"Hush--hush!" he said soothingly; "I would not have called you that if I could have helped it; but you would not hear me. Let us go down that little path; there is a seat there, and we will talk this out quietly;" and taking her arm, he gently guided her to the bench. "Sit down and recover yourself," he continued kindly; for she was drawing deep breaths as though she were on the verge of an hysterical attack. Malcolm felt secretly frightened at the result of his experiment. It was clear to him that the mere utterance of her married name almost maddened her--that for some occult reason it was not safe to use it. Up to this moment she had played her cards well: she had guessed his errand and had evaded and kept him at bay--first by pretended ignorance, and next by refusing to discuss the engagement with him. That he was Miss Templeton's mouthpiece and messenger mattered little or nothing to her. No wonder Malcolm found himself nonplussed. A moment later he heard his name called. Leah's manner had changed; she was still very pale, but she had regained outward calmness. "I will hear you now," she said in a low voice; "but you must be more careful--if you mention that name again I must leave you. What is the message you have for me from Miss Templeton?" "You shall know directly; but there is one thing I must say first. Miss Templeton and her sister are fully acquainted with your past life--your parentage, your brother's occupations, and above all, the fact that you have only recently become a widow--hardly more than six or seven weeks ago." He was standing before her as he spoke, and she tried to look at him; but some sudden sense of womanly shame made her cover her face with her hands. "It was not my fault," she almost whispered; "I am not good, but I am not so bad as that. Saul said it did not matter; and after that, when I began to get uncomfortable, he told me a lie." "You mean that he told you that your husband was dead?" Leah shivered, and bowed her head in assent. Then as she saw Malcolm's kind and pitying look, she continued in a low, constrained voice, as though something compelled her to speak--"It was not all Saul's fault. I ought not to have believed him, for he does not always tell the truth. After a time I found out that it was a lie, and then it was too late--Cedric knew I cared for him." "You really care for him?" Malcolm was not aware how gently he spoke, but his tone thrilled through Leah; her manner softened still more, and her dark, unfathomable eyes were full of womanly tenderness. "Is that such a strange thing?" she asked in a dreary tone. "Could not any woman love him?--so young, so fresh, so true--so different from any one I have ever met in my unhappy life! What does it matter that I am older--what has age to do with it, when two people care for each other!" "Ah, I will grant you that," returned Malcolm slowly.