to dress yourself in my
+rags, to go and get yourself popular and admired and successful, all
+on my reputation."
+
+"Annabel! Annabel!"
+
+Annabel stamped her foot. Her tone was hoarse with passion.
+
+"Oh, you can act!" she cried. "You can look as innocent and shocked as
+you please. I want to know who sent you those."
+
+She pointed with shaking fingers to a great bunch of dark red
+carnations, thrust carelessly into a deep china bowl, to which the
+card was still attached. Anna followed her finger, and looked back
+into her sister's face.
+
+"They were sent to me by Mr. Nigel Ennison, Annabel. How on earth does
+it concern you?"
+
+Annabel laughed hardly.
+
+"Concern me!" she repeated fiercely. "You are not content then with
+stealing from me my name. You would steal from me then the only man I
+ever cared a snap of the fingers about. They are not your flowers.
+They are mine! They were sent to 'Alcide' not to you."
+
+Anna rose to her feet. At last she was roused. Her cheeks were
+flushed, and her eyes bright.
+
+"Annabel," she said, "you are my sister, or I would bid you take the
+flowers if you care for them, and leave the room. But behind these
+things which you have said to me there must be others of which I know
+nothing. You speak as one injured--as though I had been the one to
+take your name--as though you had been the one to make sacrifices. In
+your heart you know very well that this is absurd. It is you who took
+my name, not I yours. It is I who took the burden of your misdeeds
+upon my shoulders that you might become Lady Ferringhall. It is I who
+am persecuted by the man who calls himself your husband."
+
+Annabel shivered a little and looked around her.
+
+"He does not come here," she exclaimed, quickly.
+
+"He spends hours of every day on the pavement below," Anna answered
+calmly. "I have been bearing this--for your sake. Shall I send him to
+Sir John?"
+
+Annabel was white to the lips, but her anger was not yet spent.
+
+"It was your own fault," she exclaimed. "He would never have found you
+out if you had not personated me."
+
+"On the contrary," Anna whispered quietly, "we met in a small
+boarding-house where I was stopping."
+
+"You have not told me yet," Annabel said, "how it is that you have
+dared to personate me. To call yourself 'Alcide'! Your hair, your
+gestures, your voice, all mine! Oh, how dared you do it?"
+
+"You must not forget," Anna said calmly, "that it is necessary for me
+also--to live. I arrived here with something less than five pounds in
+my pocket. My reception at West Kensington you know of. I was the
+black sheep, I was hurried out of the way. You did not complain then
+that I personated you--no, nor when Sir John came to me in Paris, and
+for your sake I lied."
+
+"You did not----"
+
+"Wait, Annabel! When I arrived in London I went to live in the
+cheapest place I could find. I set myself to find employment. I
+offered myself as a clerk, as a milliner, as a shop girl. I would even
+have taken a place as waitress in a tea shop. I walked London till the
+soles of my shoes were worn through, and my toes were blistered. I ate
+only enough to keep body and soul together."
+
+"There was no need for such heroism," Annabel said coldly. "You had
+only to ask----"
+
+"Do you think," Anna interrupted, with a note of passion trembling
+also in her tone, "that I would have taken alms from Sir John, the man
+to whom I had lied for your sake. It was not possible. I went at last
+when I had barely a shilling in my purse to a dramatic agent. By
+chance I went to one who had known you in Paris."
+
+"Well!"
+
+"He greeted me effusively. He offered me at once an engagement. I told
+him that I was not 'Alcide.' He only laughed. He had seen the
+announcement of your marriage in the papers, and he imagined that I
+simply wanted to remain unknown because of your husband's puritanism.
+I sang to him, and he was satisfied. I did not appear, I have never
+announced myself as 'Alcide.' It was the Press who forced the identity
+upon me."
+
+"They were my posters," Annabel said. "The ones Cariolus did for me."
+
+"The posters at least," Anna answered quietly, "I have some claim to.
+You know very well that you took from my easel David Courtlaw's study
+of me, and sent it to Cariolus. You denied it at the time--but
+unfortunately I have proof. Mr. Courtlaw found the study in Cariolus'
+studio."
+
+Annabel laughed hardly.
+
+"What did it matter?" she cried. "We are, or rather we were, so much
+alike then that the portrait of either of us would have done for the
+other. It saved me the bother of being studied."
+
+"It convinced Mr. Earles that I was 'Alcide,'" Anna remarked quietly.
+
+"We will convince him now to the contrary," Annabel answered.
+
+Anna looked at her, startled.
+
+"What do you mean?" she asked.
+
+Annabel set her teeth hard, and turned fiercely towards Anna.
+
+"It means that I have had enough of this slavery," she declared. "My
+husband and all his friends are fools, and the life they lead is
+impossible for me. It takes too many years to climb even a step in the
+social ladder. I've had enough of it. I want my freedom."
+
+"You mean to say," Anna said slowly, "that you are going to leave your
+husband?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You are willing to give up your position, your beautiful houses, your
+carriages and milliner's accounts to come back to Bohemianism?"
+
+"Why not?" Annabel declared. "I am sick of it. It is dull--deadly
+dull."
+
+"And what about this man--Mr. Montague Hill?"
+
+Annabel put her hand suddenly to her throat and steadied herself with
+the back of a chair. She looked stealthily at Anna.
+
+"You have succeeded a little too well in your personation," she said
+bitterly, "to get rid very easily of Mr. Montague Hill. You are a
+great deal more like what I was a few months ago than I am now."
+
+Anna laughed softly.
+
+"You propose, then," she remarked, "that I shall still be saddled with
+a pseudo husband. I think not, Annabel. You are welcome to proclaim
+yourself 'Alcide' if you will. I would even make over my engagement to
+you, if Mr. Earles would permit. But I should certainly want to be rid
+of Mr. Montague Hill, and I do not think that under those
+circumstances I should be long about it."
+
+Annabel sank suddenly into a chair. Her knees were trembling, her
+whole frame was shaken with sobs.
+
+"Anna," she moaned, "I am a jealous, ungrateful woman. But oh, how
+weary I am! I know. If only--Anna, tell me," she broke off suddenly,
+"how did you get to know Mr. Ennison?"
+
+"He spoke to me, thinking that I was you," Anna answered. "I liked
+him, and I never undeceived him."
+
+"And he sat at my table," Annabel said bitterly, "and yet he did not
+know me."
+
+Anna glanced up.
+
+"You must remember," she said, "that you yourself are responsible for
+your altered looks."
+
+"For the others," Annabel said tearfully, "that is well enough. But
+for him----"
+
+Something in her sister's tone startled Anna. She looked at her for a
+moment fixedly. When she tried to speak she found it difficult. Her
+voice seemed to come from a long way off.
+
+"What do you mean, Annabel? You only knew Mr. Ennison slightly----"
+
+There was a dead silence in the little room. Anna sat with the face of
+a Sphinx--waiting. Annabel thought, and thought again.
+
+"I knew Mr. Ennison better than I have ever told you," she said
+slowly.
+
+"Go on!"
+
+"You know--in Paris they coupled my name with some one's--an
+Englishman's. Nigel Ennison was he."
+
+Anna stood up. Her cheeks were aflame. Her eyes were lit with
+smouldering passion.
+
+"Go on!" she commanded. "Let me know the truth."
+
+Annabel looked down. It was hard to meet that gaze.
+
+"Does he never speak to you of--of old times?" she faltered.
+
+"Don't fence with me," Anna cried fiercely. "The truth!"
+
+Annabel bent over her and whispered in her sister's ear.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXII_
+
+AN OLD FOOL
+
+
+Lady Ferringhall made room for him on the sofa by her side. She was
+wearing a becoming tea-gown, and it was quite certain that Sir John
+would not be home for several hours at least.
+
+"I am delighted to see you, Mr. Ennison," she said, letting her
+fingers rest in his. "Do come and cheer me up. I am bored to
+distraction."
+
+He took a seat by her side. He was looking pale and ill. There were
+shadows under his eyes. He returned her impressive greeting almost
+mechanically.
+
+"But you yourself," she exclaimed, glancing into his face, "you too
+look tired. You poor man, what have you been doing to yourself?"
+
+"Nothing except travelling all night," he answered. "I am just back
+from Paris. I am bothered. I have come to you for sympathy, perhaps
+for help."
+
+"You may be sure of the one," she murmured. "The other too if it is
+within my power."
+
+"It is within yours--if anybody's," he answered. "It is about your
+sister, Lady Ferringhall."
+
+Annabel gave a little gasp. The colour slowly left her cheeks, the
+lines of her mouth hardened. The change in her face was not a pleasant
+one.
+
+"About my sister," she repeated slowly.
+
+Her tone should have warned him, but he was too much in earnest to
+regard it.
+
+"Yes. You remember that you saw us at the Savoy a few evenings ago?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you knew, of course, that we were old friends?"
+
+"Indeed!"
+
+"Lady Ferringhall, I love your sister."
+
+"You what?" she repeated incredulously.
+
+"I love your sister."
+
+Lady Ferringhall sat with half closed eyes and clenched teeth. Brute!
+Fool! To have come to her on such an errand. She felt a hysterical
+desire to strike him, to burst out crying, to blurt out the whole
+miserable truth. The effort to maintain her self-control was almost
+superhuman.
+
+"But--your people!" she gasped. "Surely Lady Ennison would object,
+even if it were possible. And the Duke, too--I heard him say that a
+married secretary would be worse than useless to him."
+
+"The difficulties on my own side I can deal with," he answered. "I am
+not dependent upon any one. I have plenty of money, and the Duke will
+not be in the next Cabinet. My trouble is with your sister."
+
+Lady Ferringhall was conscious of some relief.
+
+"She has refused to listen to you?"
+
+"She has behaved in a most extraordinary manner," he answered. "We
+parted--that night the best of friends. She knew that I cared for her,
+she had admitted that she cared for me. I suppose I was a little
+idiotic--I don't think we either of us mentioned the future, but it
+was arranged that I should go the next afternoon and have tea with
+her. When I went I was refused admittance. I have since received a
+most extraordinary letter from her. She offers me no explanation,
+permits me absolutely no hope. She simply refuses to see or hear from
+me again. I went to the theatre that night. I waited for her at the
+back. She saw me, and, Lady Ferringhall, I shall never forget her look
+as long as I live. It was horrible. She looked at me as though I were
+some unclean thing, as though my soul were weighted with every sin in
+the calendar. I could not have spoken to her. It took my breath away.
+By the time I had recovered myself she had gone. My letters are
+returned unopened, her maid will not even allow me across the
+doorstep."
+
+"The explanation seems to me to be reasonably simple," Annabel said
+coldly. "You seem to forget that my sister is--married."
+
+"If she is," he answered, "I am convinced that there are circumstances
+in connexion with that marriage which would make a divorce easy."
+
+"You would marry a divorcee?" she asked.
+
+"I would marry your sister anyhow, under any circumstances," he
+answered.
+
+She looked at him curiously.
+
+"I want to ask you a question," she said abruptly. "This wonderful
+affection of yours for my sister, does it date from your first meeting
+with her in Paris?"
+
+He hesitated.
+
+"I admired your sister in Paris," he answered, "but I do not believe
+that I regard her now as altogether the same person. Something has
+happened to change her marvellously, either that, or she wilfully
+deceived me and every one else in those days as to her real self. She
+was a much lighter and more frivolous person, very charming and
+companionable--but with a difference--a great difference. I wonder
+whether you would mind, Lady Ferringhall," he went on, with a sudden
+glance at her, "if I tell you that you yourself remind me a great deal
+more of what she was like then, except of course that your complexion
+and colouring are altogether different."
+
+"I am highly flattered," she remarked, with subtle irony.
+
+"Will you help me?" he asked.
+
+"What can I do?"
+
+"Go and see her. Find out what I have done or failed to do. Get me an
+interview with her."
+
+"Really," she said, with a hard little laugh, "you must regard me as a
+very good-natured person."
+
+"You are," he answered unconsciously. "I am sure that you are. I want
+her to tell me the whole truth about this extraordinary marriage. We
+will find some way out of it."
+
+"You think that you can do that?"
+
+"I am sure of it," he answered, confidently. "Those things are
+arranged more easily in any other country than England. At any rate
+she must see me. I demand it as a right. I must know what new thing
+has come between us that she should treat me as a lover one day and a
+monster the next."
+
+She leaned back amongst the cushions of her chair. She was very pale,
+but she reminded him more at that minute than at any time of "Alcide"
+as he had first known her.
+
+"I wonder," she said, "how much you care."
+
+"I care as a man cares only once in his life," he answered promptly.
+"When it comes there is no mistaking it."
+
+"Did it come--in Paris?"
+
+"I do not know," he answered. "I do not think so. What does it matter?
+It is here, and it is here to stay. Do help me, Lady Ferringhall. You
+need not be afraid. No trouble will ever come to your sister through
+me. If this idiotic marriage is binding then I will be her friend. But
+I have powerful friends. I only want to know the truth, and I will
+move heaven and earth to have it set aside."
+
+"The truth," she murmured, with her eyes fixed upon him. "Well----"
+
+She stopped short. He looked at her in some embarrassment.
+
+"Forgive me," he said, "but I want to hear it from your sister. It is
+her duty to tell me, and I would not have her think that I had been
+trying to work upon your sympathies to learn her secrets."
+
+She was silent.
+
+"You will go and see her," he begged.
+
+"Yes, I will go," she promised, with a queer little smile. "It is
+against my husband's orders, and I am not sure that my sister will be
+particularly glad to see me. But I will go."
+
+"I shall always be grateful to you," he declared.
+
+"Don't be too sure of that," she answered enigmatically.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXIII_
+
+MONTAGUE HILL SEES LIGHT AT LAST
+
+
+At exactly ten minutes past ten Annabel rang the bell of her sister's
+flat. There was no response. She rang again with the same result.
+Then, as she was in the act of turning reluctantly away, she noticed a
+thin crack between the door and the frame. She pushed the former and
+it opened. The latch had not fully caught.
+
+The flat was apparently empty. Annabel turned on the electric light
+and made her way into the sitting-room. There was a coffee equipage on
+the table, and some sandwiches, and the fire had been recently made
+up. Annabel seated herself in an easy chair and determined to wait for
+her sister's return.
+
+The clock struck half-past ten. The loneliness of the place somewhat
+depressed her. She took up a book and threw it down again. Then she
+examined with curiosity some knick-knacks upon a small round table by
+her side. Amongst them was a revolver. She handled it half fearfully,
+and set it carefully down again. Then for the first time she was
+conscious of an unaccountable and terrifying sensation. She felt that
+she was not alone.
+
+She was only a few yards from the door, but lacked the courage to rise
+and fly. Her knees shook, her breath came fast, she almost felt the
+lurid effect of those tiny patches of rouge upon her pallor-stricken
+cheeks. Her eyes were dilated--fixed in a horrified stare at the
+parting in the curtains which hung before the window.
+
+There was some one there. She had seen a man's head steal out for a
+moment and draw the curtains a little closer. Even now she could trace
+the outline of his shape behind the left-hand curtain. She was wholly
+unable to conceal her knowledge of his presence. A little smothered
+cry broke from her lips--the curtains were thrown aside and a man
+stepped out. She was powerless to move from her chair. All through
+that brief but measureless space of time during which wonder kept him
+silent, as fear did her, she cowered there, a limp helpless object.
+Her courage and her presence of mind had alike deserted her. She
+could neither speak nor move nor cry out.
+
+"Annabel! God in Heaven, it is Annabel!"
+
+She did not speak. Her lips parted, but no words came.
+
+"What have you done to yourself?" he muttered. "You have dyed your
+hair and darkened your eyebrows. But you are Annabel. I should know
+you--in Heaven or Hell. Who is the other?"
+
+"What other?"
+
+Her voice seemed to come from a long way off. Her lips were dry and
+cracked.
+
+"The Annabel who lives here, who sings every night at the 'Unusual'?
+They call her by your old name. Her hair and voice and figure are as
+yours used to be. Who is she, I say?"
+
+"My sister!" Annabel faltered.
+
+He trembled violently. He seemed to be labouring under some great
+excitement.
+
+"I am a fool," he said. "All these days I have taken her for you. I
+have pleaded with her--no wonder that I have pleaded with her in vain.
+And all this time perhaps you have been waiting, expecting to hear
+from me. Is it so, Annabel?"
+
+"I did not know," she faltered, "anything about you. Why should I?"
+
+"At last," he murmured, "at last I have found you. I must not let you
+go again. Do you know, Annabel, that you are my wife."
+
+"No," she moaned, "not that. I thought--the papers said----"
+
+"You thought that I was dead," he interrupted. "You pushed the wheel
+from my hand. You jumped, and I think that you left me. Yet you knew
+that I was not dead. You came to see me in the hospital. You must have
+repented a little, or you would not have done that."
+
+"I did not come," she faltered. "It was my sister Anna. I had left
+Paris."
+
+He passed his hand wearily over his forehead.
+
+"That is where I got confused," he said. "I opened my eyes, and she
+was bending over my bedside. Then, I thought, she has repented, all
+will be well. So I made haste and recovered. I came to London to look
+for you, and somehow the figure I saw in my dreams had got mixed up
+with you. Your sister! Great God, how like she is to what you were!"
+
+Annabel looked around her nervously.
+
+"These are her rooms," she said. "Soon she will return."
+
+"The sooner the better," he answered. "I must explain to her. Annabel,
+I cannot believe it. I have found you."
+
+His eyes were burning. He advanced a step towards her. She held out
+both her hands.
+
+"No, no," she cried. "You frighten me!"
+
+He smiled at her indulgently.
+
+"But I am your husband," he said. "You have forgotten. I am your
+husband, though as yet your hand has scarcely lain in mine."
+
+"It was a mistake," she faltered. "You told me that your name was
+Meysey Hill. I thought that you were he."
+
+His face darkened.
+
+"I did it for love of you," he said. "I lied, as I would have
+committed a murder, or done any evil deed sooner than lose you. What
+does it matter? I am not a pauper, Annabel. I can keep you. You shall
+have a house out at Balham or Sydenham, and two servants. You shall
+have the spending of every penny of my money. Annabel, tell me that
+you did not wish me dead. Tell me that you are not sorry to see me
+again."
+
+Her passion conquered for a moment her fear.
+
+"But I am sorry," she exclaimed. "Our marriage must be annulled. It
+was no marriage at all."
+
+"Never," he exclaimed vehemently. "You are mine, Annabel, and nothing
+shall ever make me give you up."
+
+"But it is too late," she declared. "You have no right to hold me to a
+bargain which on your side was a lie. I consented to become Mrs.
+Meysey Hill--never your wife."
+
+"What do you mean--by too late?" he demanded.
+
+"There is some one else whom I care for!"
+
+He laughed hardly.
+
+"Tell me his name," he said, "and I promise that he shall never
+trouble you. But you," he continued, moving imperceptibility a little
+nearer to her, "you are mine. The angels in Heaven shall not tear you
+from me. We leave this room together. I shall not part with you
+again."
+
+"No," she cried, "I will not. I will have nothing to do with you. You
+are not my husband."
+
+He came towards her with that in his face which filled her with blind
+terror.
+
+"You belong to me," he said fiercely; "the marriage certificate is in
+my pocket. You belong to me, and I have waited long enough."
+
+He stepped past her to the door and closed it. Then he turned with a
+fierce movement to take her into his arms. There was a flash and a
+loud report. He threw up his hand, reeled for a moment on his feet,
+and collapsed upon the floor.
+
+"Annabel;" he moaned. "You have killed me. My wife--killed me."
+
+With a little crash the pistol fell from her shaking fingers. She
+stood looking down upon him with dilated eyes. Her faculties seemed
+for a moment numbed. She could not realize what she saw. Surely it was
+a dream. A moment before he had been a strong man, she had been in his
+power, a poor helpless thing. Now he lay there, a doubled-up mass,
+with ugly distorted features, and a dark wet stain dripping slowly on
+to the carpet. It could not be she who had done this. She had never
+let off a pistol in her life. Yet the smoke was curling upwards in a
+faint innocent-looking cloud to the ceiling. The smell of gunpowder
+was strong in the room.
+
+It was true. She had killed him. It was as much accident as anything,
+but she had killed him. Once before--but that had been different. This
+time they would call it murder.
+
+She listened, listened intently for several minutes. People were
+passing in the street below. She could hear their footsteps upon the
+pavement. A hansom stopped a little way off. She could hear the bell
+tinkle as the horse shook its head. There was no one stirring in the
+flats. He himself had deadened the sound by closing the door. She
+moved a little nearer to him.
+
+It was horrible, but she must do it. She sank upon her knees and
+unbuttoned his coat. It was there in the breast pocket, stiff and
+legal looking. She drew it out with shaking fingers. There was a great
+splash of blood upon it, her hand was all wet and sticky. A deadly
+sickness came over her, the room seemed spinning round. She staggered
+to the fireplace and thrust it into the heart of the dying flames. She
+held it down with the poker, looking nervously over her shoulder. Then
+she put more coal on, piled it over the ashes, and stood once more
+upright.
+
+Still silence everywhere. She pulled down her veil and made her way to
+the door. She turned out the electric light and gained the hall. Still
+no sound. Her knees almost sank beneath her as she raised the latch of
+the front door and looked out. There was no one to be seen. She
+passed down the stairs and into the street.
+
+She walked for a mile or more recklessly, close veiled, with swift
+level footsteps, though her brain was in a whirl and a horrible
+faintness all the time hovered about her. Then she called a hansom and
+drove home.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Miss Pellissier," Brendon said gently, "I am afraid that some fresh
+trouble has come to you."
+
+She smiled at him cheerfully.
+
+"Am I dull?" she said. "I am sorry."
+
+"You could never be that," he answered, "but you are at least more
+serious than usual."
+
+"Perhaps," she said, "I am superstitious. This is my last week at the
+'Unusual,' you know. We begin rehearsing on Monday at the
+'Garrick'."
+
+"Surely," he protested, "the change is all in favour of your own
+inclinations. It is your own choice, isn't it?"
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Yes. But I believe that Mr. Earles thinks I am a little mad, and
+between ourselves I am not sure about it myself. It is easy enough to
+sing these little chansons in an original way--it requires a very
+different sort of ability to succeed on the stage."
+
+"You have it," he declared confidently.
+
+She laughed altogether in her old manner.
+
+"I wonder how it is," she exclaimed, "that my friends have so much
+more confidence in me than I have in myself."
+
+"They know you better," he declared.
+
+"I am afraid," she answered, "that one's friends can judge only of the
+externals, and the things which matter, the things inside are realized
+only by oneself--stop."
+
+She laid her fingers upon his arm, and they both stood still. They had
+turned into the street, on the opposite side of which were the flats
+where Anna lived. Glancing idly up at her own window as they had swung
+round the corner she had seen a strange thing. The curtains which she
+had left drawn were open, and the electric lights were turned on.
+Then, even as they stood there, the room was plunged into darkness.
+
+"There is someone in my rooms," Anna said.
+
+"Is it your maid?" he asked.
+
+"I have given her two days' holiday," Anna answered. "She has gone
+down into the country."
+
+"And no one else--has a key?"
+
+"I believe," she said, "that that man must have one. I am safe while I
+am there, for I have had bolts fitted everywhere, and a pane of glass
+in the front door. But I am always afraid that he may get in while I
+am away. Look! Is that some one coming out?"
+
+The front door of the flats stood open, and through it a woman, slim
+and veiled, passed on to the pavement and turned with swift footsteps
+in the opposite direction. Anna watched her with curious eyes.
+
+"Is it any one you know?" Brendon asked.
+
+"I am not sure," Anna answered. "But, of course, she may have come
+from one of the other flats."
+
+"Perhaps," he said, "you had better let me have your key, and I will
+go up and explore."
+
+"We will go together," she answered.
+
+They crossed the street, and entering the front door passed up the
+outside stone steps of the flat. Anna herself opened the hall door.
+They stood for a moment in the passage and listened. Silence! Then
+Anna clutched her companion's arm.
+
+"What was that?" she asked sharply.
+
+He had heard nothing. They both listened intently. Again silence.
+
+"I thought that I heard a groan," Anna whispered.
+
+He laughed reassuringly.
+
+"I heard nothing," he declared, "and my ears are good. Come."
+
+He threw open the door of the sitting-room and switched on the
+electric light.
+
+"There is no--Good God!" he exclaimed.
+
+He turned round to keep Anna out by force if possible, but he was too
+late. She was by his side. She too had seen. The thin stream of blood
+on which her eyes were fastened with a nameless horror reached almost
+to her feet.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXIV_
+
+A CASE FOR THE POLICE
+
+
+After that first horrible moment it was perhaps Anna who was the more
+self-possessed. She dropped on her knees by his side, and gently
+unbuttoned his waistcoat. Then she looked up at Brendon.
+
+"You must fetch a doctor," she said. "I do not think that he is quite
+dead."
+
+"And leave you here alone?" he asked, in a hoarse whisper. "Come with
+me."
+
+"I am not afraid," she answered. "Please hurry."
+
+He reeled out of the room. Anna was afterwards astonished at her own
+self-possession. She bound a scarf tightly round the place where the
+blood seemed to be coming from. Then she stood up and looked around
+the room.
+
+There were no evidences of any struggle, no overturned chairs or
+disarranged furniture. The grate was full of fluttering ashes of burnt
+paper, and the easy chair near the fire had evidently been used. On
+the floor was a handkerchief, a little morsel of lace. Anna saw it,
+and for the first time found herself trembling.
+
+She moved towards it slowly and picked it up, holding it out in front
+of her whilst the familiar perfume seemed to assert itself with
+damning insistence. It was Annabel's. The lace was family lace, easily
+recognizable. The perfume was the only one she ever used. Annabel had
+been here then. It was she who had come out from the flat only a few
+minutes before. It was she----
+
+Anna's nerves were not easily shaken, but she found herself suddenly
+clutching at the table for support. The room was reeling, or was it
+that she was going to faint? She recovered herself with a supreme
+effort. There were the burnt papers still in the grate. She took up
+the poker and stirred the fire vigorously. Almost at the same moment
+the door opened and Brendon entered, followed by the doctor.
+
+Anna turned round with a start, which was almost of guilt, the poker
+still in her hand. She met the keen grey eyes of a clean-shaven man,
+between forty and fifty, quietly dressed in professional attire.
+Before he even glanced at the man on the floor he stepped over to her
+side and took the poker from her.
+
+"Forgive me, madam," he said stiffly, "but in such a case as this it
+is better that nothing in the room should be disturbed until the
+arrival of the police. You have been burning paper, I see."
+
+"Are you a detective or a doctor?" she asked calmly. "Do you need me
+to remind you that your patient is bleeding to death?"
+
+He dropped on his knees by the man's side and made a hurried
+examination.
+
+"Who tied this scarf here?" he asked, looking up.
+
+"I did," Anna answered. "I hope that it has not done any harm."
+
+"He would have been dead before now without it," the doctor answered
+shortly. "Get me some brandy and my bag."
+
+It was nearly half an hour before they dared ask him the question.
+
+"Will he live?"
+
+The doctor shook his head.
+
+"It is very doubtful," he said. "You must send for the police at once,
+you know. You, sir," he added, turning to Brendon, "had better take my
+card round to the police station in Werner Street and ask that
+Detective Dorling be sent round here at once on urgent business."
+
+"Is it necessary to send for the police?" Anna asked.
+
+"Absolutely," the doctor answered, "and the sooner the better. This is
+a case either of suicide or murder. The police are concerned in it in
+either event."
+
+"Please go then, Mr. Brendon," Anna said. "You will come back, won't
+you?"
+
+He nodded cheerfully.
+
+"Of course I will," he answered.
+
+The doctor and Anna were left alone. Every moment or two he bent over
+his patient. He seemed to avoid meeting Anna's eyes as much as
+possible.
+
+"Does he live here?" he asked her presently.
+
+"No."
+
+"Far away?"
+
+"I have no idea," Anna answered.
+
+"Who is the tenant of these rooms?" he inquired.
+
+"I am."
+
+"You will have no objection to his remaining here?" he asked. "A move
+of any sort would certainly be fatal."
+
+"Of course not," Anna said. "Had he better have a nurse? I will be
+responsible for anything of that sort."
+
+"If he lives through the next hour," the doctor answered, "I will send
+some one. Do you know anything of his friends? Is there any one for
+whom we ought to send?"
+
+"I know very little of him beyond his name," Anna answered. "I know
+nothing whatever of his friends or his home. He used to live in a
+boarding-house in Russell Square. That is where I first knew him."
+
+The doctor looked at her thoughtfully. Perhaps for the first time he
+realized that Anna was by no means an ordinary person. His patient was
+distinctly of a different order of life. It was possible that his
+first impressions had not been correct.
+
+"Your name, I believe, is----"
+
+"Pellissier," Anna answered.
+
+"Allow me," the doctor said, "to give you a word of advice, Miss
+Pellissier. A detective will be here in a few moments to make
+inquiries into this affair. You may have something to conceal, you may
+not. Tell the whole truth. It always comes out sooner or later. Don't
+try to shield anybody or hide anything. It is bad policy."
+
+Anna smiled very faintly.
+
+"I thank you for your advice," she said. "I can assure you that it was
+quite unnecessary. I know less about this affair perhaps than you
+suppose. What I do know I shall have no hesitation in telling anyone
+who has the right to ask."
+
+"Just so," the doctor remarked drily. "And if I were you I would keep
+away from the fire."
+
+Brendon reappeared, followed by a tall thin man with a stubbly brown
+moustache and restless grey eyes. The doctor nodded to him curtly.
+
+"Good evening, Dorling," he said. "Before you do anything else I
+should advise you to secure those charred fragments of paper from the
+grate. I know nothing about this affair, but some one has been burning
+documents."
+
+The detective went down on his hands and knees. With delicate touch he
+rescued all that was possible of them, and made a careful little
+parcel. Then he stepped briskly to his feet and bent over the wounded
+man.
+
+"Shot through the lungs," he remarked.
+
+The doctor nodded.
+
+"Bad hemorrhage," he said. "I am going to fetch some things that will
+be wanted if he pulls through the next hour. I found him lying like
+this, the bleeding partly stopped by this scarf, else he had been dead
+by now."
+
+The doctor glanced towards Anna. Considering his convictions he felt
+that his remark was a generous one. Anna's face however was wholly
+impassive.
+
+He took up his hat and went. The detective rapidly sketched the
+appearance of the room in his notebook, and picked up the pistol from
+under the table. Then he turned to Anna.
+
+"Can you give me any information as to this affair?" he asked.
+
+"I will tell you all that I know," Anna said. "My name is Anna
+Pellissier, sometimes called Annabel. I am engaged to sing every
+evening at the 'Unusual' music hall. This man's name is Montague
+Hill. I saw him first a few months ago at Mrs. White's boarding-house
+in Russell Square. He subjected me there to great annoyance by
+claiming me as his wife. As a matter of fact, I had never spoken to
+him before in my life. Since then he has persistently annoyed me. I
+have suspected him of possessing a skeleton key to my apartments.
+To-night I locked up my flat at six o'clock. It was then, I am sure,
+empty. I dined with a friend and went to the 'Unusual.' At a quarter
+past eleven I returned here with this gentleman, Mr. Brendon. As we
+turned the corner of the street, I noticed that the electric light was
+burning in this room. We stopped for a moment to watch it, and almost
+immediately it was turned out. We came on here at once. I found the
+door locked as usual, but when we entered this room everything was as
+you see. Nothing has been touched since."
+
+The detective nodded.
+
+"A very clear statement, madam," he said. "From what you saw from the
+opposite pavement then, it is certain that some person who was able to
+move about was in this room only a minute or so before you entered
+it?"
+
+"That is so," Anna answered.
+
+"You met no one upon the stairs, or saw no one leave the flats?"
+
+"No one," Anna answered firmly.
+
+"Then either this man shot himself or some one else shot him
+immediately before your arrival--or rather if it was not himself the
+person who did it was in the room, say two minutes, before you
+arrived."
+
+"That is so," Anna admitted.
+
+"I will not trouble you with any questions about the other occupants
+of the flats," Mr. Dorling said. "I shall have to go through the
+building. You say that this gentleman was with you?"
+
+"I was," Brendon answered, "most providentially."
+
+"You did not notice anything which may have escaped this lady? You saw
+no one leave the flats?"
+
+"No one," Brendon answered.
+
+"You heard no pistol-shot?"
+
+"None."
+
+The detective turned again to Anna.
+
+"You know of no one likely to have had a grudge against this man?" he
+asked.
+
+"No."
+
+"There is no one else who has a key to your rooms?"
+
+"No one except my maid, who is away in Wiltshire."
+
+"The inference is, then," the detective said smoothly, "that this man
+obtained admission to your rooms by means of a false key, that he
+burnt some papers here and shot himself within a few moments of your
+return. Either that or some other person also obtained admission here
+and shot him, and that person is either still upon the premises or
+escaped without your notice."
+
+"I suppose," Anna said, "that those are reasonable deductions."
+
+The detective thrust his notebook into his pocket.
+
+"I brought a man with me who is posted outside," he remarked. "With
+your permission I should like to search the remainder of your rooms."
+
+Anna showed him the way.
+
+"Have either of you been out of this room since you discovered what
+had happened?" he asked.
+
+"Mr. Brendon went for the doctor," Anna answered. "I have not left
+this apartment myself."
+
+Nothing unusual was discovered in any other part of the flat. While
+they were still engaged in looking round the doctor returned with a
+nurse and assistant.
+
+"With your permission," he said to Anna, "I shall arrange a bed for
+him where he is. There is scarcely one chance in a dozen of saving his
+life; there would be none at all if he were moved."
+
+"You can make any arrangements you like," Anna declared. "I shall
+leave the flat to you and go to a hotel."
+
+"You would perhaps be so good as to allow one of my men to accompany
+you and see you settled," Mr. Dorling said deferentially. "In the
+event of his death we should require you at once to attend at the
+inquest."
+
+"I am going to pack my bag," Anna answered. "In five minutes I shall
+be ready."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXV_
+
+THE STEEL EDGE OF THE TRUTH
+
+
+The manservant, with his plain black clothes and black tie, had
+entered the room with a deferential little gesture.
+
+"You will pardon me, sir," he said in a subdued tone, "but I think
+that you have forgotten to look at your engagement book. There is Lady
+Arlingford's reception to-night, ten till twelve, and the Hatton House
+ball, marked with a cross, sir, important. I put your clothes out an
+hour ago."
+
+Nigel Ennison looked up with a little start.
+
+"All right, Dunster," he said. "I may go to Hatton House later, but
+you needn't wait. I can get into my clothes."
+
+The man hesitated.
+
+"Can I bring you anything, sir--a whisky and soda, or a liqueur?
+You'll excuse me, sir, but you haven't touched your coffee."
+
+"Bring me a whisky and soda, and a box of cigarettes," Ennison
+answered, "and then leave me alone, there's a good fellow. I'm a
+little tired."
+
+The man obeyed his orders noiselessly and then left the room.
+
+Ennison roused himself with an effort, took a long drink from his
+whisky and soda, and lit a cigarette.
+
+"What a fool I am!" he muttered, standing up on the hearthrug, and
+leaning his elbows upon the broad mantelpiece. "And yet I wonder
+whether the world ever held such another enigma in her sex. Paris
+looms behind--a tragedy of strange recollections--here she emerges
+Phoenix-like, subtly developed, a flawless woman, beautiful,
+self-reliant, witty, a woman with the strange gift of making all
+others beside her seem plain or vulgar. And then--this sudden thrust.
+God only knows what I have done, or left undone. Something
+unpardonable is laid to my charge. Only last night she saw me, and
+there was horror in her eyes.... I have written, called--of what avail
+is anything--against that look.... What the devil is the matter,
+Dunster?"
+
+"I beg your pardon, sir," the man answered, "there is a lady here to
+see you."
+
+Ennison turned round sharply.
+
+"A lady, Dunster. Who is it?"
+
+The man came a little further into the room.
+
+"Lady Ferringhall, sir."
+
+"Lady Ferringhall--alone?" Ennison exclaimed.
+
+"Quite alone, sir."
+
+Ennison was dismayed.
+
+"For Heaven's sake, Dunster, don't let her out of the carriage, or
+hansom, or whatever she came in. Say I'm out, away, anything!"
+
+"I am sorry, sir," the man answered, "but she had sent away her hansom
+before I answered the bell. She is in the hall now. I----"
+
+The door was thrown open. Annabel entered.
+
+"Forgive my coming in," she said to Ennison. "I heard your voices, and
+the hall is draughty. What is the matter with you?"
+
+Dunster had withdrawn discreetly. Ennison's manner was certainly not
+one of a willing host.
+
+"I cannot pretend that I am glad to see you, Lady Ferringhall," he
+said quietly. "For your own sake, let me beg of you not to stay for a
+moment. Dunster shall fetch you a cab. I----"
+
+She threw herself into an easy chair. She was unusually pale, and her
+eyes were brilliant. Never had she seemed to him so much like Anna.
+
+"You needn't be worried," she said quietly. "The conventions do not
+matter one little bit. You will agree with me when you have heard what
+I have to say. For me that is all over and done with."
+
+"Lady Ferringhall! Anna!" he exclaimed.
+
+She fixed her brilliant eyes upon him.
+
+"Suppose you call me by my proper name," she said quietly. "Call me
+Annabel."
+
+He started back as though he had been shot.
+
+"Annabel?" he exclaimed. "That is your sister's name."
+
+"No, mine."
+
+It came upon him like a flash. Innumerable little puzzles were
+instantly solved. He could only wonder that this amazing thing had
+remained so long a secret to him. He remembered little whispered
+speeches of hers, so like the Annabel of Paris, so unlike the woman he
+loved, a hundred little things should have told him long ago.
+Nevertheless it was overwhelming.
+
+"But your hair," he gasped.
+
+"Dyed!"
+
+"And your figure?"
+
+"One's _corsetiere_ arranges that. My friend, I am only grieved that
+you of all others should have been so deceived. I have seen you with
+Anna, and I have not known whether to be glad or sorry. I have been in
+torment all the while to know whether it was to Anna or to Annabel
+that you were making love so charmingly. Nigel, do you know that I
+have been very jealous?"
+
+He avoided the invitation of her eyes. He was indeed still in the
+throes of his bewilderment.
+
+"But Sir John?" he exclaimed. "What made you marry him? What made you
+leave Paris without a word to any one? What made you and your sister
+exchange identities?"
+
+"There is one answer to all those questions, Nigel," she said, with a
+nervous little shudder. "It is a hateful story. Come close to me, and
+let me hold your hand, dear. I am a little afraid."
+
+There was a strange look in her face, the look of a frightened child.
+Ennison seemed to feel already the shadow of tragedy approaching. He
+stood by her side, and he suffered her hands to rest in his.
+
+"You remember the man in Paris who used to follow me about--Meysey
+Hill they called him?"
+
+He nodded.
+
+"Miserable bounder," he murmured. "Turned out to be an impostor, too."
+
+"He imposed on me," Annabel continued. "I believed that he was the
+great multi-millionaire. He worried me to marry him. I let him take me
+to the English Embassy, and we went through some sort of a ceremony. I
+thought it would be magnificent to have a great house in Paris, and
+more money than any other woman. Afterwards we started for _dejeuner_
+in a motor. On the way he confessed. He was not Meysey Hill, but an
+Englishman of business, and he had only a small income. Every one took
+him for the millionaire, and he had lost his head about me. I--well, I
+lost my temper. I struck him across the face, twisted the steering
+wheel of the motor, sprang out myself, and left him for dead on the
+road with the motor on top of him. This is the first act."
+
+"Served the beast right," Ennison declared. "I think I can tell you
+something which may be very good news for you presently. But go on."
+
+"Act two," she continued. "Enter Sir John, very honest, very much in
+love with me. I thought that Hill was dead, but I was frightened, and
+I wanted to get away from Paris. Sir John heard gossip about us--about
+Anna the recluse, a paragon of virtue, and Annabel alias 'Alcide' a
+dancer at the _cafes chantants_, and concerning whom there were many
+stories which were false, and a few--which were true. I--well, I
+borrowed Anna's name. I made her my unwilling confederate. Sir John
+followed me to London and married me. To this day he and every one
+else thinks that he married Anna.
+
+"Act three. Anna comes to London. She is poor, and she will take
+nothing from my husband, the man she had deceived for my sake, and he,
+on his part, gravely disapproves of her as 'Alcide.' She tries every
+way of earning a living and fails. Then she goes to a dramatic agent.
+Curiously enough nothing will persuade him that she is not 'Alcide.'
+He believes that she denies it simply because owing to my marriage
+with Sir John, whom they call the 'Puritan Knight,' she wants to keep
+her identity secret. He forces an engagement upon her. She never calls
+herself 'Alcide.' It is the Press who find her out. She is the image
+of what I was like, and she has a better voice. Then enter Mr. Hill
+again--alive. He meets Anna, and claims her as his wife. It is Anna
+again who stands between me and ruin."
+
+"I cannot let you go on," Ennison interrupted. "I believe that I can
+give you great news. Tell me where the fellow Hill took you for this
+marriage ceremony."
+
+"It was behind the Place de Vendome, on the other side from the Ritz."
+
+"I knew it," Ennison exclaimed. "Cheer up, Annabel. You were never
+married at all. That place was closed by the police last month. It was
+a bogus affair altogether, kept by some blackguard or other of an
+Englishman. Everything was done in the most legal and imposing way,
+but the whole thing was a fraud."
+
+"Then I was never married to him at all?" Annabel said.
+
+"Never--but, by Jove, you had a narrow escape," Ennison exclaimed.
+"Annabel, I begin to see why you are here. Think! Had you not better
+hurry back before Sir John discovers? You are his wife right enough.
+You can tell me the rest another time."
+
+She smiled faintly.
+
+"The rest," she said, holding tightly to his hands, "is the most
+important of all. You came to me, you wished me to speak to Anna. I
+went to her rooms to-night. There was no one at home, and I was coming
+away when I saw that the door was open. I decided to go in and wait.
+In her sitting-room I found Montague Hill. He had gained admission
+somehow, and he too was waiting for Anna. But--he was cleverer than
+any of you. He knew me, Nigel. 'At last,' he cried, 'I have found
+you!' He would listen to nothing. He swore that I was his wife, and--I
+shot him, Nigel, as his arms were closing around me. Shot him, do you
+hear?"
+
+"Good God!" he exclaimed, looking at her curiously. "Is this true,
+Annabel? Is he dead?"
+
+She nodded.
+
+"I shot him. I saw the blood come as he rolled over. I tore the
+marriage certificate from his pocket and burnt it. And then I came
+here."
+
+"You came--here!" he repeated, vaguely.
+
+"Nigel, Nigel," she cried. "Don't you understand? It is I whom you
+cared for in Paris, not Anna. She is a stranger to you. You cannot
+care for her. Think of those days in Paris. Do you remember when we
+went right away, Nigel, and forgot everything? We went down the river
+past Veraz, and the larks were singing all over those deep brown
+fields, and the river further on wound its way like a coil of silver
+across the rich meadowland, and along the hillside vineyards. Oh, the
+scent of the flowers that day, the delicious quiet, the swallows that
+dived before us in the river. Nigel! You have not forgotten. It was
+the first day you kissed me, under the willows, coming into Veraz.
+Nigel, you have not forgotten!"
+
+"No," he said, with a little bitter smile. "I have never forgotten."
+
+She suddenly caught hold of his shoulders and drew him down towards
+her.
+
+"Nigel, don't you understand. I must leave England to-night. I must go
+somewhere into hiding, a long, long way off. I killed him, Nigel. They
+will say that it was murder. But if only you will come I do not care."
+
+He shook her hands off almost roughly. He stood away from her. She
+listened with dumb fear in her eyes.
+
+"Listen, Annabel," he said hoarsely. "We played at love-making in
+Paris. It was very pretty and very dainty while it lasted, but we
+played it with our eyes open, and we perfectly understood the
+game--both of us. Other things came. We went our ways. There was no
+broken faith--not even any question of anything of the sort. I met you
+here as Lady Ferringhall. We have played at a little mild love-making
+again. It has been only the sort of nonsense which passes lightly
+enough between half the men and women in London. You shall know the
+truth. I do not love you. I have never loved you. I call myself a man
+of the world, a man of many experiences, but I never knew what love
+meant--until I met your sister."
+
+"You love--Anna?" she exclaimed.
+
+"I do," he answered. "I always shall. Now if you are ready to go with
+me, I too am ready. We will go to Ostend by the early morning boat and
+choose a hiding place from there. I will marry you when Sir John gets
+his divorce, and I will do all I can to keep you out of harm. But you
+had better know the truth to start with. I will do all this not
+because I love you, but--because you are Anna's sister."
+
+Annabel rose to her feet.
+
+"You are magnificent," she said, "but the steel of your truth is a
+little oversharpened. It cuts. Will you let your servant call me a
+hansom," she continued, opening the door before he could reach her
+side. "I had no idea that it was so abominably late."
+
+He scarcely saw her face again. She pulled her veil down, and he knew
+that silence was best.
+
+"Where to?" he asked, as the hansom drove up.
+
+"Home, of course," she answered. "Eight, Cavendish Square."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXVI_
+
+ANNABEL IS WARNED
+
+
+"You!"
+
+David Courtlaw crossed the floor of the dingy little sitting-room with
+outstretched hands.
+
+"You cannot say that you did not expect me," he answered. "I got
+Sydney's telegram at ten o'clock, and caught the ten-thirty from the
+Gare du Nord."
+
+"It is very nice of you," Anna said softly.
+
+"Rubbish!" he answered. "I could not have stayed in Paris and waited
+for news. Tell me exactly what has happened. Even now I do not
+understand. Is this man Hill dead?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"He was alive at four o'clock this afternoon," she answered, "but the
+doctors give little hope of his recovery."
+
+"What is there to be feared?" he asked her quietly.
+
+She hesitated.
+
+"You are my friend," she said, "if any one is. I think that I will
+tell you. The man Hill has persecuted me for months--ever since I have
+been in England. He claimed me for his wife, and showed to every one a
+marriage certificate. He shot at me at the 'Unusual,' and the
+magistrates bound him over to keep the peace. I found him once in my
+rooms, and I believe that he had a key to my front door. Last night
+Mr. Brendon and I returned from the 'Unusual,' and found him lying
+in my room shot through the lungs. In the grate were some charred
+fragments of a marriage certificate. We fetched the doctor and the
+police. From the first I could see that neither believed my story. I
+am suspected of having shot the man."
+
+"But that is ridiculous!" he exclaimed.
+
+She laughed a little bitterly.
+
+"I am under police surveillance," she said. "So is Mr. Brendon."
+
+"But there is not a shadow of evidence against you," he objected. "The
+man alone could supply any, and if he recovers sufficiently to say
+anything, what he would say would exonerate you."
+
+"Yes."
+
+There was a moment's silence. Anna's face was half turned from him,
+but her expression, and the tone of her monosyllable puzzled him. He
+stepped quickly towards her. Her eyes seemed to be looking backwards.
+She distinctly shivered as he forced her to look at him. He was
+bewildered.
+
+"Anna!" he exclaimed hoarsely. "Look at me. What is it? Good God!"
+
+An unhappy little smile parted her lips. She clenched her hands
+together and leaned forward in her chair, gazing steadily into the
+fire.
+
+"I think," she said, "that I will tell you everything. I must tell
+somebody--and you would understand."
+
+"I am your friend," he said slowly, "whatever you may have to tell me.
+You can trust me, Anna. You know that. I will be as silent as the
+grave."
+
+"Not long ago," she said, "you left me in anger, partly because of
+this exchange of identities between Annabel and myself. You said that
+it would bring trouble. It has."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Annabel's real reason for wishing to leave Paris, the real reason she
+married Sir John Ferringhall, was because of a very foolish thing
+which she did. It was--in connection with this man Hill. He personated
+over there a millionaire named Meysey Hill, and it seems that he
+induced Annabel to go through some sort of marriage with him at the
+Embassy."
+
+"Where?" Courtlaw asked quickly.
+
+"In Paris."
+
+Courtlaw seemed about to say something. He changed his mind however,
+and simply motioned to her to proceed.
+
+"Then there was a motor accident only an hour or so after this
+ceremony, and Hill was reported to be killed. Annabel believed it,
+came to England and married Sir John. Now you can understand why I
+have been obliged to----"
+
+"Yes, yes, I understand that," Courtlaw interrupted. "But about last
+night."
+
+"Annabel knew where I lived," Anna continued slowly. "She has been to
+my flat before. I saw her come out from the flat buildings two minutes
+before we entered it last night. I picked up her handkerchief on the
+floor."
+
+"You mean--you think----"
+
+"Hush! I think that he was concealed in my room, and Annabel and he
+met there. What passed between them I cannot think--I dare not. The
+pistol was his own, it is true, but it was one which was taken from
+him when he forced his way in upon me before. Now you can understand
+why every minute is a torture to me. It is not for myself I fear. But
+if he speaks--I fear what he may tell."
+
+"You have been to her?" he asked.
+
+"I dare not," she answered.
+
+"I will go," he said. "She must be warned. She had better escape if
+she can."
+
+Anna shook her head.
+
+"She will take her risk," she answered. "I am sure of it. If he
+recovers he may not accuse her. If he dies she is safe."
+
+He paced the room for a minute or two restlessly.
+
+"There are some people," he said at last, "who seem fated to carry on
+their shoulders the burdens of other people. You, Anna, are one of
+them. I know in Paris you pinched and scraped that your sister might
+have the dresses and entertainments she desired. You fell in at once
+with her quixotic and damnable scheme of foisting her reputation and
+her follies upon your shoulders whilst she marries a rich man and
+commences all over again a life of selfish pleasure. You on the other
+hand have to come to London, a worker, with the responsibility of life
+upon your own shoulders--and in addition all the burden of her
+follies."
+
+"You forget," she said, looking up at him with a faint smile, "that
+under the cloak of her name I am earning more money a week than I
+could ever have earned in a year by my own labours."
+
+"It is an accident," he answered. "Besides, it is not so. You sing
+better than Annabel ever did, you have even a better style. 'Alcide'
+or no 'Alcide,' there is not a music hall manager in London or Paris
+who would not give you an engagement on your own merits."
+
+"Perhaps not," she answered. "And yet in a very few weeks I shall have
+done with it all. Do you think that I shall ever make an actress, my
+friend?"
+
+"I doubt it," he answered bluntly. "You have not feeling enough."
+
+She smiled at him.
+
+"It is like old times," she said, "to hear these home truths. All the
+same, I don't admit it."
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"To be an actress," he said, "you require a special and peculiar
+temperament. I do not believe that there has ever lived a really great
+actress whose moral character from the ordinary point of view would
+bear inspection."
+
+"Then I," she said, "have too much character."
+
+"Too much character, and too little sentiment," he answered. "Too much
+sensibility and too cold a heart. Too easily roused emotions and too
+little passion. How could you draw the curtain aside which hides the
+great and holy places of life--you, who have never loved?"
+
+"You have become French to the core," she murmured. "You would believe
+that life is kindled by the passions alone."
+
+There was silence between them. Then a servant girl brought in a
+telegram. Anna tore it open and passed it to Courtlaw. It was from
+Brendon.
+
+    "Hill gradually recovering consciousness. Doctor says depositions
+    to-night. Recovery impossible.--BRENDON."
+
+He looked at her gravely.
+
+"I think," he said, "that some one ought to warn her."
+
+"It is Number 8, Cavendish Square," she answered simply.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Courtlaw found himself ushered without questions into Annabel's long
+low drawing-room, fragrant with flowers and somewhat to his surprise,
+crowded with guests. From the further end of the apartment came the
+low music of a violin. Servants were passing backwards and forwards
+with tea and chocolate. For a moment he did not recognize Annabel.
+Then she came a few steps to meet him.
+
+"Mr. Courtlaw, is it not," she remarked, with lifted eyebrows. "Really
+it is very kind of you to have found me out."
+
+He was bereft of words for a moment, and in that moment she escaped,
+having passed him on deftly to one of the later arrivals.
+
+"Lady Mackinnor," she said, "I am sure that you must have heard of Mr.
+David Courtlaw. Permit me to make him known to you--Mr. Courtlaw--Lady
+Mackinnor."
+
+With a murmured word of excuse she glided away, and Courtlaw, who
+had come with a mission which seemed to him to be one of life or
+death, was left to listen to the latest art jargon from Chelsea. He
+bore it as long as he could, watching all the time with fascinated
+eyes Annabel moving gracefully about amongst her guests, always gay,
+with a smile and a whisper for nearly everybody. Grudgingly he admired
+her. To him she had always appeared as a mere pleasure-loving
+parasite--something quite insignificant. He had pictured her, if
+indeed she had ever had the courage to do this thing, as sitting
+alone, convulsed with guilty fear, starting at her own shadow, a slave
+to constant terror. And instead he found her playing the great lady,
+and playing it well. She knew, or guessed his mission too, for more
+than once their eyes met, and she laughed mockingly at him. At last he
+could bear it no longer. He left his companion in the midst of a
+glowing eulogy of Bastien Leparge, and boldly intercepted his hostess
+as she moved from one group to join another.
+
+"Can you spare me a moment?" he asked. "I have a message from your
+sister."
+
+"Are you in a hurry," she asked carelessly. "A lot of these people
+will be going presently."
+
+"My message is urgent," he said firmly. "If you cannot listen to me
+now it must remain undelivered."
+
+She shrugged her shoulders and led him towards a small recess. "So you
+come from Anna, do you?" she remarked. "Well, what is it?"
+
+"Montague Hill is recovering consciousness," he said. "He will
+probably make a statement to-night."
+
+"That sounds very interesting," she answered coolly. "Perhaps I should
+better be able to understand its significance if you would explain to
+me who Mr. Montague Hill is."
+
+"Your husband," he answered bluntly.
+
+She did not wince. She laughed a little contemptuously.
+
+"You and Anna," she said, "seem to have stumbled upon a mare's nest.
+If that is my sister's message, pray return to her and say that the
+doings and sayings of Mr. Montague Hill do not interest me in the
+least."
+
+"Don't be foolish," he said sharply. "You were seen to leave the flat,
+and your handkerchief was found there. Very likely by this time the
+whole truth is known."
+
+She smiled at him, an understanding smile, but her words defied him.
+
+"What a beautiful mare's nest!" she exclaimed. "I can see you and Anna
+groaning and nodding your grave heads together. Bah! She does not know
+me very well, and you--not at all. Do have some tea, won't you? If
+you must, go then."
+
+Courtlaw was dismissed. As he passed out he saw in the hall a quietly
+dressed man with keen grey eyes, talking to one of the footmen. He
+shivered and looked behind as he stepped into his hansom. Had it come
+already?
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXVII_
+
+JOHN FERRINGHAM, GENTLEMAN
+
+
+"Confess, my dear husband," Annabel said lightly, "that you are
+bewildered."
+
+Sir John smiled.
+
+"My dear Anna," he answered. "To tell you the truth, it has seemed
+just lately as though we were becoming in some measure estranged. You
+certainly have not shown much desire for my society, have you?"
+
+"You have been wrapped up in your politics," she murmured.
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"There have been other times," he said a little sadly.
+
+Her little white hand stole across the table. There was a look in her
+eyes which puzzled him.
+
+"I have been very selfish," she declared. "But you must forgive me,
+John."
+
+"I would forgive you a great deal more," he answered readily, "for the
+sake of an evening like this. You have actually given up a
+dinner-party to dine alone with me."
+
+"And made you give up a political meeting," she reminded him.
+
+"Quite an unimportant one," he assured her. "I would have given up
+anything to see you your old self again--as you are this evening."
+
+"I am afraid I have not been very nice," she said sadly. "Never mind.
+You must think of this evening, John, sometimes--as a sort of
+atonement."
+
+"I hope," he answered, looking at her in some surprise, "that we shall
+have many more such to think about."
+
+They were lingering over their dessert. The servants had left the
+room. Annabel half filled her glass with wine, and taking a little
+folded packet from her plate, shook the contents into it.
+
+"I am developing ailments," she said, meeting his questioning eyes.
+"It is nothing of any importance. John, I have something to say to
+you."
+
+"If you want to ask a favour," he remarked smiling, "you have made it
+almost impossible for me to refuse you anything."
+
+"I am going to ask more than a favour," she said slowly. "I am going
+to ask for your forgiveness."
+
+He was a little uneasy.
+
+"I do not know what you mean," he said, "but if you are referring to
+any little coolness since our marriage let us never speak of it again.
+I am something of an old fogey, Anna, I'm afraid, but if you treat me
+like this you will teach me to forget it."
+
+Annabel looked intently into her glass.
+
+"John," she said, "I am afraid that I am going to make you unhappy. I
+am very, very sorry, but you must listen to me."
+
+He relapsed into a stony silence. A few feet away, across the low
+vases of pink and white roses, sat Annabel, more beautiful to-night
+perhaps than ever before in her life. She wore a wonderful dress of
+turquoise blue, made by a great dressmaker for a function which she
+knew very well now that she would never attend. Her hair once more was
+arranged with its old simplicity. There was a new softness in her
+eyes, a hesitation, a timidity about her manner which was almost
+pathetic.
+
+"You remember our first meeting?"
+
+"Yes," he answered hoarsely. "I remember it very well indeed. You have
+the look in your eyes to-night which you had that day, the look of a
+frightened child."
+
+She looked into her glass.
+
+"I was frightened then," she declared. "I am frightened now. But it is
+all very different. There was hope for me then. Now there is none. No,
+none at all."
+
+"You talk strangely, Anna," he said. "Go on!"
+
+"People talked to you in Paris about us," she continued, "about Anna
+the virtuous and Annabel the rake. You were accused of having been
+seen with the latter. You denied it, remembering that I had called
+myself Anna. You went even to our rooms and saw my sister. Anna lied
+to you, I lied to you. I was Annabel the rake, 'Alcide' of the music
+halls. My name is Annabel, not Anna. Do you understand?"
+
+"I do not," he answered. "How could I, when your sister sings now at
+the 'Unusual' every night and the name 'Alcide' flaunts from every
+placard in London?"
+
+"The likeness between us," she said, "before I began to disfigure
+myself with rouge and ill-dressed hair, was remarkable. Anna failed in
+her painting, our money was gone, and she was forced to earn her own
+living. She came to London, and tried several things without any
+success."
+
+"But why----"
+
+Sir John stopped short. With a moment of inward shame he remembered
+his deportment towards Anna. It was scarcely likely that she would
+have accepted his aid. Some one had once, in his hearing, called him a
+prig. He remembered it suddenly. He thought of his severe attitude
+towards the girl who was rightly and with contempt refusing his
+measured help. He looked across at Annabel, and he groaned. This was
+his humiliation as well as hers.
+
+"Anna of course would not accept any money from us," she continued.
+"She tried everything, and last of all she tried the stage. She went
+to a dramatic agent, and he turned out to be the one who had heard me
+sing in Paris. He refused to believe that Anna was not 'Alcide.' He
+thought she wished to conceal her identity because of the connexion
+with you, and he offered her an engagement at once. She was never
+announced as 'Alcide,' but directly she walked on she simply became
+'Alcide' to every one. She had a better voice than I, and the rest I
+suppose is only a trick. The real 'Alcide'," she wound up with a faint
+smile across the table at him, "is here."
+
+He sat like a man turned to stone. Some part of the stiff vigour of
+the man seemed to have subsided. He seemed to have shrunken in his
+seat. His eyes were fixed upon her face, but he opened his lips twice
+before he spoke.
+
+"When you married me----"
+
+Her little hand flashed out across the table.
+
+"John," she said, "I can spare you that question. I had been about as
+foolish and selfish as a girl could be. I had done the most
+compromising things, and behaved in the most ridiculous way. But from
+the rest--you saved me."
+
+Sir John breathed a long deep sigh. He sat up in his chair again, the
+colour came back to his cheeks.
+
+"John, don't!" she cried. "You think that this is all. You are going
+to be generous and forgive. It isn't all. There is worse to come.
+There is a tragedy to come."
+
+"Out with it, then," he cried, almost roughly. "Don't you know, child,
+that this is torture for me? What in God's name more can you have to
+tell me?"
+
+Her face had become almost like a marble image. She spoke with a
+certain odd deliberation carefully chosen words which fell like drops
+of ice upon the man who sat listening.
+
+"Before I met you I was deluded into receiving upon friendly terms a
+man named Hill, who passed himself off as Meysey Hill the railway man,
+but who was in reality an Englishman in poor circumstances. He was
+going to settle I forget how many millions upon me, and I think that I
+was dazzled. I went with him to what I supposed to be the British
+Embassy, and went through a ceremony which I understood to be the
+usual form of the marriage one used there. Afterwards we started for a
+motor ride to a place outside Paris for _dejeuner_, and I suppose the
+man's nerve failed him. I questioned him too closely about his
+possessions, and remarked upon the fact that he was a most inexpert
+driver, although Meysey Hill had a great reputation as a motorist.
+Anyhow he confessed that he was a fraud. I struck him across the face,
+jumped out and went back by train to Paris. He lost control of the
+machine, was upset and nearly killed."
+
+"Did you say," Sir John asked, "that the man's name was Hill?"
+
+"Yes," she answered.
+
+"The man who was found dead in your sister's room was named Hill?"
+
+"It is the man," she answered. "I killed him."
+
+Sir John clutched at the table with both hands. A slow horror was
+dawning in his fixed eyes. This was not the sort of confession which
+he had been expecting. Annabel had spoken calmly enough and steadily,
+but his brain refused at first to accept the full meaning of her
+words. It seemed to him that a sort of mist had risen up between them.
+Everything was blurred. Only her face was clear, frail and delicate,
+almost flower-like, with the sad haunting eyes ever watching his.
+Annabel a murderess! It was not possible.
+
+"Child!" he cried. "You do not know what you say. This is part of a
+dream--some evil fancy. Think! You could not have done it."
+
+She shook her head deliberately, hopelessly.
+
+"I think that I know very well what I am saying," she answered. "I
+went to Anna's rooms because I felt that I must see her. He was there
+concealed, waiting her return. He recognized me at once, and he
+behaved like a madman. He swore that I was his wife, that chance had
+given me to him at last. John, he was between me and the door. A
+strong coarse man, and there were things in his eyes which made my
+blood run cold with terror. He came over to me. I was helpless.
+Beside me on Anna's table was a pistol. I was not even sure whether
+it was loaded. I snatched it up, pointed it blindly at him, and
+fired."
+
+"Ah!" Sir John exclaimed.
+
+"He fell over at my feet," she continued. "I saw him stagger and sink
+down, and the pistol was smoking still in my hand. I bent over him.
+Anna had told me that he carried always with him this bogus marriage
+certificate. I undid his coat, and I took it from his pocket. I burned
+it."
+
+"But the marriage itself?" Sir John asked. "I do not understand."
+
+"There was no marriage," she answered. "I was very foolish to have
+been deceived even for a moment. There was no marriage, and I hated,
+oh, how I hated the man."
+
+"Did any one see you leave the flat?" he asked.
+
+"I do not know. But David Courtlaw has been here. To-night they say he
+will be conscious. He will say who it was. So there is no escape. And
+listen, John."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"I went from Anna's flat to Nigel Ennison's rooms. I told him the
+truth. I asked him to take me away, and hide me. He refused. He sent
+me home."
+
+Sir John's head bent lower and lower. There was nothing left now of
+the self-assured, prosperous man of affairs. His shoulders were bent,
+his face was furrowed with wrinkles. He looked no longer at his wife.
+His eyes were fixed upon the tablecloth.
+
+There was a gentle rustling of skirts. Softly she rose to her feet. He
+felt her warm breath upon his cheek, the perfume of her hair as she
+leaned over him. He did not look up, so he did not know that in her
+other hand she held a glass of wine.
+
+"Dear husband," she murmured. "I am so very, very sorry. I have
+brought disgrace upon you, and I haven't been the right sort of wife
+at all. But it is all over now, and presently there will be some one
+else. I should like to have had you forgive me."
+
+He did not move. He seemed to be thinking hard. She paused for a
+moment. Then she raised the glass nearer to her lips.
+
+"Good-bye, John," she said simply.
+
+Something in her tone made him look up. In a second the glass lay
+shattered upon the carpet. There was a stain of wine upon her dress.
+
+"God in Heaven, Annabel!" he cried. "What were you doing?"
+
+Her voice was a little hysterical. Her unnatural calm was giving way.
+
+"It was poison--why not?" she answered. "Who is there to care
+and--John."
+
+His arms were around her. He kissed her once on the lips with a
+passion of which, during all their days of married life, he had given
+no sign.
+
+"You poor little girl!" he cried. "Forgive you, indeed. There isn't a
+husband breathing, Annabel, who wouldn't have blessed that pistol in
+your hands, and prayed God that the bullet might go straight. It is no
+crime, none at all. It is one of God's laws that a woman may defend
+her honour, even with the shedding of blood. While you talked I was
+only making our plans. It was necessary to think, and think quickly."
+
+She was altogether hysterical now.
+
+"But I--I went to Nigel Ennison for help. I asked him--to take me
+away."
+
+She saw him flinch, but he gave no sign of it in his tone.
+
+"Perhaps," he said, "I have been to blame. It must be my fault that
+you have not learnt that your husband is the man to come to--at such a
+time as this. Oh, I think I understand, Annabel. You were afraid of
+me, afraid that I should have been shocked, afraid of the scandal.
+Bah. Little woman, you have been brave enough before. Pull yourself
+together now. Drink this!"
+
+He poured out a glass of wine with a firm hand, and held it to her
+lips. She drank it obediently.
+
+"Good," he said, as he watched the colour come back to her cheeks.
+"Now listen. You go to your room and ring for your maid. I received a
+telegram, as you know, during dinner. It contains news of the serious
+illness of a near relation at Paris. Your maid has twenty minutes to
+pack your dressing case for one night, and you have the same time to
+change into a travelling dress. In twenty minutes we meet in the hall,
+remember. I will tell you our plans on the way to the station."
+
+"But you," she exclaimed, "you are not coming. There is the
+election----"
+
+He laughed derisively.
+
+"Election be hanged!" he exclaimed. "Don't be childish, Annabel. We
+are off for a second honeymoon. Just one thing more. We may be
+stopped. Don't look so frightened. You called yourself a murderess.
+You are nothing of the sort. What you did is called manslaughter, and
+at the worst there is only a very slight penalty, nothing to be
+frightened about in the least. Remember that."
+
+She kissed him passionately, and ran lightly upstairs. In the hall
+below she could hear his firm voice giving quick commands to the
+servants.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXVIII_
+
+THE HISSING OF "ALCIDE"
+
+
+There was a strange and ominous murmur of voices, a shuffling of feet
+in the gallery, a silence, which was like the silence before a storm.
+Anna, who had sung the first verse of her song, looked around the
+house, a little surprised at the absence of the applause which had
+never yet failed her. She realized in a moment what had happened. Even
+though the individual faces of her audience were not to be singled
+out, she had been conscious from the first moment of her appearance
+that something was wrong. She hesitated, and for a moment thought of
+omitting her second verse altogether. The manager, however, who stood
+in the wings, nodded to her to proceed, and the orchestra commenced
+the first few bars of the music. Then the storm broke. A long shrill
+cat-call in the gallery seemed to be the signal. Then a roar of
+hisses. They came from every part, from the pit, the circle and the
+gallery, even from the stalls. And there arose too, a background of
+shouts.
+
+"Who killed her husband?"
+
+"Go and nurse him, missus!"
+
+"Murderess!"
+
+Anna looked from left to right. She was as pale as death, but she
+seemed to have lost the power of movement. They shouted to her from
+the wings to come off. She could not stir hand or foot. A paralyzing
+horror was upon her. Her eardrums were burning with the echoes of
+those hideous shouts. A crumpled-up newspaper thrown from the gallery
+hit her upon the cheek. The stage manager came out from the wings, and
+taking her hand led her off. There was more shouting.
+
+The stage manager reappeared presently, and made a speech. He
+regretted--more deeply than he could say--the occurrence of this
+evening. He fancied that when they had had time to reflect, they would
+regret it still more. ("No, no.") They had shown themselves grossly
+ignorant of facts. They had chosen to deliberately and wickedly insult
+a lady who had done her best to entertain them for many weeks. He
+could not promise that she would ever appear again in that house.
+("Good job.") Well, they might say that, but he knew very well that
+before long they would regret it. Of his own certain knowledge he
+could tell them that. For his own part he could not sufficiently
+admire the pluck of this lady, who, notwithstanding all that she had
+been through, had chosen to appear this evening rather than break her
+engagement. He should never sufficiently be able to regret the return
+which they had made to her. He begged their attention for the next
+turn.
+
+He had spoken impressively, and most likely Anna, had she reappeared,
+would have met with a fair reception. She, however, had no idea of
+doing anything of the sort. She dressed rapidly and left the theatre
+without a word to any one. The whole incident was so unexpected that
+neither Courtlaw nor Brendon were awaiting. The man who sat behind a
+pigeon-hole, and regulated the comings and goings, was for a moment
+absent. Anna stood on the step and looked up and down the street for a
+hansom. Suddenly she felt her wrist grasped by a strong hand. It was
+Ennison, who loomed up through the shadows.
+
+"Anna! Thank God I have found you at last. But you have not finished
+surely. Your second turn is not over, is it?"
+
+She laughed a little hardly. Even now she was dazed. The horror of
+those few minutes was still with her.
+
+"Have you not heard?" she said. "For me there is no second turn. I
+have said good-bye to it all. They hissed me!"
+
+"Beasts!" he muttered. "But was it wise to sing to-night?"
+
+"Why not? The man was nothing to me."
+
+"You have not seen the evening paper?"
+
+"No. What about them?"
+
+He called a hansom.
+
+"They are full of the usual foolish stories. To-morrow they will all
+be contradicted. To-night all London believes that he was your
+husband."
+
+"That is why they hissed me, then?"
+
+"Of course. To-morrow they will know the truth."
+
+She shivered.
+
+"Is this hansom for me?" she said. "Thank you--and good-bye."
+
+"I am coming with you," he said firmly.
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"Don't!" she begged.
+
+"You are in trouble," he said. "No one has a better right than I to be
+with you."
+
+"You have no right at all," she answered coldly.
+
+"I have the right of the man who loves you," he declared. "Some day
+you will be my wife, and it would not be well for either of us to
+remember that in these unhappy days you and I were separated."
+
+Anna gave her address to the driver. She leaned back in the cab with
+half-closed eyes.
+
+"This is all madness," she declared wearily. "Do you think it is fair
+of you to persecute me just now?"
+
+"It is not persecution, Anna," he answered gently. "Only you are the
+woman I love, and you are in trouble. And you are something of a
+heroine, too. You see, my riddle is solved. I know all."
+
+"You know all?"
+
+"Your sister has told me."
+
+"You have seen her--since last night?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Anna shivered a little. She asked no further questions for the moment.
+Ennison himself, with the recollection of Annabel's visit still fresh
+in his mind, was for a moment constrained and ill at ease. When they
+reached her rooms she stepped lightly out upon the pavement.
+
+"Now you must go," she said firmly. "I have had a trying evening and I
+need rest."
+
+"You need help and sympathy more, Anna," he pleaded, "and I have the
+right, yes I have the right to offer you both. I will not be sent
+away."
+
+"It is my wish to be alone," she said wearily. "I can say no more."
+
+She turned and fitted the latchkey into the door. He hesitated for a
+moment and then he followed her. She turned the gas up in her little
+sitting-room, and sank wearily into an easy chair. On the mantelpiece
+in front of her was a note addressed to her in Annabel's handwriting.
+She looked at it with a little shudder, but she made no motion to take
+it.
+
+"Will you say what you have to say, please, and go. I am tired, and I
+want to be alone."
+
+He came and stood on the hearthrug close to her.
+
+"Anna," he said, "you make it all indescribably hard for me. Will you
+not remember what has passed between us? I have the right to take my
+place by your side."
+
+"You have no right at all," she answered. "Further than that, I am
+amazed that you should dare to allude to those few moments, to that
+single moment of folly. If ever I could bring myself to ask you any
+favour, I would ask you to forget even as I have forgotten."
+
+"Why in Heaven's name should I forget?" he cried. "I love you, Anna,
+and I want you for my wife. There is nothing but your pride which
+stands between us."
+
+"There is great deal more," she answered coldly. "For one thing I am
+going to marry David Courtlaw."
+
+He stepped back as though he had received a blow.
+
+"It is not possible," he exclaimed.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because you are mine. You have told me that you cared. Oh, you cannot
+escape from it. Anna, my love, you cannot have forgotten so soon."
+
+He fancied that she was yielding, but her eyes fell once more upon
+that fatal envelope, and her tone when she spoke was colder than ever.
+
+"That was a moment of madness," she said. "I was lonely. I did not
+know what I was saying."
+
+"I will have your reason for this," he said. "I will have your true
+reason."
+
+She looked at him for a moment with fire in her eyes.
+
+"You need a reason. Ask your own conscience. What sort of a standard
+of life yours may be I do not know, yet in your heart you know very
+well that every word you have spoken to me has been a veiled insult,
+every time you have come into my presence has been an outrage. That is
+what stands between us, if you would know--that."
+
+She pointed to the envelope still resting upon the mantelpiece. He
+recognized the handwriting, and turned a shade paler. Her eyes noted
+it mercilessly.
+
+"But your sister," he said. "What has she told you?"
+
+"Everything."
+
+He was a little bewildered.
+
+"But," he said, "you do not blame me altogether?"
+
+She rose to her feet.
+
+"I am tired," she said, "and I want to rest. But if you do not leave
+this room I must."
+
+He took up his hat.
+
+"Very well," he said. "You are unjust and quixotic, Anna, you have no
+right to treat any one as you are treating me. And yet--I love you.
+When you send for me I shall come back. I do not believe that you will
+marry David Courtlaw. I do not think that you will dare to marry
+anybody else."
+
+He left the room, and she stood motionless, with flaming cheeks,
+listening to his retreating footsteps. When she was quite sure that he
+was gone she took her sister's note from the mantelpiece and slowly
+broke the seal.
+
+     "DEAREST A----
+
+     "I lied to you. Nigel Ennison was my very good friend, but there
+     is not the slightest reason for your not marrying him, if you
+     wish to do so.
+
+     "My husband knows all. We leave England to-night.
+
+               "Ever yours,
+                  "ANNABEL.
+
+Anna moved softly to the window, and threw up the sash. Ennison had
+disappeared.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXIX_
+
+MONTAGUE HILL PLAYS THE GAME
+
+
+The man opened his eyes and looked curiously about him.
+
+"Where am I?" he muttered.
+
+Courtlaw, who was sitting by the bedside, bent over him.
+
+"You are in a private room of St. Felix Hospital," he said.
+
+"Hospital? What for? What's the matter with me?"
+
+Courtlaw's voice sank to a whisper. A nurse was at the other end of
+the room.
+
+"There was an accident with a pistol in Miss Pellissier's room," he
+said.
+
+The light of memory flashed in the man's face. His brows drew a little
+nearer together.
+
+"Accident! She shot me," he muttered. "I had found her at last, and
+she shot me. Listen, you. Am I going to die?"
+
+"I am afraid that you are in a dangerous state," Courtlaw answered
+gravely. "The nurse will fetch the doctor directly. I wanted to speak
+to you first."
+
+"Who are you?"
+
+"I am a friend of Miss Pellissier's," Courtlaw answered.
+
+"Which one?"
+
+"The Miss Pellissier in whose rooms you were, and who sings at the
+'Unusual,'" Courtlaw answered. "The Miss Pellissier who was at
+White's with us."
+
+The man nodded.
+
+"I remember you now," he said. "So it seems that I was wrong. Annabel
+was in hiding all the time."
+
+"Annabel Pellissier is married," Courtlaw said quietly.
+
+"She's my wife," the man muttered.
+
+"It is possible," Courtlaw said, "that you too were deceived. Where
+were you married?"
+
+"At the English Embassy in Paris. You will find the certificate in my
+pocket."
+
+"And who made the arrangements for you, and sent you there?" Courtlaw
+asked.
+
+"Hainault, Celeste's friend. He did everything."
+
+"I thought so," Courtlaw said. "You too were deceived. The place to
+which you went was not the English Embassy, and the whole performance
+was a fraud. I heard rumours of it in Paris, and the place since then
+has been closed."
+
+"But Hainault--assured--me--that the marriage was binding."
+
+"So it would have been at the English Embassy," Courtlaw answered,
+"but the place to which you went was not the English Embassy. It was
+rigged up for the occasion as it has been many a time before."
+
+"But Hainault--was--a pal. I--I don't understand," the man faltered
+wearily.
+
+"Hainault was Celeste's friend, and Celeste was Annabel's enemy,"
+Courtlaw said. "It was a plot amongst them all to humiliate her."
+
+"Then she has never been my wife."
+
+"Never for a second. She is the wife now of another man."
+
+Hill closed his eyes. For fully five minutes he lay quite motionless.
+Then he opened them again suddenly, to find Courtlaw still by his
+side.
+
+"It was a bad day for me," he said, speaking slowly and painfully.
+"A bad thing for me when that legacy came. I thought I'd see Paris,
+do the thing--like a toff. And I heard 'Alcide' sing, and that little
+dance she did. I was in the front row, and I fancied she smiled at me.
+Lord, what a state I was in! Night after night I sat there, I watched
+her come in, I watched her go. She dropped a flower--it's in my
+pocket-book now. I couldn't rest or eat or sleep. I made Hainault's
+acquaintance, stood him drinks, lent him money. He shook his head all
+the time. Annabel Pellissier was not like the others, he said. She
+had a few acquaintances, English gentlemen, but she lived with her
+sister--was a lady. But one day he came to me. It was Celeste's
+idea. I could be presented as Meysey Hill. We were alike. He
+was--a millionaire. And I passed myself off as Meysey Hill, and
+since--then--I haven't had a minute's peace. God help me."
+
+Courtlaw was alarmed at the man's pallor.
+
+"You mustn't talk any more," he said, "but I want you to listen to me
+just for a moment. The doctor will be here to see you in five minutes.
+The nurse sent for him as soon as she saw that you were conscious. It
+is very possible that he will ask you to tell him before witnesses how
+you received your wound."
+
+The man smiled at him.
+
+"You are their friend, then?"
+
+"I am," Courtlaw answered.
+
+"Which one?"
+
+"The one whose life you have been making a burden, who has been all
+the time shielding her sister. I would have married her long ago, but
+she will not have me."
+
+"Bring her--here," Hill muttered. "I----"
+
+The door opened, and the doctor entered softly. Hill closed his eyes.
+Courtlaw stood up.
+
+"He has asked to see some one," he whispered to the doctor. "Is there
+any urgency?"
+
+The doctor bent over his patient, who seemed to have fallen asleep.
+Presently he turned to Courtlaw.
+
+"I think," he said, "that I would fetch any one whom he has asked to
+see. His condition is not unfavourable, but there may be a relapse at
+any moment."
+
+So only a few minutes after Ennison's departure, while Anna stood
+indeed with her sister's open letter still in her hand, Courtlaw drove
+up in hot haste. She opened the door to him herself.
+
+"Will you come round to the hospital?" he asked. "Hill has asked for
+you, and they will take his depositions to-night."
+
+She slipped on her cloak and stepped into the hansom with him. They
+drove rapidly through the emptying streets.
+
+"Will he die?" she asked.
+
+"Impossible to say," he answered. "We have a private room at St.
+Felix. Everything is being done that can be."
+
+"You are sure that he asked for me--not for Annabel?"
+
+"Certain," Courtlaw answered.
+
+"Has he accused any one yet?"
+
+"Not yet," he answered. "I have scarcely left his side."
+
+He was still conscious when they reached the hospital and his state
+was much more favourable. The doctor and another man were by his
+bedside when they entered the room, and there were writing materials
+which had evidently been used close at hand. He recognised Anna, and
+at once addressed her.
+
+"Thank you--for coming," he said. "The doctor has asked me to give
+them my reasons--for shooting myself. I've told them all that was
+necessary, but I--wanted to ask your pardon--for having made myself a
+nuisance to you, and for breaking into your rooms--and to thank
+you--the doctor says you bound up my wound--or I should have bled to
+death."
+
+"I forgive you willingly," Anna said, bending over him. "It has all
+been a mistake, hasn't it?"
+
+"No more talking," the doctor interposed.
+
+"I want two words--with Miss Pellissier alone," Hill pleaded.
+
+The doctor frowned.
+
+"Remember," he said, "you are not by any means a dying man now, but
+you'll never pull through if you don't husband your strength."
+
+"Two words only," Hill repeated.
+
+They all left the room. Anna leaned over so that he needed only to
+whisper.
+
+"Tell your sister she was right to shoot, quite right. I meant
+mischief. But tell her this, too. I believed that our marriage was
+genuine. I believed that she was my wife, or she would have been safe
+from me."
+
+"I will tell her," Anna promised.
+
+"She has nothing to be afraid of," he continued. "I have signed a
+statement that I shot myself; bad trade and drink, both true--both
+true."
+
+His eyes were closed. Anna left the room on tiptoe. She and Courtlaw
+drove homewards together.
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXX_
+
+SIR JOHN'S NECKTIE
+
+
+Sir John, in a quiet dark travelling suit, was sitting in a pokey
+little room writing letters. The room was worse than pokey, it was
+shabby; and the view from the window, of chimney pots and slate roofs,
+wholly uninspiring. Nevertheless, Sir John had the look of a man who
+was enjoying himself. He seemed years younger, and the arrangement of
+his tie and hair were almost rakish. He stamped his last letter as
+Annabel entered.
+
+She was dressed for the street very much as her own maid was
+accustomed to dress, and there was a thick veil attached to her hat.
+
+"John," she declared, "I must eat or die. Do get your hat, and we will
+go to that corner cafe."
+
+"Right," he answered. "I know the place you mean--very good cooking
+for such an out-of-the-way show. I'll be ready in a moment."
+
+Sir John stamped his letters, brushed his hat, and carefully gave his
+moustache an upward curl before the looking-glass.
+
+"I really do not believe," he announced with satisfaction, "that any
+one would recognize me. What do you think, Annabel?"
+
+"I don't think they would," she admitted. "You seem to have cultivated
+quite a jaunty appearance, and you certainly look years younger. One
+would think that you enjoyed crawling away out of your world into
+hiding, with a very foolish wicked wife."
+
+"Upon my word," he declared, "you are right. I really am enjoying it.
+It is like a second honeymoon. If it wasn't for the fear that after
+all--but we won't think of that. I don't believe any one could have
+traced us here. You see, we travelled second class, and we are in the
+least known quarter of Paris. To-night we leave for Marseilles. On
+Thursday we embark for South America."
+
+"You are a marvellous courier," she declared, as they passed into the
+street. "You see, I will take your arm. It looks so French to be
+affectionate."
+
+"There are some French customs," he declared, "which are admirable. I
+presume that I may not kiss you in the street?"
+
+"Certainly not, sir," she replied, laughing. "If you attempted such a
+thing it would be in order that I should smack you hard with the palm
+of my hand upon the cheek."
+
+"That is another French custom," he remarked, "which is not so
+agreeable. Here we are. Shall we sit outside and drink a _petit verre_
+of something to give us an appetite while dinner is being prepared?"
+
+"Certainly not," she answered. "I am already so hungry that I shall
+begin on the _petit pains_. I have an appetite which I dare not
+increase."
+
+They entered the place, a pleasant little cafe of the sort to be met
+with in the outlying parts of Paris. Most of the tables were for those
+who smoked only and drank wine, but there were a few spread with
+tablecloths and laid for dinner. Sir John and Annabel seated
+themselves at one of them, and the proprietor himself, a small
+dark-visaged man, radiant with smiles, came hurrying up, followed by a
+waiter.
+
+"Monsieur would dine! It was very good! And Madame, of course?" with a
+low bow. The _carte de jour_ was before Monsieur. He had but to give
+his orders. Monsieur could rely upon his special attention, and for
+the cooking--well, he had his customers, who came from their homes to
+him year after year. And always they were well satisfied. He waited
+the pleasure of Monsieur.
+
+Sir John gave his order, deliberately stumbling now and then over a
+word, and anglicizing others. When he had finished he took up the wine
+list and ordered a bottle of dry champagne.
+
+"I am afraid," he said to Anna afterwards, "that it was a mistake to
+order the champagne sec. They will guess that I am English."
+
+Annabel leaned back in her chair and laughed till the tears stood in
+her eyes.
+
+"Did you--did you really think that they would take you for a
+Frenchman?" she exclaimed.
+
+"I don't see why not," he answered. "These clothes are French, and I'm
+sure this floppy bow would make a Frenchman of me anyhow. Perhaps I
+ought to have let you order the dinner, but I think I got through it
+pretty well."
+
+"You did," Anna exclaimed. "Thank Heaven, they are bringing the _hors
+d'oeuvres_. John, I shall eat that whole tin of sardines. Do take them
+away from me after I have had four."
+
+"After all," Sir John remarked complacently, "it is astonishing how
+easy it is for people with brains and a little knowledge of the world
+to completely hide themselves. I am absolutely certain that up to the
+present we have escaped all notice, and I do not believe that any
+casual observer would take us for English people."
+
+A man who had been sitting with his hat tilted over his eyes at an
+adjacent table had risen to his feet and stood suddenly before them.
+
+"Permit me to offer you the English paper which has just arrived, Sir
+John," he said, holding out a _Daily Telegraph_. "You may find in it a
+paragraph of some interest to you."
+
+Sir John was speechless. It was Annabel who caught at the paper.
+
+"You--appear to know my name, sir," Sir John said.
+
+"Oh, yes," the stranger remarked good-humouredly. "I know you very
+well by sight, Sir John. It is my business to know most people. We
+were fellow passengers from Charing Cross, and we have been fellow
+lodgers in the Rue d'Entrepot. I trust you will not accuse me of
+discourtesy if I express my pleasure that henceforth our ways will lie
+apart."
+
+A little sobbing cry from Annabel arrested Sir John's attention. The
+stranger with a bow returned to his table.
+
+"Read this, John."
+
+               "THE BUCKNALL MANSIONS MYSTERY.
+
+     "Montague Hill, the man who was found lying wounded in Bucknall
+     Mansions late on Wednesday night in the rooms of a well-known
+     artiste, has recovered sufficiently to make a statement to the
+     police. It appears that he was an unsuccessful admirer of the
+     lady in question, and he admits that, under the influence of
+     drink, he broke into her rooms, and there made a determined
+     attempt at suicide. He further gave the name and address of the
+     firm from whom he purchased the revolver and cartridges, a member
+     of which firm has since corroborated his statement.
+
+     "Hill's confession will finally refute a number of absurd stories
+     which have been in circulation during the last few days. We
+     understand that, notwithstanding the serious nature of the man's
+     injuries, there is every possibility of his recovery."
+
+Annabel pulled down her veil to hide the tears. Sir John filled his
+glass with trembling hand.
+
+"Thank God," he exclaimed. "The fellow is not such a blackguard, after
+all."
+
+Annabel's hand stole into his.
+
+"And I have dragged you all over here for nothing," she murmured.
+
+"For nothing, do you call it?" he declared. "I wouldn't have been
+without this trip for worlds. It has been a real honeymoon trip,
+Annabel, for I feel that it has given me a wife."
+
+Annabel pulled up her veil.
+
+"You are a dear," she exclaimed affectionately. "I do hope that I
+shall be able to make it up to you."
+
+Sir John's reply was incoherent. He called a waiter.
+
+"Garcon," he said, "will you ask the gentleman at the next table if he
+will do me the honour of taking a glass of wine with me."
+
+The stranger came over to them smiling. He had been on the point of
+leaving the restaurant. He accepted the glass of wine, and bowed.
+
+"I drink your very good health, Sir John and Lady Ferringhall," he
+said, "and I wish you a pleasant journey back to England. If I might
+take the liberty, Sir John," he added, with a humorous gleam in his
+eyes, "I should like to congratulate you upon your tie."
+
+"Oh, damn the thing!" Sir John exclaimed, tucking the loose ends
+inside his coat.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I propose," Sir John said, "that we pay for our dinner--which we
+haven't had--tip the garcon a sovereign, and take a cab to the Ritz."
+
+Annabel shook her head.
+
+"Look at our clothes," she exclaimed, "and besides, the funny little
+proprietor has gone down himself to help it along. He would be so
+disappointed. I am sure it will be good, John, and I could eat
+anything. No, let us dine here, and then go and have our coffee on the
+boulevards. We can take our things up with us and stay at the
+Continental or the Ritz."
+
+"Excellent," Sir John declared. "We will do Paris like the tourists,
+and thank God here comes dinner."
+
+Everything was good. The garcon was tipped as he had never been tipped
+before in his life. They drove up into Paris in an open _fiacre_ with
+a soft cool wind blowing in their faces, hand in hand beneath the
+rug. They went first to a hotel, and then out again on to the
+boulevards. The natural gaiety of the place seemed to have affected
+them both. They laughed and talked and stared about them. She took his
+hand in hers.
+
+"Dear John," she whispered. "We are to begin our married life
+to-night--here where I first met you. I shall only pray that I may
+reward you for all your goodness to me."
+
+Sir John, frankly oblivious of the possibility of passers-by, took her
+into his arms and kissed her. Then he stood up and hailed a _fiacre_.
+
+"Hotel Ritz!"
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXXI_
+
+ANNA'S TEA PARTY
+
+
+"I suppose you haven't the least idea who I am," Lady Lescelles said,
+as she settled herself in Anna's most comfortable chair.
+
+"I have heard of you, of course," Anna answered hesitatingly,
+"but----"
+
+"You cannot imagine what I have come to see you about. Well, I am
+Nigel Ennison's sister!"
+
+"Oh!" Anna said.
+
+"Nigel is like all men," Lady Lescelles continued. "He is a sad
+blunderer. He has helped me out of scrapes though, no end of times. He
+is an awfully good sort--and now he has come to me to help him if I
+can. Do you know that he is very much in love with you?"
+
+Anna smiled.
+
+"Well," she admitted. "He has said something of the sort."
+
+"And you have sent him about his business. He tells me that you will
+not even see him. I don't want to bother you, of course. A woman has a
+perfect right to choose her own husband, but Nigel seemed to think
+that there was something a little mysterious about your treatment of
+him. You seemed, he thought, to have some grievance which you would
+not explain and which he thought must arise from a misunderstanding.
+There, that sounds frightfully involved, doesn't it, but perhaps you
+can make out what I mean. Don't you care for Nigel at all?"
+
+Anna was silent for a moment or two.
+
+Lady Lescelles, graceful, very fashionably but quietly dressed, leaned
+back and watched her with shrewd kindly eyes.
+
+"I like your brother better than any other man I know," Anna said at
+last.
+
+"Well, I don't think you told him as much as that, did you?" Lady
+Lescelles asked.
+
+"I did not," Anna answered. "To be frank with you, Lady Lescelles,
+when your brother asked me the other day to be his wife I was under a
+false impression as regards his relations--with some other person. I
+know now that I was mistaken."
+
+"That sounds more promising," Lady Lescelles declared. "May I tell
+Nigel to come and see you again? I am not here to do his love-making
+for him, you know. I came to see you on my own account."
+
+"Thank you very much," Anna said. "It is very nice of you to come, but
+I do not think for the present, at any rate, I could give him any
+other answer. I do not intend to be married, or to become engaged just
+at present."
+
+"Well, why not?" Lady Lescelles asked, smiling. "I can only be a few
+years older than you, and I have been married four years. I can assure
+you, I wouldn't be single again for worlds. One gets a lot more fun
+married."
+
+"Our cases are scarcely similar," Anna remarked.
+
+"Why not?" Lady Lescelles answered. "You are one of the Hampshire
+Pellissiers, I know, and your family are quite as good as ours. As for
+money, Nigel has tons of it."
+
+"It isn't exactly that," Anna answered, "but to tell you the truth, I
+cannot bear to look upon myself as a rank failure. We girls, my sister
+and I, were left quite alone when our father died, and I made up my
+mind to make some little place in the world for myself. I tried
+painting and couldn't get on. Then I came to London and tried almost
+everything--all failures. I had two offers of marriage from men I
+liked very much indeed, but it never occurred to me to listen to
+either of them. You see I am rather obstinate. At last I tried a
+dramatic agent, and got on the music hall stage."
+
+"Well, you can't say you're a failure there," Lady Lescelles remarked,
+smiling. "I've been to hear you lots of times."
+
+"I have been more fortunate than I deserved," Anna answered, "but I
+only meant to stay upon the music hall stage until I could get
+something better. I am rehearsing now for a new play at the 'Garrick'
+and I have quite made up my mind to try and make some sort of position
+for myself as an actress."
+
+"Do you think it is really worth while?" Lady Lescelles asked gently.
+"I am sure you will marry Nigel sooner or later, and then all your
+work will be thrown away."
+
+Anna shook her head.
+
+"If I were to marry now," she said, "it would be with a sense of
+humiliation. I should feel that I had been obliged to find some one
+else to fight my battles for me."
+
+"What else," Lady Lescelles murmured, "are men for?"
+
+Anna laughed.
+
+"Afterwards," she said, "I should be perfectly content to have
+everything done for me. But I do think that if a girl is to feel
+comfortable about it they should start fairly equal. Take your case,
+for instance. You brought your husband a large fortune, your people
+were well known in society, your family interest I have heard was
+useful to him in his parliamentary career. So far as I am concerned, I
+am just now a hopeless nonentity. Your brother has everything--I have
+not shown myself capable even of earning my own living except in a way
+which could not possibly bring any credit upon anybody. And beyond
+this, Lady Lescelles, as you must know, recent events have set a good
+many people's tongues wagging, and I am quite determined to live down
+all this scandal before I think of marrying any one."
+
+"I am sure," Lady Lescelles said, gently, "that the last consideration
+need not weigh with you in the least. No one in the world is beyond
+the shaft of scandal--we all catch it terribly sometimes. It simply
+doesn't count."
+
+"You are very kind," Anna said. "I do hope I have been able to make
+you understand how I feel, that you don't consider me a hopeless prig.
+It does sound a little horrid to talk so much about oneself and to
+have views."
+
+"I think," Lady Lescelles said, putting down her teacup, "that I must
+send Nigel to plead his own cause. I may tell him, at any rate, that
+you will see him?"
+
+"I shall like to see him," Anna answered. "I really owe him something
+of an apology."
+
+"I will tell him," Lady Lescelles said. "And now let us leave the men
+alone and talk about ourselves."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I am delighted to see you all here," Anna said smiling upon them from
+behind the tea-tray, "but I shall have to ask you to excuse me for a
+few minutes. My agent is here, and he has brought his contract for me
+to sign. I will give you all some tea, and then I must leave you for a
+few minutes."
+
+The three men, who had arrived within a minute or two of one another,
+received her little speech in dead silence. Ennison, who had been
+standing with his back to the window, came suddenly a little further
+into the room.
+
+"Miss Pellissier," he said, "I came here this afternoon hoping
+particularly to see you for a few moments before you signed that
+contract."
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"We may just as well have our talk afterwards," she said, "and I need
+not keep poor Mr. Earles waiting."
+
+Courtlaw suddenly interposed.
+
+"May I be allowed to say," he declared, "that I came here with the
+same intention."
+
+"And I also," Brendon echoed.
+
+Anna was suddenly very quiet.
+
+She was perhaps as near tears as ever before in her life.
+
+"If I had three hands," she said, with a faint smile, "I would give
+one to each of you. I know that you are all my friends, and I know
+that you all have very good advice to give me. But I am afraid I am a
+shockingly obstinate and a very ungrateful person. No, don't let me
+call myself that. I am grateful, indeed I am. But on this matter my
+mind is quite made up."
+
+Ennison hesitated for a moment.
+
+"Miss Pellissier," he said, "these gentlemen are your friends, and
+therefore they are my friends. If I am to have no other opportunity
+I will speak before them. I came here to beg you not to sign that
+contract. I came to beg you instead to do me the honour of becoming
+my wife."
+
+"And I," Courtlaw said, "although I have asked before in vain, have
+come to ask you once more the same thing."
+
+"And I," Brendon said, humbly, "although I am afraid there is no
+chance for me, my errand was the same."
+
+Anna looked at them for a moment with a pitiful attempt at a smile.
+Then her head disappeared suddenly in her hands, and her shoulders
+shook violently.
+
+"Please forgive me--for one moment," she sobbed. "I--I shall be all
+right directly."
+
+Brendon rushed to the piano and strummed out a tune.
+
+The others hurried to the window. And Anna was conscious of a few
+moments of exquisite emotion. After all, life had still its
+pulsations. The joy of being loved thrilled her as nothing before
+had ever done, a curious abstract joy which had nothing in it at
+that moment of regret or even pity.
+
+She called them back very soon.
+
+The signs of tears had all gone, but some subtle change seemed to have
+stolen into her face. She spoke readily enough, but there was a new
+timidity in her manner.
+
+"My friends," she said, "my dear friends, I am going to make the same
+answer to all of you--and that is perhaps you will say no answer at
+all. At present I cannot marry, I will not become bound even to any
+one. It would be very hard perhaps to make you understand just how I
+feel about it. I won't try. Only I feel that you all want to make life
+too easy for me, and I am determined to fight my own battles a little
+longer. If any of you--or all of you feel the same in six months' time
+from to-day, will you come, if you care to, and see me then?"
+
+There was a brief silence. Ennison spoke at last.
+
+"You will sign the contract?"
+
+"I shall sign the contract. I think that I am very fortunate to have
+it to sign."
+
+"Do you mean," Courtlaw asked, "that from now to the end of the six
+months you do not wish to see us--any of us?"
+
+Her eyes were a little dim again.
+
+"I do mean that," she declared. "I want to have no distractions. My
+work will be all sufficient. I have an aunt who is coming to live with
+me, and I do not intend to receive any visitors at all. It will be a
+little lonely sometimes," she said, looking around at them, "and I
+shall miss you all, but it is the fairest for myself--and I think for
+you. Do not avoid me if we meet by accident, but I trust to you all
+not to let the accident happen if you can help it."
+
+Brendon rose and came towards her with outstretched hand.
+
+"Good-bye, Miss Pellissier, and success to you," he said. "May you
+have as much good fortune as you deserve, but not enough to make you
+forget us."
+
+Courtlaw rose too.
+
+"You are of the genus obstinate," he said. "I do not know whether to
+wish you success or not. I will wish you success or failure, whichever
+is the better for you."
+
+"And I," Ennison said, holding her fingers tightly, and forcing her to
+look into his eyes, "I will tell you what I have wished for you when
+we meet six months from to-day."
+
+
+
+
+_Chapter XXXII_
+
+SIX MONTHS AFTER
+
+
+Up the moss-grown path, where the rose bushes run wild, almost met,
+came Anna in a spotless white gown, with the flush of her early
+morning walk in her cheeks, and something of the brightness of it in
+her eyes. In one hand she carried a long-stalked red rose, dripping
+with dew, in the other the post-bag.
+
+She reached a tiny yellow-fronted cottage covered with flowering
+creepers, and entered the front room by the wide-open window.
+Breakfast was laid for one, a dish of fruit and a shining coffee
+equipage. By the side of her plate was a small key. With trembling
+fingers she opened the post-bag. There was one letter. One only.
+
+She opened and read it at once. It was dated from the House of Commons
+on the previous day.
+
+     "MY DEAR MISS PELLISSIER,--
+
+     "To-morrow the six months will be up. For days I have been
+     undecided as to whether I would come to you or no. I would like
+     you to believe that the decision I have arrived at--to stay
+     away--is wholly and entirely to save you pain. It should be the
+     happiest day of your life, and I would not detract from its
+     happiness by letting you remember for a moment that there are
+     others to whom your inevitable decision must bring some pain.
+
+     "For I know that you love Ennison. You tried bravely enough to
+     hide your preference, to look at us all with the same eyes, to
+     speak to us in the same tone. It was not your fault you failed.
+     If by any chance I have made a mistake a word will bring me to
+     you. But I know very well that that word will never be spoken.
+
+     "Your great success has been my joy, our joy as well as yours.
+     You have made for yourself a unique place upon the stage. We have
+     so many actresses who aspire to great things in the drama, not
+     one who can interpret as you have interpreted it, the delicate
+     finesse, the finer lights and shades of true comedy. Ennison will
+     make a thousand enemies if he takes you from the stage. Yet I
+     think that he will do it.
+
+     "For my own part I have come fully now into my inheritance. I am
+     bound to admit that I greatly enjoy my altered life. Every minute
+     I spend here is an education to me. Before very long I hope to
+     have definite work. Some of my schemes are already in hand.
+     People shrug their shoulders and call me a crazy socialist. Yet I
+     fancy that we who have been poor ourselves must be the best
+     judges of the needs of the people.
+
+     "You will write to me, I am sure--and from the date of your
+     letter I trust most earnestly that I may come back to my old
+     place as
+
+               "Your devoted friend,
+                    "WALTER BRENDON."
+
+She set the letter down, and drew from her pocket another with a
+foreign post mark which had come the day before. This one too she
+read.
+
+               "HASSELL'S CAMP,
+                    "NEAR COLORADO.
+
+     "On or about the day you receive this letter, Anna, the six
+     months will be up. Do you expect me, I wonder. I think not. At
+     any rate, here I am, and here I shall be, twenty thousand feet
+     above all your poison-reeking cities, up where God's wind comes
+     fresh from heaven, very near indeed to the untrodden snows.
+     Sometimes I tremble, Anna, to think how near I came to passing
+     through life without a single glimpse, a moment's revelation of
+     this greatest and most awful of mysteries, the mystery of
+     primaeval nature. It is a true saying that in the mountains there
+     is peace. One's sense of proportion, battered out of all shape in
+     the daily life of cities, reasserts itself. I love you still,
+     Anna, but life holds other things than the love of man for woman.
+     Some day I shall come back, and I will show you on canvas the
+     things which have come to me up here amongst the eternal silence.
+
+     "Many nights I have thought of you, Anna. Your face has flitted
+     out of my watch-fire, and then I have been a haunted man. But
+     with the morning, the glorious unstained morning the passion of
+     living would stir even the blood of a clod. It comes over the
+     mountains, Anna, pink darkening into orange red, everywhere a
+     wonderful cloud sea, scintillating with colour. It is enough to
+     make a man throw away canvas and brushes into the bottomless
+     precipices, enough to make one weep with despair at his utter and
+     absolute impotence. Nature is God, Anna, and the greatest artist
+     of us all a pigmy. When I think of those ateliers of ours, the
+     art jargon, the decadents with their flamboyant talk I long for
+     a two-edged sword and a minute of Divinity. To perdition with
+     them all.
+
+     "I shall come back, if at all, a new man. I have a new cult to
+     teach, a new enthusiasm. I feel years younger, a man again. My
+     first visit will be to you. I must tell you all about God's land,
+     this marvellous virgin country, with its silent forests and
+     dazzling peaks. I make no apology for not being with you now. You
+     love Ennison. Believe me, the bitterness of it has almost
+     departed, crushed out of me together with much of the weariness
+     and sorrow I brought with me here by the nameless glory of these
+     lonely months. Yet I shall think of you to-day. I pray, Anna,
+     that you may find your happiness.
+
+               "Your friend,
+                    "DAVID COURTLAW."
+
+     "P.S.--I do not congratulate you on your success. I was certain
+     of it. I am glad or sorry according as it has brought you
+     happiness."
+
+Anna's eyes were a little dim as she poured out her coffee, and the
+laugh she attempted was not altogether a success.
+
+"This is all very well," she said, "but two out of the three are rank
+deserters--and if the papers tell the truth the third is as bad. I
+believe I am doomed to be an old maid."
+
+She finished her breakfast and strolled out across the garden with the
+letters still in her hand. Beyond was a field sloping steeply upwards,
+and at the top a small pine plantation. She climbed slowly towards it,
+keeping close to the hedge side, fragrant with wild roses, and holding
+her skirts high above the dew-laden grass. Arrived in the plantation
+she sat down with her back against a tree trunk.
+
+Already the warm sun was drawing from the pines their delicious odour.
+Below her stretched a valley of rich meadowland, of yellow cornfields,
+and beyond moorland hillside glorious with purple heather and golden
+gorse. She tried to compose her thoughts, to think of the last six
+months, to steep herself in the calm beauty of the surroundings. And
+she found herself able to do nothing of the sort. A new restlessness
+seemed to have stolen in upon her. She started at the falling of a
+leaf, at the lumbering of a cow through the hedge. Her heart was
+beating with quite unaccustomed vigour, her hands were hot, she was
+conscious of a warmth in her blood which the summer sunshine was
+scarcely responsible for. She struggled against it quite uselessly.
+She knew very well that a new thing was stirring in her. The period
+of repression was over. It is foolish, she murmured to herself,
+foolish. He will not come. He cannot.
+
+And then all her restlessness was turned to joy. She sprang to her
+feet and stood listening with parted lips and eager eyes. So he found
+her when he came round the corner of the spinney.
+
+"Anna," he cried eagerly.
+
+She held out her arms to him and smiled.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"And where," he asked, "are my rivals?"
+
+"Deserters," she answered, laughing. "It is you alone, Nigel, who have
+saved me from being an old maid. Here are their letters."
+
+He took them from her and read them. When he came to a certain
+sentence in Brendon's letter he stopped short and looked up at her.
+
+"So Brendon and I," he said, "have been troubled with the same fears.
+I too, Anna, have watched and read of your success with--I must
+confess it--some misgiving."
+
+"Please tell me why?" she asked.
+
+"Do you need me to tell you? You have tasted the luxury of power. You
+have made your public, you are already a personage. And I want you for
+myself--for my wife."
+
+She took his hand and smiled upon him.
+
+"Don't you understand, Nigel," she said softly, "that it was precisely
+for this I have worked so hard. It is just the aim I have had in view
+all the time. I wanted to have something to give up. I did not
+care--no woman really cares--to play the beggar maid to your King
+Cophetua."
+
+"Then you will really give it all up!" he exclaimed.
+
+She laughed.
+
+"When we go indoors I will show you the offers I have refused," she
+answered. "They have all been trying to turn my head. I think that
+nearly every manager in London has made me an offer. My reply to all
+of them has been the same. My engagement at the 'Garrick' terminates
+Saturday week, and then I am free."
+
+"You will make me horribly conceited," he answered. "I think that I
+shall be the most unpopular man in London. You are not playing
+to-night, are you?"
+
+"Not to-night," she answered. "I am giving my understudy a chance. I
+am going up to dine with my sister."
+
+"Annabel is a prophetess," he declared. "I too am asked."
+
+"It is a conspiracy," she exclaimed. "Come, we must go home and have
+some luncheon. My little maidservant will think that I am lost."
+
+They clambered down the hill together. The air was sweet with the
+perfume of flowers, and the melody of murmuring insects, the blue sky
+was cloudless, the heat of the sun was tempered by the heather-scented
+west wind. Ennison paused by the little gate.
+
+"I think," he said, "that you have found the real home of the
+lotus-eaters. Here one might live the life of golden days."
+
+She shook her head gently.
+
+"Neither you nor I, Nigel, are made of such stuff," she answered.
+"These are the playgrounds of life. The great heart of the world beats
+only where men and women are gathered together. You have your work
+before you, and I----"
+
+He kissed her on the lips.
+
+"I believe," he said, "that you mean me to be Prime Minister."
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
+
+Typesetting and editing of the original book from which this e-text
+has been transcribed was inconsistent. In addition to minor changes in
+punctuation, the theater in London in which the main character was a
+singer was referred to as the 'Unusual' and as the 'Universal'; this
+has been changed to refer to the theater consistently as the
+'Unusual'. Additionally, Russell Square, the area in London where the
+main character resided was referred to twice as Russell Street; this
+has been changed to be consistent throughout this etext. Otherwise,
+every effort has been made to remain true to the author's words and
+intent.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Anna the Adventuress, by E. Phillips Oppenheim
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