ndow. Outside, the wind had suddenly changed. The
sunshine had departed, and a grey fog was blowing in from the sea. He
turned away with a shiver.

"What a cursed place this is!" he muttered. "I've half a mind even now
to turn my back upon it and to run."

The Princess watched his pale face scornfully.

"I thought, Nigel," she said, "that you were a more reasonable person.
Remember that if we show the white feather now, it is the end of
everything--the Colonies, if you like, or a little cheap watering-place
at the best. As for me, I might have a better chance of brazening it
out, but remember that I could never afford to be seen in the company
of a suspected person."

"It was the fear of losing you," he muttered, "which made me so rash."

The Princess laughed very softly.

"My dear friend," she said, "I do not believe you. I may seem to you
sometimes very foolish, but at least I understand this. Life with you
is self, self, self, and nothing more. You have scarcely a generous
instinct, scarcely a spark of real affection left in you."

"And yet--" he began quietly.

"And yet," she whispered, repulsing him with a little gesture, but with
a suddenly altered look in her face, "and yet we women are fools!"

She turned round to meet her host, who was crossing the hall, and
almost simultaneously the dinner gong rang out. Their party was perhaps
a little more cheerful than it had been on any of the last few
evenings. Forrest drank more wine than usual, and exerted himself to
entertain. Cecil followed his example, and the Princess, who sat by his
side, looked often into his face, and whispered now and then in his
ear. Jeanne was the only one who was a little distrait. She left the
table early, as usual, and slipped out into the garden. The Princess,
contrary to her custom, rose from the table and followed her. A sudden
change of wind had blown the fog away, and the night was clear. The
wind, however, had gathered force, and the Princess held down her
elaborately coiffured hair and cried out in dismay.

"My dear Jeanne," she exclaimed, "but it is barbarous to wander about
outside a night like this!"

Jeanne laughed. Her own more simply arranged hair was blown all over
her face.

"I love it," she explained. "You don't want me indoors. I am going to
walk down the grove and look at the sea."

"Come back into the hall one moment," the Princess said. "I want to
speak to you."

Jeanne turned unwillingly round, and her