as though you thought I knew. I do not; but I should like to if I may.
It will perhaps explain why you are out alone and in this neighbourhood
at this time of night."

"It will," she said, with just a shadow of deeper colour coming into her
cheeks. "The house you saw me coming out of is the residence of a friend
and former schoolmate. I went there to inquire if she could help me in
any way to secure a position; and stopped later than I realised."

"Procure you a position, Miss Lorne? A position as what?"

"Companion, amanuensis, governess--anything that," with a laugh and a
blush, "'respectable young females' may do to earn a living when they
come down in the world. You may possibly have heard that my uncle, Sir
Horace, has married again. I think you must have done so, for the papers
were full of it at the time. But I forget"--quizzically--"you don't read
newspapers, do you, even when they contain accounts of your own
greatness."

"I wonder if I deserve that? At any rate, I got it," said Cleek with a
laugh. "Yes, I heard all about Sir Horace's wedding. Some four or five
months ago, wasn't it?"

"No, three--three, last Thursday, the fourteenth. A woman doesn't forget
the date of her enforced abdication. The new Lady Wyvern soon let me
know that I was a superfluous person in the household. To-day, I came to
the conclusion to leave it; and have taken the first actual step toward
doing so. A lucky step, too, I fancy; or, at least, it promises to be."

"As how?"