as though Mr. Gilman had
basely marooned them.

"But what must we do?" demanded Madame Piriac.

"Oh! We can walk round on the dyke," said Audrey superiorly. "Unless the
stiles frighten you."

"It is about to rain," said Madame Piriac, glancing at the high curved
heels of her shoes.

The sky, which was very wide and variegated over Mozewater, did indeed seem
to threaten.

At that moment the dinghy appeared round the forefoot of the _Ariadne_. Mr.
Gilman and Miss Thompkins were in it, and Mr. Gilman was rowing with
gentleness and dignity. They had, even afar off, a tremendous air of
intimacy; each leaned towards the other, face to face, and Tommy had her
chin in her hands and her elbows on her knees. And in addition to an air of
intimacy they had an air of mystery. It was surprising, and perhaps a
little annoying, to Audrey that those two should have gone on living to
themselves, in their own self-absorbed way, while such singular events had
been happening to herself in Flank Hall. She put several fingers in her
mouth and produced a piercing long-distance whistle which effectively
reached the dinghy.

"My poor little one!" exclaimed Madame Piriac, shocked in spite of her
broadmindedness by both the sound and the manner of its production.

"Oh! I learnt that when I was twelve," said Audrey. "It took me four
months, but I did it. And nobody except Miss Ingate knows that I can do
it."

The occupants of the dinghy were signalling their intention to rescue, and
Mr. Gilman used his back nobly.

"But we cannot embark here!" Madame Piriac complained.

"Oh, yes!" said Audrey. "You see those white stones? ... It's quite easy."

When the dinghy had done about half the journey Madame Piriac murmured:

"By the way, who are you, precisely, for the present? It would be prudent
to decide, darling."

Audrey hesitated an instant.

"Who am I? ... Oh! I see. Well, I'd better keep on being Mrs. Moncreiff for
a bit, hadn't I?"

"It is as you please, darling."

The fact was that Audrey recoiled from a general confession, though
admitting it to be ultimately inevitable. Moreover, she had a slight fear
that each of her friends in turn might make a confession ridiculous by
saying: "We knew all along, of course."

The dinghy was close in.

"My!" cried Tommy. "Who did that whistle? It was enough to beat the cars."

"Wouldn't you like to know!" Audrey retorted.

The embarkation, under Audrey's direction, was accomplished i