"He excused himself for not coming this evening because Greythorpe is staying with him for a day or two, but he made me promise to bring you over to-morrow." Mrs.Keith acquiesced heartily, for she was fond of the Colonel.
The evening passed pleasantly at Hazlehurst, for Mrs.Foster made a charming hostess.

Foster, who as a rule was indifferent to women's society, livened the party by matching wits with Margaret Keith; and Lieutenant Walters found Mrs.Keith's pretty companion very interesting.
At Sandymere, three miles away, Colonel Challoner sat in his library with his guest.

It was a large and simply furnished room, but there was a tone of austere harmony in all its appointments.

The dark oak table, the rows of old books in faded leather bindings, the antique lamps, and the straight-backed chairs were in keeping with the severe lines of the somber panels and the heavy, square molding of the ceiling.

Three wax candles in an old silver holder stood on a small table by the wide hearth, on which a cheerful wood fire burned, but most of the room was shadowy.
The sense of empty space and gloom, however, had no effect on the two elderly men who sat with a cigar box and decanter in front of them, engaged in quiet, confidential talk.