gesture of impatience.

"But you must meet to-day," she said imperiously. "You _must_!
To-morrow it will be too late."

"Too late? How too late?"

Miss Lermontof hesitated a moment. Then she said quietly:--

"I happen to know that Max is leaving England to-night."

Diana shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, he will come back, I suppose."

The other looked at her curiously.

"Diana, what has come to you? You are so--changed--since last night."

"We're told that 'night unto night showeth knowledge,'" retorted Diana
bitterly. "Perhaps _my_ knowledge has increased since--last night." She
watched the puzzled expression deepen on Olga's face. Then she added:
"So I can afford to wait a little longer to see Max."

Again Miss Lermontof hesitated. Then, as though impelled to speak
despite her better judgment, she burst out impetuously:--

"But you can't! You can't wait. He isn't coming back again."

There was a queer tense note in Diana's voice as she played her first big
card.

"Then I suppose I shall have to follow him to--Ruvania," she said very
quietly.

"To Ruvania?" Olga repeated, and by the sudden narrowing of her eyes, as
though she were all at once "on guard," Diana knew that her shot in the
dark had gone home. "What do you mean? Why--Ruvania?"

Diana faced her squarely. Despite her feverish desire to wring the truth
from the other woman, she had herself well in hand, and when she spoke it
was with a certain dignity.

"Don't you think that the time for pretence and hypocrisy has gone by?
_You_ know--all that I ought to know. Now that even the newspapers are
aware of Max's--and Adrienne's--connection with Ruvania, do you still
think it necessary that I, his wife, should be kept in the dark?"

"The newspapers?" Olga spoke with sudden excitement. "How much do they
know? What do they say? . . . After all, though," she added more
quietly, "it doesn't much matter--now. Everything is settled--for good
or ill. But if the papers had got hold of it sooner--"

"Well?" queried Diana coolly, intent on driving her into giving up her
knowledge. "What if they had?"

Olga surveyed her ironically.

"What if they had? Only that, if they had, probably you wouldn't have
possessed a husband a few hours later. A knife in the back is a quick
road out of life, you know."

Diana caught her breath, and her self-command gave way suddenly.

"For God's sake, what do you mean? Tell me--you must tell
me--e