"Did you leave nothing behind you at Hollywood that day?" he asked gently.
"My handkerchief!" she cried. "I missed it before we reached Marlborough. I must have left it at the gate." But Evadne had left more behind her than she knew.
"I will keep it still," he said, "with your permission. Will you give it to me?"
"Oh, Doctor Randolph!" Isabelle's voice fell shrill upon Evadne's silence, "they are calling for you in the other room to decide a knotty question—something about microbes. I told them I was sure you would know. Will you come?"
John Randolph put the case quickly in his pocket and smiled as he turned away. He thought he had read consent in her lovely eyes.
After the reception was over Evadne knelt by her window until the stars faded one by one from the sky. Then she turned away with a happy sigh. When he came to get his answer, she would know.
* * * * *
"Give that to me!" Isabella spoke imperiously to the servant, who was passing through the hall with a note in her hand. From where she stood she had recognized the clear handwriting of the prescriptions which the new doctor wrote. Her demon of curiosity overcame her. The tempter was very near.
The girl held the note towards her. "It is for Miss Evadne," she said.
"Miss E. Hildreth, you see."
Isabelle gave a careless laugh. "Did you not know I had an E in my name also? Evelyn Isabelle. I know the writing. The note is meant for me."