‘I do not like to remind you of your promise to come and help me if danger threatened, because I do not yet know if there is any real danger to be apprehended. At the same time I promised to let you know if anything unforeseen occurred to disturb me, and that promise I now fulfil. ‘If you will accept an invitation to Ladywell for any time you think good to fix, I shall be more deeply in your debt than even at present; but I must not trespass too far upon your kindness, and plead my personal woes more than circumstances warrant. I will only add that a visit from you and your niece would be more of a pleasure and relief at this juncture than I can well express. ‘Yours very sincerely, ‘PHILIP DEBENHAM.’ When that letter was written, Tor’s spirits rose. He had great confidence in Miss Marjory, and he believed she would come. CHAPTER XI. MRS. BELASSIS FINDS AN ALLY. Two days later Mrs. Belassis and Betsy Long held a secret meeting under an oak-tree in a secluded corner of the park. ‘Well, Betsy,’ said the ex-mistress graciously, ‘have you anything to tell me yet?’ ‘Well, ma’am, I don’t know as it’s anything you’ll care to hear; but I can’t help thinking there’s something odd about the foreign gentleman as is staying down at Mr. Meredith’s.’ ‘A foreign gentleman?’ repeated Mrs. Belassis. ‘I have not heard of him. Who is he?’ ‘I suppose he’s a friend of Mr. Meredith’s. Folks say so. Anyway, he is staying down there. But I believe he’s come to see master, really.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Well, he came to see him two days ago. He was took into the little drawing-room, and I was in the big one, doing a bit of dusting I’d forgotten in the morning; for I knew Miss Debenham and Mrs. Lorraine had gone out driving.’ ‘Could you hear what passed?’ ‘I could hear a good deal; but I couldn’t understand a word, for ’twas all in some foreign language—Italian, I suppose; but I’m quite sure those two gentlemen weren’t strangers to one another, or they’d never have gone on as they did.’ ‘How did they go on?’ ‘Well, they talked and talked, and seemed to get quite excited-like, and once I thought they were going to quarrel, and I peeped through the curtains. There they were, standing glaring at one another like two wild beasts; and Mr. Debenham, he had his head back in that masterful way of his, and was speaking as proud as proud could be. I thought the foreign gentleman was a bit scared by the look in his eyes, for he seemed to knock under then; but they went on talking for ever so long.’ ‘Do you think they did quarrel?’ ‘If they did, they must have made it up afterwards, for by-and-by they went round the garden together, and had tea with the ladies when they got back. But James, he said as master looked very grave all dinner-time, and hardly talked at all.’