and was very unwell, and Ella hardly stirred from her side all day.

Even when Clive called in the afternoon she would not come down,
but sent instead a message begging to be excused because of her
mother's indisposition, and Dunn, from a secure spot in the garden,
watched the young man retire, looking very disconsolate.

This day, too, Dunn saw nothing of Deede Dawson, for that gentleman
immediately after breakfast disappeared without saying anything to
anybody, and by night had still not returned.

Dunn therefore was left entirely to himself, and to him the day
seemed one of the longest he had ever spent.

That Ella remained so persistently with her mother troubled him a
good deal, for he did not think such close seclusion on her part
could be really necessary.

He was inclined to fear that Ella had overheard enough of what had
passed between him and Deede Dawson to rouse her mistrust, and that
she was therefore deliberately keeping out of his way.

Then too, he was troubled in another fashion by Deede Dawson's
absence, for he was afraid it might mean that plans were being
prepared, or possibly action being taken, that might mature
disastrously before he himself was ready to act.

All day this feeling of unrest and apprehension continued, and at
night when he went upstairs to bed it was stronger than ever. He
felt convinced now that Ella was deliberately avoiding him. But