She remained there a long time, so long that Mrs. Rose wondered what the ladies could have to say to each other. And when at last Mabin, who was watching at the drawing-room window for her return, called out that she was coming up the garden, the girl added: “Oh, mamma, how pale she looks!” “She is tired, no doubt,” said Mrs. Rose, as she left the room to meet her friend as the latter came in. But she also was surprised to see how white Mrs. Haybrow had grown. “You should have waited until after dinner. You look quite worn out,” she said. “Well, and what had your friend got to say to you?” Mrs. Haybrow paused, as if too much exhausted to answer at once. Then she said quietly: “I was mistaken. She was not my friend after all.” “Not your friend! Dear me! You were so long gone that we were quite sure she was.” “No. She is very nice, though, quite a charming woman.” “Ah!” exclaimed Mrs. Rose suspiciously. “But what do you think about her having Mabin?” There was another slight pause before Mrs. Haybrow answered: “I am sure you may be quite satisfied about that.” But when dinner was over, Mrs. Haybrow got Mabin to take her to see the new ducks that Mr. Rose was so proud of; and on the way back she asked the girl whether she was very anxious for her visit to “The Towers.” And finding that she was, Mrs. Haybrow added: “And of course, dear, if anything were to happen while you were there, which seemed to you rather strange or unusual, you would write or telegraph to papa and mamma, at once, wouldn’t you?” “Of course. I see,” went on Mabin, smiling, “that mamma has managed to infect you already with her own suspicions of poor Mrs. Dale.” “No, dear, she seemed to me a very nice woman indeed, and very anxious to have you. But I am getting old, and I am nervous about girls away from their homes. That is all.” And she turned the conversation to another subject. CHAPTER V. A STARTLING VISIT. Mrs. Rose was not a woman of acute perceptions, but even she was vaguely conscious that there was something not quite satisfactory about the account Mrs. Haybrow had given of her visit to “The Towers.” Surely it was very strange that, after being so sure that Mrs. Dale was an old friend of hers, she should have discovered that she was mistaken! And again, if the pretty widow had really proved to be a stranger, why should Mrs. Haybrow, tired as she was after her journey, have stayed at “The Towers” so long? And besides, Mrs. Rose could not help thinking that she had heard some name like “Dolly Leatham” before, although she had forgotten that it was from the lips of Mrs. Bonnington, and that it had been part of the backstairs gossip which Mr. Rose would have been angry with her for encouraging.