it--unconsciously, however--when she stops before a tall,
soldierly-looking man, who, seeing her, comes to meet her with
evident pleasure.

"You look disturbed!" says Colonel Neilson.

He is, as I have said, a tall man, with a kindly face, and deep eyes
of a dark colour. There is nothing very special about him; he is
not, strictly speaking, handsome, yet he was, last season, one of
the most popular men in town.

"Yes, and no," says Margaret. "My cousin has confided a sort of
secret to me."

"A secret! I may not hear it, then?"

"Well, I don't know. It is, as I have hinted, a _sort_ of secret,
not very much to be kept."

"I may hear it, then?"

"I suppose so. At all events," with a laugh, soft and silk, "I
should like you to hear it, because I want your opinion. You will
give it?"

"You know I will give you everything I have," says he.

"Oh no! you must not talk like that," says she. "Put all that on one
side, and let me have you for my friend. I want one now--not for
myself, but for another; for two others, in fact. You know how fond