"No," I promised. "I will not. To me, Lolita, you are innocent, pure and good, just as when we were boy and girl together." And again I placed her finger-tips to my lips as seal of my allegiance to the one woman who was all the world to me. At that instant there came a tap at the door, and I was compelled to drop her hand instantly. Slater, the aged, white-whiskered butler, opened the door, saying in his squeaky voice-- "His lordship would like to see you, m'lady, in the library before sending a telegram--at once, if convenient." "I'll be there in a moment," she answered, without turning towards the man to reveal her face. Then, when Slater had gone, she rushed to the small mirror and with her handkerchief quickly removed all traces of her tears. "George is worrying about Marigold being alone at Aix-les-Bains," she remarked. "I'm rather surprised he let her go. If I were a man with a young and pretty wife, I shouldn't let her far out of my sight. But Marigold, I suppose, isn't an ordinary woman." Her last sentence was indeed correct. All the world knew that the young Countess of Stanchester was the gayest and giddiest of the ultra-smart set in which she moved, and that after two years of marriage she had developed into one of the most popular and unconventional Society hostesses. The young Earl was not exactly happy--that I knew--and Lolita was usually his adviser regarding his purely domestic affairs. Therefore, as she hurriedly put the finishing-touches to her countenance with that dexterity which a woman only possesses, she turned to me and again grasped my hand, saying-- "What I have said to-night, Willoughby, you will regard as strictly confidential. Act as I have suggested, and," she added with a catch in her voice, "remember that you alone stand between myself--and death?" "I promise," I said. And opening the door, I bowed before her as she swept out, her silks swishing down the long corridor. I closed the door again and flung myself back into my chair, utterly mystified by those fateful words. She had a secret, one that she was prepared to keep even at cost of her own life. To me, although she had not admitted that she reciprocated my love, she had entrusted her life. Yes. I would force the mysterious Frenchwoman into confession, whoever she was. The thought of my love's peril roused me to action, and I seated myself at my table and set to work clearing off those letters that lay heaped up unanswered. The clock on the stables had chimed midnight before I threw down my pen, locked my drawers, and slipping on my overcoat strolled through the silent house along to the great hall, where a footman in the bright blue and gold Stanchester livery let me out into the still, balmy night.