"Or from the Professor himself," he suggested. I held my breath. What would he have said if I had told him the truth-- that the Professor was dead, and that a button from his overcoat had been lying among the ashes of the furnace? I glanced around the comfortable room where the fire glowed cheerfully and the electric lights were so cunningly shaded. The Professor was, among other things, a connoisseur of old silver, and upon the sideboard were a number of fine Georgian pieces, tankards, salvers, candelabra, salt-cellars, decanter stands, and other things, all of which I recognised as perfect specimens. My hand went to my jacket pocket, and I there felt the button. I withdrew my fingers in horror. We had decided to await the return of the Professor. Await his return! Surely we would have a long time to wait for his arrival? I was on my mettle. I alone knew the truth, and to conceal my secret knowledge from this shrewd and active young man would, I saw, be difficult. We seated ourselves beside the fire, and, having offered me a cigarette from his case, he began to endeavour to learn more about me. But at first I was very wary, and exercised caution in my replies. He apologised for mistaking me for an accomplice of thieves, whereat I laughed, saying: "When we meet the Professor he will perhaps tell you of our long friendship." "Curiously enough," he said, looking straight across at me, "I never recollect Ethelwynn speaking of you." "I knew very little of the young lady," I hastened to explain; "the Professor is my friend. He has, on several occasions, told me what a great help she was to him in his experiments." "She is his right hand," declared the young man. "Her knowledge of certain branches of chemistry is, perhaps, unequalled in a woman." "And yet she is delightful and charming, and nothing of a blue-stocking, I understand," I remarked. He smiled, for was he not the happy lover! Ah! what an awakening must be his ere long! But we gossiped on. His face, however, betrayed a great anxiety, and time after time he expressed wonder why Ethelwynn had not remained at home to keep the appointment, or left him some message. Indeed, we searched both her boudoir and her bedroom to find his telegram, but all in vain. Then again we returned to the dining-room. "I suppose you've known the Professor for some years," I remarked, hoping that he would tell me the story of their acquaintance.