Again Virginia's eyes unconsciously fastened upon Rutley, who at the same time was regarding her with a keen inquiring gaze. It was the first time they had met since the night of Thorpe's quarrel with Corway, and although Virginia had resolved to cast off all fear of his threat of incriminating disclosures, she nevertheless, while in his presence, felt a subtle influence change her rebellious disposition into a timorous apprehension. The sensation was so strange, so creepy, and at the same time so convincing, that she arose from the seat and muttered in broken accents, "I--I'll await you outside, Mr. Harris. The air in this room is--is so close." She had turned half around toward the door, when Mrs. Harris addressed her. "Virginia, dear! Don't go! Most interesting. My lord has just related how last night he accidentally knocked Sam down near the City Park." Virginia unconsciously repeated, "Last night, he accidentally knocked Sam down, near the City Park." The information was so startling and her curiosity so keen that she stared at Rutley and Sam alternately, while they in turn stared at each other and at her most significantly. Mrs. Harris observed the wonderment her information had created, but without troubling her easy brains to penetrate the meaning, added, after due pause, "Yes, dear--a bandaged head, as you see, was the result." "It was very dark, near midnight, and his lordship was driving an automobile fast." Heedless of Mrs. Harris' further remarks and so absorbed in an effort to solve the puzzle that Virginia thought: "What business had he out there at that time of night? Did he know I was there? And Sam there, too! It must have been he who followed me,"--and she shot such a swift meaning glance at him that had he caught it the effect must have been disconcerting. "Queer, how late at night young men carry on their larks nowadays," broke in Mr. Harris with fine humor. Mrs. Harris was quick to correct him. "Dear me! James, it was on urgent business, no less than a search for Dorothy, but unfortunately unsuccessful." "I myself am also inclined to the belief Dorothy was stolen. No doubt a demand will soon be made for her ransom," said Mr. Harris. "Such a notion seems to me as far-fetched, as it is unlikely, for I do not believe the family has an enemy in the world," promptly rejoined Mrs. Harris. "Vague insinuations of kidnapping find credence through the estrangement of the parents being given publicity," suggested Rutley, in a soft, serious, yet bland manner, which brought from Hazel an explosive reply, "I am sure Constance had no knowledge of it." "Impossible for Constance to plot at an abduction of her own child, and as for John Thorpe, his grief is too great to permit the faintest suspicion to rest on him," suavely admonished Mrs. Harris warmly.