"Very well," she said.
The maid hurried upstairs, but the countess stood for quite half a minute, still pale, and gazing into vacancy.
Then she went back to the drawing-room, and, with a mechanical smile, passed among the guests until she reached Drake, who was talking to the duke and Lord Northgate.
"You want me, countess?" he said, feeling her eyes fixed on him, and he followed her to a clear space.
"Drake," she said, lifting her eyes to his face pitifully, "Drake, something dreadful has happened—something dreadful. I don't like to tell you, but I must. She is here!"
She whispered the announcement as if it were indeed something dreadful.
Drake looked at her in a mystified fashion.
"She! Who?" he asked.
"Luce!"
He did not start, but his brows came together, and his face grew stern, for the first time since his reconciliation to Nell.