CHAPTER III.
THE PITCHER GOES TO THE WELL.
Dorothy and I went to the inn parlors, where I received a cordial welcome from my cousin, Lady Crawford.

After our greeting, Dorothy came toward me leading the fair, pale girl whom I had seen in the courtyard.
"Madge, this is my cousin, Malcolm Vernon," said Dorothy.

"He was a dear friend of my childhood and is much beloved by my father.

Lady Magdalene Stanley, cousin," and she placed the girl's soft white hand in mine.

There was a peculiar hesitancy in the girl's manner which puzzled me.