He stopped to do so, and Avery opened the gate and walked slowly up the path.
At the porch she paused to await him, and turned her face for a moment to the darkening sky. But the Star of Hope was veiled.
CHAPTER XII
A PAIR OF GLOVES
"Piers! Where the devil are you, Piers?"
There was loud exasperation in the query as Sir Beverley halted in the doorway of his grandson's bedroom.
There was a moment's pause; then Victor the valet came quickly forward.
"But, Monsieur Pierre, he bathe himself," he explained, with beady eyes running over the gaunt old figure in the entrance.
Sir Beverley growled at him inarticulately and turned away.
A moment later he was beating a rousing tattoo on the bathroom-door.
"Piers! Let me in! Do you hear? Let me in!"