"To all appearances just the same," he said, musingly, "yet how different it is--strange faces, strange voices! A short eight years, and I return to find my old friend dead, almost forgotten, and She vanished--swallowed up by the world!"
He sighed heavily, then turned and set out down the country road in the direction of the railway station.
"It's the bitterest disappointment I could have met with!" he went on; "but--I shall find her. Yes, I shall find her!" And as he spoke the step of the tall bronzed man quickened into a resolute stride.
Halton Towers, the country residence of Earl Kenwell, was a magnificent place, situated in the heart of Berkshire. On a certain morning in July, a governess and her two charges were sitting at a table in the schoolroom. The governess, a pretty girl of about twenty-four, was attempting to instil some elementary ideas of geography into the head of her eldest pupil, a boy some six years old.
Presently the door opened, and a party of people trooped into the room. Their leader, Lady Dorothy Kenwell, looked smilingly at the governess. She was young, and considered to be one of the most beautiful women in the country.
"You don't mind us coming in just for a minute, Miss Grahame?" she asked. "These absurd people declared that nothing would satisfy them but seeing the children."
Lord Scaife (to his intimates he was known as "Bobbie") stepped forward and laid a hand on the boy's shoulder, whilst his cousin, Miss Julia Crofton, put her arm round the little girl's neck and kissed her impulsively. A few feet away in the background stood the remaining member of the party, Count Morlot. He was a slimly built man of foreign appearance. A slight smile hovered round his lips as he watched the scene.
[Illustration: "'NOTHING WOULD SATISFY THESE ABSURD PEOPLE BUT SEEING THE CHILDREN,' SAID LADY DOROTHY."]
"Well, Jim, my lad," began Lord Bobbie, cheerfully, "what has Miss Grahame been driving into your precious young head this morning?"
Lord Bobbie bent down over the atlas that was open on the table.
"Africa, eh? Well, it's a great country, particularly the southern part of it. It's where the millionaires come from."
Lady Dorothy took hold of Jim's hand and guided it to a certain part of the map.