As Jack, once more a chauffeur, drove under the porte cochère at The Crags, shortly before one o'clock, Anne sat for a moment in her seat after her friend had alighted. Sara looked back with a little smile and then walked toward the door, which a footman had opened.
"Mr. Armitage," said Anne in a low voice, "I want to thank you for many things to-night—for one thing above all. I cannot tell you what it is, for I hardly know myself." She paused, and Jack, who was toying with the switch lever, looked at her curiously. "It's a new viewpoint, I fancy. Somehow—I have a feeling that there is more to this country, my country, than Fifth Avenue, Central Park, Tuxedo, Long Island, and Newport—something bigger and finer than railroads. I am glad to feel that, and I thank you."
CHAPTER XVIII
ANNE WELLINGTON HAS HER FIRST TEST
Sara was waiting for Anne in the hall. She had taken off her hat and stood idly swinging it. A single globe was lighted in the chandelier overhead and the extremities of the great apartment were lost in gloom.
"Well, dear," Sara yawned broadly, "I fancy we shall sleep to-night."
Anne had thrown her arm over Sara's shoulders and they were walking toward the stairs when Koltsoff appeared from the shadow, confronting them.
"Oh! Prince Koltsoff! How you frightened me," said Anne in a low voice, drawing back.
"A thousand pardons. It would have grieved me had I thought of doing that."