"Not half cured yet," said he to himself, "not half; and yet so savage at his slight, that she'd do him any bad turn on the spur of the moment, and repent of it instantly. She was telling truth about Prescott, I know; but it was best to break up that instantly. How lovely she looked! a little flushed, a little excited; but that only added to her charm. I didn't like that Madeira being so handy, by the way; I must look after that. By Jove, what a fairy it is! where's there one to compare to her? so round and plump and well put together! And if I can only square this family history--uncle, eh? who the deuce can that have been? That's an important link in the chain. And somebody she loves, too; what the deuce does that mean? Ah, well, it's coming to a head now: another month ought to enable me to pull up the curtain on the last act of the drama." And Kate returned to her garden-chair as the sound of the horse's hoofs died away in the distance; and throwing herself back, and drumming with her fingers upon the little table, went off into a reverie. She thought of her devotion to Beresford; how the passion had first grown when he first knew her; how she had given way to it; and how the nourishment of it was one of the brightest phases in her strange odd life. She remembered the first time she saw him, the first compliment he paid her; the way in which his easy jolly behaviour struck her as compared with the dreary vapidity, or, what was worse, the slangy fastness of the other men of her acquaintance. And then she thought of that eventful evening when she had knelt at his feet and--she dashed her clenched fist upon the table as she remembered that, and shuddered and bit her lips when she thought that a description of that scene had been given amid ribald shouts. Mr. Simnel had not so much share of her thoughts as probably he would have wished; but she pondered for a few moments on his eagerness to obtain particulars of her early life, and wondered what scheme he had in hand. She had a very high opinion of his intellect, and felt sure he was using it just then in her service; but she could not conceive to what end his labours were tending. And then she remembered what he had said about Mr. Prescott; and her face grew a little sad.