The Princess looked up with ill-concealed eagerness as Forrest entered.
"Well," she asked, "have you any news?"
Forrest shook his head.
"None," he answered. "I am up for the day only. Cecil will not let me stay any longer. He was here himself the day before yesterday. We take it by turns to come away."
"And there is nothing to tell me?" the Princess asked. "No change of any sort?"
"None," Forrest answered. "It is no good attempting to persuade ourselves that there is any."
"What are you up for, then?" she asked.
He laughed hardly.
"I am like a diver," he answered, "who has to come to the surface every now and then for fresh air. Life down at Salthouse is very nearly the acme of stagnation. Our only excitement day by day is the danger—and the hope."
"Is Cecil getting braver?" the Princess asked.