I put my letter into a fresh envelope, and put the torn one into my pocket that it might not be seen about; then I begged Miss Reade earnestly to send the letter off at once, as there was something in it of the utmost importance; and she whispered again, “Remember--Mr. Reynolds in the winter!” and, having this time got Williamson to show me as far as the beginning of the drive across the park, I made my way in safety, but slowly and with much difficulty, back to the Alders. I slipped through the schoolroom window, which I had left unfastened; and, as soon as I was inside, I heard Mr. Rayner’s study door open, and his voice and that of Tom Parkes in the passage leading from the hall. Mr. Rayner was speaking in his usual kind and friendly way to him, and I thought to myself that it would be useless for me to tell him what I had just heard, which, after all, was nothing in itself, and only became important in connection with the suspicions I already had of the man--suspicions which Mr. Rayner himself refused to share. And, when Tom Parkes had said, “Well, good-night, sir,” and gone in the direction of the servants’ hall, and Mr. Rayner had returned to his study, I ran upstairs and prepared for tea, at which meal I felt rather guilty, but said nothing of my expedition or its results. That evening Mr. Rayner kept me in the drawing-room accompanying his violin, and talking, until after Mrs. Rayner had gone up to the room she now used on the upper floor. He described to me the beauties of the Mediterranean shore, and said that I should be happier there than I had ever been in my life--which I could easily believe when I thought how near I should be to Laurence. He asked me if I was not anxious to see the pretty dresses my mother had been commissioned to get for me, and told me I should look like a little princess if I were good and did just what I was told. “There is no fear of my not doing that, Mr. Rayner,” said I, smiling. “But you must not give me too handsome dresses, or I shall not feel at home in them.” “You will soon get used to them,” said he, with a curiously sharp smile. “There is nothing that women get used to sooner than fine clothes and beautiful jewels, and pretty idleness and--kisses.” Certainly I liked Laurence’s kisses; but the tone in which Mr. Rayner said this grated upon me, and brought the hot blood to my cheeks uncomfortably. He saw the effect his words had upon me, and he jumped up and came towards where I was standing ready to light my candle. “You look hurt, my child, but you have no reason for it. Don’t you know that all those things are the lawful right of pretty women?” “Then it is a right a good many of them are kept out of all their lives, Mr. Rayner,” said I, smiling. “Only the silly ones,” he returned, in a tone I did not understand. “Well, I will explain all that to you on our journey to Monaco.”