faithful little counsellor; but Cheyne Walk was hardly the place
for her, and he would not be safe from Cedric.

For a moment he thought of the Wood House--they would never look for
her there; but he dismissed this idea the next moment. No; the Manor
House was their only resource. He would put her in Mrs. Godfrey's care,
and ask her to keep her safe until they had made their plans. Mrs.
Godfrey was a woman of the world; she would make allowances for any
human creature so broken and buffeted in the battle of life, whose
womanhood had been so tempted and crushed. His mother was kind-hearted,
but her sympathies were less broad, and she often failed in tact. Leah
would be to her a puzzling enigma. He felt with shrewd intuition that
it would be impossible for them to understand each other.

"No, it must be my dear Mrs. Godfrey," he said to himself. "She is more
human; it is not her way to use a sledge-hammer when a lighter weapon
will serve her purpose; and then she never forces confidence, she is
the most tactful woman I know." Malcolm broke off abruptly here as Leah
entered the room. She wore the same dark red dress she had worn the
previous day, and had a travelling wrap over her arm. She carried a
small Gladstone bag, of which Malcolm at once relieved her.

"I packed this last night," she said in a low voice, "and I wrote this
letter. Will you give it to him?" Then Malcolm glanced at the address;
it was to Cedric, and he put it carefully in his breast-pocket.

"He shall have it," was his answer. "Now, if you are ready, we may as
well go."

"If we are quiet no one will hear us," she observed in the same subdued
voice. "The servants are in the back kitchen; I heard them laughing and
talking as I came downstairs."

Then she led the way, and Malcolm followed her closely. Leah's remark
about an earlier train had made him supremely uncomfortable. What if
they should come face to face with Saul Jacobi and Cedric as they
turned out of Gresham Gardens! The idea was unpleasant. Fortunately, at
that moment he saw an empty cab crawling towards them, after the manner
of growlers when a fare is wanted, and he at once hailed it. Leah
looked somewhat surprised when she heard him direct the man to a
pastry-cook's shop in the near vicinity of Paddington station. She gave
him a questioning glance.

"We cannot go straight to our destination until I am sure the coast is
clear," he explained. "There is an upstairs room at Falconer's,