Produced by Charles Bowen from page scans provided by the Web Archive A SECRET OF THE SEA. Transcriber's Notes (Volume 2): 1. Page scan source: Web Archive https://archive.org/details/secretofseanovel02spei (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) A SECRET OF THE SEA. A Novel. By T. W. SPEIGHT, AUTHOR OF "IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT," "UNDER LOCK AND KEY," ETC., ETC. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. II. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON. 1876. (_All Rights Reserved_.) CONTENTS OF VOL. II. CHAPTER I. MIRIAM BYRNE. II. FLOATING WITH THE STREAM. III. A QUIET CUP OF TEA. IV. FASCINATION. V. EASTER HOLIDAYS. VI. A SECRET OF THE SEA. VII. POD'S REVELATION. VIII. A GLASS OF BURGUNDY. IX. THE STORY OF THE WRECK. X. GERALD'S CONFESSION. XI. KELVIN'S ILLNESS. XII. RECOGNITION. A SECRET OF THE SEA. CHAPTER I. MIRIAM BYRNE. It was nearly dusk on the eighth day after Peter Byrne and his daughter had got settled in their new rooms, when Gerald Warburton knocked at the door of Max Van Duren's house. "Is my father at home?" asked Gerald of the middle-aged woman who answered his summons. "If you are Mr. Byrne's son, I was told to send you upstairs when you called," answered the woman. "The first floor, please--door with the brass handle." It was at Byrne's request that Gerald agreed to pass as his son on the occasion of any visits which he might have to make to Van Duren's house. Gerald could see no reason for the assumption of such a relationship, but in the belief that Byrne might have some special motive in the matter, he acceded without difficulty. Up the stairs he now went, and knocked at the door indicated by the woman. "Come in," cried a voice, and in he went. He paused for a moment or two just inside the room, and shut the door slowly after him while his eyes took in the various features of the scene.