‘Won’t I?’ she retorted quickly; ‘I have some more at home.’

‘The deuce!’ he ejaculated.

‘Yes,’ she replied, triumphantly; ’the bottle I got that belonged to you, I put half its contents into another.  So you see I can still do mischief, and,’ in a fierce whisper, ’I will, if you don’t give up this idea of marrying Madame Midas.’

‘I thought you knew me better than that,’ he said, in a tone of concentrated passion.  ‘I will not.’

Then I’ll poison her,’ she retorted.

‘What, the woman who has been so kind to you?’

‘Yes, I’d rather see her dead than married to a devil like you.’

‘How amiable you are, Bebe,’ he said, with a laugh, as the music stopped.

‘I am what you have made me,’ she replied, bitterly, and they walked into the drawing-room.

After this Vandeloup clearly saw that it was a case of diamond cut diamond, for Kitty was becoming as clever with her tongue as he was.  After all, though she was his pupil, and was getting as hardened and cynical as possible, he did not think it fair she should use his own weapons against himself.  He did not believe she would try and poison Madame Midas, even though she was certain of not being detected, for he thought she was too tender-hearted.  But, alas! he had taught her excellently well, and Kitty was rapidly arriving at the conclusion he had long since come to, that number one was the greatest number.  Besides, her love for Vandeloup, though not so ardent as it had been, was too intense for her to let any other woman get a hold of him.  Altogether, M. Vandeloup was in an extremely unpleasant position, and one of his own making.

Having given Kitty over to the tender care of Mrs Rolleston, Vandeloup hurried outside to look for the missing bottle.  He had guessed the position it fell in, and, striking a match, went to look over the smooth close-shorn turf.  But though he was a long time, and looked carefully, the bottle was gone.

‘The devil!’ said Vandeloup, startled by this discovery.  ’Who could have picked it up?’

He went back into the conservatory, and, sitting down in his old place, commenced to review the position.

It was most annoying about the poison, there was no doubt of that.  He only hoped that whoever picked it up would know nothing about its dangerous qualities.  After all, he could be certain about that, as no one but himself knew what the poison was and how it could be used.  The person who picked up the bottle would probably throw it away again as useless; and then, again, perhaps when Kitty threw the bottle away the stopper came out, and the contents would be lost.  And then Kitty still had more left, but—­bah!—­she would not use it on Madame Midas.  That was the vague threat of a jealous woman to frighten him.  The real danger he was in lay in the fact that she might tell Madame Midas the relations between them, and then there would be no chance of his marrying