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"No. I am going upstairs to Stella."

Lady Loring found Miss Eyrecourt in her own room. The little



portrait of Romayne which she had drawn from recollection lay on

the table before her. She was examining it with the closest



attention.

"Well, Stella, and what does the portrait tell you?"



"What I knew before, Adelaide. There is nothing false and nothing

cruel in that face."



"And does the discovery satisfy you? For my part, I despise

Romayne for hiding himself from us. Can you excuse him?"



Stella locked up the portrait in her writing-case. "I can wait,"

she said quietly



Thi s assertion of patience seemed to irritate Lady Loring "What

is the matter with you this morning?" she asked. "You are more



reserved than ever."

"No; I am only out of spirits, Adelaide. I can't help thinking of



that meeting with Winterfield. I feel as if some misfortune was

hanging over my head."



"Don't speak of that hateful man!" her ladyship exclaimed. "I

have something to tell you about Romayne. Are you completely



absorbed in your presentiments of evil? or do you think you can

listen to me?"



Stella's face answered for her. Lady Loring described the

interview with Major Hynd in the minutest detail--including, by



way of illustration, the Major's manners and personal appearance.

"He and Lord Loring," she added, "both think that Romayne will



never hear the last of it if he allows these foreigners to look

to him for money. Until something more is known about them, the



letter is not to be forwarded."

"I wish I had the letter," cried Stella.



"Would you forward it to Romayne?"

"Instantly! Does it matter whether these poor French people are



worthy of his generosity? If it restores his tranquillity to help

them, who cares whether they deserve the help? They are not even



to know who it is that assists them--Romayne is to be their

unknown friend. It is he, not they, whom we have to think of--his



peace of mind is everything; their merit is nothing. I say it's

cruel to _him_ to keep him in ignorance of what has happened. Why



didn't you take the letter away from Major Hynd?"

"Gently, Stella! The Major is going to make inquiries about the



widow and children when he returns to London."

"When he returns!" Stella repeatedindignantly. "Who knows what



the poor wretches may be suffering in the interval, and what

Romayne may feel if he ever hears of it? Tell me the address



again--it was somewhere in Islington, you said."

"Why do you want to know it?" Lady Loring asked. "You are not



going to write to Romayne yourself?"

"I am going to think, before I do anything. If you can't trust my



discretion, Adelaide, you have only to say so!"

It was spokensharply. Lady Loring's reply betrayed a certain



loss of temper on her side. "Manage your own affairs, Stella--I

have done meddling with them." Her unlucky visit to Romayne at



the hotel had been a subject of dispute between the two

friends--and this referred to it. "You shall have the address,"



my lady added in her grandest manner. She wrote it on a piece of

paper, and left the room.



Easily irritated, Lady Loring had the merit of being easily

appeased. That meanest of all vices, the vice of sulkiness, had



no existence in her nature. In five minutes she regretted her

little outburst of irritability. For five minutes more she



waited, on the chance that Stella might be the first to seek a

reconciliation. The interval passed, and nothing happened. "Have



I really offended her?" Lady Loring asked herself. The next

moment she was on her way back to Stella. The room was empty. She



rang the bell for the maid.

"Where is Miss Eyrecourt?"



"Gone out, my lady."

"Did she leave no message?"



"No, my lady. She went away in a great hurry."

Lady Loring at once drew the conclusion that Stella had rashly



taken the affair of the General's family into her own hands. Was

it possible to say how this most imprudent proceeding might end?



After hesitating and reflecting, and hesitating again, Lady

Loring's anxiety got beyond her control. She not only decided on






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