"But this suspense is insupportable! It is killing me!" cried her brother, rising, and excitedly pacing the floor.
"No doubt it is trying," his sister replied, coldly.
"Trying!" he repeated, bitterly; "you are very sympathetic, Miriam; you are as cold as ice."
"Well, William, you know well enough that I never approved of your marriage. It was a great blow to both mamma and me that you should marry so out of your element; and therefore you cannot expect me to be so heart-broken over the mysterious disappearance of your wife as I might have been if you married—Sadie, for instance."
"I wish you wouldn't throw Sadie Farnum at me upon every occasion; I never had any intention of marrying her," retorted Sir William, with an angry flush.
"More is the pity; I could have loved her dearly as a sister," responded Lady Linton, in an injured tone. "But," she added, after a thoughtful pause, "it seems you were mistaken in thinking that your wife was collecting proofs of her marriage with the intention of coming here to claim her position. If that had been her plan, doubtless she would have been here long ago."
"Yes—oh! I cannot understand it; but, if I ever discover who has been at the bottom of this mischief, it will be a sad day for that individual!" cried the' baronet, with stern emphasis. Lady Linton suddenly stooped to brush a thread from her black dress, and when she sat upright again there was considerable more color than usual in her face.
"I am troubled to see you so unhappy, William," she said, more kindly than she had yet spoken, "and perhaps, after all, a change will be the best thing for you. What are your plans?"
"I have none. I simply wish to get away from myself, if that is possible; to steep my troubled thoughts in some excitement. I believe I will go to the Far East—Egypt, Palestine—anywhere to escape this feeling of utter desolation," he answered, dejectedly.
"When will you go?"