denly, without a word of leave-taking, disappeared as if the earth
had opened and swallowed her, and all because the handle of the door to
the inner room had turned? Then the excuse she had given for not wishing
to meet Lord Donal must have struck him as ridiculously inadequate.
When she reached her desk and reflected with more calmness over
the situation, she found no cause to censure herself for her hasty
departure; although she had acted on impulse, she saw there had been
nothing else to do; another moment and she would have been face to face
with Lord Donal himself.

Next day brought a note from the detective which went far to reassure
her. He apologized for having made the appointment without her
permission, and explained that Lord Donal's unexpected arrival in
London, and his stubborn unbelief that it had been the Princess herself
whom he met at the ball, seemingly left the detective no alternative out
to call on the person who had so persistently advanced the theory, to
explain it to the one most intimately concerned. It had not occurred
to him at the time to think that Miss Baxter might object to meet Lord
Donal, who was an entire stranger to her; but now he saw that he was
wrong, etc., etc., etc. This note did much to convince Jennie that,
after all, the detective had not seen the clues which appeared to be
spread so plainly before his eyes. Cadbury Taylor, however, said nothing
about the search being ended, and a few days later Jennie received a
disquieting letter from the Princess von Steinheimer.

"My dear Jennie," her Highness wrote, "I am sure the detectives are
after you, and so I thought it best to send you a word of warning. Of
course it is only surmise on my part, but for days there has been a
woman hovering about the castle, trying to get information from my
servants. My maid came directly to me and told me what she knew. The
woman detective had spoken to her. This inquisitive person, who had come
from Paris, wished particularly to know whether I had been seen about
the castle during the week in which the Duchess of Chiselhurst's ball
took place; and so this leads me to suppose that some one is making
inquiries for you. It must be either Lord Donal Stirling or the Duke
of Chiselhurst, but I rather think it is the former. I have written an
indignant letter to Lord Donal, accusing him of having caused detectives
to haunt the castle. I have not yet received a reply, but Lord Donal is
a truthful person,