w either. I leave all details to the members of the company;
but we've a secretary, who understands all about it, in this house
to-night. We're half of us here on business, directly or indirectly,
and not for pleasure, so it's possible he may talk to you. But I see
our hostess eying us, and it's time we walked along."

They moved forward together, and the woman whom they approached,
beckoning Geoffrey, whom she had for some reason taken under her
patronage, said:

"There's a countrywoman of yours present, who doesn't know many of our
people yet. I should like to present you to her. She comes, I
understand, from the same wilds which sheltered you. Mrs. Leslie, this
is a special _protege_ of mine, Mr. Thurston, who could give you all
information about the mountains in which your husband talks of
banishing you."

A handsome, tastefully-dressed woman turned more fully towards them,
and for a moment Geoffrey stood still in blank astonishment. The
average man would find it disconcerting to be brought, without warning,
suddenly face to face in a strange country with a woman who had
discarded him, and Thurston showed slight embarrassment.

"Mrs. Henry Leslie! But you evidently know each other!" exclaimed the
hostess, whose quick eyes had noticed his startled expression.

Millicent had changed since the last time Geoffrey saw her. She had
lost her fresh cream and rose prettiness, but had gained something in
place of it, and though her pale blue eyes were too deeply sunk, her
face had acquired strength and dignity. She was, as he had always
found her, perfectly self-possessed. With a quick glance, which
expressed appeal and warning, she said:

"We are not quite strangers. I knew Mr. Thurston in England."

The young Englishman and his countrywoman moved away together, and
Geoffrey presently found himself standing in a broad corridor with
Millicent's hand upon his arm. Through a long window which opened into
a balcony the clear moonlight shone. A wide vista of forest and
sparkling sea lured them out of doors.

"A breath of fresh air would be delightful. It would be quiet out
there, and I expect you have much to tell me." It was Millicent who
spoke, with quiet composure, and her companion wondered at his own lack
of feeling. After the first shock of the surprise he was sensible of
no particular indignation or emotion. It seemed as if any tenderness
that he had once felt for her had long since disappeared.