"They did," said Kent. "They went to Europe, I believe. And by the way; I think I have a souvenir here somewhere. Will you go up to the first landing of the stair and point your finger at that window?" She did it, wondering; and when he had the line of direction he knelt in the cushioned window-seat and began to probe with the blade of his pen-knife in a small round hole in the woodwork. "What is it?" she asked, coming down to stand beside him. "This." He had cut out a flattened bullet and was holding it up for her to see. "It was meant for me, and I've always had an idea that I heard it strike the woodwork." "For you? Were you ever here when the house was occupied?" "Yes, once; it is the Senator Duvall place. This is the window where I broke in." She nodded intelligence. "I know now why you are going to buy it. The senator is another of those whom you haven't forgiven." His laugh was a ready denial. "I have nothing against Duvall. He was one of Bucks' dupes, and he is paying the price. The property is to be sold at a forced sale, and it is a good investment." "Is that all it means to you? It is too fine to be hawked about as a thing to make money with. It's a splendidly ideal home--leaving out that thing that Penelope is quarreling with." And she made a feint of stopping her ears. He laughed again. "Ormsby says I ought to buy it, and marry and settle down." She took him seriously. "You don't need it. Miss Van Brock has a very lovely home of her own," she said soberly. It was at his tongue's end to tell the woman he loved how the woman he did not love had refused him, but he saved himself on the brink and said: "Why Miss Van Brock?" "Because she is vindictive, too, and----" "But I am not vindictive." "Yes, you are. Do you know anything about Judge MacFarlane's family affairs?" "A little. He has three daughters; one of them rather unhappily married, I believe." "Have you considered the cost to these three women if you make their father's name a byword in the city where they were born?" "He should have considered it," was the unmoved reply. "David!" she said; and he looked up quickly. "You want me to let him resign? It would be compounding a felony. He is a Judge, and he was bribed." She sat down beside him in the cushioned window seat and began to plead with him. "You must let him go," she insisted. "It is entirely in your hands as chairman of the House committee; the governor, himself, told me so. I know all you say about him is true; but he is old and wretched, with only a little while to live, at best." There was a curious little smile curling his lip when he answered her. "He has chosen a good advocate. It is quite like a man of his stamp to try to reach me through you." "David!" she said again. Then: "I really shouldn't know him if I were to see him."