As yet she knew nothing of all this; but she did know that, though it was long after the hour appointed, she had heard no sound of her great-niece's departing footsteps. She waited till she must have missed the train, and then rang her bedroom bell sharply to learn why her orders had been disobeyed. "If you please, my lady," replied her maid in answer to her mistress's questions, "Bright did not go because we could not find Mrs. Scarsdale." "Could not find my niece! And why not, pray?" demanded her ladyship angrily. "She was not in her room, my lady, or anywhere about the Court; only this note, directed to your ladyship, on her dressing-table." "Why didn't you say so to begin with, then?" cried her mistress testily. "Open the window, that I may see what this means." The note was short and painstakingly polite; but its perusal did not seem to please Lady Diana, for she frowned and set her thin lips as she re-read it. The missive ran as follows: "DEAR LADY MELTON, "I write to apologise for the somewhat unconventional manner in which I am leaving your house; but as your plans for my disposal to-day did not accord with my own ideas of what is fitting, I have thought it best to leave thus early, and so avoid any awkwardness which might arise from conflicting arrangements. I wish you to know that I shall be with friends by this evening, so that you need feel no anxiety about my position. Pray accept my thanks for your hospitality, which I am sure my husband will much appreciate, and believe me, "Yours respectfully, "MABEL SCARSDALE." This communication her ladyship tore up into small fragments, and then snapped out: "Is there anything more?" "Yes, if you please, my lady," replied the maid; "a note for you from Mr. Allingford, left in his room." Lady Melton took it as gingerly as if it were fresh from some infected district, and, spreading it out on the bed before her, read it with a contemptuous smile. "YOUR LADYSHIP," wrote the Consul, "I have the honour to inform you that I am leaving at the earliest possible moment, not wishing to impose my company longer than is absolutely necessary where it is so evidently undesired. That there may be no burden of obligation between us, I beg you to accept a trunk belonging to me, which will arrive this morning, as compensation for my board and lodging. "I remain "Your Ladyship's Obedient Servant, "ROBERT ALLINGFORD, "_U.S. Consul, Christchurch, England_. "P.S.--I mail you to-day a deed of gift of the property in question, legally attested, so that there may be no question of ownership. "R. A." "Insolence!" gasped Lady Melton, when she comprehended the contents of this astonishing communication. Then turning to her maid, she commanded: "If this person's trunk arrives here, have it sent back to him instantly." And she fumed with rage at the thought.