for dinner without even Martha being aware that she had been
absent. But as she descended in the lift with her uncle and aunt
it seemed as if the whole world and life itself were changed since
the same time the night before.

And when they were entering the restaurant a telegram was put into
Canon Ebley's hand--it was from the Rev. Eustace Medlicott, sent
from Turin, saying he would join them in Rome the following
evening.

"Eustace has been preparing this delightful surprise--I knew of
it," the Aunt Caroline said, with conscious pride, "but I would
not tell you, Stella, dear, in case something might prevent it. I
feared to disappoint you."

"Thank you, aunt," Miss Rawson said without too much enthusiasm,
and took her seat where she could see the solitary occupant of a
small table, surrounded by the obsequious waiters, already sipping
his champagne.

He had not looked up as they passed. Nor did he appear once to
glance in their direction. His whole manner was full of the same
reflective calm as the night before. And, for some unaccountable
reason, Stella Rawson's heart sank down lower and lower, until at
the end of the repast she looked pale and tired out.

Eustace, her betrothed, would be there on the morrow, and such
things as drives in motor cars with strange Russian counts were
only dreams and not realities, she now felt.