t harm do you suppose could come to Lord Ronald here?"

"I do not know," Jeanne said, speaking in a low tone, and with the fear
still in her dark eyes.

"I told you," the Princess continued, "that there was some sort of a
quarrel. What of it? Lord Ronald simply chose to go away. Do you
suppose that there is any one here who would think of trying to hinder
him? Look at us three and ask yourself if it is likely. Look at Major
Forrest here, for instance, who never loses his temper, and whose whole
life is a series of calculations. Or our host. Look at him," the
Princess continued, with a little wave of her hand. "He may have
secrets that we know nothing of, but if he is a desperate criminal, I
must say that he has kept the knowledge very well to himself. As for
me, you know very well that I quarrel with no one. Le jeu ne vaut pas
la peine."

Jeanne drew a little breath. Her face was less tragic. There was a
moment's silence. Then Cecil de la Borne moved toward the fireplace. He
was pale, but his manner was more composed. The Princess' speech, drawn
out, and very slowly spoken, of deliberate intent, had achieved its
purpose. The first terror had passed away from all of them.

"I will ring the bell," Cecil said, "and find out who these trespassers
are, wandering about my grounds at this hour of the night. Or shall we
all go out and look for them ourselves?"

"As you will," Forrest answered. "Personally, I should think that Miss
Jeanne has overheard some gossip amongst the servants, and
misunderstood it. However, this sort of thing is just as well put a
stop to."

A sudden peal rang through the house. The front-door bell, a huge
unwieldy affair, seldom used, because, save in the depths of winter,
the door stood open, suddenly sent a deep resonant summons echoing
through the house. The bareness and height of the hall, and the fact
that the room in which they were was quite close to the front door
itself, perhaps accounted for the unusual volume of sound which seemed
created by that one peal. It was more like an alarm bell, ringing out
into the silent night, than any ordinary summons. Coming in the midst
of those tense few seconds, it had an effect upon the people who heard
it which was almost indescribable. Cecil de la Borne was pale with the
nervousness of the coward, but Forrest's terror was a real and actual
thing, stamped in his white face, gleaming in his sunken eyes, as he
stood behind the card-table with his head