her suddenly
and instinctively stiffen. She looked him in the face and bowed very
slightly, without the vestige of a smile.

"How do you do, Mr. De la Borne?" she said as she passed on, without
taking the slightest notice of the hand, which, forgetting where he
was, he had half extended towards her.

Andrew went on into the ballroom, found his partner, and danced with
her. As soon as he could he made his adieux and hurried off to the
cloakroom. His coat was already upon his arm when Cecil discovered him.

"What are you bolting off for, old man?" he asked.

"I've had enough," Andrew answered. "I can't stand the atmosphere, and
I hate dancing, as you know. See you to-morrow, Cecil. I want to have a
talk with you. I am going away for a few weeks."

"Right oh!" Cecil answered. "But you can't go just yet. Mademoiselle Le
Mesurier sent me for you. She wants to speak to you at once."

Andrew hesitated.

"Do you mean this, Cecil?" he asked.

"Of course I do," Cecil answered. "I haven't been rushing about looking
into every corner of the place for nothing. Come along. I'll take you
to where she is."

Andrew handed back his coat and hat to the attendant, and followed
Cecil into the ballroom. In a passage leading to the billiard-room,
where several chairs had been arranged for sitting out, Jeanne was
ensconced, with two men leaning over her. She waved them away when she
saw who it was coming. Without a smile, or the vestige of one, she
motioned to Andrew to take the vacant seat by her side.

"I have executed your commission, Miss Le Mesurier," Cecil said, bowing
before her. "I will claim my reward when we meet again."

He sauntered away, leaving them alone. Jeanne turned at once towards
her companion.

"I am sorry," she said, "if my sending for you was in any way an
annoyance. I understand, of course, you have made it quite clear to me,
that our little friendship, or whatever you may choose to call it, is
at an end. But I do insist upon knowing what it was that you and my
stepmother were discussing for nearly half an hour in the gardens of
the Red Hall. The truth, mind. You and I should owe one another that."

"We talked of you," he answered. "What other subject can you possibly
imagine your stepmother and I could have in common?"

"That is a good start," she answered. "Now tell me the rest."

"I am not sure," he answered, "that I feel inclined to do that."

She leaned forward and looked at him. Unwillingly he t