Twice he paused and faced round, as though the place were new to him, and he wished to fix indelibly on his memory what could be seen in the dim light. Or was it that he now looked at the Park in a new aspect, from a new standpoint? Or was it that he wanted to gain time and composure before reaching the house? He could not have told himself why he stopped, in fact he was perfectly unconscious of having ceased to move forward; and although his eyes passed deliberately from tree to tree, and seemed to be dissatisfied with the want of light, he was not aware his thought was occupied with the scene. The pause in his walk indicated merely a pause in his thought. While he moved towards the house he had but one idea. "I must marry, and I must marry this girl. Nothing else can save me." With this thought beating through his brain he shook himself, straightened his figure, and collected his faculties for meeting the servants and formally ascertaining his wife had left the house and taken passage in the ill-fated _Rodwell_. With a steady stride, and head erect, he walked up to the front door and into the hall. He looked round hastily, and then asked: "James, where is your mistress?" The man blinked in surprise at seeing his master and being asked such a question. Mrs. Grey had told the servants that morning she and Mr. Grey were going to Seacliff that evening, and now here was his master come back alone, and asking in a startling manner where the mistress was. He had better be guarded in his reply. "I don't know, sir," was his answer. "Is she in the house, James?" "No, sir." "Are you quite sure?" "Quite sure." "When did she go out?" "I did not see her go out, sir; but at luncheon she said she was going out, and I have not seen her since." "Did she say where she was going?" "Yes, sir. She said if anyone called I was to tell them she had gone to Seacliff with you this evening." "Are you quite sure of all this?" "Quite sure, sir. The cook was in the dining-room at the time, and heard the mistress tell me. Mistress had the cook up to give her orders about to-morrow." "James, you will never see your poor mistress again. The _Rodwell_ blew up, and she was not among the saved."