Colonel Colquhoun had lunched at mess that day, and Evadne did not see him until quite late, when she met him on the Barraca with the Guthrie Brimstons. It was the hour when the Barraca is thronged, and Evadne had gone with a purpose, expecting to find him there. He left the Guthrie Brimstons and joined her as soon as she appeared. "I have been home to look for you," he said, "but I found that you had gone out without an escort, no one knew where." "I have been making calls," Evadne answered--"and making Mrs. Clarence's acquaintance also. Oh, there she is, leaning against that arch with her husband. Have you met her yet? Let me introduce you. She is charmingly pretty, but very timid." Colonel Colquhoun's brow contracted. "I thought Mrs. Guthrie Brimston had warned you--" "_Warned_ me?" Evadne quietly interposed. "Mrs. Guthrie Brimston brought me a scandalous story which had the effect of making me call on Mrs. Clarence at once. I suppose you have seen this precious Major Lopside's letter?" "Yes," he answered. "And I am sorry you called without consulting me. You really ought to have consulted me. It will make it doubly awkward for you, having called. But we'll rush the fellow. I'll make him send in his papers at once." "Why is it awkward for me--what is awkward for me?" Evadne asked. "Why, having a lady in the regiment you can't know, to begin with, and having to cut her after calling upon her," he answered. "If you would only condescend to consult me occasionally I could save you from this kind of thing." "But why may I not countenance Mrs. Clarence?" "You cannot countenance a woman there is a story about," he responded decidedly. "But where is the proof of the story?" she asked, Colonel Colquhoun reflected: "A man wouldn't write a letter of that kind without some grounds for it," he said. "We must find out what the exact grounds were," said Evadne. "Well, you see none of the other ladies are speaking to her," Colonel Colquhoun observed, with the air of one whose argument is unanswerable. "They are sheep," said Evadne, "but they can be led aright as well as astray, I suppose. We'll see, at all events. But don't let me keep you from your friends. I want to speak to Mrs. Malcomson." There was a quiet sense of power about Evadne when she chose to act which checked opposition at the outset, and put an end to argument. Colonel Colquhoun looked disheartened, but like a gentleman he acted at once on the hint to go. He did not rejoin the Guthrie Brimstons, however, but sat alone under one of the arches of the Barraca, turning his back on the entrancing view of the Grand Harbour, a jewel of beauty, set in silence.