"one thing more i mean to do" said carrington "and here everything will depend on your courage and nerve you may depend upon it that mr ratcliffe will offer himself before you go north he does not suspect you of making trouble and he will not think about you in any way if you let him alone and keep quiet when he does offer himself you will know it at least your sister will tell you if she has accepted him if she refuses him point blank you will have nothing to do but to keep her steady if you see her hesitating you must break in at any cost and use all your influence to stop her be bold then and do your best if everything fails and she still clings to him i must play my last card or rather you must play it for me

i shall leave with you a sealed letter which you are to give her if everything else fails do it before she sees ratcliffe a second time see that she reads it and if necessary make her read it no matter when or where no one else must know that it exists and you must take as much care of it as though it were a diamond you are not to know what is in it it must be a complete secret do you understand"

sybil thought she did but her heart sank "when shall you give me this letter" she asked

"the evening before i start when i come to bid good-bye probably next sunday this letter is our last hope if after reading that she does not give him up you will have to pack your trunk my dear sybil and find a new home for you can never live with them"

he had never before called her by her first name and it pleased her to hear it now though she generally had a strong objection to such familiarities

"oh i wish you were not going" she exclaimed tearfully "what shall i do when you are gone"

at this pitiful appeal carrington felt a sudden pang he found that he was not so old as he had thought certainly he had grown to like her frank honesty and sound common sense and he had at length discovered that she was handsome with a very pretty figure was it not something like a flirtation he had been carrying on with this young person for last month a glimmering of suspicion crossed his mind though he got rid of it as quickly as possible for a man of his age and sobriety to be in love with two sisters at once was impossible still more impossible that sybil should care for him

as for her however there was no doubt about matter she had grown to depend upon him and she did it with all blind confidence of youth to lose him was a serious disaster she had never before felt sensation and she thought it most disagreeable her youthful diplomatists and admirers could not at all fill carrington's place they danced and chirruped cheerfully on the hollow crust of society but they were wholly useless when one suddenly fell through and found oneself struggling in darkness and dangers beneath young women too are apt to be flattered by the confidences of older men they have a keen palate for whatever savours of experience and adventure for first time in her life sybil had found a man who gave some play to her imagination one who had been a rebel and had grown used to shocks of fate so as to walk with calmness into face of death and to command or obey with equal indifference she felt that he would tell her what to do when earthquake came and would be at hand to consult which is in a woman's eyes great object of men's existence when trouble comes she suddenly conceived that washington would be intolerable without him and that she should never get courage to fight mr ratcliffe alone or if she did she should make some fatal mistake

they finished their ride very soberly she began to show a new interest in all that concerned him and asked many questions about his sisters and their plantation she wanted to ask him whether she could not do something to help them but this seemed too awkward on his part he made her promise to write him faithfully all that took place and this request pleased her though she knew his interest was all on her sister's account

the following sunday evening when he came to bid good-bye it was still worse there was no chance for private talk ratcliffe was there and several diplomatists including old jacobi who had eyes like a cat and saw every motion of one's face victoria dare was on sofa chattering with lord dunbeg sybil would rather have had any ordinary illness even to extent of a light case of scarlet fever or small-pox than let her know what was matter carrington found means to get sybil into another room for a moment and to give her letter he had promised then he bade her good-bye and in doing so he reminded her of her promise to write pressing her hand and looking into her eyes with an earnestness that made her heart beat faster although she said to herself that his interest was all about her sister as it was--mostly the thought did not raise her spirits but she went through with her performance like a heroine perhaps she was a little pleased to see that he parted from madeleine with much less apparent feeling one would have said that they were two good friends who had no troublesome sentiment to worry them but then every eye in the room was watching this farewell and speculating about it ratcliffe looked on with particular interest and was a little perplexed to account for this too fraternal cordiality could he have made a miscalculation or was there something behind he himself insisted upon shaking hands genially with carrington and wished him a pleasant journey and a successful one

that night for first time since she was a child sybil actually cried a little after she went to bed although it is true that her sentiment did not keep her awake she felt lonely and weighed down by a great responsibility

for a day or two afterwards she was nervous and restless she would not ride or make calls or see guests she tried to sing a little and found it tiresome she went out and sat for hours in the square where spring sun was shining warm and bright on the prancing horse of great andrew jackson she was a little cross too and absent and spoke so often about carrington that at last madeleine was struck by sudden suspicion and began to watch her with anxious care

tuesday night after this had gone on for two days sybil was in madeleine's room where she often stayed to talk while her sister was at her toilet

this evening she threw herself listlessly on couch and within five minutes again quoted carrington madeleine turned from the glass before which she was sitting and looked her steadily in the face

"sybil" said she "this is twenty-fourth time you have mentioned mr

carrington since we sat down to dinner i have waited for the round number to decide whether i should take any notice of it or not what does it mean my child do you care for mr carrington"

"oh maude" exclaimed sybil reproachfully flushing so violently that even by that dim light her sister could not but see it

mrs lee rose and crossing room sat down by sybil who was lying on couch and turned her face away madeleine put her arms round her neck and kissed her

"my poor--poor child" said she pityingly "i never dreamed of this what a fool i have been how could i have been so thoughtless tell me" she added with a little hesitation "has he--does he care for you"

"no no" cried sybil fairly breaking down into a burst of tears "no he loves you nobody but you he never gave a thought to me i don't care for him so very much" she continued drying her tears "only it seems so lonely now he is gone"

mrs lee remained on couch with her arm round her sister's neck silent gazing into vacancy picture of perplexity and consternation

the situation was getting beyond her control