"Shall we go into the tea room? I believe she is there." But the tea room was overcrowded, and they stood for a moment in the corridor outside. He told her he had brought Mysie up for a fortnight and they were staying with an old cousin of his in Eton Place. Then he asked her about herself, and Rowena pointed out Mrs. Burke to him. "I live with her, as a companion-secretary." General Macdonald looked at Mrs. Burke with her golden wig and rather loud style of dress. He noted the noisy circle in which she was, and he said shortly and sternly, "I am sorry to hear it." Rowena's eyes first twinkled, then softened: "I do like you," she said audaciously, "when you act the stern friend." He did not smile. "Mysie will be wild to get hold of you. Can you come round and see us?" "I think I might perhaps to-morrow, darling Mysie! I expect she is grown." He was silent. Rowena was conscious that she was the subject of his close scrutiny. "You have been through trouble since we met. I did not know your address or would have written you a line of sympathy. Your brother was a great friend of mine." "I know. Thank you. My sister-in-law has gone to live with her mother, so I am on my own." "And you can do no better than this?" "You are judging me hardly." Rowena's tone was rather proud, though her heart was beating and her pulses throbbing strangely. She rather resented the effect that this tall grave friend of hers had upon her. He smiled, and his smile warmed her heart. "Perhaps I am. You must tell me all about yourself." At this moment Lady Graeme came up, and whilst she was greeting her cousin, Mrs. Burke seized hold of Rowena. "I am off. Come along. I have promised to go to the Ford Curries. If you don't want to come with me, you can go home." So Rowena left the house with her, and when she got home felt strangely dispirited. "He will never understand. How can I explain? How can I tell him that I am trying to dig out from the mud a treasure which has been lost. It's like the woman in the Bible. But he only sees the racket and the dust: he doesn't know the silver bit is there." The next day she asked permission from Mrs. Burke for an afternoon to herself, and set off for Eton Place. She was shown upstairs into a rather gloomy drawing-room, but in a moment Mysie flashed into the room, and in her old impulsive way flung herself upon her. "Oh, you darling! I can't believe it's you. I yelled when Dad told me, and Cousin Bel asked if I was trying to do the Highland Fling. Cousin Bel has a cold and is in bed, and Dad and I sit downstairs in the smoking-room. There's no fire up here. Come along down." Rowena found that Mysie was growing into a very handsome girl. She had developed in many ways, and it was pretty to see her with her father; there was absolute confidence and understanding between them.