ccomplished her search; her interlocutress paused. "If Mona
has got him?" the girl inquired, tightening the umbrella.

"Well," said Mrs. Gereth profoundly, "it will be clear enough that Mona
_has_."

"Has let herself go?"

"Has let herself go." Mrs. Gereth spoke as if she saw it in every
detail.

Fleda felt the tone and finished her preparation; then she went and
opened the door. "We'll look for him together," she said to her friend,
who stood a moment taking in her face. "They may know something about
him at the Colonel's."

"We'll go there." Mrs. Gereth had picked up her gloves and her purse.
"But the first thing," she went on, "will be to wire to Poynton."

"Why not to Waterbath at once?" Fleda asked.

Her companion hesitated. "In _your_ name?"

"In my name. I noticed a place at the corner."

While Fleda held the door open Mrs. Gereth drew on her gloves. "Forgive
me," she presently said. "Kiss me," she added.

Fleda, on the threshold, kissed her; then they went out.

XIX

In the place at the corner, on the chance of its saving time, Fleda
wrote her telegram--wrote it in silence under Mrs. Gereth's eye and then
in silence handed it to her. "I send this to Waterbath, on the
possibility of your being there, to ask you to come to me." Mrs. Gereth
held it a moment, read it more than once; then keeping it, and with her
eyes on her companion, seemed to consider. There was the dawn of a
kindness in her look; Fleda perceived in it, as if as the reward of
complete submission, a slight relaxation of her rigor.

"Wouldn't it perhaps after all be better," she asked, "before doing
this, to see if we can make his whereabouts certain?"

"Why so? It will be always so much done," said Fleda. "Though I'm poor,"
she added with a smile, "I don't mind the shilling."

"The shilling's _my_ shilling," said Mrs. Gereth.

Fleda stayed her hand. "No, no--I'm superstitious."

"Superstitious?"

"To succeed, it must be all me!"

"Well, if that will make it succeed!" Mrs. Gereth took back her
shilling, but she still kept the telegram. "As he's most probably not
there--"

"If he shouldn't be there," Fleda interrupted, "there will be no harm
done."

"If he 'shouldn't be' there!" Mrs. Gereth ejaculated. "Heaven help us,
how you assume it!"

"I'm only prepared for the worst. The Brigstocks will simply send any
telegram on."

"Where will they send it?"

"Presumably to Poynton."

"They'll read it first," said Mr