how she was getting on his nerves--but
certainly he wished her no harm.

He was silent and thoughtful when a few minutes later he joined his
aunt and Esther in the adjoining room. He had overcome his first
avoidance of the boudoir, yet he still disliked the hint of incense
that clung to its atmosphere. He drew a breath of slight distaste as
he sank down on the pale blue chaise-longue and mechanically drew out
his cigarette-case, only to find it empty.

"There are cigarettes on the table in that box, if you want to smoke,"
suggested his aunt.

He picked up the box, made of turquoise-blue shagreen, and opened it.
There were three compartments within, holding three kinds of
cigarettes. In the middle one was a single cigarette with a scarlet
tip and a scarlet monogram--T. C. He lifted it between his thumb and
finger and examined it with a slight frown.

"That's one of Therese's own special kind," observed his aunt placidly.
"She has them made for her. They're scented with amber."

He let the little object fall and selected a plain cigarette. Then as
he lit it, his eyes encountered for a fleeting instant the clear gaze
of the nurse. Immediately she looked away and, rising, perhaps too
hurriedly, left the room. However, that single glance had been
sufficient to tell Roger what was in her thoughts.

His first impulse was one of regret. He felt a poignant humiliation to
think that this young girl, a stranger in the house, should be aware of
a thing of that kind concerning his father's wife. Yet, oddly enough,
a second later, he realised that he no longer regarded Esther as a
stranger. He felt as though he had known her for years; she had
mysteriously become something quite personal. Strange, how the sharing
of a secret knowledge can change a relationship.

When Esther opened the door into the bedroom, she was just in time to
see Lady Clifford bending over the ill man, with one hand lifting up
his head, while with the other she turned over the pillow beneath it.

CHAPTER XV

The Frenchwoman looked up with a slight start, then smiled.

"Ah, it's you, nurse!" she murmured. "You do not mind my being here,
do you?"

Esther stood still for a second, trying not to betray that she was
annoyed. Why couldn't the woman leave her poor husband alone?
Recalling the doctor's injunction to her, she wondered how she could
convey the needed hint to Lady Clifford without giving offence.

"Did you want anything,