, might give her curiosity the food it longed for. But Margaret
read and reread the note, and tore it up into very small pieces,
thoughtfully; and, as an afterthought, she burned them one by one over a
wax taper till nothing was left. Then she sent her maid away and fell to
thinking. But that did not help her much; and the warm sun stole through
the windows, and the noise in the street prevented her from sleeping,
for she was unused to the sound of wheels after the long weeks at sea.
And so she rang for her maid again. The maid came, bringing another
note, which, she said, had been given her by "Monsieur Clodiuse;" and
would there be an answer?

It was simply a few lines to say he was going to be away all day, and
that he hoped to have the pleasure of seeing the Countess in Newport
to-morrow. But for some reason or other Margaret was not pleased with
the note, and merely said there would be no answer.

"Madame would she dress herself to go out, or to keep the lodging?"

Madame would not go out. Was it warm? Oh yes, it was very warm. In fact
it was _hebetant_. Would Madame see Monsieur le Duc if he called at
eleven? Monseigneur's Monsieur Veelees had charged her to inquire of
Madame. No, Madame would not see Monsieur le Duc this morning. But if
any one called, Madame desired to be informed. Madame would be served.
And so the toilet proceeded.

It was not very long before some one called. There was a knock at the
door of the bedroom. Clementine left the Countess's hair, which she was
busy combing and tressing, and went to the door. It was old Vladimir,
Margaret's faithful Russian servant.

"At this hour!" exclaimed the Countess, who was not in the best of
tempers. "What does he want?"

Vladimir ventured to make a remark in Russian, from the door, which
produced an immediate effect. Margaret rose swiftly, overturning her
chair and sweeping various small articles from the table in her rapid
movement. She went very quickly to the door, her magnificent black hair
all hanging down. She knew enough Russian to talk to the servant.

"What did you say, Vladimir?"

"Margareta Ivanowna"--Margaret's father's name had been John--"Nicolai
Alexandrewitch is here," said Vladimir, who seemed greatly surprised.
His geographical studies having been purely experimental, the sudden
appearance of a Russian gentleman led him to suppose his mistress had
landed in some outlying part of Russia, or at least of Europe. So she
bade the old s