n, he had actually arrived in England from Archangel, whence gossip
said two hundred and fifty thousand other Russians had been mysteriously
shipped to north Britain. Alas for romance! those Russian hordes were
imaginary, but there was no doubt that Milly Dalziel's Russian had
appeared in flesh and blood--though with only enough of either to keep
body and soul together. They had been married a few days after Count
Stefan Stefanovitch had arrived--a picturesque wedding performed with
all formalities by a Russian priest, while the bridegroom lay propped up
in bed, in that suite at the Savoy of which Mrs. Dalziel had talked, no
guests present except the bride's mother and father (Tony Senior having
obediently dashed across the ocean) and the Russian ambassador with his
wife.

At the time I was not unselfish enough to interest myself profoundly in
Milly's marriage, for my mind was filled with thoughts of Eagle March,
and I could not forget how Milly, snubbed by him for her own good, had
let her supposed love for Eagle turn into bitter spite. I didn't believe
that a girl who had so lately cared for a man like Eagle March could
really have been caught in a rebound of heart by Stefan Stefanovitch. I
had seen Stefan no more than once or twice, when he was military attache
at the Russian Embassy, but that was often enough for me to know some of
his limitations. In looks and manner he compared poorly with Eagle, to
my mind. I was inclined to think that without his counthood Milly would
have had no use for him, or he for her without her money. This spoilt
the romance of the affair in my eyes, and I had no premonition of what
Milly's Russian relationships were soon to mean for me.

When she had been married a little more than a fortnight and before any
further news had come out concerning the "Elusive Mars" and his
companion, I was told one day by Miss Jane that I was called for at the
telephone. I left a roomful of baby Belgians, for whom I was playing
nursemaid, to run to the 'phone, and was stabbed with disappointment to
hear Diana's voice. You see, every rap of the postman, every b-b-bur-r-r
of the telephone bell, _might_ mean the longed-for message from Eagle
which always I hoped for, even expected!

"Hello, Peggy!" said Di. "I've got a piece of good news for you."

My heart gave a silly leap and then sat down again; because she would be
the last person in the world to give me news of Eagle March.

"What is it?" I asked, w