He reached up, and drew her down on the arm of his chair. "And have you no other reason, my dear?" he asked. "No!" with a shake of her pretty head.--"No other reason." He looked at her thoughtfully. "What were you and Sir Edward--I call him that for want of a better name--talking about last night--out yonder in the moonlight?" he asked. [Illustration: "WHAT WERE YOU AND SIR EDWARD TALKING ABOUT LAST NIGHT?" HE ASKED.] She laughed, a little guiltily--watching his face the while. "He was making love to me," she replied--"he does it very well, indeed, sir." "So it would seem," said the Governor--"so well, indeed, that you sought at once to regain the Catherwood letter, but, thinking that I had retired, came back the first thing, this morning." She flushed, and her eyes went toward the window. "Just so!" he said. "I was sitting there, and saw it all--saw you leave, heard you come to my door and listen, saw you return, a moment, to him--and, now, you come again--and it is for the letter. You know that he is not Parkington, that he is an impostor--consequently, he must have told you something which explains. What was it?" "He acknowledged that he was not Parkington; that he----" "I told you, specifically, not to mention the letter to him!" said the Governor. "And I obeyed you," she answered. "Not until he had, voluntarily and of his own free will, confessed, did I refer to the letter." The Governor beat a tattoo on the table with his finger-tips. "Who does he say he is?" he asked, presently. She told him. "Huh! Doncaster's son, is he! How does he explain the letters, and the impersonation?" She told him. When she had finished, he sat silent, pulling at his chin. "Do you think him serious in his love-making?" he asked. "He did me the honor to propose," she said. "Hum!--And do you--care for him?" "As much as I shall ever care for any man," she answered (thinking of Maynadier). "Furthermore, it would be an excellent match for me." "An excellent match, if he speaks truly. There are none better, in all England, than the De Lysles." "He offered to wait, until we got to England, for the wedding." "Hum--that makes something for sincerity, at least.--So, you wish to marry him, my dear?" "I think I do," she said--"that is, if he is a De Lysle." He shook his head, sadly. "I am sorry, Martha, to have to injure your prospects, but I must act as the Governor, and it is his duty to call him to account. He has misused the proprietor's letters, and our hospitality." "But you gave me the letter," she expostulated. "What other proof have you that he is an impostor?" "I gave you the letter to relieve you of all participation," the Colonel said. "I do not need it. I have abundant evidence without it, and there may be more, besides." She gave a little gasp, and sat up. "Then I can do nothing?" she asked.