no demure face at the feast slyly regarding
him, for while the two watchful secret foes exchanged old reminiscence
and newer gossip, Justine Delande was cheering the lonely girl, whose
silent mutiny as to her shining prison life now reached almost an open
revolt. It was a grateful relief to the Swiss woman, whose agitated
heart was softly beating the refrain: "To-morrow! to-morrow! I shall see
him again!" She feared a self-betrayal!

While the governess mused upon the extent of her proposed revelations to
the handsome Major, that rising social star had adroitly exploited his
long tete e tete with Captain Hardwicke to his host, and gracefully
magnified the warmth of General Willoughby's personal welcome.

"You see, Johnstone," patiently admitted the man who had dropped into a
good thing, "They all want to delve into the secrets of my mission here.
You, of all men," he meaningly said, "cannot blame me for throwing
the dust into their eyes. I detest this intrusion, and so in sheer
self-defense I am going to give a formal dinner to a lot of these
bores, and then cut the whole lot when I've once done the decent thing."
Circling and circling, and yet never daring to approach the subject,
old Hugh Johnstone warily returned to the suspended baronetcy affair, at
last revealing his secret burning anxieties. But when Alan Hawke heard
the train whistles, announcing the arrival of his beautiful employer, he
fled away from the smoking-room in a mock official unrest.

"I am expecting dispatches from England, and also very important
detailed secret instructions. I've had a warning wire from Calcutta."

He had broken off the se'ance brusquely with a design of his own, and
he rejoiced as Hugh Johnstone brokenly said: "Let me see you very soon
again. I must have a plain talk with you." The old nabob was in a close
corner now. There had been a few bitter queries from the half-distracted
girl which showed, even to her stern old father, that his position was
becoming untenable.

"Damn it! I must either talk or send her away," he growled when left
alone. "I've half a mind to telegraph Douglas Fraser to come here and
convoy this foolish young minx home to Europe. She may grow to be a
silent rebel like her mother." His scowl darkened. "And yet, where to
send her? I ought to go with them. Can I trust the Delandes to find
a safe place to keep her till I come?" He was all unaware that his
daughter Nadine was now a woman like her bolder sisters