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 Social Cognition

Bincy Mathew
B. William Dharma Raja

A.P.H. PUBLISHING CORPORATION

4435–36/7, ANSARI ROAD, DARYA GANJ,
NEW DELHI – 110 002
Published by
S.B. Nangia
A.P.H. Publishing Corporation FOREWORD
4435–36/7, Ansari Road, Darya Ganj,
New Delhi – 110 002
Phone: 011–23274050
e-mail: [email protected] One of the more promising recent development
in the study of cognitive science has been the
notion of social cognition from the field of social
psychology. Many social psychologists have come
to the conclusion that a complete account of social
cognitive phenomena include not only detailed
analyses of those processes in their individuals, and
2018 an understanding of their origins and development
in children and adolescents. Many studies have focused on the cognitive
phenomena that are related to psychological processes in later life. This
book is prepared to envision the field of social cognition of children
and adolescents towards higher order thinking.
Of the six sections, the first deals with a prologue to cognition and
© Reserved examines the cognitive process which involves in several cognitive
activities. It explores the areas of lower order thinking which zeniths
to higher order thinking among individuals. The section two emphases
on the importance of social cognition among adolescents and makes a
careful study of social cognitive skills. It stresses the way individuals
conceptualize and reason about their social world. It involves the way
they interact with others and the group they participate in and the
Typeset by way they reason about one-self and others. The elements of social
Ideal Publishing Solutions cognitive skills are reconnoitered in facet and the concept of schema,
C-90, J.D. Cambridge School, heuristics and priming effect are explored in depth. Social cognitive
West Vinod Nagar, Delhi – 110 092 theory of Albert Bandura takes one step further to explain how learning
is influenced by cognitive skills. The authors try to review the role of
language in social cognitive functions.
In section three the book presents a meticulous probe into the
earlier studies on social cognition and an attempt to bring forth the
interdependence of cognition with behaviour, emotion, environment,
learning, mind and memory. This book also presents the social cognitive
Printed at
skills of problem solving, critical thinking and decision making in
BALAJI OFFSET
relation to adolescent learning and behaviour. Section four deals
Navin Shahdara, Delhi – 110 032
with the theoretical aspects of social cognitive skills and focuses on

iii
iv Social Cognition
♦
various theories for developing them in one’s life. It provides a detailed
description about the skills of social cognition. In the fifth section the
authors provide various strategies to enhance social cognitive skills
among children and adolescents. In order to be social thinkers and
cognitively motivated, the individuals focus on attention, interpretation,
judgment and memory. To develop these skills - individuals continuously
strive to gain insights into the minds of others throughout one’s life. The ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ability to apply mental concept in a more flexible manner requires an
understanding of one’s beliefs about oneself and the ability to reason
about another’s beliefs. Classroom becomes pivotal in assessment of
adolescents’ social cognitive skill development. Scaffolding requires The miracle of gratitude is that it shifts your perception to such an
to provide assistance to students’ learning process and it could change
extent that it changes the world you see. – Robert Holden
the schemata by which students learn new information and skills.
The final section of the book examines the social cognitive influence
The authors would like to express a deep sense of gratitude to
on children and adolescents’ development. Traditionally, cognitive
operations were conceptualized in intra-individual processes, that the Ubiquitous Alpha and the Omega for the blessings Thou had
was existing within individuals and it was unaffected by interpersonal bestowed upon us to bring out this book successfully. We believe
relationships. However, recent researches into the intellectual functioning that our thinking involves cognitive skills which is the main crux
of adolescents and children suggest that social cognition do influence of this work. We would like to acknowledge the ample sources of
intra-individual cognitive functions. The authors present practical men and material from the premises of Manonmaniam Sundaranar
insinuations to accelerate the social cognitive skills among individuals University. Special recognition is extended to the colleagues of the
which elevates them in their social behaviour. The crux of this section is Department of Education for their valuable suggestions and feedback.
that social and cognitive processes are tightly intertwined in developing
We thank the APH Publishers for their support and acceptance in
individuals.
Thus, this book provides a balanced representation of both issues in acknowledging this book. Finally, we aim to impart the readers
the past and current in the study of social cognitive skill development of this book to be enlightened to emancipate creative ideas, to be
among children and adolescents. An overarching theme throughout empowered in thoughts and make empathy the pivotal quality in
this book is to consider cognitive issues which seem to have direct thinking process.
implications for adolescent psychological functions. As such, I am
sure, this book will stimulate for attempting innovative researches that Bincy Mathew
bridge the conceptual gaps between adolescent and child literature in B. William Dharma Raja
social cognition.

Krishnan Baskar
Vice-Chancellor
Date:02 January 2018 Manonmaniam Sundaranar University
Tirunelveli – 627 012
Tamil Nadu
v
 CONTENTS

Chapter-1: Prologue to Cognition 1

1.1 Cognition 2
1.2 Learning and Cognition 3
Cognitive Development 3
1.3 Thinking: A Mental Process 4
1.4 Guilford’s Concept of Divergent and
Convergent Thinking 5
Thinking Style 7
Lower order thinking 7
1.5 Development of Memory 10
Multi-store model 10
Sensory stores 11
Short and long-term stores 12
Unitary-store models 12
Working memory 13
Phonological loop 15
Visuo-spatial sketchpad 16
Episodic buffer 16
1.6 Higher Order Thinking 17
1.7 Cognitive Development in Adolescents 19
Sensation and Perception 20

vii
viii Social Cognition Contents ix
♦ ♦
Concept formation 20 2.4 Social Cognition and Other Key theoretical
Development of Language 21 Paradigms 46
Development of Problem solving Ability 21 Principles of Social Cognition 49
Dynamism swaying Cognitive Development 22 People as cognitive misers 49
1.8 Cognitive Development – Theoretical Spontaneous and deliberate thought 49
Perspective 23 Self-esteem 50
Sensorimotor intelligence 23 2.5 Social Cognitive Theory 50
Pre-operational thinking 24 Gathering information 55
Concrete operational thinking 24 Prior expectations 55
Formal operational thinking 24 Biases in the information 56
1.9 Cognitive Strategies 25 2.6 Language and Social Cognitive Functions 56
Cognitive progress 25 Humans as autonomous 57
Cognitive control 26 Humans as motivated tacticians 57
Cognition and Motivation 28 Humans as intuitive lawyers 58
Humans as affect-driven agents 58
Chapter-2: Social Cognition – The Concept 30
Automated and Controlled Processes in
2.1 Social Cognitive Processes 31 Social Cognition 58
2.2 Social Cognition Expounded 33 Automatic Social Cognition 59
Elements of social cognition 37 Controlled Social Cognition 59
Schemas 38 Motivational and Affective influence in Social
Person Schemas 41 Cognition 60
Self-schemas 42 2.7 Role of Language and Social Cognition 61
Role schemas 42 Multiple Mechanisms Needed for Language 62
Event schemas 42
Chapter-3: Earlier Studies on Social Cognition 64
Cognitive Stereotyping and Schemas 43
Primacy effect / First impressions 43 3.1 Social Cognition 64
Heuristics: Mental shortcuts 44 Social cognition and Theory of mind 65
Priming effect 44 Social cognition and Differently abled 67
2.3 Relationship Management and Motivation 3.2 Problem Solving 70
in Social Cognition 45 Problem solving related to Scholastic
Performance 71
x Social Cognition Contents xi
♦ ♦
Problem Solving and Adolescent Personality 72 Dimensions of Decision Making 106
Intellectually Gifted and Problem solving 74 Cognitive process in decision making 109
3.3 Critical Thinking 74 Chapter-5: Strategies to Enhance Social Cognitive Skills 111
Adolescent Critical thinking 75
5.1 How to be a Social Thinker 111
Critical Thinking upshot on Teachers 76
Attention 112
3.4 Decision Making 77 Interpretation 112
Adolescents and Career-related Judgment 112
Decision making 79
Memory 113
Chapter-4: Theoretical Perspectives of Social Cognitive Skills 81 5.2 Strategies to develop Theory of Mind 113
4.1 Problem Solving 82 5.3 Classroom and Assessment of
The concept of problem solving 83 Social Cognitive Skills 116
Dimensions of problem solving 84 5.4 Strategies of Thinking Skills 117
4.2 Theoretical Basis of Problem Solving 86 Scaffolding 118
The problem solving cycle 86 Learning Strategies 119
4.3 Types of Problem Solving 88 Question Strategies 122
Problem solving in interpersonal relationships 90 Cooperative Learning Strategies 123
4.4 Critical Thinking - A New Ground of Social Team work 124
Cognition 91 Peer Tutoring 124
Dimensions of critical thinking 94 Student Discussion 125
The reconceptualization of critical thinking 95 Peer Influences on Social Cognitive
Emancipatory critical thinking 96 Development 125
Complex critical thinking 97 Student-only learning programmes 126
Critical thinking and adolescents 98 5.6 Cognitive and Behavioural Changes 126
4.5 Teacher as Critical Thinker 99 Chapter-6: Social Cognition - Insinuations 132
Teacher’s role in developing critical 6.1 Problem Solving in Adolescents 132
thinking among students 100
6.2 Methods to Solve Problems 133
Insinuation for schooling and critical
thinking 101 Accelerating Effective Problem Solving 134
Factors impelling Effective Problem Solving 135
4.6 CT and Learning Difficulty 103
Conceptual Model of Problem Solving 136
4.7 Decision Making 104
xii Social Cognition
♦
6.3 Educational Implications of Critical Thinking 138
The Criteria for Critical Thinking 140
Why is Critical Thinking important? 141
Four Steps to Think Critically 143
6.4 Decision Making 144
Factors Influencing Decision Making Process 145 ABBREVIATIONS
Decision Strategy 147

References149
ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
ASD Autism Spectrum Disorder
CMCBR Critical Multicultural Curriculum Based on Reasoning
CT Critical Thinking
et al. et alia
etc et cetera
IQ Intelligence Quotient
ms Milliseconds
SC Social Cognition
SCT Social Cognitive Theory
SIP Social Information Processing
ToM Theory of Mind
VCFS Vello-Cardio-Facial Syndrome
vs Versus

xiii
 ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Bincy Mathew, Principal, Bethlahem Hillside International School,

Karungal, Kanyakumari – 629 157 ([email protected]), is a post
graduate in English and History. She has completed her doctorate
in Social Cognition from Manonmaniam Sundaranar University,
Tirunelveli. She had been a teacher in CBSE, ICSE and International
schools. She has proved her expertise in giving leadership training
and orientation programmes to youth and teachers. She has published
and presented more than twenty five research papers at international
and national levels. To her credit, she has received two awards for
best paper presentation.

Dr B. William Dharma Raja, Professor and Head, Department of

Education, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli – 627
012 ([email protected]) is a passionate academician in the field
of Education, with more than 28 years of accomplished experience
in teaching. He has published more than centuple articles in national
and international referred journals. He has penned seven books in the
areas of Educational Technology, Cognitive Science, and Learning
Disability which have received a laudable response among teacher
educators. To his acclaim, he has received more than ten national
and international awards in the field of education.

xv
 Chapter-1
PROLOGUE TO COGNITION

The human brain is marvelous with its thinking ability and creates
wonders. Brain is an organ that helps people think and act; if one
gives it work; otherwise it is lazy. A normal human brain weighs
about 1.4 kg with 10-12 trillion neurons. The brain is a very sensitive
organ having a control over the whole nervous system of the body.
The potential of the human brain is unlimited. There are two halves
in the brain and these are not used by people in the same way with
the same frequency. It shows how the thinking process in the human
brain works. The hemispheres of the brain are connected in parallel
direction with fibers that carry communication within and between
the hemispheres. The two cerebral hemispheres are connected by
the corpus callosum which contains between 200 and 300 million
axonic fibres. When one part of the brain is actively thinking, the
other parts are idle, in order not to interfere with the specialized
thinking task. While solving a complex problem or doing an intricate
task, more than one thinking skill is involved (Ramalingam, 2013).
The brain has the ability to switch signals back and forth very
rapidly among different specialized areas within and across the
hemisphere through the fibre networks. Switching thinking modes
within the left hemisphere or within the right hemisphere is quite
easy. Shifting between the lower or upper cerebral quadrants is
more difficult. Changing diagonally is very difficult and stressful
because no direct fibre connections exist between the diagonally
opposed quadrants of the brain, and thoughts have to be translated
or processed via one of the connecting quadrants (Mac-Lean, 1990).

1
2 Social Cognition Prologue to Cognition 3
♦ ♦
The brain consists of about 50 billion neurons, each of which can how one perceives, remembers, understands, and solves problems
connect with up to about 10,000 other neurons (Eysenck, 2010). and make decisions (Mathew & Raja, 2015a).

1.1 COGNITION 1.2 LEARNING AND COGNITION

Cognition is derived from the Latin word cognoscere, meaning Two fundamental assumptions that underlie formal education
getting to know. Cognition is the process of knowing and acquiring systems are that children retain knowledge and skills they acquire
knowledge of various mental activities. It encompasses the scientific in school, and can apply them in situations outside the classroom.
study of the mind and how it processes information. The mind But are these assumptions accurate? It is found that even when
is an enormously complex system holding a unique position in students do not use the acquired knowledge in school, a considerable
science (Levitin, 1996). Cognitive psychology is concerned with the portion is retained for many years are strongly dependent on the
internal processes involved in making sense of the environment, and initial learning. Cognitive theories claim that memory structures
deciding what action might be appropriate. Cognitive psychology determine how information is perceived, processed, stored, retrieved
makes an attempt to understand human cognition by observing and forgotten. The spaced learning effect, a cognitive phenomenon
the behaviour of people performing various cognitive tasks. The strongly supported has broad applicability in the field of education
aims of cognitive neuroscientists are similar to those of cognitive (Mathew & Raja, 2016a). A child is thought to interpret a problem
psychologists. However, there is one important difference – cognitive by assessing it to a schema retrieved from long-term memory.
neuroscientists argue convincingly that the need to study brain as
Cognitive Development
well as behaviour while engaging in cognitive tasks. The reason
behind is, that the internal processes involved in human cognition Cognitive development is a field of study, focusing on a child’s
occur in the brain, and individuals have increasingly sophisticated development in terms of information processing, conceptual
ways of studying the brain in action. Cognitive psychology is the resources, perceptual skill, language learning, and other aspects
study of cognitive processes which include attention, perception, of brain development. There is a major concern of how culture
learning, memory, language, problem solving, reasoning and and social experience relate to developmental changes in thinking.
thinking (Eysenck, 2010). The term cognitive psychology can be The mechanism of physical growth and development brings
used in a broader sense to include cognitive neuroscience. Cognitive desirable changes in the internal as well as external body organs of
neuroscience is defined as involving the attempt to use information an individual in order to increase his/her physical skill and strength.
about behaviour and about the brain to understand human cognition. Due to this development, the child is able to do physical work and
It is important that the cognitive processes be studied by educational to play games which could not, when younger. The growth and
psychologists so as to understand the mental processes. In turn, development of the mental abilities help an individual to adjust
the knowledge of cognitive process can be applied in the field of one’s behaviour to the ever changing environmental conditions
education. Cognitive abilities are the skills which are controlled and it enables the child to accomplish a task that needs complex
by the brain which allow an individual to carry out many different cognitive abilities.
tasks from simple to highly complex. These are mainly focused on The process of the mental growth is responsible for the
development of an individual’s all cognitive, mental or intellectual
4 Social Cognition Prologue to Cognition 5
♦ ♦
abilities like sensation, perception, imagination, memory, reasoning, The process of thinking includes finding, deciding, solving,
understanding, intelligence, generalization, interpretation, language justifying, remembering, planning, arguing, identifying, speculating,
ability, conceptual ability, critical thinking ability, problem solving calculating, comparing, deducing, presuming, analyzing, summarizing,
ability, and decision making ability. These abilities are interrelated and hypothesizing, evaluating, sequencing, ordering, sorting, classifying,
never develop in isolation. Cognitive development of an individual grouping, predicting, concluding, distinguishing, creating, testing,
grouping, predicting, concluding, distinguishing, creating, testing, and assessing various acts

at any stage of development includes the overall development of and assessing

(Sternberg, 1994). various
During theacts (Sternberg,
process 1994).
of thinking, goal setting, During
prioritizationthe
basedprocess
on the

these abilities. of problem,

thinking, goal
plan of actionsetting, prioritization
and evaluation are almost alwaysbased
involved.on the problem,
Irrespective plan
of the nature of

of the
action andprocess
goal, some evaluation
of thinking are almost
always always
takes place. involved.
As an effective process,Irrespective
thinking involves
1.3 THINKING: A MENTAL PROCESS of reality
the nature of the goal, some process of thinking always takes
of the work, problem solving, and application of thinking.
Thinking is one of the important aspects of one’s cognitive place.Dimensions
As an effective process, thinking involves reality of the work,
of Thinking: There are many research findings available in relation to brain
process or mental process which involves several cognitive problem solving, and application of thinking.
studies. The ongoing research finding in the field of brain studies advance the information about
activities (Mangal, 2010). Earlier, it was approached by philosophy, Dimensions of Thinking: There are many research findings available
thinking process.
psychology, and neurosciences. It is a complicated mental act in relation to brain studies. The ongoing research finding in the field
Figure 1.1 Dimensions of Thinking
involving electrochemical processes. The vital organ responsible of brain studies advance the information about thinking process.
for thinking activities is the brain.
In the words of Kosslyn (1995), thinking is the activity of
human reasoning as a process of strengthening the relationship
between stimulus and response; it involves reasonable working on Meta cognition Content a rea
knowledge
various views and gathered knowledge that has been stored in the
brain for the emergence of new knowledge; involves processing Core thinking skills:
Focussing

information mentally or cognitively by rearranging the information Information-gathering

Remembering
Cri tica l and creative
thi nking

from the environment based on the memory of an individual. It is Organizing

Analysing
Concept
forma tion

not the application of independent units, rather a skillfully conducted Generating

Integrating
Pri nci ple
forma tion

interplay of habits and skills (Glaser, 1941). Thinking is a means Evaluating Probl em s olving
Deci sion making

to solve problems at hand based on the information stored in the Composing

brain. It is a mental development like the assessment of mental

abstraction, logic, imagination and problem solving (Kosslyn, 1995); Figure 1.1 Dimensions of Thinking
Source: Adopted
Source: from Robert
Adopted MarzanoMarzano
from Robert et al., Dimensions of Thinking of
et al., Dimensions (1988)
Thinking (1988)
it involves manipulating mental representations of information in
1.4 Guilford’s Concept of Divergent and Convergent Thinking
order to draw inferences and conclusions. The interplay of habits
and skills matches the concepts of (Deway, 1933) as well as the 1.4 GUILFORD’S CONCEPT OF DIVERGENT AND CONVERGENT
more contemporary dimensions of learning (McRel, 1997). The THINKING
8
content and context provides the individual with something to think The first and foremost advancement in the field of thinking
about, but serves primarily as the vehicle that carries the thinking proposed by Guilford (1950) describes the concepts of divergent
skills (Fogarty & McTighe, 1993). and convergent thinking. The studies reveal how different people
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
“But why?” I demanded. “I’ve never met the woman before,
to my knowledge.”

“But you’re a good-looking Johnnie, my dear Dick,” my

friend declared, laughing; “and she’s certainly not the first
woman who has fallen over head and ears in love with you.”

“You’re devilish complimentary, old chap,” I answered; “but

if she is, as you think, really attracted towards me, then
she’ll have a cruel awakening when she finds that I’m
actually the husband of her cousin Feo.”

“That’s just what I’ve been thinking,” he replied, with a

serious expression on his face. “Your position is an
exceedingly difficult one, and the inquiries must be made
with the utmost tact and care. At all hazards you must
humour her ladyship, and retain her as your friend. Indeed
if, as you say, your wife is not aware that you are actually
her husband, then it might not be a bad plan to flatter her
ladyship by making violent love to her.”

“I can’t, Bob,” I declared. “In this matter I must at least act

straightforwardly. Feo has fallen a victim, just as I myself
have—that’s evident.”

“You were entrapped, it’s true; but I take it that you really
admire this mysterious Feo?”

“Admire her!” I cried with enthusiasm. “That’s the most

curious feature of the whole affair. I freely confess to you,
my dear fellow, that not only do I admire her, but I’m madly
in love with her! She’s the most graceful and beautiful
woman I’ve ever beheld.”

“Well, Dick,” he observed after a pause, during which time

he puffed vigorously at his big briar, “you are about the last
man I should have suspected of having a romance. Every
detail of it is, however, bewildering. It’s a perfect maze of
mystery—a mystery absolutely incredible!”
 Chapter Ten.
The Major.

On the following day I was seized by a burning desire to

again see the woman whom I had so strangely grown to
love. Time after time I discussed the matter with Bob, and
he was full of my opinion that I might, by watching my
wife’s movements, discover some fact which might give me
a clue.

I proposed to Bob that I should go straight to her and make

a full explanation, but he urged patience and diplomacy.

“Go down to Whitton and watch her at a distance, if you

like,” he answered. “But be very careful that you are not
recognised. No man cares to be spied upon. In this matter
you must exercise the greatest discretion, if you really
intend to get to the bottom of this puzzling affair.”

“I do intend to solve the enigma,” I declared. “If I’m ten

years over it, I mean to claim Feo as my wife.”

“You can’t do that until you’ve obtained absolute proof.”

“And, in the meantime, Wynd and his accomplice may make

another attempt upon her life,” I observed dubiously.

“Forewarned is forearmed,” he answered. “It seems your

duty to act in secret as her protector.”

“Exactly. That’s my object in going down to Whitton.

Somehow I feel sure that her life is insecure, for the facts
plainly show that Wynd’s motive was to get rid of her.”
“Without a doubt. Go down to Hounslow to-morrow and
discover what you can regarding these friends of hers, the
Chetwodes, and their associates. In inquiries of this sort
you must carefully work back.”

Now, I had for years rather prided myself upon my

shrewdness. I had often set myself the task of clearing up
those little unimportant mysteries of life which occur to
every man; and more than once, while at the hospital, I
had rendered service to the police in their inquiries.

That same afternoon, while Bob was out visiting his

patients, I chanced to put my hand in the ticket-pocket of
my frock-coat, and felt something there. The coat was the
one I had worn when called out to become the husband of
Feo Ashwicke, and from the pocket I drew a half-smoked
cigarette.

I am not in the habit of placing cigarette ends in my

pockets, and could not, at first, account for its presence
there; but, on examination, I saw that it was the remains of
one of an unusual brand, for upon the paper were tiny
letters in Greek printed in blue ink. A second’s reflection,
however, decided me: it was the cigarette which the Major
had given me. It had gone out while I had been speaking,
and with it in my hand I had rushed upstairs to my wife’s
room, and instead of casting it away had, I suppose, thrust
it into my pocket, where it had remained unheeded until
that moment.

I examined it with the utmost care and great interest. Then

I descended to Bob’s little dispensary, at the back of the
house, and, finding a microscope, took out some of the
tobacco and placed it beneath the lens. Tiny but distinct
crystals were revealed clinging to the finely-cut tobacco,
crystals of some subtle poison which, dissolved by the saliva
while in the act of smoking, entered the system.

The cigarette had narrowly proved fatal to me.

At once I lit the spirit-lamp, cleaned and dried some test-

tubes, and set busily to work to make solutions with the
object of discovering the drug. But although I worked
diligently the whole afternoon, and Bob, on returning,
assisted me, we were unable to determine exactly what it
was.

The remainder of the cigarette, including the paper bearing

the mark of manufacture, I carefully preserved, and on the
following morning went down to Hounslow to ascertain what
I could regarding my unconscious wife. Bob remained at
Rowan Road to look after his patients, but declared his
intention of relieving me if any watching were required.
Therefore, I went forth eager to ascertain some fact that
would lead me to a knowledge of the truth.

Hounslow, although but a dozen miles from Charing Cross,

was, I found, a dull, struggling place, the dismal quiet of
which was only relieved by a few boisterous militiamen in
its long street.

I took up my quarters at the historic Red Lion, and over a

whisky-and-soda made inquiries of the plethoric landlord as
to the whereabouts of Whitton. It lay beyond the town, half-
way towards Twickenham, he told me.

“There’s a Whitton Park, isn’t there?” I inquired.

“Yes; Colonel Chetwode’s place. That’s just before you get

to Whitton Church.”

“It’s a large house, I suppose?”

“Oh, yes; he’s the squire there, and magistrate, and all
that.”

“I’ve heard his name,” I said, “but I’ve never seen him.
What sort of a man is he?”

“Oh, a bit stand-offish, tall, thin, and grey-haired. We hotel-

keepers don’t like ’im, because he’s always down on us on
the licensing-days over at Brentford,” the man replied,
chewing his cheap cigar.

“He’s married, isn’t he?”

“Yes; he married ’is second wife about three years ago.

She’s a good-looking woman with reddish hair. They say she
don’t get on very well with the Colonel’s grown-up son.”

“Oh,” I remarked, at once interested. “How old is the son?”

“About twenty-five. He’s a jolly fellow ’e is. He’s a lieutenant

in the 7th Hussars, and they’re stationed here just now. He
often comes in and gets a drink when e’ passes.”

“And he doesn’t hit it off well with his stepmother?”

“No; I’ve heard some queer stories about their quarrels

from the servants,” he answered. He was a gossip, like all
landlords of inns, and seemed extremely communicative
because I had asked him to drink with me. The effect of a
shilling spent upon drink is ofttimes amazing.

“Stepmothers are generally intruders,” I laughed. “Well,

things came to such a pass down at the Park, a month or
two ago, that Mrs Chetwode demanded that the Colonel
should turn young Mr Cyril out of the house, and threatened
that if he did not she would leave. The Colonel, so it’s said,
grew furious, stormed down the place, and in the end Mrs
Chetwode packed her trunks and went with Sherman, her
maid, to Switzerland. About three weeks ago the Colonel
followed her and brought her back, so I suppose they’ve
made it up again.”

“Do they entertain many friends?”

“Oh yes, there’s always visitors there; it’s so near to

London, you see.”

“Do you know the names of any of the visitors?” I inquired.

Adding, “I think a friend of mine comes down to see them
sometimes—a Sir Pierrepoint-Lane.”

“Oh yes,” he said; “I’ve seen both Sir Henry and his wife
driving. They’ve got a place somewhere in Wiltshire, I’ve
heard. They’re great friends of Mrs Chetwode’s.”

“And there’s a Miss Ashwicke who comes with them,” I said

eagerly. “Do you know her?”

“I may know her by sight,” the man replied, “but I don’t

know her by name.”

“She’s tall, blue-eyed, with golden-brown hair. Very pretty,

and always very smartly dressed.”

“Yes; she wears a big black hat, and very often a drab-
coloured dress. When she smiles she shows her teeth very
prettily,” he said.

“That’s her, no doubt.”

“Well,” he said, “her description is exact. She’s Mr Cyril’s

young lady.”

“What?” I cried, starting up in surprise.

“When she’s down here she’s always about with the
Colonel’s son, and everybody says they’re engaged,” he
went on. “The servants have told me that they’re a most
devoted couple.”

“But is that lady the same one that I mean?” I inquired

dubiously.

“I don’t know her surname, but her Christian name is Miss

Beryl.”

“Beryl?” I gasped. Could this be the actual truth, that she

was engaged to young Chetwode?

Beryl! Then she was evidently known here by the name in

which she had married me—Beryl Wynd.

“Is she often here?” I asked at last, when I found voice

again. I was so upset by this statement, that with difficulty
I remained calm.

“Oh yes, very often; especially now that Mr Cyril is at the

barracks. They ride out together every morning, and are
very often about in the town in the afternoon. You’ll no
doubt see them.”

“Ah,” I said, with the object of misleading my garrulous

informant, “it can’t be the lady I mean, as her name is not
Beryl.”

“The description is very much like her,” he observed,

knocking the ash from his cigar.

“Is there any talk of young Chetwode marrying?” I inquired.

“Well, yes, there are rumours of course,” he answered.

“Some say that the Colonel is against it, while others say
that Mrs Chetwode is jealous of her stepson, so one doesn’t
know exactly what to believe.”

“I suppose you hear a lot of gossip about them, eh?”

“Oh, a lot. Much, too, that ain’t true,” he laughed. “Why,

somebody said once that Miss Beryl was the daughter of an
officer who got sent to penal servitude.”

“Who said that?” I said, at once pricking up my ears. Was it

not Major Tattersett who had accompanied her to the
registry at Doctors’ Commons, and who had given me that
cigarette?

“Oh, it was a story that got about.”

“Did they say who the officer was? or what was his
offence?”

“He was a major in the Guards, they said.”

“You didn’t hear his name?”

“No, I’ve never heard her name. Everybody here knows her
as Miss Beryl. But it would be easy enough to find out.”
And, rising, he leant forward into the tap-room, where a
rural postman was sitting, hot and dusty, drinking ale from
a pewter, and shouted, “I say, Allen, what’s the name of Mr
Chetwode’s young lady?”

“The young lady that’s so often at the Park? Why, Miss Beryl
Wynd.”

I sat motionless for some moments. The truth seemed plain

—that she had allowed herself to be introduced to me at
Gloucester Square under an alias. For what reason, I
wondered?
She was undoubtedly in love with this young lieutenant of
Hussars. If so, then she would seek to preserve the secret
of her marriage, and even repudiate it if necessary. The
rumours of her being the daughter of a disgraced officer
was another curious feature. It almost appeared as if there
were some truth underlying it.

“You hear what the postman says, sir,” observed the

landlord, turning again to me. “He knows, because he
delivers the letters at the Park. Her name is Wynd—funny
name, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” I answered mechanically, for the discovery that this

young Chetwode was the accepted suitor of my love was a
staggering blow. What could I do? How should I act?

She was my wife by law—mine.

I rose, announcing that I was going for a stroll, and, walked

unsteadily out into the long, deserted street. I wandered
down the Hanworth Road, past rows of cottages with
gardens filled with flowers, to the station, and, crossing the
bridge, soon found myself before the old-fashioned lodge at
the entrance to Whitton Park.

I was curious to investigate the place, and, noticing that the

lodge-keeper’s house was shut, while one of the smaller of
the great ornamental iron gates stood open, I strolled in,
continuing up the avenue for a quarter of a mile or so, when
suddenly the drive swept round past a pretty lake, and I
came in full view of the house.

It was a splendid old Elizabethan mansion. Before it was a

pretty, old-world garden with an ancient sundial in the
centre, while to the right was a well-kept modern tennis-
court where people were playing, while afternoon tea was
being served to the remainder of the house-party.
There were fully a dozen people there, the men in flannels
and the women in cool muslins with bright sunshades. Risks
of detection, however, prevented me from approaching
close enough to clearly distinguish the faces of the hostess
and her guests; therefore I stood hidden by the bushes,
watching the game, and trying in vain to catch a glimpse of
the countenances of the chattering circle of tea-drinkers.

Suddenly a figure in pale yellow rose and crossed to the

side of a foppishly-dressed young man who, sitting
somewhat apart, was smoking and intently watching the
game. The smartness of the figure, the narrow waist, wide
hips, and swinging gait were familiar.

Although I could not distinguish her features, I knew that it

was my wife—the woman who was ignorant of her
marriage, and whom I loved with such a fond, mad passion.

The man rose, pulled a chair forward for her, and then both
sat down together to chat. He fetched her some tea, and
then sat hugging his knees, apparently engrossed in
conversation. She seemed to hold him beneath the spell of
her marvellous beauty, just as she held me.

Could it be that that man, whose face I could not see

clearly, was Cyril Chetwode, her lover?

I was standing there, my eyes riveted upon the pair, when

the sound of a footstep on the gravel caused me to turn
quickly. Some one was approaching. I at once drew back
behind the trunk of a great elm near which I was standing,
for my discovery there as an intruder might upset all my
plans.

The figure came forward slowly, for I could hear that they
were deliberate footsteps, as though of a person waiting
and pacing up and down. I peeped out to ascertain who it
was, and as I did so the figure of a man in a soft felt hat
and a suit of grey tweed came cautiously into view.

My heart leapt up in quick surprise.

It was the man who, by giving me that cigarette, had made

the dastardly attempt upon my life that had been so nearly
successful—the man of whom I had been in active search—
Major Tattersett.

His single eyeglass was still in his eye, and his hat was set
upon his head as jauntily as on the day when we had first
met, but, for the eagerness of his countenance as he gazed
forward to where my wife sat, I saw that he was not one of
the house-party, and felt confident that his presence there
was with secret and evil intent.
 Chapter Eleven.
Voices of the Night.

From my place of concealment I was able to watch the

Major closely without risk of detection.

His presence there boded no good. He had crept slowly up

the avenue until within sight of the house, and was intently
scanning the gay party assembled on the lawn. Was it
possible that he had walked behind me and watched me
enter there?

He was scarcely as smart in appearance as on the day when

he led my bride up the aisle of the church, and had
afterwards handed me the cigarette; but, nevertheless, he
retained the distinctly foppish air of the man-about-town.
For a few moments only he remained there eagerly
scanning the distant group, and then, as though reassured,
he turned on his heel and retraced his steps towards the
lodge.

Determined to watch his movements, I followed him until

he gained Hounslow Station, and there I saw him turn into
a low-built, old-fashioned inn, where I afterwards
discovered he had been staying for a couple of days.

That some conspiracy was being formed, I could not doubt,

therefore I set myself to keep strict watch upon him—no
easy matter, for from hour to hour I feared that he might
recognise me. It was he who had petitioned the Archbishop
for the special licence for our marriage; he who had, with
some mysterious motive, posed as the father of the woman
I now loved. Surely she must have known that he was not
her father, and, if so, she herself had taken a part in a plot
which had so nearly cost her her life.

But was she not dead when I found her lying there? The
puzzle was bewildering.

The Major’s movements might possibly give me some clue.

It was fortunate that we had met.

At a cheap clothier’s I had purchased a rough secondhand

suit and a bowler hat, much the worse for wear, and these I
had assumed in order to alter my appearance as much as
possible. About nine o’clock that same night, while I stood
idling about the station with my eye ever upon the inn
opposite, my vigilance was suddenly rewarded, for the
Major emerged leisurely, carefully lit a cigar, and then
strolled across the railway bridge and down the road
towards Whitton. Darkness had not quite set in, therefore I
hesitated to follow him; but, fortunately, I had explored the
neighbourhood thoroughly during the past few hours, and
knew that by crossing to the opposite platform of the
station, I could gain a footpath which led through fields and
market-gardens, emerging into the high-road almost
opposite the gates of the park.

This byway I took, and, hurrying down it, arrived at the

point near the lodge fully five minutes before he appeared
along the road. The gates were, however, closed.

Would he ring and demand admittance? I wondered.

When about two hundred yards from the gates he suddenly

halted, glanced up and down the road as though to make
certain that no one was watching, and then, bending down,
squeezed himself through a hole in the wooden fencing and
disappeared. He evidently knew that the gates were locked,
and had already discovered that mode of entry, if indeed he
had not broken away the palings himself earlier in the day.

Without hesitation I hurried forward over the grass by the

roadside, so that he might not hear my footsteps, and,
discovering the hole in the paling, entered after him. I
found myself in the midst of hawthorn bushes and thick
undergrowth, but, pausing and listening intently, I soon
detected which direction he had taken by the noise of
breaking twigs. For some ten minutes I remained there,
fearing to move lest the noise might alarm him; but when
at last he was out of hearing I crept forward, breaking my
way through in the direction of the avenue. The night was
hot and so still that each sound seemed to awaken the
echoes.

With the greatest caution I crept on, walking noiselessly

over the grass in the direction of the house.

As soon as the old mansion came into view I saw that lights
burned in many of the windows, and from the drawing-
rooms, where the open doors led on to the lawn, came the
living strains of dance music.

From where I stood I could see the high lamps with their
shades of yellow silk, and now and then bright dresses
flashed past the long windows. A couple of figures were
strolling up and down before the house. I could see their
white shirt-fronts in the darkness, and knew that they were
men smoking and enjoying the night air.

The two men at last tossed away their cigar ends and
entered the house: thus I became encouraged to approach
closer, cross the lawn, and peep through one of the side
windows of the drawing-room. Fully a dozen people were
there, but as I gazed around I was disappointed not to see
my love. I had risked discovery and detection to obtain
sight of her, but she was not present, neither was her
cousin Nora. Most of the guests seemed smart people,
judging from the women’s toilettes, and all were lolling
about with the air of laziness which overcomes one after a
good dinner. Dancing had ended, and, as I watched, a
young dark-haired girl approached the piano and
commenced to sing a song by which I knew that she was
French.

I peered in through those windows eager for a glimpse of

Beryl. Surely she was not like those others? No, I
recollected her calm dignity and sweet grace when I had
spoken to her. She, at least, was high-minded and womanly.
I was glad she was not there to hear that song.

The singer sat down, having finished, amid roars of

applause, and then the conversation was resumed; but at
that instant I became conscious of some one passing near
me, and had only just time to draw back into the shadow
and thus escape observation. It was one of the guests, a
man who lounged slowly along, the glowing end of his cigar
shining in the darkness, alone; he was apparently full of
recollections, for he passed slowly and mechanically onward
without noticing me. Unable to see his face, I could only
detect that he was rather above the average height, and, by
his silhouette, I saw that he stooped slightly.

The encounter, however, caused me to recede from the

house, for I had no desire to be detected there and
compelled to give an account of myself. I was in shabby
clothes, and if found in the vicinity might be suspected of an
intention to commit a theft.

Where was the Major? He had certainly entered there, but

had escaped my vigilance by passing through the thicket. I
had been there nearly half an hour, yet had not been able to
re-discover him. The lawn on one side was bounded by a
light iron fencing, beyond which was a thick wood, and upon
this fencing I mounted, and sat to rest in full view of the
house and the long window of the drawing-room. In the
deep shadow of the trees I waited there, safe from
detection, listening to the music, which had recommenced,
and wondering what had become of the man whom I had
tried to follow. He seemed to have avoided the house and
gone to the opposite side of the park.

Although I could actually see into the circle of assembled

guests, yet I was so far off that I could only distinguish the
women by the colour of their gowns. Had Beryl returned to
join them? I wondered. I was longing for a single glance at
her dear face—that face sweeter than any other in the
world.

A woman in a cream dress, cut low at the neck, came

suddenly to the doorway and peered forth into the night as
though in search of some one, but a moment later had
disappeared; and again the piano broke forth with the
pretty minuet from Manon.

I had, I felt certain, been there almost, if not quite, an

hour; therefore I was resolved to make a tour of the park in
an endeavour to find the man whose suspicious movements
had so interested me earlier in the evening. With that
object in view I leaped down upon the lawn, crossed it until
I reached the edge of the lake, which I skirted until I gained
a rustic bridge which crossed the tiny brook that rippled
over the stones and fell into the pool.

Of a sudden I heard a sound. It was quite distinct, like a

half-suppressed cough. I halted in surprise, but no other
sound reached my ear. Could I have been mistaken? The
noise seemed very human, yet I knew that in the darkness
of night the most usual sound becomes exaggerated and
distorted. Therefore reassured I continued my way by the
narrow, unfrequented path, which, leaving the lakeside,
struck across the park and led me across a stile into a dark
belt of wood.

Scarcely had I entered it, however, when I heard human

voices distinctly. I halted and listened. An owl hooted
weirdly, and there was a dead silence.

I wondered whether the persons I had surprised had

detected my presence. I stood upon the narrow path
holding my breath so that I could catch every sound.

A couple of minutes passed. To me they seemed as hours.

Then, again, the voices sounded away to the left,
apparently on the edge of the wood. Noiselessly I retraced
my steps to the stile, and then found that from it there ran
a path beside the iron railing, whither I knew not. But
somewhere down that path two persons were in
consultation.

Treading carefully, so that my footsteps should not be

overheard, I crept down the path until, of a sudden, I
caught sight of a woman’s white dress in the gloom. Then,
sufficiently close to overhear, I halted with strained ears.

I was hidden behind a high hazel bush, but could just

distinguish against that reddish glare which shines in the
sky of the outskirts of London on a summer’s night, two
silhouettes, those of a man and a woman. The former had
halted, and was leaning against the railing, while the latter,
with a shawl twisted about her shoulders, stood facing him.

“If you had wished you could certainly have met me before
this,” the man was grumbling. “I’ve waited at the stile there
a solid hour. Besides, it was a risky business with so many
people about.”

“I told you not to come here,” she answered; and in an

instant I recognised the voice. They were the sweet,
musical tones of the woman who was my wife.

“Of course,” laughed her companion sardonically. “But, you

see, I prefer the risk.” And I knew by the deep note that the
man who stood by her was the Major.

“Why?” she inquired. “The risk is surely mine in coming out

to meet you?”

“Bah! women can always make excuses,” he laughed. “I

should not have made this appointment if it were not
imperative that we should meet.”

“Well?” she sighed. “What do you want of me now?”

“I want to talk to you seriously.”

“With the usual request to follow,” she observed wearily.

“You want money—eh?”

“Money? Oh no,” he said, with bitter sarcasm. “I can do

without it. I can live on air, you know.”

“That’s better than prison fare, I should have thought,” she

answered grimly.

“Ah, now, my dear, you’re sarcastic,” he said, with a touch

of irony. “That doesn’t become you.”

“Well, tell me quickly what you want, and let me get back,
or they will miss me.”
“You mean that your young lover will want to know with
whom you’ve been flirting, eh? Well, you can mislead him
again, as you’ve done many times before. What a fine thing
it is to be an accomplished liar. I always envy people who
can lie well, for they get through life so easily.” He spoke in
a familiar tone, as though he held her beneath an influence
that was irresistible.

“I am no liar,” she protested quickly. “The lies I have been

compelled to tell have been at your own instigation.”

“And to save yourself,” he added, with a dry, harsh laugh.

“But I didn’t bring you here for an exchange of
compliments.”
 Chapter Twelve.
The Morning After.

“Then why have you compelled me to meet you again?” she

demanded fiercely, in a tone which showed her abhorrence
of him. “The last time we met you told me that you were
going abroad. Why haven’t you gone?”

“I’ve been and come back again.”

“Where?”

“That’s my business,” he answered very calmly. “Your

welcome home is not a very warm one, to say the least.”

“I have no welcome for my enemies.”

“Oh! I’m an enemy—eh? Well,” he added, “I have always

considered myself your friend.”

“Friend!” she echoed. “You show your friendliness in a

rather curious manner. You conceive these dastardly plots,
and then compel me to do your bidding—to act as your
decoy!”

“Come, come,” he laughed, his temper quite unruffled by

her accusation, “you know that in all my actions I am
guided by your interests as well as my own.”

“I was certainly not aware of it,” she responded. “It cannot

be to my interest that you compel me to meet you here like
this, at the risk of discovery. Would it not have been better
if our meeting had taken place in London, as before?”
“Necessity has driven me to make this appointment,” he
responded. “To write to you is dangerous, and I wanted to
give you warning so that you can place yourself in a
position of security.”

“A warning!—of what?” she asked breathlessly.

“La Gioia is here.”

“La Gioia!” she gasped. “Here? Impossible!” La Gioia! It was

the name I had found written upon the piece of paper
beneath her pillow.

“Unfortunately, it is the truth,” he responded in an earnest

voice. “The contretemps is serious.”

“Serious!” she cried in alarm. “Yes, it is serious; and

through you I am thus placed in peril!”

“How do you intend to act?”

“I have no idea,” she responded, in a hoarse tone. “I am

tired of it all, and driven to despair—I am sick to death of
this eternal scheming, this perpetual fear lest the terrible
truth should become known. God knows how I have
suffered during this past year. Ah, how a woman can suffer
and still live! I tell you,” she cried, with sudden desperation,
“this dread that haunts me continually will drive me to take
my life!”

“Rubbish!” he laughed. “Keep up your pluck. With a little

ingenuity a woman can deceive the very devil himself.”

“I tell you,” she said. “I am tired of life—of you—of

everything. I have nothing to live for—nothing to gain by
living!”
Her voice was the voice of a woman driven to desperation
by the fear that her secret should become known.

“Well,” he laughed brutally, “you’ve certainly nothing to gain

by dying, my dear.”

“You taunt me!” she cried in anger. “You who hold me

irrevocably in this bond of guilt—you who compel me to act
as your accomplice in these vile schemes! I hate you!”

“Without a doubt,” he responded, with a short laugh. “And

yet I have done nothing to arouse this feeling of
antagonism.”

“Nothing! Do you then think so lightly of all the past?”

“My dear girl,” he said, “one should never think of what has
gone by. It’s a bad habit. Look to your own safety, and to
the future.”

“La Gioia is here!” she repeated in a low voice, as though

unable to fully realise all that the terrible announcement
meant. “Well, how do you intend to act?”

“My actions will be guided by circumstances,” he replied.

“And you?”

She was silent. The stillness of the night was broken only by
the dismal cry of a night-bird down near the lake.

“I think it is best that I should die and end it all,” she

replied, in a hard, strained voice.

“Don’t talk such nonsense!” he said impatiently. “You are

young, graceful, smart, with one of the prettiest faces in
London. And you would commit suicide. The thing is utterly
absurd!”
“What have I to gain by living?” she inquired again, that
question being apparently uppermost in her mind.

“You love young Chetwode. You may yet marry him.”

“No,” she answered with a sigh; “I fear that can never be.
Happiness can never be mine—never.”

“Does he love you?” inquired the Major, with a note of

sympathy in his voice.

“Love me? Why, of course he does.”

“You have never doubted him?”

“Never.”

“And he has asked you to marry him?”

“Yes, a dozen times.”

“When was the last occasion?”

“To-night—an hour ago.”

“And you, of course, refused?”

“Of course.”

“Why?”

“Because of the barrier which prevents my marriage with

him.”

“And you will allow that to stand in the way of your safety?”

“My safety!” she echoed. “I don’t understand.”

“Cannot you see that if you married Cyril Chetwode at once,
La Gioia would be powerless?”

“Ah!” she exclaimed suddenly, impressed by the suggestion.

“I had never thought of that?”

“Well,” he went on, “if you take my advice, you’ll lose no

time in becoming Chetwode’s wife. Then you can defy your
enemies, and snap your fingers at La Gioia.”

A deep silence fell. The woman who was my wife was

reflecting.

“You say that by marriage I could defy my enemies; but

that is incorrect. I could not cut myself free of all of them.”

“Why? Whom would you fear?”

“You yourself,” she answered bluntly.

“You have no confidence in me,” he protested with a

dissatisfied air.

“I can have no confidence in one who holds me enslaved as

you do.”

“And yet I have come here at considerable risk and personal

inconvenience to give you warning.”

“Because you fear discovery yourself.”

“No,” he laughed; “I’m quite safe. I merely came here to

make two suggestions to you. One I have already made,
namely, that you should marry Chetwode without delay. And
the other—”

He paused, as though to accurately gauge the extent of his

power over her.
“Well? Go on. I am all attention.”

“The other is that you should, as before, render me a trifling

assistance in a little matter I have in hand which, if
successfully carried out, will place both of us for ever
beyond the reach of La Gioia’s vengeance.”

“Another scheme?” she cried wearily. “Well, what is it?

Some further dastardly plot or other, no doubt. Explain it.”

“No; you are under a misapprehension,” he responded

quickly. “The affair is no dastardly plot, but merely a little
piece of ingenuity by which we may outwit La Gioia.”

“Outwit her!” she cried. “The very devil himself could not
outwit La Gioia.”

“Ah!” he laughed; “you women are always so ready to jump

to ill-formed conclusions. She has one weak point.”

“And you have discovered it?”

“Yes; I have discovered it.”

“How?”

“That is my affair. It is sufficient to be aware that she, the

invincible, is nevertheless vulnerable.”

There was another pause; but at last the woman I loved

responded in a firm, determined tone—

“Then, if that is true, I leave it to you. You declare you are

my friend, therefore I can, at least, rely on you for
protection, especially as we have so many interests in
common.”

“But you must assist me,” he observed.

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