od, miss. It will be nice to see Mr. Roger, won't it, miss?"
said the old man, preparing to go. "It will do Sir Charles a world of
good."

"Yes, Chalmers, it's great good fortune. Find out the times the Paris
trains get in, and order the car. I shall drive down to meet Mr.
Roger."

"Yes, miss. I should hardly think he'd be on the Blue Train, as that's
booked up so far in advance."

"Of course," mused Miss Clifford when the butler had departed, "if he
hasn't had our news it will be a shock to him to find his father ill.
I am very fond of my nephew, Miss Rowe," she added. "He is almost like
my own son."

Her eyes brightened and her whole plain-featured face was irradiated
with pleasure so that she seemed suddenly to have grown handsome. Then
as Esther remarked this another change came over her, a sort of cloud
descended, and her manner showed vague nervousness and hesitation.

"I suppose," she said, rising, "I'd better go and tell my
sister-in-law."

She moved about undecidedly, and it occurred to Esther that the task
she was contemplating was an uncongenial one, though why it should be
so was not apparent. She turned suddenly to Esther.

"Come with me, Miss Rowe," she suggested, "I can show you your
patient's quarters at the same time."

They quitted the room and turned back to the central hall. "This is my
sister-in-law's bedroom," Miss Clifford informed her, laying her hand
on the first door. "That third door leads to my brother's room, with
his dressing-room and bath beyond. This middle one is a sort of
boudoir or sitting-room--it is really Lady Clifford's, but I use it,
too.... Are you there, Therese?" she called gently through the door.

"Yes, come in!"

A soft, cloying wave of perfume greeted them as they entered. It
seemed a mixture of the scent Esther now definitely associated with
Lady Clifford and some other of Oriental character. The room, filled
with sunlight, was a perfect setting for its owner. Silver blue
brocade filled the panels of the walls, grey carpet lay under foot, the
furniture was walnut Louis Quinze, graceful in shape. The two long
casement windows, opening upon a narrow balcony, were framed in heavy
curtains of the same material as the wall covering. A thin trail of
blue smoke hung in the air, and Esther discerned its source in a small
incense-burner, a golden Buddha, resting cross-legged between trees of
jade and amethyst on a table near the fireplace.

Lady Clif