Owain said no more at the moment, nor did he have any conversation on the subject again with the Hungarian lady prior to his departure. Madame Alpenny evidently had full confidence in his love for her daughter, and believed that Zara's beauty would lure him back again with gold in his pockets. Had she had any idea of the interview between the two young people, and the new relationship of brother and sister which that interview had suggested, she might have been less easy in her scheming mind. But Hench held his tongue and so did Zara, therefore Madame Alpenny was kept in a kind of fool's paradise. The young man reported the conversation hurriedly to the girl, and being clever, she knew exactly how to act so as to keep her mother in ignorance, until such time as she could declare her own mind and choose her own mate. Meanwhile; Hench got to work expeditiously and packed his scanty luggage, after paying Mrs. Tesk what he owed her. The ex-school-mistress was very sorry to lose him, not only from a financial point of view but because she really had a regard for him. Still, as she intimated, they were both leaves floating on the river of life, and the currents of circumstances were parting them. She hoped that he would enjoy himself and prosper wherever he was going, but if Fortune proved unkind, he was to remember that a refined abode always waited for him as a haven in adversity. All this and much more said Mrs. Tesk, who had a warm heart and hospitable nature. Hench was quite sorry to leave her, as he liked the quaint old lady and her odd ways. And just when Owain finished his business in her sanctum he emerged to run against Spruce, who looked more like a fashion-plate and less like a man than ever. "Just got back," said the Nut airily; "had a topping time. Wish you had been with me, instead of wasting your sweetness on the desert air hereabouts." "I was not going to waste it any longer," said Hench dryly. "I am leaving this house this afternoon." "Oh, I say,"--Spruce looked disappointed and uneasy,--"for how long?" "For ever! There is nothing to keep me here that I know of, and as I told you long ago, I am more or less of a bird of passage." "What about Mademoiselle Zara?" "Oh, that's all right; and may I remind you it's none of your business?" "Well, don't get in a wax," protested Spruce amiably. "I never saw such a chap for jumping on a fellow." "If you think so, you must be glad that I am going away." "No, I'm not," confessed the Nut frankly. "You're a gentleman and so am I, and in this hole you're the only chap I can chum up with." "We have not chummed up, as you put it," said Hench frigidly. "Well, that isn't my fault. I am always willing to be friendly, and if you won't be it's your loss, not mine. Where are you going?" "That, again, is my business. I may be going abroad, or I may stay in London, or I may be going to the moon."