mad about you. Mad!"

And Musa's voice broke. In the midst of all her fury Audrey was relieved
that it did break, for the reason that it was getting very loud, and the
wheel, with Captain Wyatt thereat, was not far off.

There was one thing to do, and Audrey did it. She walked away rapidly. And,
as she did so, she was startled to discover a sob in her throat. The drawn,
highly emotionalised face of Musa remained with her. She was angry,
indignant, infuriated, and yet her feelings were not utterly unpleasant,
though she wanted them to be so. In the first place, they were exciting.
And in the second place--what was it?--well, she had the strange, sweet
sensation of being, somehow, the mainspring of the universe, of being
immensely important in the scheme of things.

She thought her cup was full. It was not. Staring blankly over the side of
the ship she saw a buoy float slowly by. She saw it with the utmost
clearness, and on its round black surface was painted in white letters the
word "Flank." There could not be two Flank buoys. It was the Flank buoy of
the Mozewater navigable channel. ... She glanced around. The
well-remembered shores of Mozewater were plainly visible under the moon. In
the distance, over the bowsprit, she could discern the mass of the tower of
Mozewater church. She could not distinguish Flank Hall, but she knew it was
there. Why were they threading the Mozewater channel? It had been
distinctly given out that the yacht would make Harwich harbour. Almost
unconsciously she turned in the direction of the wheel, where Captain Wyatt
was. Then, controlling herself, she moved away. She knew that she could not
speak to the captain. She went below, and, before she could escape, found
the saloon populated.

"Oh! Mrs. Moncreiff!" cried Madame Piriac. "It is a miraculous coincidence.
You will never guess. One tells me we are going to the village of Moze for
the night; it is because of the tide. You remember, I told you. It is where
lives my little friend, Audrey Moze. To-morrow I visit her, and you must
come with me. I insist that you come with me. I have never seen her. It
will be all that is most palpitating."

CHAPTER XXXIII

AGUILAR'S DOUBLE LIFE

Madame Piriac came down into the saloon the next afternoon.

"Oh! You are still hiding yourself here!" she murmured gaily to Audrey, who
was alone among the cushions.

"I was just resting," said Audrey. "Remember what a night we had!"

It was true t