t's her window," said the King's Messenger, and added sternly, "but
I'm here on duty, and even if she----" He rang the bell and stood
listening to the preposterous thumping of his heart.

The door opened while he was framing an imaginary sentence that had
nothing to do with the duty in hand.

"Hullo, Haines!" he said. "Where's Sir William?"

The old butler peered at the visitor irresolutely for an instant.

"Why," he said, "Mr. d'Auvergne, sir, you're a stranger! For a moment
I didn't recognise you standing out on the doorstep----"

The visitor crossed the threshold and was relieved of cap and stick.

"Sir William said an officer from the Admiralty would call at nine,
sir; but he didn't mention no name, and I was to show you into the
library. Sir William is still up in the laboratory, sir"--the butler
lowered his voice to a confidential undertone--"with all the Naval
gentlemen that was dining here--their Lordships, sir." He turned as he
spoke and led the way across the hall. "It's a long time since you was
last here, sir, if I may say so----" There was the faintest tone of
reproach in the old servitor's tones. "I dare say you'll be forgetting
your way about the house." The butler stopped at a door. "This way,
sir--Miss Cecily's in here----"

The King's Messenger halted abruptly, as panic-stricken a young
gentleman as ever wore the King's uniform.

"Haines!" he said. "No! Not--not that room. I'll wait--I----" But
the old man had opened the door and stood aside to allow the visitor to
enter.

D'Auvergne drew a deep breath and stepped forward. As he did so, the
butler spoke again.

"Lieutenant d'Auvergne, Miss," he said, and quietly closed the door.

Save for the light from a shaded electric reading-lamp by the fireplace
the big room was in shadow. A handful of peat smouldered on the wide
brick hearth and mingled its faint aroma with the scent of roses.

An instant's silence was followed by the rustle of silk, and a
white-clad form rose from a low arm-chair beside the reading-lamp.

"I seem to remember the name," said Cecily in her clear, sweet tones,
"but you're in the shadow. Can you find the switch ... by the door..."
An odd, breathless note had caught up in her voice.

The King's Messenger laid the black despatch bag he still carried on a
chair by the door and limped towards her across the carpet.

"I don't think the light would help matters much," he said quietly.
"I'm generally grate