parasite within me would have dashed the stuff into
her---- Ah, it will not bear to be thought of! But it
must have been for that. Why else should I have
brought it? At the thought of what I might have done
my worn nerves broke down, and I sat shivering and
twitching, the pitiable wreck of a man.

It was the sound of Agatha's voice and the rustle of
her dress which restored me. I looked up, and saw her
blue eyes, so full of tenderness and pity, gazing down
at me.

"We must take you away to the country, Austin," she
said. "You want rest and quiet. You look wretchedly
ill."

"Oh, it is nothing!" said I, trying to smile. "It was
only a momentary weakness. I am all right again now."

"I am so sorry to keep you waiting. Poor boy, you must
have been here quite half an hour! The vicar was in
the drawing-room, and, as I knew that you did not care
for him, I thought it better that Jane should show you
up here. I thought the man would never go!"

"Thank God he stayed! Thank God he stayed!" I cried
hysterically.

"Why, what is the matter with you, Austin?" she asked,
holding my arm as I staggered up from the chair. "Why