They were standing face to face, Sir Allan Beaumerville, the distinguished baronet, who had added to the dignity of an ancient family and vast wealth, a great reputation as a savant and a _dilettante_ physician, and Mr. Bernard Maddison, whose name alone was sufficient to bespeak his greatness. In Sir Allan's quiet, courteous look, there was a slightly puzzled air as though there were something in the other's face which he only half remembered. In Mr. Maddison's fixed gaze there was a far greater intensity--something even of anxiety. "Surely we have met before, Mr. Maddison," the baronet said easily. "Your face seems quite familiar to me. Ah! I remember now, it was near that place of Lord Lathon's, Mallory Grange, upon the coast. A terrible affair, that." "Yes, a terrible affair," Mr. Maddison repeated. "And have you just come from ----shire?" Sir Allan asked. "No; I have been abroad for several months," Mr. Maddison answered. "Abroad!" Sir Allan appeared a little more interested. "In what part?" he asked civilly. "I have been in Spain, and the south of France, across the Hartz mountains, and through the Black Forest." "Not in Italy?" Sir Allan inquired. There was a short silence, and Sir Allan seemed really anxious for the reply. It came at last. "No; not in Italy." Sir Allan seemed positively pleased to think that Mr. Maddison had not extended his travels to Italy. There was a quiet gleam in his eyes which seemed almost like relief. Doubtless he had his reasons, but they were a little obscure. "Ah! Shall you call upon me while you are in town, Mr. Maddison?" he asked, in a tone from which all invitation was curiously lacking. "I think not," Mr. Maddison answered. "My stay here will be brief. I dislike London." Sir Allan laughed gently. "It is the only place in the world fit to live in," he answered. "My work and my tastes demand a quieter life," Mr. Maddison remarked. "You will go into the country then, I suppose." "That is my intention," was the quiet reply. "Back to the same neighborhood." "It is possible." Sir Allan looked searchingly into the other's calm, expressionless face. "I should have thought that the associations----"