telegraph before Thursday--if she's going to Washington. Now
take my advice and don't be a fool."

Clavering shrugged his shoulders, but he set his lips. "Very well. I
won't follow her. Nor will I forgive her in a hurry, either."

"That's healthy. Give her a piece of your mind, have a good row, and
then make it up. But let me tell you, my dear boy, that she was
horrified at the thought of that man coming up here, and she only
refrained from telling you of the summons, so to speak, because she
wanted to spare you any anxiety. There's no doubt in my mind that
she's as much in love with you as you are with her. . . . You have
none, I suppose?"

"None. Particularly lately. I hadn't told you, but I had intended, in
a day or two, to ask you if you would let me have the camp for a few
weeks. We intended to marry in Huntersville the day the rest of you
went out."

Mr. Dinwiddie whistled. "No wonder she was furious at having her
preliminary honeymoon disturbed. But if that is the case of course
she'll return. You're more than welcome to the camp, and I'll send
whatever you need from time to time. You've only to command me. . . .
It makes it all the more comprehensible. Whatever it was that man said
to her, she wanted to get over it by herself before coming back to the
place where she had forgotten that Hohenhauers and politics existed. I
could see how it was with her here. She looked exactly as she used to
in the old days, and I don't doubt felt like it, too. No wonder she
resented being forced back into the role of Madame Zattiany, or
Graefin--countess--as he calls her. You must let her thresh it out by
herself."

"You believe she will come back."

"If that was your plan, I assuredly do. There isn't a spark of human
affection between those two, and Mary never placed herself in any man's
power. I am more and more inclined to believe that he appealed to her
for help in his mission here, whatever it is--and it's not so difficult
to guess--and that against her inclination and out of her love for
Austria, she consented."

"Well, it's no use to speculate. There's the supper bell. I'll decide
in the morning whether I go off for a tramp or not."

LVII

Clavering slept when he first went to bed, for he was healthily tired,
but he awoke suddenly at midnight with body refreshed and mind
abnormally clear. He knew that he would sleep no more that night, and
he put on his trousers and coat over his