Between them they polished the riddle; but by the time it was done the Home Secretary had begun to find Meadows's little wife, whose existence he had not noticed hitherto, more agreeable than Lady Dunstable's table with its racked countenances, and its too ample supply of pencils and paper.

A deadly crime! When Lady Dunstable, on the stroke of midnight, swept through the rooms to gather her guests for bed, she cast a withering glance on Doris and her companion.
"So you despised our little amusements ?" she said, as she handed Mrs.
Meadows her candle.
"I wasn't worthy of them," smiled Doris, in reply.
* * * * * "Well, I call that a delightful visit!" said Meadows as the train next morning pulled out of the Crosby Ledgers station for London.

"I feel freshened up all over." Doris looked at him with rather mocking eyes, but said nothing.

She fully recognised, however, that Arthur would have been an ungrateful wretch if he had not enjoyed it.

Lady Dunstable had been, so to speak, at his feet, and all her little court had taken their cue from her.