Philip. "It seems inconceivable, Jean--but I
believe."

Jean moved to the door.

"Good-night, M'sieur," he said.

"Good-night, Jean."

For a few moments after Croisset had left him Philip stood motionless.
Then he locked the door. Until he was alone he did not know what a
restraint he had put upon himself. Jean's words, the mysterious
developments of the evening, the half promise of the fulfilment of his
one great hope--had all worked him into a white heat of unrest. He knew
that he could not stay in his room, that it would be impossible for him
to sleep. And he was not in a condition to rejoin Adare and his wife.
He wanted to walk--to find relief in physical exertion, Of a sudden his
mind was made up. He extinguished the light. Then he reopened the
window, and dropped out into the night again.

He made his way once more to the edge of the forest. He did not stop
this time, but plunged deeper into its gloom. Moon and stars were
beginning to lighten the white waste ahead of him. He knew he could not
lose himself, as he could follow his own trail back. He paused for a
moment in the shelter of a spruce to fill his pipe and light it. Then
he went on. Now that he was alone he tried to discover some key to all
that Jean had said to him. After all, his first guess had not been so
far out of the way: it was a physical force that was Josephine's
deadliest menace. What was this force? How could he associate it with
the baby back in Adare House? Unconsciously his mind leaped to Thoreau,
the Free Trader, as a possible solution, but in the same breath he
discarded that as unreasonable. Such a force as Thoreau and his gang
would be dealt with by Adare himself, or the forest people. There was
something more. Vainly he racked his brain for some possible
enlightenment.

He walked ten minutes without noting the direction he was taking when
he was brought to a standstill with a sudden shock. Not twenty paces
from him he heard voices. He dodged behind a tree, and an instant later
two figures hurried past him. A cry rose to his lips, but he choked it
back. One of the two was Jean. The other was Josephine!

For a moment he stood staring after them, his hand clutching at the
bark of the tree. A feeling that was almost physical pain swept over
him as he realized the truth. Josephine had not gone to her room. He
understood now. She had purposely evaded him that she might be with
Jean alone in the forest. Three days before Philip would