had been in the trap with Henshaw. I dare say they took me for
his sister or his wife.

"At last, after one of the most wretched hours I ever spent--and I have
had more than my fair share of trouble--we reached Haynthorpe, and on
the outskirts of the village I asked Henshaw to set me down. He stopped
and looked at me curiously.

"'Can't you trust me to drive you to your home?'" he said insinuatingly.

"I replied that I preferred to get down where we were, and thanked him as
warmly as I was able for all his services.

"'You haven't even told me your name,' he protested, 'Mine is Clement
Henshaw; I am staying at Flinton for hunting.'

"My answer was that he must not think me ungrateful, but that I would
rather not tell him my name. It could be of no consequence to him.

"'I should like at least,' he urged, 'to be allowed to drive over and
report how your--friend--or was it your brother?--is getting on.'

"I thanked him, made the best excuse I could for refusing, got down from
the trap and hurried off through the dark village street, thankful to get
away from those awkward questions.

"But if I thought I had finally got rid of Mr. Clement Henshaw I was, in
my ignorance of the man, woefully mistaken."

CHAPTER XXIV

HOW THE STORY ENDED

"When I reached the house luck unexpectedly favoured me. My maid, whom I
had been obliged to take, up to a certain point, into my confidence, and
who, after the manner of her class, had acquired more than a sympathetic
inkling of the way my people had been treating me, was waiting up on the
look-out for my return, and quietly let me in. She told me that no one
but herself had any idea that I was out of the house; she had led them to
believe that I had gone to bed early with a headache, which considering
the stress of the past two days was plausible enough. So I got back
safely to my room which it had not seemed likely. I should ever enter
again, and next morning I could see that my over-night's adventure was
quite unsuspected.

"Naturally I anticipated a continuation of my stepmother's attempts to
force me into the marriage she had in view, and it rather puzzled me to
understand why they seemed to be dropped. The prospective bridegroom did
not come to the house, and, stranger still, his name was not mentioned.
The explanation was soon forthcoming. I did not see the newspapers just
then, in fact I have an idea they were purposely kept away from me; but
some people who we