Something, however, did happen, and very shortly after. A man in a chauffeur's outfit appeared from somewhere at the back of the house and went over to a small garage, barely visible from where they stood hidden. Five minutes later there was the sound of a motor starting, and an automobile shot around the curve of the drive and came to a halt before the door. Almost at once the door opened, a beautifully gowned woman came out, stepped into the motor, and was driven rapidly away.
Patricia clutched Chet's arm spasmodically. "It was Madame Vanderpoel!" she whispered. "Oh, it made me shudder just to look at her again. And I used to like her, too. But now there's something awful about her!"
But Chet was interested in something quite different.
"Hooray!" he exclaimed in an undertone. "If she's flew the coop, we got a fightin' chance anyway. Now, I may be wrong, but from what I seen last night an' the lay of the land to-day, I figure there's only that grouchy maid an' the little 'un left in the house. Let's wait a while longer an' see if we see anybody else."
They waited in another long silence. Then Patricia's heart almost stopped beating. The front door opened and Virginie de Vos stepped out, looked about her half cautiously, half languidly, and started to cross the lawn in the very direction where they were hidden. She had a book in her hand, and Patricia suspected that her intention was to sit and read in the cool shade of the woods.
"Oh, it couldn't have happened better, could it?" she whispered ecstatically to Chet. "I've been fairly praying for something like this ever since we've been here."
"Fine!" replied Chet, in ill-suppressed excitement. "Now, looka here. I ain't goin' to complicate things between you an' her by hangin' around while you have your talk. I'm just goin' to disappear in the woods back here a ways, but I'll be right within call, an' when you want me, you can get me. An' p'raps I'd better go an' entertain Delia a while, or she'll be wantin' to quit this picnic. See?"
Patricia nodded, mutely grateful for his tact, but her gaze was fastened on the girl, approaching so slowly and lifelessly across the lawn. Chet melted away into the leafy growth behind her, and she herself drew back a little farther into the woods, so that the meeting might not take place too close to the house. In another moment she and Virginie stood suddenly face to face.
Patricia sprang forward with a little cry of joy. For a moment an answering gleam leaped into Virginie's eyes. Then, to Patricia's unbounded astonishment, the girl shrank back, her eyes wide and terror-stricken, her hands outspread before her as if to push her friend far from her sight.
"Why, Virginie!" cried Patricia. "What is the trouble? Have I frightened you so? Aren't you glad to see me?"