etain her, swept past my table with scarcely a glance, and made her
way towards where the two latest arrivals were sitting. She stooped
down towards the man, and talked to him earnestly for several moments.
All the time he looked at her with the puzzled, half-vacant expression
of a child who is confronted with something which it does not
understand. Delora had risen to his feet, and stood nervously
clutching the serviette in his hand. Louis hurried up to him, and they
talked together for a moment.

"At all costs," I heard Louis say, "she must be fetched away. They
will not remain here to eat. Rotherby has warned them. See how he is
looking at her! It is not safe!"

Something more passed between them in a low tone. Delora glanced at
his watch, and then at the clock. Finally he crossed the room to where
his niece was standing, and laid his hand upon the man's shoulder.

"Ferdinand," he said, "I am glad to see that you are better. Come up
to my rooms for a few minutes. We must have a talk."

At the sound of his voice something seemed to come back to the face of
the older man. He rose slowly to his feet. I could see his white
fingers trembling, but I could see his eyes suddenly fill with a new
and stronger light.

"You!" he exclaimed. "Yes, I am here to talk to you! It had better be
at once! Lead the way!"

I saw Delora look towards the lady of the turquoises. Apparently he
made some remark which I failed to overhear.

"This lady is my companion," I heard the other say. "She has been
very kind to me--kinder, I am afraid, as a stranger, than others have
been on whom I should have relied. She will accompany us. She does not
leave me."

Then the four of them turned towards the door. Lamartine jogged my
shoulder and I too rose. Behind, Louis was hovering, watching their
departure with a nervous anxiety which he could not conceal. Lamartine
and I went out close upon their heels.

"A new move, Louis?" I asked, as I passed.

"The last, monsieur," Louis answered, with a bow.

CHAPTER XXXIX

THE UNEXPECTED

The entrance to the Milan Court was small and unimposing, compared
with the entrance to the hotel proper. I reached it to find some
confusion reigning. A tall, gray-bearded man was talking anxiously to
the hall-porter, Felicia, standing a little apart, was looking around
with an air of bewilderment. My lady of the turquoises was standing by
the side of the lift, with her arm drawn through her companion's.