A gleam of good humour seemed to come with it, and he said, 'I was just thinking, Dorkie, that for you and me, _alone_, these great rooms are a little dreary. Suppose we have tea in the tapestry room.' 'The Dutch room, Stanley--I think so--I should like it very well. So, I am certain, would Rachel. I've written to her to come. I hope she will. I expect her at nine. The brougham will be with her. She wrote such an odd note to-day, addressed to you; but _I opened it_. Here it is.' She did not watch his countenance, or look in his direction, as he read it. She addressed herself, on the contrary, altogether to her Liliputian white lap-dog, Snow, and played with his silken ears; and chatted with him as ladies will. A sealed envelope broken. That scoundrel, Larcom, knew perfectly it was meant for _me_. He was on the point of speaking his mind, which would hardly have been pleasant to hear, upon this piece of detective impertinence of his wife's. He could have smashed all the glass upon the table. But he looked serene, and leaned back with the corner of Rachel's note between two fingers. It was a case in which he clearly saw he must command himself. CHAPTER LXIV. IN THE DUTCH ROOM. His heart misgave him. He felt that a crisis was coming; and he read-- 'I cannot tell you, my poor brother, how miserable I am. I have just learned that a very dangerous person has discovered more about that dreadful evening than we believed known to anybody in Gylingden. I am subjected to the most agonising suspicions and _insults_. Would to Heaven I were dead! But living, I cannot endure my present state of mind longer. To-morrow morning I will see Dorcas--poor Dorcas!--and tell her all. I am weary of urging you, _in vain_, to do so. It would have been much better. But although, after that interview, I shall, perhaps, never see her more, I shall yet be happier, and, I think, relieved from suspense, and the torments of mystery. So will she. At all events, it is her _right_ to know all--and she shall. 'YOUR OUTCAST AND MISERABLE SISTER.' On Stanley's lips his serene, unpleasant smile was gleaming, as he closed the note carelessly. He intended to speak, but his voice caught. He cleared it, and sipped a little claret. 'For a clever girl she certainly does write the most wonderful rubbish. Such an effusion! And she sends it tossing about, from hand to hand, among the servants. I've anticipated her, however, Dorkie.' And he took her hand and kissed it. 'She does not know I've told you _all_ myself.' Stanley went to the library, and Dorcas to the conservatory, neither very happy, each haunted by an evil augury, and a sense of coming danger. The deepening shadow warned Dorcas that it was time to repair to the Dutch room, where she found lights and tea prepared. In a few minutes more the library door opened and Stanley Lake peeped in.