"Will you meet me by the stile by the river to-morrow evening, Stella?"
"Yes," she murmured.
"I will bring the boat, and we will row down the stream. Will you come at six o'clock?"
"Yes," she said again.
If he asked her to meet him on the banks of the Styx, she would have answered as obediently.
Then Mr. Etheridge approached with the countess, and before he could speak Lord Leycester took the bull by the horns, as it were.
"Lilian is delighted with the sketch," he said. "We left her filled with gratitude, did we not Miss Etheridge?"
Stella inclined her head. The large, serene eyes of the countess seemed to penetrate to the bottom of her heart and read her—their—secret already.
"I think we must be going, Stella; the fly has been waiting some time," said her uncle in his quiet fashion.
"So soon!" murmured the countess.