perpetual beaming smile, he hissed in an angry whisper, "Drop it,
you idiot! Put it back!"

The young man scowled askance at him.

"Curse you! Put it back!" hissed Charolais.

The young man's arm shot out with the same quickness, and the statuette
stood in its place.

There was just the faintest sigh of relief from Charolais, as Germaine
turned and came to him with the photograph in her hand. She gave it to
him.

"Ah, here we are," he said, putting on a pair of gold-rimmed pince-nez.
"A hundred horse-power car. Well, well, this is something to talk over.
What's the least you'll take for it?"

"_I_ have nothing to do with this kind of thing," cried Germaine. "You
must see my father. He will be back from Rennes soon. Then you can
settle the matter with him."

M. Charolais rose, and said: "Very good. We will go now, and come back
presently. I'm sorry to have intruded on you, young ladies--taking up
your time like this--"

"Not at all--not at all," murmured Germaine politely.

"Good-bye--good-bye," said M. Charolais; and he and his son went to the
door, and bowed themselves out.

"What creatures!" said Germaine, going to the window, as the door
closed behind the two visitors. "All the same, if they do buy the
hundred horse-power, papa will be awfully pleased. It is odd about that
pane. I wonder how it happened. It's odd too that Jacques hasn't come
back yet. He told me that he would be here between half-past four and
five."

"And the Du Buits have not come either," said Sonia. "But it's hardly
five yet."

"Yes; that's so. The Du Buits have not come either. What on earth are
you wasting your time for?" she added sharply, raising her voice. "Just
finish addressing those letters while you're waiting."

"They're nearly finished," said Sonia.

"Nearly isn't quite. Get on with them, can't you!" snapped Germaine.

Sonia went back to the writing-table; just the slightest deepening of
the faint pink roses in her cheeks marked her sense of Germaine's
rudeness. After three years as companion to Germaine Gournay-Martin,
she was well inured to millionaire manners; they had almost lost the
power to move her.

Germaine dropped into a chair for twenty seconds; then flung out of it.

"Ten minutes to five!" she cried. "Jacques is late. It's the first time
I've ever known him late."

She went to the window, and looked across the wide stretch of
meadow-land and woodland on which the chateau, set on the very crown of
th