"You are all so stiff!" she said I shall go to bed!"
"I will take you to the stairs then," said Jack promptly, and led her forward.
She stopped as they were about to pass his Grace, and faced him.
Tracy bowed very low.
"Good-night, madam. Carstares will know which room I had assigned to you. You will find a servant there."
"Thank you," she said steadily. "I shall try to forget the happenings of this day, your Grace. I see the truth in what you say—we cannot afford to let the world see that we are at enmity, lest it should talk. And, I confess it freely, I find it less hard to forgive you the insults of—of to-day, since they brought—Jack—to me. An I had not been in such dire straits, I might never have seen him again."
"In fact," bowed his Grace, "everything has been for the best!"
"I would not say that, sir," she replied, and went out.
For a moment there was silence in the room. No one quite knew what to say. As usual, it was Tracy who came to the rescue, breaking an uncomfortable pause.
"I suggest that we adjourn to the dining-room," he said. "I gather we may have to wait some time before his lordship reappears. O'Hara, after you!"