cattle; but he almost begrudged the time, so anxious was he to begin
his suit. But his plan had been laid out and he would follow it. 'I
think I shall be back by three o'clock,' he said to Clara, 'and then
we'll have our walk.'

'I'll be ready; and you can call for me at Mr Askerton's. I must go
down there, and it will save you something in your walk to pick me up
at the cottage.' And so the arrangements for the day were made.

Clara had promised that she would soon call at the cottage, and was,
indeed, rather anxious to see Mrs Askerton on her own account. What she
had heard from her cousin as to a certain Miss Vigo of old days had
interested her, and also what she had heard of a certain Mr Berdmore.
It had been evident to her that her cousin had thought little about it.
The likeness of the lady he then saw to the lady he had before known.
had at first struck him; but when he found that the two ladies were not
represented by one and the same person, he was satisfied, and there was
an end of the matter for him. But it was not so with Clara. Her
feminine mind dwelt on the matter with more earnestness than he had
cared to entertain, and her clearer intellect saw possibilities which
did not occur to him. But it was not till she found herself walking
across the park to the cottage that she remembered that any inquiries
as to her past life might be disagreeable to Mrs Askerton. She had
thought of asking her friend plainly whether the names of Vigo and
Berdmore had ever been familiar to her; but she reminded herself that
there had been rumours afloat, and that there might be a mystery. Mrs
Askerton would sometimes talk of her early life; but she would do this
with dreamy, indistinct language, speaking of the sorrows of her
girlhood, but not specifying their exact nature, seldom mentioning any
names, and never referring with clear personality to those who had been