Lady St. Maurice was watching me when she made
the announcement. If she was expecting to read my thoughts and fears she
was disappointed. She could have seen nothing but the most utter
indifference. I felt that my mask was perfect.

But as the day wore on my task grew harder. The wind, which had been
blowing hard all the morning, became a hurricane, and even in the house,
with closed doors and windows, we could hear the far-off thunder of the
sea sweeping in against the cliffs. Every one in the household became
strangely restless and anxious. Lord St. Maurice, with a field glass
under his arm, went out upon the cliffs, and he returned hatless and
with his coat ripped up, shaking his head with ill-affected
cheerfulness. There was no sign of the _Stormy Petrel_.

"Lumley would make for Yarmouth harbor directly he saw this beast of a
gale blowing up," he declared, walking up and down the morning room with
troubled face. "He is a little careless, but he is an excellent sailor,
and he must have seen that there was dirty weather brewing. It isn't as
though it were a sudden squall, you know, or anything of that sort.
There was plenty of warning. All the same, I wish he hadn't started. It
was very foolish, and I don't like such whims. I didn't hear him say
anything about a cruise yesterday. Did you, Adrienne?"

Was it my fancy, or did Lady St. Maurice indeed glance at me as she
answered:

"No, I heard nothing. Late last night he came to my room and told me
that he had given Groves some orders, and that he should leave quite
early this morning."

Lord St. Maurice frowned.

"It is most extraordinary," he said. "He gave you no reason whatever,
then?"

"None!"

"Did he say where he was going to? We were shooting together all
yesterday afternoon, and he said not a word about going away. On the
contrary, he arranged to go to Norwich on Thursday to look at some
horses."

The Countess shook her head.

"I know no more than you do, Geoffrey. I asked him where he was going,
and he did not seem at all sure. He said that he would write if he
remained away more than a day or two. You know how uncertain he is."

"It is very inconsiderate of him," Lord St. Maurice declared, leaving
the room abruptly. "I am surprised at Lumley."

Lady St. Maurice and I were alone. She was pretending to read and I to
work. So far as she was concerned, I could see that it was a pretence,
for she held her book upside down, and for my part, I did no