"Killed? Oh, rot! Just see first how near to full strength we turn out--that's my great test--and then, if you read of any other fellows showing us the way, you might let me know, and I'll inquire about it--because we don't reckon to let it happen very often. Hullo, that whistle really sounds as if she meant business!" He gripped her hand tightly and looked into her eyes. "Here's the end, Winnie!" "I wouldn't have had it not happen; would you?" "I shall often wonder if I did right." She smiled. "You needn't. What you did would have made no difference--only you'd have been a little less loyal to your duty." "I wish I knew what was going to become of you." "I'm not afraid any more. God bless you, dear." He waited one moment longer. "You've no grudge against me?" Winnie turned sharply away, and leant over the balcony. "Oh, please, please!" she stammered. When she saw him again, he was half-way down to the landing-stage. He turned, waved his hand, and so passed out of sight--and out of life for Winnie Maxon. CHAPTER XXV "PERHAPS!" "Good gracious!" exclaimed Mrs. Ladd, laying down her knife and fork. From her table in the dining-room of the Hôtel de la Grande Bretagne at Bellaggio, she commanded a view of the door, and could scrutinize her fellow-guests as they entered. The hotel was full of fresh birds of passage every evening, for the end of the season was approaching, and all the world was travelling through on its way northwards. A lady of lively curiosity, possessed, moreover, by that sense of superiority over the casual visitor which a long stay in a hotel always gives, Mrs. Ladd allowed few of the new-comers to escape without comment or criticism. Lady Rosaline, whose back was towards the door, often felt compelled to twist her head round, in order to estimate for herself the justice of her companion's remarks; but on this occasion she merely asked, "What's the matter, dear?" "Why, that woman who's just come in!" Her voice was full of pleasurable excitement. "It's Cyril Maxon's wife. Who is it with her, I wonder!" Mrs. Ladd was not acquainted personally, or even by hearsay, with Mrs. Lenoir. Lady Rosaline's head went round, not quickly or eagerly, but with a well-bred show of indifference. She watched Winnie walking down the room. "Did she see us?" she asked of Mrs. Ladd. "No, she didn't look this way. What shall we do, Rosaline? It's very awkward." Awkward as it was, Mrs. Ladd sounded more puzzled than pained. "I only knew her very slightly--three or four quite formal calls--in the old days." "Oh, I used to see her now and then, though it was her husband who was my friend, of course." "Well, then, I think we can do as we like." "I don't know. As friends of his--well, what's the right thing towards him?"