It needed but the five words, spoken in a clear, dictatorial voice, to assure Clodagh that the speaker was known to her; and as the attendant paused in his task, and, turning promptly, opened the grilled door, her mind was prepared for the vision of Lady Frances Hope. But if she was prepared for the encounter, the new-comer was taken completely by surprise. Entering the lift, she glanced casually at its other occupant; then her whole face changed. "It is---- It can't be! It _is_ Mrs. Milbanke!" Her glance passed rapidly over Clodagh's deep mourning and her expression altered in accordance. "My dear Mrs. Milbanke," she said softly, "how thoughtless of me not to realise at once! I heard through Mr. Barnard. How are you?--how are you?" She pressed the hand Clodagh had offered her, and looked sympathetically into her face. Then, as the lift, gliding upwards, stopped at the first floor and Clodagh rose, her expression changed again. "Are you located on this floor? How delightful! We are neighbours. I am number five. What are you?" "Seven," Clodagh said gently, speaking for the first time. There was something very strange to her in this meeting--something not altogether unpleasant. In the two years since they had met--and in the light of her last evening in Venice--the image of Lady Frances Hope had become slightly distorted. And there was a sense of surprise, of reassurance in finding her so kindly, so gracious, so unalarming. "Seven!" Lady Frances repeated. "Delightful! You must dine with me to-night. I have a private room, and am quite alone. It will be an act of charity. I am on my way south. By the way, where are you bound for?" Clodagh smiled. "I am going home." "Home?" "To England." "England! My dear child, not England in February? Why, the atmosphere is a combination of fog and sleet; and the people----" She made a gesture of horror. "Everybody who hasn't influenza is either expecting it or shaking it off." Clodagh laughed a little. "I have never had influenza. It will be an experience. But I must look after my maid. Travelling is new to her." She glanced down the corridor to where Simonetta was awaiting her beside a mountain of luggage. Lady Frances made haste to echo her laugh. "Well, well!" she said. "It's good to have the enthusiasm of youth. But you will dine with me? Dinner in an hour." Clodagh hesitated. Yesterday she would have ardently avoided a meeting with Lady Frances Hope. Now that it had been thrust upon her, it seemed to possess no danger. What was it Gore had said on that memorable night? "I am not depreciating Lady Frances Hope or her social standing----" Very swiftly she recalled the words and construed them in the light of her present feelings. After all, she was not the child she had been two years ago. And it was not Lady Frances, but the set that surrounded her, to which Gore took exception. Her companion, seeing the hesitation in her eyes, gave a quick, bright smile.