“’Ould up, ’Arriet!” she said, “you don’t want the ’ole ’ouse to ’ear what you’re thinking of, surely! Let me speak to Madame Lamont! What is all the row about, Madame?” she continued, turning to the _proprietaire_. “There is no ‘row’ at all, Madame,” was the reply, “I was only telling Mademoiselle Brandt of the sad event that has taken place here during your absence--that that _chère_ Madame Pullen had the great misfortune to lose her sweet _bébé_, the very day you left Heyst, and that the whole party have quitted in consequence and crossed to England. I thought since Mademoiselle seemed so intimate with Madame Pullen and so fond of the dear child, that she would be _désolée_ to hear the sad news, but she appears to have forgotten all about it, in her grief at hearing that the _beau Capitaine_ accompanied his family to England where they go to bury the _petite_.” And with rather a contemptuous smile upon her face, Madame Lamont re-entered the _salle à manger_. “Now, ’Arriet, don’t make a fool of yourself!” said the Baroness. “You ’eard what that woman said--she’s laughing at you and your Captain, and the story will be all over the Hotel in half an hour. Don’t make any more fuss about it! If ’e’s gone, crying won’t bring ’im back. It’s much ’arder for Mrs. Pullen, losing her baby so suddenly! I’m sorry for ’er, poor woman, but as for the other, there’s as good fish in the sea as ever came out of it!” But Harriet Brandt only answered her appeal by rushing away down the corridor and up the staircase to her bedroom like a whirlwind. The girl had not the slightest control over her passions. She would listen to no persuasion, and argument only drove her mad. She tumbled headlong up the stairs, and dashing into her room, which had been reserved for her, threw herself tumultuously upon the bed. How lonely and horrible the corridor, on which her apartment opened, seemed. Olga Brimont, Mrs. Pullen, Miss Leyton, and Ralph, all gone! No one to talk to--no one to walk with--except the Baroness and her stupid husband! Of course this interpreted simply, meant that Captain Pullen had left the place without leaving a word behind him, to say the why or wherefore, or hold out any prospect of their meeting again. Of course it was impossible but that they must meet again--they _should_ meet again, Harriet Brandt said to herself between her closed teeth--but meanwhile, what a wilderness, what a barren, dreary place this detestable Heyst would seem without him! The girl put her head down on the pillow, and taking the corner of the linen case between her strong, white teeth, shook it and bit it, as a terrier worries a rat! But that did not relieve her feelings sufficiently, and she took to a violent fit of sobbing, hot, angry tears coursing each other down her cheeks, until they were blurred and stained, and she lay back upon the pillow utterly exhausted.