Burden took the bottle and went out. On the other side of the door she paused a moment and caught her breath. Chance, or the devil himself, was working on Ted's behalf, for she had happened to enter the room at the very moment the countess had put the key in the purse, and the purse in the drawer. And all day Burden had been wondering how she should get that key.
She went on after a moment or two, and Lady Luce looked up from her chair in front of the dressing table, as Burden entered.
"Where have you been?" she asked sharply.
"I went to borrow some eau de Cologne, my lady," replied Burden.
"Well, please be quick; you know we are late. I will wear——" she paused a moment. She wanted to look her best that night. The beauty which had caught Drake in the past, the beauty which was to ensnare him again, and win for her the Angleford coronet, must lack no advantage dress could lend it. "The silver gray and the pearls, please," she said, after a moment or two of consideration. "Why, what is the matter with you?" she asked sharply, as she saw the reflection of Burden's face in the glass. "Are you ill, or what?"
Burden tried to force the color to her face and keep her hands steady.
"I—I am not very well, my lady," she faltered. "I—I have had bad news."
"Bad news! What news?" asked Lady Luce coldly.
"My—mother is very ill, my lady," replied Burden, on the spur of the moment.
Lady Luce moved impatiently.