n for dismay.

"And you did not tell ME of it!" cried her mother.

"Rudolph did not wish me to. I have only told you now to prove how
utterly wrong you both are."

"Let me see this letter!"

"Indeed, mamma, I won't!"

The two ladies looked at one another with such animosity that Sir Justin
felt called upon to interfere.

"Suppose the Baroness were to read us as much as is necessary to
convince us that there is no possibility of a mistake," he suggested.

So profoundly did the Countess respect his advice that she graciously
waived her maternal rights so far as actually following the text with
her eyes went; while her daughter, after a little demur, was induced to
depart this one step further from her husband's injunctions.

"You have no objections to my glancing at the post-mark?" said Sir
Justin when this point was settled.

With a toss of her head the Baroness silently handed him the envelope.

"It seems correct," he observed cautiously.

"But post-marks can be forged, can't they?" inquired the Countess.

"I fear they can," he admitted, with a sorrowful air.

Scorning to answer this insinuation, the Baroness proceeded to read
aloud the following extracts:

"'I travelled with comfort through Europe, and having by many countries
passed, such as Germany and others, I arrived, my dear Alicia, in
Russia.'"

"Is that all he says about his journey?" interrupted Lady Grillyer.

"It is certainly a curiously insufficient description of a particularly
interesting route," commented Sir Justin.

"It almost seems as if he didn't know what other countries lie between
England and Russia," added the Countess.

"It only means that he knows geography doesn't interest me!" replied
Alicia. "And he does say more about his journey--'Alone by myself, in
a carriage very quietly I travelled.' And again--'To be observed not
wishing, and strict orders being given to me, with no man I spoke all
the way.' There!"

"That certainly makes it more difficult to check his statements," Sir
Justin admitted.

"Ah, he evidently thought of that!" said the Countess. "If he had said
there was anyone with him, we could have asked him afterwards who it
was. What a pity! Read on, my child--we are vastly interested."

Thus encouraged, the Baroness continued

"'In Russia the crops are good, and from my window with pleasure I
observe them. Petersburg is a nice town, and I have a pleasant apartment
in it!'"

"What!" exclaimed the Countess