body shook with sobs. She sat there for an hour, and then,
when the sun was setting, she left the drunken man sleeping, and
made her way down the hill to the Cloistered House. Entering, she was
summoned to her mistress's room. "I did not expect my lady so soon," she
said, surprised.

"No; we came sooner than we expected. Where have you been?"

"At Soolsby's hut on the hill, my lady."

"Who is Soolsby?"

Kate told her all she knew, and of what had happened that afternoon--but
not all.

CHAPTER XXI. "THERE IS NOTHING HIDDEN WHICH SHALL NOT BE REVEALED"

A fortnight had passed since they had come to Hamley--David, Eglington,
and Hylda--and they had all travelled a long distance in mutual
understanding during that time, too far, thought Luke Claridge, who
remained neutral and silent. He would not let Faith go to the Cloistered
House, though he made no protest against David going; because he
recognised in these visits the duty of diplomacy and the business of
the nation--more particularly David's business, which, in his eyes,
swallowed all. Three times David had gone to the Cloistered House; once
Hylda and he had met in the road leading to the old mill, and once at
Soolsby's hut. Twice, also, in the garden of his old home he had seen
her, when she came to visit Faith, who had captured her heart at once.
Eglington and Faith had not met, however. He was either busy in his
laboratory, or with his books, or riding over the common and through the
woods, and their courses lay apart.

But there came an afternoon when Hylda and David were a long hour
together at the Cloistered House. They talked freely of his work in
Egypt. At last she said: "And Nahoum Pasha?"

"He has kept faith."

"He is in high place again?"

"He is a good administrator."

"You put him there!"

"Thee remembers what I said to him, that night in Cairo?"

Hylda closed her eyes and drew in a long breath. Had there been a word
spoken that night when she and David and Nahoum met which had not bitten
into her soul! That David had done so much in Egypt without ruin or
death was a tribute to his power. Nevertheless, though Nahoum had not
struck yet, she was certain he would one day. All that David now told
her of the vicissitudes of his plans, and Nahoum's sympathy and help,
only deepened this conviction. She could well believe that Nahoum gave
David money from his own pocket, which he replaced by extortion from
other sources, while gaining credit