Miss Duncan had maintained throughout an attitude of polite indifference. Now she realized what that visit to Jessie Bain's room, in the dead of the night, meant.
Then there commenced the greatest battle between Good and Evil that ever was fought in a human heart. Should she save her rival, the girl whom Hubert Varrick loved, or by her silence doom her to life-long misery? While she was battling, Jessie smiled, murmuring in a low voice: "Isn't it too bad, Miss Duncan, that Hubert—Mr. Varrick, I mean—should be away from home just at this critical time?"
Miss Duncan's face hardened, and all the kindliness in her nature suddenly died out.
The arrival, a little later, of the detective was a relief to every one.
Mrs. Varrick hastily explained to him what had occurred, and her reason for sup
