"I think that if Miss Nowell had really loved you, she would never have
taken this step. I think that she must have left Lidford in order to
escape from her engagement, perhaps expecting your early return. I
believe your pursuit of her can only end in failure and disappointment;
and although I am ready to assist you in any manner you wish, I warn you
against sacrificing your life to a delusion."

"It is not under the delusion that Marian Nowell loves me that I am going
to search for her," Gilbert Fenton said slowly, after an interval of
silence. "I am not so weak as to believe _that_ after what has happened,
though I have tried to argue with myself, only this afternoon, that she
may still be true to me and that there may have been some hidden reason
for her conduct. Granted that she wished to escape from her engagement,
she might have trusted to my honour to give her a prompt release the
moment I became acquainted with the real state of her feelings. There
must have been some stronger influence than this at work when she left
Lidford. I want to know the true cause of that hurried departure, John. I
want to be sure that Marian Nowell is happy, and in safe hands."

"By what means do you hope to discover this?"

"I rely a good deal upon repeated advertisements in the _Times_. They may
bring me tidings of Marian--if not directly, from some person who has
seen her since she left Lidford."

"If she really wished to hide herself from you, she would most likely
change her name."

"Why should she wish to hide herself from me? She must know that she