"My dear," said Mrs. Raynor to Lady Katharine, in a carefully lowered
tone, "if I know anything, you will be parting with that dear girl's
companionship for good and all before the summer is over. Look at the
man's eyes: they are positively devouring her. Of course we shall have
to remain to welcome him, but I think we shall earn their gratitude if
we leave them to themselves as soon as we decently can."

A few minutes later the opportunity to do this was offered her; and
having lingered just long enough to be introduced to "Mr. Philip Barch"
and to become even more impressed with him at close quarters as not only
a man good to look at, but as an apt and easy conversationalist, she
suddenly remembered that she and Lady Katharine had promised to gather
some hyacinths for the lunch table, and forthwith spirited her away.

Cleek followed her with his eyes as long as she remained in sight, then
he turned to Ailsa. "A very tender and sensitive girl I should say, Miss
Lorne, although she bears herself so well under the cross of last
night's tragedy. I see by your manner of looking at her that you are
attached to her in many ways."

"Not in many, but in all, Mr. Cleek. She is the dearest girl in the
world."

"We won't go into that, otherwise we should disagree for the first time
in the whole course of our acquaintance. Let me thank you for adhering
so closely to all that I asked over the telephone. I didn't mean to, at
first. My original idea was to come here unknown to all, even to you;
but when I came to think over it, it seemed so disloyal, so
underhanded, as if I didn't trust you in all things, _always_--that I
simply couldn't bring myself to do it."

She looked up at him with grave sweet eyes--the eyes that had lit him
back from the path to destruction, that would light him up to the gates
of heaven evermore--and smiled on him, bewildered.

"I am afraid I do not follow you," she said. "I don't quite grasp what
you mean. Oh!" with sudden fear, "if you thought from my cry of surprise
when I recognized your voice over the telephone, that I was not glad----
Why, I was going to write to you this morning. But I expected it to be
Geoffrey Clavering asking for Kathie, you know----"

The name brought a ridge between Cleek's brows as of a sudden
disconcerting thought.

"Geoffrey Clavering? But he has been over here, this morning, has he
not?" he asked anxiously.

"No, he has not, and that is what seems so strange," said