a long breath and shuddered.

"You mean--"

"Men, when they're down as low as my master, they do rash things
sometimes, my lady," said Fleming, in a solemn whisper.

Lady Eleanor's face went white, and she put her hand to her delicate
throat as if she were suffocating.

"You--you should not say--hint--at such terrible things, Fleming," she
panted.

"I--I beg your ladyship's pardon," he said, humbly, "but it's the truth
and--and I thought I ought to tell you, being his lordship's friend."

"Yes--yes, I am his friend," she said, as if she scarcely knew what she
was saying. "And I will try to help him."

Fleming's face brightened.

"Oh, my lady!" he said, gratefully.

"Stop!" she said. "Your master, Lord Yorke, must not know;" and her
face grew crimson again.

"Oh, no, no, my lady! Certainly not! Why, if his lordship ever knew
that I'dabout it, but the person who
seems the principal in this set upon his lordship is a man named
Duncombe--a money-lender, I expect. They take all sorts of names. I
wish I had him to myself for a quarter of an hour. I'd teach him to put
a man in possession--begging your ladyship's pardon," he broke off.

Lady Eleanor's face reddened, and she glanced toward the screen.

"You had better go back now, Fleming," she said, "and--and don't leave
Lord Auchester more than you can help. And, remember, not one word that
might lead him to guess that you have been to me."

"You may be sure I shall be careful for my own sake, my lady," said
Fleming, with quiet emphasis; and, with a bow in which gratitude and
respect were fairly divided, he left the room.

Ralph Duncombe