His companion not coming forward, the earl still holding Margery’s hand, looked around. “I have brought a friend home, darling. It is only a flying visit, as he is off to Australia; but I persuaded him to come for a few days. There will be a bond of friendship between you through poor Gerant. Crosbie, let me introduce you to the Countess of Court.” The stranger moved forward mechanically into the light. Margery’s hand grasped her husband’s. She raised her eyes, and, with a sudden agony of pain, saw her lover, Stuart, before her. She tried to offer her hand, but the effect was too much. A mist dimmed her vision, her brain reeled, and she fell to the ground, pale and unconscious, at her husband’s feet. Pauline rushed in as the bell rang loudly. She pushed aside the earl as, in terror and alarm, he knelt beside his wife, never noticing that Stuart Crosbie stood silent in the center of the room, his hand grasping a chair. “It is nothing!” cried the maid, raising Margery’s beautiful head. “Miladi will walk, and bring the fatigue. Miladi has been _désolée_ in milord’s absence and now it is the joy. See, she recovers, milord! Leave me with her alone. She will be well.” CHAPTER XXVI. At midnight, while the clouds were driven across the moon by the wind, Stuart Crosbie sat in his chamber at Court Manor, his arms folded, his head bent dejectedly upon his breast. He was stunned by the strange events of the past day. He could never tell how he had borne himself through the long evening, though every incident was graven on his heart forever. He could not grasp the meaning of what had taken place. He met the earl at his club, having a little time to spare before the vessel sailed, and he accepted Lord Court’s invitation with a vague feeling that he should escape the reproaches, mute and open, which otherwise he must hear in town. The earl had taken a sudden liking to the young man, and some rumor reaching his ears as to Stuart’s proposed voyage to Australia, he begged the nephew of his old friend to honor him with a short visit before his departure. So Stuart had assented, hardly heeding whither he went, his mind occupied with the task before him to find his cousin Margery; and in the twilight, with the firelight revealing her loveliness, he had, with a shock that stunned him, come suddenly face to face with the girl he sought, the girl he loved.