g on an excursion train which
returned at midnight."

Wilhelmina glanced at the clock. It was five minutes to one.

"Well?"

"She missed it," Macheson continued. "It was very careless and very
wrong, of course, but the fact remains that she missed it. I found her
in great distress. She had lost her friends, and there is no train back
to Thorpe till the morning. Her brother and mother are very strict, and
all her friends who came from Thorpe will, of course, know that--she
remained in London. The position, as you will doubtless realize, is a
serious one for her."

Wilhelmina made no sign. Nothing in her face answered in any way the
silent appeal in his.

"I happened to know," he continued, "that you were in London, so I
ventured to bring her at once to you. You are the mistress of Thorpe,
and in our recent conversation I remember you admitted a certain amount
of responsibility as regards your people there. If she passes the night
under your roof, no one can have a word to say. It will save her at once
from her parent's anger and the undesirable comments of her neighbours."

Wilhelmina glanced once more towards the clock.

"It seems to me," she remarked, "that a considerable portion of the
night has already passed."

Both Macheson and the girl were silent. Wilhelmina for the first time
addressed the latter.

"Where have you been spending the evening?" she asked.

"We had dinner and went to a place of entertainment," she faltered.
"Then we had supper, and I found out how late it was."

"Who is we?"

The girl's face was scarlet. She did not answer. Wilhelmina waited for a
moment and then shrugged her shoulders.

"You are to be congratulated," she said, with cold irony, "upon your
fortunate meeting with Mr. Macheson."

She had touched the bell, and a footman entered.

"Reynolds," she said, "show this young person into the housekeeper's
room, and ask Mrs. Brown to take charge of her for the night."

The girl moved forward impulsively, but something in Wilhelmina's
expression checked her little speech of gratitude. She followed the man
from the room without a word. Wilhelmina also turned towards the door.

"You will excuse me," she said coldly to Macheson. "I am already later
than I intended to be."

"I can only apologize for disturbing you at such an hour," he answered,
taking up his hat. "I could think of nothing else."

She looked at him coldly.

"The girl's parents," she said, "are respectable peo