On this occasion he began with some intelligence about the state of the north wall, which bounded the park. Hilda listened wearily till he had finished. Then she abruptly brought forward all that was in her thoughts. Before doing so, however, she went to the door to see that no one was present and listening there, as she had herself once listened. To those who were at all on their guard there was no danger. The morning-room was only approached by a long, narrow hall, in which no one could come without being detected, if any one in the room chose to watch. Hilda now took her seat on a chair from which she could look up the hall, and thus, feeling secure from observation or from listeners, she began, in a low voice: "I received the Indian papers to-day." "I was aware of that, my lady," said Gualtier, respectfully. "Did you see any thing in them of importance?" "Nothing certain, but something sufficient to excite concern." "About Lord Chetwynde?" "Yes." "He can not be coming home, surely?" said Gualtier, interrogatively. "I'm afraid that he is." Gualtier looked serious. "I thought," said he, "my lady, that you had nearly given up all expectation of seeing him for some time to come." "I have never yet given up those expectations. I have all along thought it possible, though not probable; and so I have always watched all the papers to see if he had left his station." "I suppose he would not write about his intentions." "To whom could he think of writing?" asked Hilda, with a half sneer. "I thought that perhaps he might write to Lady Chetwynde." "Lady Chetwynde's letters to him have been of such a character that it is not very likely that he will ever write to her again, except under the pressure of urgent necessity." "Have you seen any thing in particular in any of the papers about him?" asked Gualtier, after some silence. "Yes. In one. It is the Allahabad _News_. The paragraph happened to catch my eye by the merest accident, I think. There is nothing about it in any of the other Indian papers. See; I will show it to you." And Hilda, drawing a newspaper from her pocket, unfolded it, and pointing to a place in one of the inside columns, she handed it to Gualtier. He took it with a bow, and read the following: