lf,
"and I am sure he did for that sweet Halcyone. He and Cis are not
married yet; there can be no harm in my mentioning her." So aloud she
said:

"You remember our meeting that charming Miss Halcyone La Sarthe across
the haw-haw on Easter Sunday? Well, fancy, I came across her in London
at the end of June--in Kensington Gardens, sitting with the long-haired
old Professor. I was surprised; somehow one could not picture her out of
her own park." She watched John Derringham's face carefully, and saw
that this information moved him.

"Did you?" he said, with an intense tone in his deep voice. "What was
she doing there, I wonder?"

"She looked too sweet," Cora went on. "She was wearing becoming modern
clothes, and seemed to me to have grown so pretty. But she was very pale
and quiet. She came to tea with me the next day--I cannot say how she
fascinates me. I just love her--and then, on the Saturday she was to go
abroad with the Professor."

"Really?" said John Derringham, while he could feel his heart begin to
beat very fast. "Where were they going, do you know? I would like to run
across, my old master."

"I think to Brittany for July, and then Switzerland; but they intended
to get into Italy as soon as it was cool enough. They seemed to be going
to have a lovely trip and take a long time about it."

"I had no idea Miss La Sarthe had any relations in London," he said.
"Who was she staying with there? Did she tell you?"

"Her stepfather, I think," Cora said. "Her mother married twice, it
appears, and then died, and the man married again. This second wife, her
sort of stepmother, came and fetched her from La Sarthe Chase quite
suddenly one day."

"I cannot think of her in London," said John Derringham. "Did she like
it, do you think? And was she changed?"

"Yes, very changed," Cora answered, and made her voice casual. "She
looked as if the joy of life had fled forever, and as if she were just
getting through the time. Perhaps she hated being with her
step-family--people often do."

Then she glanced at him stealthily as he stared out at the sea, while
she thought: "I am sure some awful tragedy is here underneath; it is not
only his broken ankle and his illness that has made him such a wreck. I
wish I could help them. I would not care a snap for Cis, who is a
rattlesnake if she wants something."

"When was it, exactly, you saw her?" John Derringham asked. "But perhaps
you don't remember the date?"

"Yes, I do,