upon his forehead.

"Do you know him?" she asked.

"I know who he is," he answered. "He is a queer sort of fellow, lives
all alone, and is a bit cranky, they say. Come in and have some
breakfast. I don't suppose that any one else will be down for ages."

She shook her head.

"I will send my woman down for some coffee," she answered. "I am going
upstairs to change. I am just a little wet, and I must try and find
some thicker shoes."

Cecil sighed.

"One sees so little of you," he murmured, "and I was looking forward to
a tete-a-tete breakfast."

She shook her head as she left him in the hall.

"I couldn't think of it," she declared. "I'll appear with the others
later on. Please find out all you can about Mr. Andrew and tell me."

Cecil turned away, and his face grew darker as he crossed the hall.

"If Andrew interferes this time," he muttered, "there will be trouble!"

CHAPTER VII

The Princess appeared for luncheon and declared herself to be in a
remarkably good humour.

"My dear Cecil," she said, helping herself to an ortolan in aspic, "I
like your climate and I like your chef. I had my window open for at
least ten minutes, and the sea air has given me quite an appetite. I
have serious thoughts of embracing the simple life."

"You could scarcely," Cecil de la Borne answered, "come to a better
place for your first essay. I will guarantee that life is sufficiently
simple here for any one. I have no neighbours, no society to offer you,
no distractions of any sort. Still, I warned you before you came."

"Don't be absurd," the Princess declared. "You have the sea almost at
your front door, and I adore the sea. If you have a nice large boat I
should like to go for a sail."

Cecil looked at her with upraised eyebrows.

"If you are serious," he said, "no doubt we can find the boat."

"I am absolutely serious," the Princess declared. "I feel that this is
exactly what my system required. I should like to sit in a comfortable
cushioned seat and sail somewhere. If possible, I should like you men
to catch things from the side of the boat."

"You will get sunburnt," Lord Ronald remarked drily; "perhaps even
freckled."

"Adorable!" the Princess declared. "A touch of sunburn would be quite
becoming. It is such an excellent foundation to build a complexion
upon. Jeanne is quite enchanted with the place. She's had adventures
already, and been rescued from drowning by a marvellous person, who
wore his t