She had grown to depend upon him for amusement; besides, he heard regularly from Earle, and though she did not dare acknowledge it even to her own heart, yet those letters from over the sea were the great events of the week to her. She was sorry to go away without becoming more intimately acquainted with Madam Sylvester, for she had been strangely drawn toward her, thinking almost constantly of her and her charming ways ever since her introduction to her. All during the evening she kept hoping that Mr. Tressalia would drop in, that she might tell him of the change in their plans, half wishing that he would join himself to their party and accompany them. But he was spending the evening with Madam Sylvester, and meant to see Editha as early as possible the next morning. But in this he was disappointed, for a gentleman friend sought him to give his advice upon the merits of a horse that he was contemplating buying, and before the bargain was completed Editha was gone, without even a word of good-by. CHAPTER XXXVII A CHANGE OF SCENE It was two o’clock in the afternoon when at length Paul Tressalia knocked upon Editha’s parlor door. It was opened by the chambermaid, of whom he inquired for Miss Dalton. “She is gone, sir,” was the unexpected reply. “Gone! Where?” he exclaimed, infinitely surprised. “I don’t know, sir; they left on the noon boat.” “Did they leave no word—no message for me?” “Yes, sir; Miss Dalton left a note,” the girl answered, producing it from the depths of her pocket. Paul eagerly tore it open and devoured its contents: “DEAR FRIEND:—Papa has suddenly decided that Newport is ‘tame,’ and longs for Saratoga. We are to leave on the twelve-o’clock boat, and do not know when we shall return. I shall not soon forget the days you have made so pleasant for me, nor the great good your cheerful society has done me. I would rather stay than go, but think it best to yield to papa’s wishes. I hoped to see you before we left, but suppose you were engaged. Please give my kind remembrances to Madam Sylvester. _Au revoir._ EDITHA.” “What in the name of Jupiter can have made him take this sudden start?” Paul Tressalia muttered, with a clouded brow, as with a terrible feeling of loneliness he sought his own rooms. “Can anything have transpired to upset his equilibrium?” he continued. “It must have been a _very_ sudden start, for I do not believe he contemplated any such thing yesterday morning.” He sat a long time thinking the matter over, and longing to follow them immediately. He knew Editha would miss his care and attention, while as for him, it seemed as if the sun had suddenly been put out of existence.