ON
XXII. SPOKEN IN JEST
XXIII. THE KNIGHT IN DISGUISE
XXIV. THE MOUNTAIN SIDE
XXV. THE TRUSTY FRIEND
XXVI. THE LAST SUMMONS
XXVII. THE MOUNTAIN-TOP
XXVIII. CONSOLATION
XXIX. THE SEVENTH HEAVEN

PART I

CHAPTER I

THE WANDERER.

Biddy Maloney stood at the window of her mistress's bedroom, and surveyed
the world with eyes of stern disapproval. There was nothing of the smart
lady's maid about Biddy. She abominated smart lady's maids. A flyaway
French cap and an apron barely reaching to the knees were to her the very
essence of flighty impropriety. There was just such a creature in
attendance upon Lady Grace de Vigne who occupied the best suite of rooms
in the hotel, and Biddy very strongly resented her existence. In her own
mind she despised her as a shameless hussy wholly devoid of all ideas of
"dacency." Her resentment was partly due to the fact that the indecent
one belonged to the party in possession of the best suite, which they had
occupied some three weeks before Biddy and her party had appeared on the
scene.

It was all Master Scott's fault, of course. He ought to have written to
engage rooms sooner, but then to be sure the decision to migrate to this
winter paradise in the Alps had been a sudden one. That had been Sir
Eustace's fault. He was always so sudden in his ways.

Biddy sighed impatiently. Sir Eustace had always been hard to manage. She
had never really conquered him even in the days when she had made him
stand in the corner and go without sugar in his tea. She well remembered
the shocking occasion on which he had flung sugar and basin together into
the fire so that the others might be made to share his enforced
abstinence. She believed he was equal to committing a similar act of
violence if baulked even now. But he never was baulked. At thirty-five he
reigned supreme in his own world. No one ever crossed him, unless it were
Master Scott, and of course no one could be seriously angry with him,
poor dear young man! He was so gentle and kind. A faint, maternal smile
relaxed Biddy's grim lips. She became aware that the white world below
was a-flood with sunshine.

The snowy mountains that rose against the vivid blue were dream-like in
their beauty. Where the sun shone upon them, their purity was almost too
dazzling to behold. It was a relief to rest the eyes upon the great
patches of pine-woods that clothed some of the slopes.

"I wonder if Miss Isabel