right city.'

Hugo stared at Simon, who retreated to the door.

'What in thunder do you mean?' Hugo asked coldly and deliberately.

At last Simon felt a tremor.

'I mean, sir, that I think I know where she is. At least, I know where
she will be in a couple of hours' time.'

'Where?'

'In Department 42--her old department, sir.'

By a terrific effort Hugo kept calm.

'Simon,' he said, 'don't play any tricks on me. If you do, I'll thrash
you first, and then dismiss you on the spot.'

'It's through the new manager of the drapery, sir, in place of Mr.
Bentley--I forget his name. Mr. Bentley's room being all upset with
police and accountants and things, the new manager has been using your
office. And I was in there to-day, and he was engaging a young lady for
the millinery, sir. He didn't recognise her, not having been here long
enough, but I did. It was Miss Payne.'

'Impossible!'

'Yes, sir; Miss Payne--that is to say, Mrs. Tudor. I heard him say,
"Very well, you can start to-morrow morning."'

'That's _this_ morning?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Why didn't you tell me this last night?' Hugo roared.

'It slipped my memory, sir,' said Simon, surpassing all previous feats
of insolence.

Hugo, speechless, waved him out of the room.

CHAPTER XXIV

THE LODGING-HOUSE

The thought of soon seeing her intoxicated him. His head swam, his heart
leapt, his limbs did what they liked, being forgotten. And then, as he
sobered himself, he tried seriously to find an answer to this question:
Why had she returned, as it were surreptitiously, to the very building
from which her funeral was supposed to have taken place? Could she
imagine that oblivion had covered her adventure, and that the three
thousand five hundred would ignore the fact that she was understood to
be dead? He found no answer--at least, no satisfactory answer--except
that women are women, and therefore incalculable.

'Go and see if she is there,' he said to Simon at five minutes to nine.

'She is there,' said Simon at five minutes past nine; 'in one of the
work-rooms alone.'

Then Hugo put a heavy curb on his instincts, and came to a sudden
resolve.

'Tell the new drapery manager,' he instructed Simon, 'to give
instructions to Mrs. Tudor, or Miss Payne, whichever she calls herself,
that she is to meet him in my central office at six o'clock this
evening. He, however, is not to be there. She is to wait in the room
alone, if I have not arrived. Infor