hamed. He pressed the long shapely
hand warmly in his.

"Good-bye," he said earnestly. "Please forgive me. You are right.
Quite right."

She was able to go straight to her room without delay, and she at once
locked the door with a little sigh of relief. She found herself
struggling with a storm of tears.

A sob was strangled in her throat. She struggled fiercely not to give
way.

"Oh, I am lonely," she moaned. "I am lonely. If I could but----"

* * * * *

To escape from her thoughts she began to undress, humming a light tune
to herself, though her eyes were hot with unshed tears, and the sobs
kept rising in her throat. As she drew off her skirt she felt
something in the pocket, and remembered the letter which the
commissionaire at the Carlton had given her. She tore open the
envelope and read it.

"MY DEAR GIRL,--

"I am so sorry if we made asses of ourselves to-night. The fact
is I was so glad to see you again that it never occurred to me
that a little discretion might be advisable. I'm afraid I'm a
terribly clumsy fellow.

"I hope that you are going to allow me to see something of you
during your stay in London, for the sake of old times. Could you
come to tea at my rooms one afternoon, or would you dine with me
somewhere, and do a theatre? We could have a private room, of
course, if you do not wish to be seen about London, and a box at
the theatre. I often think of those delightful evenings in Paris.
May we not repeat them once, at any rate, in London?

"Ever yours,
"NIGEL ENNISON.

"P.S. My address is 94, Pall Mall."

Anna read, and her cheeks grew slowly scarlet. She crushed the letter
in her hand.

"I wonder," she murmured to herself, "if this is the beginning."

_Chapter X_

THE TRAGEDY OF AN APPETITE

Anna, notwithstanding her quiet clothes, a figure marvellously out of
accord with her surroundings, sat before a small marble-topped table
at a crowded A.B.C., and munched a roll and butter with hearty
appetite.

"If only I could afford another!" she thought regretfully. "I wonder
why I am always hungry nowadays. It is so ridiculous."

She lingered over her tea, and glancing around, a sudden reflection on
the change in her surroundings from the scene of her last night's
supper brought a faint, humorous smile to her lips.

"In two days," she reflected, "