, and what would happen
if they only knew! And now I've got to see Sir Arthur. Shall I tell him
everything or not? No, I daren't, I daren't. It's too awful. Was there
ever anything like it in the world before?"

And then her body swayed forward, her elbows dropped on to her knees,
her hands clasped her temples tighter, and the next moment she had burst
into a passion of tears.

Tears are a torture to men and a relief to women, so in a few minutes
she lifted her head again, the storm was over and she began to look the
situation over calmly. The more she thought of it the more certain it
seemed that she could do nothing but irretrievable mischief by even
hinting to Sir Arthur anything of what she knew. At any rate she decided
that until Carol came back she would keep her knowledge absolutely to
herself.

Then the train of her thoughts was suddenly broken by the postman's
knock at the door. There was a London letter addressed to herself in the
familiar handwriting of Mr. Bernard Falcon. As she opened it she
experienced a singular mixture of relief and vexation, tinged by a
suggestion of shame.

The letter began with an inquiry as to when she was coming back to
Town, and ended with an invitation to spend a week end in the round trip
from London to Dover, Calais, Boulogne and Folkestone.

She had been nearly a fortnight in Worcester, and, truth to tell, she
was getting a little tired of it. Falcon's letter offered her a double
relief. It would save her from the ordeal of meeting Sir Arthur, and,
combined with the visit of "Mr. Johnson," it would give her a good
excuse to her parents for going back to Town at once; so she sat down
and wrote two letters, one to Falcon telling him that he could meet her
at Paddington the next evening, and the other to Sir Arthur telling him
all she knew about Carol, saving only the name of her companion, and
regretting that she would not be able to meet him, as she was starting
for the Continent that day. For obvious reasons she, of course, said
nothing of Garthorne's visit to her.

Sir Arthur was as much disappointed with his letter as Mr. Falcon was
pleased by his. Dora left Worcester the day that he received it, and
while she was dining with Mr. Falcon at the Globe Restaurant, Sir Arthur
was telling Vane and Mark Ernshaw, who had come over to dine and sleep
at the Abbey, all that he knew of Miss Carol's latest escapade.

"I'm very, very sorry," said Ernshaw when he had finished. "We'