And she laughed scornfully, without concluding her sentence. "And the other girls were jealous of you--eh?" She laughed. "I suppose they were," she answered. "Was this man--Hibbert was his name?--an experienced shop-walker?" "I think so," she replied. "But he was disliked on account of his harshness and his constant fining of everybody." "Except you." "Yes," she laughed. "I generally managed to escape." She noticed the hard look in my face, as I pondered over the strange fact. That this man who was such an intimate acquaintance of Aline's was actually shop-walker where Muriel was employed added to the mystery considerably, rather than decreasing it. "Why need we discuss him now?" she asked. "It is all over." "But your acquaintance with this man who has evidently striven to win your love must still continue if you remain where you are," I said in a tone of annoyance. "No," she replied. "It is already at an end." "But he's your shop-walker. If you have refused to go out with him, in future he'll undoubtedly vent his spiteful wrath upon you." "Oh no, he won't," she laughed. "Why?" "Because he has left." "Left!" I echoed. "Of course you know where he is?" "No, I don't," she replied. "He annoyed me in business by speaking harshly to me before a customer, and I told him plainly that I would never again go out in his company. He apologised, but I was obdurate, and I have never seen him since. He went away that night, and has not returned. His place was filled up to-day. At first it was thought that he might have stolen something; but nothing has been missed, and now his sudden departure is believed to be due to his natural impetuousness and eccentricity." "Then it would seem that owing to a disagreement with you he left his employment. That's really very remarkable!" I said. "Yes. Everybody thinks it strange, but, of course, they don't know that we quarrelled." "And you swear to me that you have never loved him, Muriel?" I asked, looking straight into her upturned face. "I swear to you, Clifton," she answered. "I swear that he has never once kissed me, nor has he uttered a word of affection. We were merely friends." "Then that makes the aspect of affairs even more puzzling," I observed. "That he had some motive for leaving secretly there is no doubt. What, I wonder, could it have been?" "I don't know, and it really doesn't trouble me," she replied. "I was exceedingly glad when he went, and now am doubly glad that I came and sought your forgiveness." "And I too, dearest," I said, holding her hand tenderly in mine. "But, truth to tell, I have no confidence in that man. There was something about him that I didn't like, and this latest move has increased my suspicion." "What suspicion?" "That his intentions were not honest ones!" I answered. "Why, Clifton," she cried, "what an absurd fancy! Do you think that because I broke off his acquaintance, he intends to murder me?"