"Charlton's white set face as he pressed against the panes."--Page 124
[CHAPTER XXIV.]
TREASURE TROVE.
Just as she was, with her lace and silks and long flowing train, Leona Lalage raced down the garden. With a bitter little smile she wondered what her Society friends would say if they could see her at this moment. The thorns of a rose bush caught a drooping mass of frippery and tore it away, but the woman paid no heed. Her dressmaker's bill need never be paid.
She came at length breathless with running to the end of the garden. A little green gate led to the lane which divided Lytton Avenue from the corner house. It was absolutely quiet there. Leona Lalage could catch just the faintest humming noise, then a glaring white eye flamed out.
Behind it was a black motor and the form of Balmayne.
"Never can trust a woman as to time," he growled. There was not the faintest shadow of politeness in his manner now. "Didn't I say twelve sharp?"
"I was detained," the Countess gasped. "After all, what are a few minutes?"
"Everything. Maitrank reaches Charing Cross in a little over half an hour, and it is absolutely imperative that I should see the arrival and find out where he stays. I suppose you can see that?"