"But this is not a safe place to discuss matters of vital interest to us both--matters which involve life and death.

I trust to clear up the mystery one of these days, and for that purpose I am here.

But tell me: how did Moncton receive this woman--this Dinah North ?" I related the scene.

When I repeated the contents of the note, his calm face crimsoned with passion, his eyes flashed, and his lips quivered with indignation.
"Yes, I thought it would come to that; unhappy, miserable Alice! how could you bestow the affections of a warm, true heart on a despicable wretch like Theophilus Moncton.

The old fiend's ambition and this fatal passion have been your ruin." For some time he remained with his face bowed upon his hands.