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“At last, at last,” he exclaimed, in a deep tone which even more than his countenance betrayed his relief and joy. “It is almost too late and I thought the young woman had not attended to sending them, that she had failed me.”

“She would not fail you, sir,” said Clarissa, earnestly, allowing herself in the protection her assumed character gave her the pleasure of giving utterance to her feeling of regard for the young man. “She would not fail, sir, she could not fail you. Oh, you wrong her, if you think she could ever break her word to you.”

Asbury Fuller bent an inscrutable look upon Clarissa and then bidding her remain until his return, hastily left the room. But though he was gone, Clarissa sat gloating upon the mental picture of his manly beauty. He seemed taller than before, for the stoop he had worn in the afternoon had now departed and he stood erect and muscular in the suit of full evening dress that set off his lithe, soldierly form to such advantage. His garb was of an elegance such as Clarissa had never before beheld, and it was plain that the aristocracy affected certain adornments in the privacy of their homes which they did not caparison themselves with in public. Clarissa had seen dress suits in restaurants and in theaters, but never before had she seen a bottle-green dress coat with gold buttons and a velvet collar and a vest with broad longitudinal stripes of white and brown. In a brief space, Asbury Fuller returned, and glancing at his watch, he said:

“There is some time before the dinner party begins and I would like to talk with you. I am impressed by your apparent honesty and particularly by the air of devotion to duty that characterizes you. The latter I have more often remarked in women than in the more selfish sex to which we belong. We need a boy here. Wages, twenty dollars a month and keep.”

“Oh, sir, I should be pleased to come.”

“Your duties will commence at once. Owing to the fact that this old house has been empty for some time and the work of rehabilitating and refurnishing it is far from completed, you cannot at present have a room to yourself. You will sleep with John Klussmann, the hostler—-“

“Oh, sir, I cannot do that,” exclaimed Clarissa, starting up in alarm.

“John is a good boy and kicks very little in his sleep. But doubtless you object to the smell of horses.”

“Oh, sir, let me do what is needed this evening and go home and I will come back and work to-morrow and go home to-morrow night, and if by that time you find I can have a room by myself, perhaps I will come permanently.”

“I don’t smell of horses myself,” said Asbury Fuller, musingly, to which Clarissa making no response other than turning away her head to hide her blushes, he continued. “But two days will be enough. Indeed, to-night is the crucial point. I will not beat about the bush longer. I wish to attach you to my interests. I wish you to serve me to-night in the crisis of my career.”

“Oh, sir,” said Clarissa, in the protection that her assumed character gave her, allowing herself the privilege of speaking her real sentiments, “I am attached to your interests. Let me serve you. Command, and I will use my utmost endeavor to obey.”

Asbury Fuller looked at her in surprise. Carried away by her feelings and in the state of mental exaltation which the romance and mystery of the adventure had induced, she had made a half movement to kneel as she thus almost swore her fealty in solemn tones.

“Why are you attached to my interests?” asked Asbury Fuller, somewhat dryly.

Alas, Clarissa could not take advantage of the protection her assumed character gave her to tell the real reason. Only as a woman could she do that, only as a woman could she say and be believed, “Because I love you.”