This was his first visit since he had appealed to her on behalf of her lover. He had started on his journey with fierce resentment in his heart, but at sight of Elaine’s white face his anger turned to tender pity. The earl was disgusted with the whole affair. He pretended that he could not understand it. “Egad, sir,” he said, “if Sir Harold has gone away deliberately, leaving my daughter to be made a laughing stock of, I say that he is worse than a scoundrel; he is a coward! For my part, I never wish to see or hear of him again. She can have her pick among a score of better men, and is a fool to give him another thought. I’ll call him out, by Jove!” “I have not come here to defend him,” replied Colonel Greyson; “but Sir Harold Annesley is neither a scoundrel nor a coward. There is some mystery about the affair that is quite beyond me. He made all arrangements for his valet to meet him in London. He left Crayford by the six o’clock train on the evening preceding, and has never been seen or heard of since.” “Disguised himself!” sneered the earl. “He is so used to newspaper sensation that he must have it at any cost.” The colonel glared at him angrily, but went on: “I don’t believe one word of it. I know the boy too well. I have had a clever detective at work for a week, and we have not advanced one step. He made several appointments in London, not one of which he kept. He was perfectly sane when he went away, and quietly wished his cousin, Miss Nugent, good-by. He went away under the impression that Lady Elaine did not really care for him; but I will swear that he never contemplated this miserable scandal. His final wishes were that he should bear whatever blame was attached to the----” The earl interrupted him with a harsh laugh. “It is of no use, my dear Greyson,” he said; “your defense only makes his actions appear the more contemptible. For some reason, he wished to break the engagement between himself and Lady Elaine, and adopted this course for the sake of the theatrical effect. He will turn up again from Timbuctoo or some other outlandish place, by and by, for the sole purpose of creating another sensation; but he may get far more than he expects. For my part, I wash my hands of the affair, and shall insist upon Lady Elaine accepting Viscount Rivington.” The earl spoke decidedly, and Colonel Greyson had little to say. What argument could he offer? None, until the mystery surrounding Sir Harold’s movements was cleared up. He did not tell the earl that his visit was to Lady Elaine, and when she did not appear at the dinner-table he became anxious. “I hope,” he observed, “that your daughter is not ill, my lord?” “She is pretending to be,” was the rejoinder. “Of course, this farce must be kept up for a time. I hope you will not stuff any nonsense into her head, colonel.” “I hope not,” was the reply.