"No, sir. They have both gone away."

"Gone away!"

"Yes. Gone into the country, sir. And Mr. Ezra, too, sir."

"And when are they coming back?" he asked, in bewilderment.

"They are not coming back."

"Impossible!" Tom cried in despair. "What is their address, then?"

"They have left no address. I am sorry I can't help you. Good night,
sir." Rebecca closed the door, laughing maliciously at the visitor's
bewildered looks. She knew the facts of the case well, and having long
been jealous of her young mistress, she was not sorry to find things
going wrong with her.

Tom Dimsdale stood upon the doorstep looking blankly into the night.
He felt dazed and bewildered. What fresh villainy was this? Was it a
confirmation of the German's report, or was it a contradiction of it?
Cold beads stood upon his forehead as he thought of the possibility of
such a thing. "I must find her," he cried, with clenched hands, and
turned away heartsick into the turmoil and bustle of the London streets.

CHAPTER XXXII.

A CONVERSATION IN THE ECCLESTON SQUARE LIBRARY.

Rebecca, the fresh-complexioned waiting-maid, was still standing behind
the ponderous hall door, listening, with a smile upon her face, to young
Dimsdale's retreating footsteps, when another and a brisker tread caught
her ear coming from the opposite direction. The smile died away as she
heard it, and her features assumed a peculiar expression, in which it
would be hard to say whether fear or pleasure predominated. She passed
her hands up over her face and smoothed her hair with a quick nervous
gesture, glancing down at the same time at her snowy apron and the
bright ribbons which set it off. Whatever her intentions may have been,
she had no time to improve upon her toilet before a key turned in the
door and Ezra Girdlestone stepped into the hall. As he saw her shadowy
figure, for the gas was low, he uttered a hoarse cry of surprise and
fear, and staggered backwards against the door-post.

"Don't be afeared, Mister Ezra," she said in a whisper; "it's only me."

"The devil take you!" cried Ezra furiously. "What makes you stand about
like that? You gave me quite a turn."

"I didn't mean for to do it. I've only just been answering of the door.
Why, surely you've come in before now and found me in the hall without
making much account of it."

"Ah, lass," answered Ezra, "my nerves have had a shake of late.
I've felt queer all day. Look how my hand