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 'When Sir Charles gives his consent, then you may come,' I replied.

'I'll ask him to-morrow,' she cried gladly. 'I'm so horribly tired of leading an idle life at home. Lionel lunched with us yesterday, and took me out to a matinée. It was quite jolly to have such a change. We had tea at the Piccadilly afterwards.'

'Lionel!' I exclaimed in surprise.

'Yes. Why? Are you jealous you dear old thing?'

I drew a deep breath, and she evidently noticed my displeasure.

'Jealous!' I cried with affected nonchalance. 'Why should I be?'

'Well—I ought, of course, to have told you before,' she answered. 'But he's such a good friend of ours, you know.’

Good friend. All the suspicions I held regarding him flashed across my mind. Why had he pretended to be an invalid on that day I had sat at his bedside, and yet afterwards had dined at Hatchett's? Why was he ever inquisitive regarding our secret experiments, and why did he appear to possess such unusual knowledge of coming events?

'Yes,' I remarked after a pause. 'He is, no doubt, a good friend.'

I saw that I could learn more by disarming suspicion than by appearing ungenerous.

'You don't mind me going to a matinée with him, do you, Claude?' she asked frankly. 'Of course, if it has annoyed you, I won't go again. But mother said she thought a theatre would be a pleasant relaxation for me, now that we can't go out at night on