He had then laughed and said that he had received a letter at Leith making his immediate return absolutely necessary.

"How disappointed you must have felt!" she suggested, with something like a smile upon her face.

His smile was broader as he said:

"Well, I'm not so sure that my disappointment was such as would tend to make me take a gloomy view of life for an indefinite time. Lord Earlscourt is a very good sort of fellow; but----"

"Yes; I quite agree with you," said she, still smiling. "Knowing what follows that 'but' in everyone's mind, we all thought it rather strange on your part to start on that cruise. And so suddenly you seemed to make up your mind, too. You never hinted to me that afternoon that you were anxious to see Norway under the personal conductorship of Lord Earlscourt."

"It would have been impossible for me to give you such a hint," said he. "I had no idea myself that I wanted greatly to go to Norway, until I met Earlscourt."

"So we gathered from what papa told us when he came in about midnight, bringing Mr. Linton with him," said Phyllis. "Ella had come across to me before nine, to ask me to go with her to 'Romeo and Juliet' at Covent Garden, forgetting that I was dining with Lady Earlscourt."

"But you had not returned from the dinner party at nine," he suggested. She had certainly succeeded in arousing his interest, even in such ordinary details as those she was describing.