watchfulness. Anything that
tends to tranquilise the mind of a person in his condition must be
procured for him at almost any risk. When the delirium has passed, an
ordinary nurse may be of greater use than Miss West; but at present we
really cannot do without her. You heard for yourself how he called her
when she went out of the room?"

"Yes, I heard. Then shall I send the woman of whom I spoke, doctor? She
might be a help to Miss West, whose work I of course would rather assist
than retard in any way."

"You can thoroughly rely upon her?" said the doctor dubiously.

"Thoroughly. She is a most valuable person."

"She might come for a day or two, and we shall see whether she is of any
use or not. Will you send for her?"

Yes, Mrs. Vane would send. And then the doctor went to look once more at
Hubert, of whose condition he again seemed somewhat doubtful; and
afterwards he took his leave. When he had gone, Mrs. Vane also departed,
taking her docile husband back with her to the Grosvenor Hotel. She had
gained her point and was secretly triumphant; for she had secured the
presence of a spy upon Cynthia, and could depend upon Sabina Meldreth to
give a full account of Miss West's habits and visitors.

Flossy had great faith in her system of espionage. She sent Parker at
once with a note summoning Sabina to the hotel, and there she laid her
plans. Sabina was to go that very night to Mr. Lepel's rooms, and was to
make herself as useful as she could. It was presumed that Cynthia had
not seen with sufficient clearness for the encounter to be a source of
danger the woman in black who had followed Westwood to Kensington
Gardens. Sabina was told to keep herself in the background as much as
possible--to be silent and serviceable, but, above all, to be observant;
for it was likely that Westwood would try to communicate with his
daughter, and, if he did so, Sabina would perhaps be able to track him
down.

Flossy had completely lost all fear for herself in the excitement of her
discoveries. It seemed to her that she and her secret were entirely
safe. Nobody, she thought, had ever known of her understanding with
Sydney Vane in days gone by; nobody had any clue to the secret of his
death; so long as Hubert was silent, she had nothing at all to fear; and
Hubert had succumbed to her for so long that she did not dread him now.
Nothing seemed to her more unlikely than that after so many years he
should deliberately divest himself of n