some time yet, and what I have got to
say to Peter Ivanovitch is just a simple question which I might put to
him when I meet him in the grounds on my way down. I really think I
must go. I have been some time here, and I am anxious to get back to my
mother. Will you let me pass, please?"

The _dame de compagnie_ turned her head at last.

"I never supposed that you really wanted to see Madame de S--," she
said, with unexpected insight. "Not for a moment." There was something
confidential and mysterious in her tone. She passed through the door,
with Miss Haldin following her, on to the terrace, and they descended
side by side the moss-grown stone steps. There was no one to be seen on
the part of the drive visible from the front of the house.

"They are hidden by the trees over there," explained Miss Haldin's new
acquaintance, "but you shall see them directly. I don't know who that
young man is to whom Peter Ivanovitch has taken such a fancy. He must
be one of us, or he would not be admitted here when the others come.
You know what I mean by the others. But I must say that he is not at
all mystically inclined. I don't know that I have made him out yet.
Naturally I am never for very long in the drawing-room. There is
always something to do for me, though the establishment here is not so
extensive as the villa on the Riviera. But still there are plenty of
opportunities for me to make myself useful."

To the left, passing by the ivy-grown end of the stables, appeared Peter
Ivanovitch and his companion. They walked very slowly, conversing with
some animation. They stopped for a moment, and Peter Ivanovitch was seen
to gesticulate, while the young man listened motionless, with his arms
hanging down and his head bowed a little. He was dressed in a dark brown
suit and a black hat. The round eyes of the _dame de compagnie_ remained
fixed on the two figures, which had resumed their leisurely approach.

"An extremely polite young man," she said. "You shall see what a bow he
will make; and it won't altogether be so exceptional either. He bows in
the same way when he meets me alone in the hall."

She moved on a few steps, with Miss Haldin by her side, and things
happened just as she had foretold. The young man took off his hat, bowed
and fell back, while Peter Ivanovitch advanced quicker, his black, thick
arms extended heartily, and seized hold of both Miss Haldin's hands,
shook them, and peered at her through his dark glasses.