When Otterburn disappeared so suddenly from the sight of his friend, he had gone straight across the room to where a slender girl dressed in a dark-green walking costume was standing near the door.
"Can you remember an old friend, Miss Sheldon?" he said in a low voice.
She turned round with a cry of surprise, flushing violently as she recognised him, and held out her hand with the greatest self-possession.
"Of course Mr. Macjean! My memory is not quite so short as you think."
They were both overcome by this unexpected meeting, but as the eyes of the world were on them they were perforce obliged to hide their emotions under a polite mask of indifference. No one, looking at this charming girl and this handsome young man, would have thought there was anything between them but the merest feelings of acquaintanceship. And yet they were both profoundly moved, and each, in some instinctive way, guessed the feelings of the other, although their greeting was so cold and studied.
"I did not expect to meet you here," said Victoria in a friendly tone.
"I suppose not," replied Otterburn politely, "as I only returned to Town about three weeks ago.'
"You have been away?"
"All over the world. Africa is the only place left for me to explore."
"And I daresay you are thinking of going there next?" Otterburn laughed.