Sydney Fellowes must
know this, and there had been more meaning in his words than she had
imagined. Why ought she not to be at the Abbey? And then her thoughts
wandered to another man who had found her in a place where no woman
ought to be, and she remembered all Lord Rosmore had said about him.
Looking out on the quiet, sleeping world, so full of mystery and the
unknown, it was easy to fall into a reverie, to indulge in speculations
which, waking again, she would hardly remember; easy to lose all count
of time. Once, at some distance along the terrace towards the servants'
quarters, there was the sound of slow footsteps and a low laugh. There
were two shadows in the moonlight--a man's and a woman's. Some serving
maid had found love, for the low laugh was a happy one, and some man,
perchance no more than a groom, had suddenly become a hero in a girl's
eyes. Unconsciously perhaps, Barbara sighed. That girl was happier than
she was.
A gentle knock came at her door, and a man stood there.
"Mr. Fellowes sent me. Will you see him in the hall in ten minutes. It
is important; he must see you. 'It is for your own sake.' Those were his
own words, madam.
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