But why was she masquerading so cleverly? For what reason had old Courtenay contrived to efface his identity so thoroughly? As I looked at her, mourning for a man who was alive and well, I utterly failed to comprehend one single fact of the astounding affair. It staggered belief! "Let me speak candidly to you, Ralph," she said, after we had been discussing Ethelwynn for some little time. "As you may readily imagine, I have my sister's welfare very much at heart, and my only desire is to see her happy and comfortable, instead of pining in melancholy as she now is. I ask you frankly, have you quarrelled?" "No, we have not," I answered promptly. "Then if you have not, your neglect is all the more remarkable," she said. "Forgive me for speaking like this, but our intimate acquaintanceship in the past gives me a kind of prerogative to speak my mind. You won't be offended, will you?" she asked, with one of those sweet smiles of hers that I knew so well. "Offended? Certainly not, Mrs. Courtenay. We are too old friends for that." "Then take my advice and see Ethelwynn again," she urged. "I know how she adores you; I know how your coldness has crushed all the life out of her. She hides her secret from mother, and for that reason will not come down to Neneford. See her, and return to her; for it is a thousand pities that two lives should be wrecked so completely by some little misunderstanding which will probably be explained away in a dozen words. You may consider this appeal an extraordinary one, made by one sister on behalf of another, but when I tell you that I have not consulted Ethelwynn, nor does she know that I am here on her behalf, you will readily understand that I have both your interests equally at heart. To me it seems a grievous thing that you should be placed apart in this manner; that the strong love you bear each other should be crushed, and your future happiness be sacrificed. Tell me plainly," she asked in earnestness. "You love her still--don't you?" "I do," was my frank, outspoken answer, and it was the honest truth. CHAPTER XXII. A MESSAGE. The pretty woman in her widow's weeds stirred slightly and settled her skirts, as though my answer had given her the greatest satisfaction. "Then take my advice, Ralph," she went on. "See her again before it is too late." "You refer to her fresh lover--eh?" I inquired bitterly. "Her fresh lover?" she cried in surprise. "I don't understand you. Who is he, pray?" "I'm in ignorance of his name." "But how do you know of his existence? I have heard nothing of him, and surely she would have told me. All her correspondence, all her poignant grief, and all her regrets have been of you." "Mrs. Henniker gave me to understand that my place in your sister's heart has been filled by another man," I said, in a hard voice.