Paul Desfrayne could scarcely credit his ears. He had congratulated himself on the hope of escape, and now it seemed he would be driven to walk into the very jaws of danger. “Did I understand you to say that Miss Turquand has gone to visit Flore Hall?” he asked of Frank Amberley. “Certainly.” Paul had the greatest difficulty in restraining himself from demanding how long she would be likely to stay there. He felt much like one of those unhappy criminals who have been immured in a dungeon, the walls of which slowly close in and crush them. Like one in a painful dream, he listened as affairs were laid before him, and dry, legal questions raised and discussed. Every moment he resolved to plainly tell these calm, legal gentlemen how he was situated, or else to distinctly give them to understand that he would not undertake the responsibility. Perhaps he was chiefly deterred by a vague feeling that he might place himself in a ridiculous position. It was one thing to kneel, as it were, at the feet of a mother, who might display either anger or sympathy, but would certainly be able to comprehend his wild story; but quite another to unveil his heart-secrets to the cool, critical eyes of those hard-headed, tranquil men of the law. The partners, observing his wearied air, his total lack of interest, his abstracted replies, settled each mentally that Captain Desfrayne was not much of a man of business. Frank Amberley alone watched him narrowly. “He is not mercenary, that is clear,” Mr. Amberley thought. “What are his secret motives or reasons for such strange behavior?” The interview ended, and Paul Desfrayne had made no sign, save of acquiescence. Papers, memoranda of various kinds, deeds, leases, and other dry reading had been gone through, only bringing to him a bad headache. At last he found himself in Frank Amberley’s private room, and free to confide as much or as little as he pleased to the man who was his secret rival. “You wished to consult me on important business, I believe?” Mr. Amberley said, when they were alone. “I did, if you will be kind enough to listen to me.” There was a long and painful pause. Frank Amberley had a presentiment that Captain Desfrayne was about to give him some clue to his reasons for shunning Lois Turquand. He did not utter a word, but began to sort some papers, to leave his visitor free to collect his thoughts. “The fact is,” Captain Desfrayne began slowly, “I am placed in a most embarrassing situation. I find myself bound, in a measure, to make love to a young, beautiful, and wealthy lady, and bribed magnificently to try and win her, involving her in pecuniary loss if I fail to gain her hand and heart, when----” “You speak as if something interfered to hinder you from carrying out the agreeable wishes of the late Mr. Vere Gardiner.” “The strongest possible reason hinders me.” “You would not allude to a hindrance were it not your intention to enlighten me.”