“That is the unhealthy coast, is it not?” asked her ladyship.
“Yes.”
Jocelyn hardly heard the question. She was looking round with a sudden, breathless eagerness. It was probable that Millicent Chyne was in the rooms; and she never doubted that she would know her face.
“And I suppose you know that part of the world very well?” said Lady Cantourne, who had detected a change in her companion's manner.
“Oh yes.”
“Have you ever heard of a place called Loango?”
“Oh yes. I live there.”
“Indeed, how very interesting! I am very much interested in Loango just now, I must tell you. But I did not know that anybody lived there.”
“No one does by choice,” explained Jocelyn. “My father was a judge on the Coast, and since his death my brother Maurice has held an appointment at Loango. We are obliged to live there for eight months in the twelve.”
She knew it was coming. But, as chance would have it, it was easier than she could have hoped. For some reason Lady Cantourne looked straight in front of her when she asked the question.