She knew that Mrs. Wylie was studying her face with kindly keenness, and so she smiled in a friendly way at the fire, which seemed to dance and laugh in reply.
'Is it generally known that he is in St. Petersburg?' she asked with some interest.
'Oh no! Sir Edward told me in confidence. He says that it does not matter much, but that he and Theo would prefer it not being talked about.'
'Why has he gone?' asked the girl.
Mrs. Wylie laid aside the basket and looked across at her companion with a curious, baffled smile.
'I don't know,' she answered. 'I had not the ... the...'
'Cheek?'
'Cheek to ask.'
Brenda returned to her book.
'I suppose,' she said presently, as she turned a page, 'that it means war.'