ecret meeting of the Mafia was one of those
devoted to home correspondence. The girls were alloted forty minutes
during school hours: they brought their writing-cases into the
class-room, and scribbled off as many letters as possible during the
brief time allowed. On this particular Wednesday Dulcie was much in
arrears; she wrote three letters to Sicily, one to an aunt in London, a
short scrawl to Everard, and was beginning "My dear Cousin Clare," when
Miss Hardy entered the room in a hurry.

"Jones has to leave half an hour earlier," she announced, "and he wants
to take the post-bag now. Be quick, girls, and give me your letters!"

A general scramble of finishing and stamping ensued. Dulcie, who had not
addressed her envelopes, folded her loose sheets anyhow, and trusted to
luck that the foreign letters were not over-weight.

"I can't help it if they have to pay extra on them," she confided to
Carmel. "They look rather heavy, certainly, but I hadn't any thin note
paper, you see."

"Douglas will pay up cheerfully, I'm sure!"

"How do you know that his was a heavy one?"

"Oh, I can guess!"

"I was only answering a number of questions he asked me. It's very
unkind not to answer people's questions!"

"Most decidedly! I quite agree with you!" laughed Carmel.

The letters were posted in Glazebrook that evening by the factotum
Jones, and Dulcie, though her thoughts might possibly follow the
particular heavy envelope addressed to Montalesso, dismissed her other
items of correspondence completely from her mind. She was taking a run
round the garden the next morning at eleven o'clock "break," when to her
immense surprise she heard a trotting of horse's hoofs on the drive, and
who should appear but Everard, riding Rajah. The rules at Chilcombe Hall
were strict. No visits were allowed, even from brothers, without special
permission from Miss Walters. Hitherto Everard had come over only by
express invitation from the head-mistress, and this had been given
sparingly, at discreet intervals, and always for the afternoon. Surely
some most unusual circumstance must have brought him to school at the
early hour of eleven in the morning? Dulcie flew across the lawn,
calling his name. At the sight of his sister Everard dismounted, and
greeted her eagerly.

"Hello! How are you? How's Carmel?" he began. "I say, you know, this has
been a shocking business! You look better than I expected" (scanning her
face narrowly). "It's a mercy