John Musgrave, meanwhile, was going his usual nightly round of the house; which, perforce, was later than he was in the habit of making it, because the ladies did not retire, as he did when alone, at ten o'clock. He carefully examined all the gas-jets to satisfy himself that these were safely turned off. He inspected the bars and locks of doors and windows, not because he feared burglars, who were a class unknown in Moresby, but because he had always seen to the securing of his house, as his father had done before him. He placed a guard before the drawing-room fire, and examined the kitchen range to assure himself that Martha had not left too large a fire for safety--which Martha never by any chance did. John Musgrave did not expect to find any of these matters overlooked; but he enjoyed presumably satisfying himself that his instructions were faithfully observed. Then he turned off the light in the hall, and quietly mounted the stairs. Belle, stepping forth from Mrs Chadwick's room at the moment, with her beautiful hair falling over her shoulders, met him on the landing. He appeared slightly taken aback; and she felt instinctively that he was on the verge of apologising for surprising her in this becoming deshabille. She forestalled the apology by catching him by the lapels of his coat and kissing him in her impulsive, affectionate way. "You old dear!" she said softly. "I thought you were in bed," Mr Musgrave said, feeling, without understanding why, that the touch of Belle's soft cheek was very agreeable, that the sight of a woman standing in the dim light of the landing was pleasing, particularly with her hair streaming over her blue _peignoir_. It was, of course, because the woman was Belle, and that therefore it was natural that she should be standing there, that he found the picture attractive. He experienced a twinge of regret at the thought that she would go away and leave him to his solitude shortly. When he came upstairs after she had left him, he would recall the sight of her standing there, smiling at him; and the big landing would seem doubly solitary. "I've been gossiping," she explained. He looked surprised. It baffled him to understand what she found to talk about, considering she had done nothing else all day. "More schemes?" he said. "Yes," she answered, and laughed unexpectedly. If only John guessed what the latest scheme was! Had she allowed him a hundred guesses she believed he would never have arrived at the right one. "I hope you won't take up schemes, Belle," he said, with a faint uneasiness in his voice. He looked at her wistfully. "You are too nice to be caught with fads, my dear." She pulled his face down to hers and kissed him on the lips. "I'm too lazy," she said, "and have my hands too full to trouble myself about anything beyond my boys. But a childless woman, John, dear, has to mother something."