"Only my dooty, sir," muttered the old man.

"You are right, Jarvis, as to my health--I am ill."

"Then you'll send for a doctor, surely, Mr. Douglas."

"I have already seen a doctor."

"And what do he say, sir?"

"He says my case is very serious."

"Oh, Mr. Douglas, don't 'ee say that, don't 'ee say that," cried the old man, in extreme distress.

"I can only tell you the truth, Jarvis," answered Douglas: "but there is no occasion for despair. The physician tells me that my case is a grave one, but he does not say that it is hopeless."

"Why don't 'ee consult another doctor, Mr. Douglas," said Jarvis; "perhaps that one ain't up to his work. If it's such a difficult case, you ought to go to all the best doctors in London, till you find the one that can cure you. A fine, well-grown young gentleman like you oughtn't to have much the matter with him. I don't see as it can be very serious."

"I don't know about that, Jarvis; but in any case I have resolved upon doing something for you."

"For me, sir! Lor' bless your generous heart, I don't want nothing in this mortal world."

"But you may, Jarvis," replied Douglas. "You have already been told that I have provided for you in case of my death."

"Yes, sir, you was so good as to say you had left me an annuity, and it was very kind of you to think of such a thing, and I'm duly thankful.

But still you see, sir, I can't help looking at it in the light of a kind of joke, sir; for it ain't in human nature that an old chap like me is going to outlive a young gentleman like you; and Lord forbid that it should be in human nature for such a thing to happen."

"We never know what may happen, Jarvis. At any rate, I have provided against the worst. But as you are getting old, and have worked hard all your life, I think you must want rest; so, instead of putting you off till my death, I shall give you your annuity at once, and you may retire into a comfortable little house of your own, and live the life of an elderly gentleman, with a decent little income, as soon as you please."

To the surprise of Douglas Dale, the old man's countenance expressed only grief and mortification on hearing an announcement which his master had supposed would have been delightful to him.

"Begging your pardon, sir," he faltered; "but have you seen a younger servant as you like better and as could serve you better, than poor old Jarvis?"

"No, indeed," answered Douglas, "I have seen no such person. Nor do I believe that any one in the world could serve me as well as you."

"Then why do you want to change, sir?"

"I don't want to change. I only want to make you happy, Jarvis."

"Then make me happy by letting me stay with you," pleaded the old servant. "Let me stay, sir. Don't talk about annuities. I want nothing from you but the pleasure of waiting on my dear old master's son. It's as much delight to me to wait upon you now as it was to me twenty years ago to carry you to the country fairs on my shoulder. Ah, we did have rare times of it then, didn't we, sir? Let me stay, and when I die give me a grave somewhere hard by where you live; and if, once in a way, when you pass the churchyard where I lay, you should give a sigh, and say, 'Poor old Jarvis!' that will be a full reward to me for having loved you so dear ever since you was a baby."

Was this acting? Was this the perfect simulation of an accomplished hypocrite? No, no, no; Douglas Dale could not believe it.

The tears came into his eyes; he extended his hand, and grasped that of his old servant.

"You _shall_ stay with me, Jarvis," he said; "and I will trust you with all my heart."

Douglas Dale left his chambers soon after that conversation, and went straight to Dr. Westbrook, to whom he gave a fall account of the interview.

"I have tested the old man thoroughly," he said, in conclusion; "and I believe him to be fidelity itself."

"You have tested him, Mr. Dale! stuff and nonsense!" exclaimed the practical physician. "You surely don't call that sentimental conversation a test? If the man is capable of being a slow poisoner, he is, of course, capable of acting a part, and shedding crocodile's tears in evidence of his devoted affection for the master whose biliary organs he is deranging by the administration of antimony, or aconite.

If you want to test the man thoroughly, test him in my way. Contrive to eat your breakfast elsewhere for a week or two; touch nothing, not so much as a glass of water, in your own chambers; and if at the end of that time the symptoms have ceased, you will know what to think of that pattern of fidelity--Mr. Jarvis."

Douglas promised to take the doctor's advice. He was convinced of his servant's innocence; but he wanted to put that question beyond doubt.

But if Jarvis was indeed innocent, where was the guilty wretch to be found?

Douglas Dale dined at Hilton House upon the evening after his interview with Dr. Westbrook, as he had done without intermission for several weeks. He found Paulina tender and affectionate, as she had ever been of late, since respect and esteem for her lover's goodness had developed into a warmer feeling.

"Douglas," she said, on this particular evening, when they were alone together for a few minutes after dinner, "your health has not improved as much as I had hoped it would under the treatment of your doctor. I wish you would consult some one else."

She spoke lightly, for she feared to alarm the patient by any appearance of fear on her part. She knew how physical disease may be augmented by mental agitation. Her tone, therefore, was one of assumed carelessness.

To-night Douglas Dale's mind was peculiarly sensitive to every impression. Something in that assumed tone struck strangely upon his ear. For the first time since he had known her, the voice of the woman he loved, seemed to him to have a false sound in its clear, ringing tones.

An icy terror suddenly took possession of his mind.

What if this woman--this woman, whom he loved with such intense affection--what if she were something other than she seemed! What if her heart had never been his--her love never withdrawn from the reprobate upon whom she had once bestowed it! What if her tender glances, her affectionate words, her graceful, caressing manner, were all a comedy, of which he was the dupe! What if--

"I am the victim of treachery," he thought to himself; "but the traitor cannot be here. Oh, no, no! let me find the traitor anywhere rather than here."

Paulina watched her lover as he sat with his eyes fixed on the ground, absorbed in gloomy meditation.

Presently he looked up suddenly, and addressed her.

"I am going on a journey, Paulina, on business," he said; "business, which I can only transact myself. I shall, therefore, be compelled to be absent from you for a week; it may be even more. Perhaps we shall never meet again. Will that be very distressing to you?"

"Douglas," exclaimed Paulina, "how strangely you speak to me to-night!

If this is a jest, it is a very cruel one."

"It is no jest, Paulina," answered her lover. "Life is very precarious, and within the last week I have learnt to consider my existence in imminent peril."

"You are ill, Douglas," said Paulina; "and illness has unnerved you.

Pray do not give way to these depressing thoughts. Consult some other physician than the man who is now your adviser."

"Yes, yes; I will do so," answered Douglas, with, a sudden change of tone; "you are right, Paulina. I will not be so weak as to become the prey of these distressing fancies, these dark forebodings. What have I to fear? Death is no terrible evil. It is but the common fate of all. I can face that common doom as calmly as a Christian should face it. But deceit, treachery, falsehood from those we love--those are evils far more terrible than death. Oh, Paulina! tell me that I have no need to fear those?"

"From whom should you fear them, Douglas!"

"Aye, from whom, that is the question! Not from you, Paulina?"

"From me!" she echoed, with a look of wonder. "Are you mad?"

"Swear--swear to me that there is no falsehood in your heart, Paulina; that you love me as truly as you have taught me to believe; that you have not beguiled me with false words, as false as they are sweet!"

cried the young man, in wild excitement.

"My dear Douglas, this is madness!" exclaimed Madame Durski; "folly too wild for reproof. This passionate excitement must be surely the effect of fever. What can I say to you except that I love you truly and dearly; that my heart has been purified, my mind elevated by your influence; that I have now no thought which is not known to you--no hope that does not rest itself upon your love. You ought to believe this, Douglas, for my every word, my every look, should speak the truth, which I do not care to reiterate in protestations such as these.

It is too painful to me to be doubted by you."