It is true that Evangeline exhibited emotions of distress and confusion, but he detected in her conduct no sign of guilt, nothing by which he could presume her to have been a participator in the scene he believed himself to have disturbed, if even she were a confidante; but Helen, by her manner, challenged his suspicions, and, as it appeared to him, laughed them to scorn; yet in doing so, gave him reason to form a conviction that they were well grounded. He set his teeth, and felt the blood mount to his sallow features. It was but for a moment, and he became as pale as before, but he determined to apply himself to the task of making himself master of Helen’s secret, and by its possession master of her, to be used as his own selfish interests might dictate. He related to his marvelling auditors how he had escaped from the dining room to allay the heat of his fevered blood in the cool air which had been playing among the fragrant flower-beds, and sighing through the graceful trees in the elegantly arranged garden. For the sake of effect, the speaker adopted a poetical style of narration, not without success upon the majority of his listeners. The lip of Helen curled; to her the chosen language was another proof of this man’s art, and she scarcely attempted to disguise from him that such was her impression. A sense of her estimate of his display, added only to the intensity of his resolve to obtain entire power over her, that he might make her endure tenfold the annoyance--it was something more--which she made him suffer now. He could not quite comprehend why they so suddenly stood in an antagonistic position to each other. It was enough for him that they did so, and that he believed that he should be able to avenge himself upon one who viewed him in a light insulting to his vanity. Proceeding with his tale, he said that, as he slowly paced the gravelled walk in the broad moonlight, he fancied that he heard the murmur of voices in a retired part of the garden; low and subdued, in truth, but still he was struck by the peculiarity of the sound, which was that of two persons in secret conference. He gained the spot from whence it appeared to come, and found himself fronting a small cluster of trees, into which he directed his gaze; but, not observing any figure or sign of a human being, he assured himself that he had been deceived, that he had mistaken the soft bubbling of the flowing waters beyond for tones of the human voice. He continued his walk; but he had not proceeded far ere the sounds which had previously attracted his attention were renewed. The position he had gained enabled him to command a view of the thicket. He fixed his deep, dark eyes upon Helen as he arrived at this part of his narrative, but her eyelid never wavered, nor did her face undergo any change.