was to him an object of dread rather than a romance. So far as he could
judge, his brother had no intention of routing him; but a woman in the
field would be different, and he should at once lose his vantage-ground.

'You seem to be very fond of Gretchen,' he said, at last.

'Fond!' Arthur replied, 'I should say I am, though the poor child has
not much cause to think so. But I am going to atone, and this suite of
rooms is for her. I mean to make her a very queen, and dress her in
satin and diamonds every day. She has the diamonds. I sent them to her
when I wrote to her to join me in Liverpool.'

'And she did join you, I suppose?' Frank said, determined by adroit
questioning to learn something of the mysterious Gretchen.

'Yes, she joined me,' was the reply.

'Was she very seasick?' Frank continued.

'Not a minute. She sat by me all the time while I lay in my berth, but
she would not let me hold her hand, and if I tried to touch even her
hair, she always moved away to the other side of the state-room, where
she sat looking at me reproachfully with those soft blue eyes of hers.'

'And she was with you at the Brevoort in New York!' Frank said.

'Yes, with me at Brevoort.'

'And in the train?'