looked down at her with a quick frown. Decidedly he was annoyed.

"You are certainly the first," he said drily, "who has ever discovered
the likeness, if there is any."

"It does not amount to a likeness," she answered, "and you need not
look so angry. Mr. De la Borne is considered very good-looking. Dear
me, what a nuisance! Do you see? We are going!"

Andrew de la Borne took the cup from her hand and helped to prepare the
boat. With a faint smile upon his lips he heard a little colloquy
between Cecil and the Princess which amused him. The Princess, as he
prepared to hand her into the boat, showed herself at any rate
possessed of the instincts of her order. She held out her hand and
smiled sweetly upon Andrew.

"We are so much obliged to you for your delightful tea, Mr. Andrew,"
she said. "I hope that next time my daughter goes wandering about in
dangerous places you may be there to look after her."

Andrew looked swiftly away towards Jeanne. Somehow or other the
Princess' words seemed to come to him at that moment charged with some
secondary meaning. He felt instinctively that notwithstanding her
thoroughly advanced airs, Jeanne was little more than a child as
compared with these people. She met his eyes with one of her most
delightful smiles.

"Some day, I hope," she said, "that you will take me out in the punt
again. I can assure you that I quite enjoyed being rescued."

The little party sailed away, Cecil with an obvious air of relief.
Andrew turned slowly round, and met his friend issuing from the door of
the cottage.

"Andrew," he said, "no wonder you did not care about being host to such
a crowd!"

There was meaning in his tone, and Andrew looked at him thoughtfully.

"Do you know--anything definite?" he asked.

Berners nodded.

"About one of them," he said, "I certainly do. I wonder what on earth
has become of Ronald. He was with them yesterday."

"Had enough, perhaps," Andrew suggested.

Berners shook his head.

"I am afraid not," he answered slowly. "I wish I could think that he
had so much sense."

CHAPTER XIII

Cecil came into the room abruptly, and closed the door behind him. He
was breathing quickly as though he had been running. His lips were a
little parted, and in his eyes shone an unmistakable expression of
fear. Forrest and the Princess both looked towards him apprehensively.

"What is it, Cecil?" the latter asked quickly. "You are a fool to go
about the house looking