Having failed with the grim lawyer, Dora resolved to see Allen. She felt singularly lonely, and longed to have some person to advise her. That should have been Allen's office, but after his cruel behaviour, Dora could scarcely bring herself to consult him. Yet it was she should do so. She was an , and had been kept so by the selfishness of Mr. Edermont that she had not a friend in the world. If Allen failed her, the poor girl felt she would not know what to do, or who to consult. He must love her, notwithstanding his conduct, she thought; and perhaps if she told him how lonely she was, how unhappy, how greatly in need of his counsel, he might towards her. As Dora was naturally a and self-reliant young woman, it may be guessed how she felt when she so far unbent her pride as to turn for sympathy and to the man who had scorned her. But, after all, she was only a woman, and subject to the weakness of her sex.  
It was with slow and hesitating steps that she sought the house of her lover. She was well aware that she would find him at home at this hour; and the thought that she would soon see him face to face brought the blood to her cheeks. Pausing at the door, she twice or thrice resolved to go away; but the memory of her , of her need of sympathy, confirmed her original intention. She rang the bell, and the door was opened by Mrs. Tice, who changed colour at the sight of the girl.
 
"Deary me, Miss Carew!" she said in some confusion; "I had no idea it was you. Is it the doctor you wish to see?"
 
"Yes, Mrs. Tice. Is he within?
 
"He is, my dear young lady. Come into the , miss, and I'll inquire if Mr. Allen will see you."
 
Left alone in the room, Dora sank into a chair. The ceremony with which she had been received, the obvious confusion of Mrs. Tice, touched her painfully. She wondered what could be the reason of such things. They made her only the more to see Allen, and demand an explanation. But he had refused her once before; it was probable he would do so again. She felt her helpless condition keenly at this moment.
 
While she was thus taken up with these sad thoughts, she heard a firm step approach the door; it opened, and Allen stood before her. He seemed even more haggard and worn than the last time she had seen him. His shoulders were , his eyes lacked fire; altogether the man looked so ill, so consumed by trouble and vexation of spirit, that Dora involuntarily took a step forward out of sheer sympathy. Then she his conduct, and stopped short. They both looked at one another.
 
"Why have you come to see me?" said Allen wearily. "It can do no good. I can explain nothing."
 
"Allen, you loved me once."
 
"I love you still," he responded hastily. "I shall always love you."
 
"Words, words, words!" said Dora, after the manner of Hamlet. "Your actions prove otherwise. Now listen to me, Allen: I have come to you for advice."
 
"I am the worst person in the world to give it to you," replied Scott, with cruel emphasis on the last words. "But if you wish it, I will do so."
 
"I do wish it, Allen. I am an orphan. I have few acquaintances, and no friends. My is dead, and in all the world there is no living soul who cares about me."
 
"Dora!" he cried in a tone of agony, "how can you speak so? I care! I would rather die than see you suffer."
 
"I do not wish you to die," answered the girl with some bitterness; "it is so easy to say so--so difficult, so difficult to do. No, Allen; I wish you to live and help me. Let me put my position before you. My guardian told me that I had five hundred a year. He deceived me; I inherited nothing from my parents."
 
"Who told you this, Dora?"
 
"Mr. Carver, the lawyer. For some reason Mr. Edermont lied to me, and confirmed his lie by paying me certain moneys which he said came from my inherited income. I hear now that I am a . But for his of two hundred a year and the freehold of the Red House, I should be a beggar."
 
"I cannot understand his reason for deceiving you," said Allen, drawing a long breath; "but at all events, he has made some reparation by leaving you enough to live on. You will always have a home at the Red House."
 
"You do not know the conditions of the will," was Dora's reply. "I have to live at the Red House; I have to permit Mr. Joad to carry on his former life, which means that I must see him daily, and I hate the man," added Dora ; "I him; and now that Mr. Edermont is dead, I do not know to what length his may carry him."
 
"What do you mean?" demanded Allen, frowning.
 
"I mean that Joad admires me."
 
"Admires you?" The young man stepped forward and his fists. "Impossible that he should dare!"
 
"Oh, trust a woman's instinct in such matters, Allen! Yes, Mr. Joad admires me, and I believe he will soon put his into words."
 
"If he does, I'll thrash him within an inch of his life!"
 
"As my affianced husband you no doubt have the right," replied Dora steadily; "but have you the will? You say you love me, yet----"
 
"I do love you!" he burst out; "and it is because of my love for you that I keep silent. On that fatal day Edermont, beside himself with terror, betrayed to me a secret he had better have kept hidden. That secret parts us for ever. I dare not marry you."
 
"You dare not? What secret can have the power to make you say such words?"
 
"If I told you that, I should tell you all," replied Allen . "Do not try me beyond my strength, Dora. If you suffer, I suffer also. For your own sake I keep silent, and I love you too dearly to unnecessary pain."
 
"What you might inflict can be no worse than what you have inflicted," said Dora bitterly. "I see it is useless to ask you to in me. But one word: has this secret to do with Mr. Edermont's death?"
 
Allen hesitated; then, turning away his head:
 
"I cannot answer you," he said .
 
"Oh!" said Dora in a tone; "then you know something about the death."
 
"I know nothing," replied Allen, with a white face.
 
"Yes, you do. Your refusal to explain shows me that the secret has to do with the murder. Perhaps Mr. Edermont told you the name of the person he was afraid of. Well, that person perhaps carried out his wicked purpose."
 
"Why do you say 'perhaps'?" asked Allen suddenly. "You seem to be doubtful."
 
"Because a day or two before the crime was committed, Mr. Pallant called on my guardian. What he told him relieved him of the fear of . Therefore I do not know if Mr. Edermont's enemy killed him."
 
Allen jumped up and looked eage............