You can save me, as you can lose me. If you lose

me, you 11 be a coward. And if you say a word against

me, I shall be lost."

" Go and dress for dinner, that *s your salvation,"

Littlemore answered, separating from her at the head

of the stairs.
IX.
It was very well for him to take that tone ; but he
felt as he walked home that he should scarcely know
what to say to people who were determined, as Mrs.
Headway put it, to catch him. She had worked a
certain spell ; she had succeeded in making him feel
responsible. The sight of her success, however,
rather hardened his heart ; he was irritated by her
ascending movement. He dined alone that evening,
while his sister and her husband, who had engage-
ments every day for a month, partook of their repast
at the expense of some friends. Mrs. Dolphin, how-
ever, came home rather early, and immediately sought
admittance to the small apartment at the foot of the
staircase, which was already spoken of as Littlemore's
den. Eeginald had gone to a " squash " somewhere,
and she had returned without delay, having some-
thing particular to say to her brother. She was too
impatient even to wait till the next morning. She



116 THE SIEGE OP LONDON.
