"Good news, Stel!"
She turned her eyes upon him.
"I've just learned that the fellow Adelstone has gone to London. I was half afraid that he might turn up at the last moment and spoil our plans; but the groom at the vicarage, whom I just met, told me that Jasper Adelstone had been summoned to London on business."
Stella felt a sense of relief, though she smiled.
"Mr. Adelstone is your bête noire, Frank," she said.
He nodded.
"I'd rather have his room than his company, any day." Then, after a pause, he added, "I don't think we'd better start together, Stel. I'll walk on directly, and you can follow. Whatever you do, avoid a collision with Mrs. Penfold; her eyes are sharp, and there's something in your face this morning that would set her curiosity on the qui vive."
A few moments afterward he left the room, and Stella was left alone. Her heart beat fast, and, try as she would, she could not keep her eyes from the silent, patient figure at the easel, and at last she went up and stood beside him.
"You seem restless this morning, my child," he said. "Meditating any secret crime?" And he smiled.
Stella started guiltily.