t not hesitate," he declared. "There are no buts. It is the
only way."

"Yes; but tell me what terrible thing is to happen to me if I enter
France?" she asked, with an uneasy laugh.

The man hesitated. To speak the truth would be to explain all. Therefore
he only shook his head and said, "Please do not ask me to explain a
matter of which I am not permitted to speak. If you believe me, Enid," he
said in a low, pleading voice, "do heed my warning, I beg of you!"

As he uttered these words the handle of the door turned, and Lady
Elcombe, warmly clad in furs, came forward to greet the novelist.

"I'm so glad that I returned before you left, Mr. Fetherston," she
exclaimed. "We've been to a most dreary play; and I'm simply dying for
some tea. Enid, ring the bell, dear, will you?" Then continuing, she
added in warm enthusiasm: "Really, Mr. Fetherston, you are quite a
stranger! We hoped to see more of you, but my husband and daughter have
been away in France--as perhaps you know."

"So Enid has been telling me," replied Walter. "They've been in a most
interesting district."

"Enid is leaving us again to-morrow morning," remarked her mother. "They
are going to Nervi. You know it, of course, for I've heard you called the
living Baedeker, Mr. Fetherston," she laughed.

"Yes," he replied, "I know it--a rather dull little place, with one or
two villas. I prefer Santa Margherita, a little farther along the
coast--or Rapallo. But," he added, "your daughter tells me she's not
well. I hope she will not be compelled to postpone her departure."

"Of course not," said Lady Elcombe decisively. "She must go to-morrow if
she goes at all. I will not allow her to travel by herself."

The girl and the man exchanged meaning glances, and just then Sir Hugh
himself entered, greeting his visitor cheerily.

The butler brought in the tea-tray, and as they sat together the two men
chatted.

In pretence that he had not been abroad, Walter was making inquiry
regarding the district around Haudiomont, which he declared must be full
of interest, and asking the general's opinion of the French new
fortresses in anticipation of the new war against Germany.

"Since I have been away," said the general, "I have been forced to arrive
at the conclusion that another danger may arrive in the very near future.
Germany will try and attack France again--without a doubt. The French are
labouring under a dangerous delusion if they suppose that Germany would