t the Grand in Paris. It was delightful. You would be interested in all
the little places along the beautiful Dalmatian coast--Zara, where they
make the maraschino; Sebenico, Pola, the Bay of Cattaro, and Ragusa, the
old city of the Venetian Republic. Shall we accept?"

"It is awfully kind of your brother-in-law," she replied. "Yes, I'd love
to go--if you could get away."

"I could come overland and join you at Venice or Trieste, and then we
could put into Brindisi or Ancona for any urgent despatches. You see,
there's no convenient rail on the Dalmatian side. Yes, I think I could
manage it."

"Then accept by all means. I love the sea, as you know. Where do they
sail from?"

"Marseilles. You will join the _Marama_ there. She will then touch at
Genoa, Naples, and go through the Straits of Messina, and I'll join you
in the Adriatic."

"Helen is going, I suppose?" she remarked, referring to Trevor's wife.
"Of course, and the two Henderson girls, and little Lady Runton. So we
shall be a merry party."

Jean was delighted. In the excitement of the moment she forgot the dark
cloud that had fallen upon her.

Yet next second she reflected, and wished that her departure upon that
cruiser was immediate, in order that she could escape the man who had so
suddenly and unexpectedly returned into her life.

"We shall go to Scotland after our return," he said. "Remember, we've
got house parties on the eighth, seventeenth, and thirtieth of
November."

"And Christmas at Bracondale," she said. "I love spending it there."

"Or perhaps on the Riviera? Why not? It is warmer," he suggested.

"It may be, but I really think that nowadays, with the change in the
English climate, it is just as warm in Torquay at Christmas as at Nice."

"Yes," he replied with a smile. "Perhaps you are right, after all, Jean.
If you want warmth and sunshine from December to April you must go to
Egypt for it. People have begun to realise that it is often colder in
Monte Carlo than in London. And yet it used not to be. I remember when I
was a lad and went to Nice with the old governor each winter, we had
real warm sunshine. Yes, the climate of the south of Europe has become
colder, just as our English climate has become less severe in winter."

And he ate his lobster salad and drank a glass of Chablis, thoroughly
enjoying it after the hard mental strain of the morning.

"I think I shall go for a run in the car this afternoon. I feel to want
some fresh