se, please!" she gasped breathlessly. "Not here! Not now!"

He attempted to resist her, but she would not be resisted. With all her
strength she pulled him away, her hands tightly clasped upon his arm.
And it was thus that they came face to face with Max, sauntering in
ahead of his host.

He glanced at them both, but showed no surprise, though both Olga's
agitation and Noel's anger were very apparent.

"Look here, you two," he said, "Nick and I can't be kept waiting any
longer. We value our beauty-sleep if you don't. And Mr. Musgrave is
longing to see the last of us."

"Not at all," said Will courteously. "But Nick has suddenly developed a
violent hurry to be gone. My wife is trying to pacify him, but she won't
hold him in for long."

"Let us go!" said Olga. She took her hand from Noel's arm, but looked at
him appealingly.

"All right," he said gruffly. "I suppose I had better go too."

"High time, I should say," observed his brother. "Good-night!"

Noel did not look at him or respond. He turned aside without a word, and
left the room.

Max made no further comment of any sort, but Olga was aware of his green
eyes studying her closely. Like Noel she avoided them. She shook hands
hurriedly with Will, and went out to Nick and Daisy.

As Max turned to follow her, she heard Hunt-Goring's smiling voice
behind him. "Good-bye, Dr. Wyndham! Delighted to have met you again--you
and your _fiancee_. I have just been congratulating Miss Olga on her
conquest."

Max went out as though the sneering words had not reached him, but his
face was so grim when he said good-bye to Daisy that she felt almost too
guilty to look at him. She held Olga to her very closely at the last,
and saw her go with a passionate regret. Whether she had acted rightly
or wrongly she did not know; but she felt that she had wrecked the
girl's happiness, and the spontaneity of Olga's answering embrace did
not reassure her.

CHAPTER XVI

THE GAP

"Now, my chicken, to roost!" said Nick.

He turned to give her his paternal embrace, but paused as Olga very
slightly drew back from it.

They stood in the dining-room which they had entered on arrival. Max had
lounged across to the mantelpiece, and propped himself against it in his
favourite attitude. He looked on as it were from afar.

"Please," Olga said rather breathlessly, and she addressed Nick as
though he were the only person in the room, "I want to ask you something
before we say goo