ace (as my niece remarked to me just now, Mr. Vanstone); and on that
walk we must all meet every time we go out. And why not? Are we formal
people on either side? Nothing of the sort; we are just the reverse. You
possess the Continental facility of manner, Mr. Vanstone--I match you
with the blunt cordiality of an old-fashioned Englishman--the ladies
mingle together in harmonious variety, like flowers on the same bed--and
the result is a mutual interest in making our sojourn at the sea-side
agreeable to each other. Pardon my flow of spirits; pardon my feeling
so cheerful and so young. The Iodine in the sea-air, Mrs. Lecount--the
notorious effect of the Iodine in the sea-air!"

"You arrived yesterday, Miss Bygrave, did you not?" said the
housekeeper, as soon as the captain's deluge of language had come to an
end.

She addressed those words to Magdalen with a gentle motherly interest
in her youth and beauty, chastened by the deferential amiability which
became her situation in Noel Vanstone's household. Not the faintest
token of suspicion or surprise betrayed itself in her face, her voice,
or her manner, while she and Magdalen now looked at each other. It was
plain at the outset that the true face and figure which she now saw
recalled nothing to her mind of the false face and figure which she had
seen in Vauxhall Walk. The disguise had evidently been complete enough
even to baffle the penetration of Mrs. Lecount.

"My aunt and I came here yesterday evening," said Magdalen. "We found
the latter part of the journey very fatiguing. I dare say you found it
so, too?"

She designedly made her answer longer than was necessary for the purpose
of discovering, at the earliest opportunity, the effect which the sound
of her voice produced on Mrs. Lecount.

The housekeeper's thin lips maintained their motherly smile; the
housekeeper's amiable manner lost none of its modest deference, but the
expression of her eyes suddenly changed from a look of attention to a
look of inquiry. Magdalen quietly said a few words more, and then waited
again for results. The change spread gradually all over Mrs. Lecount's
face, the motherly smile died away, and the amiable manner betrayed
a slight touch of restraint. Still no signs of positive recognition
appeared; the housekeeper's expression remained what it had been from
the first--an expression of inquiry, and nothing more.

"You complained of fatigue, sir, a few minutes since," she said,
droppi