"Yes, miss," Marie smiled.
"Then I do order you to go. But don't be long."
"No, miss."
Sally waited in a mood of constantly increasing anxiety. It was absurd to think that anything untoward could have happened to Mrs. Gosnold on her own grounds, meeting her own nephew for a clandestine talk. And of course she might have learned something from Savage which had induced her, for her own ends, to maintain her masquerade for a longer time. She was quite possibly somewhere on the terrace or in the formal garden.
Marie was back within five minutes, wearing an apprehensive countenance.
"There's nobody out back, miss, near the road, where she said she was to meet Mr. Savage, and I asked Thomas and some of the waiters, and they all said they hadn't seen her."
"But in my costume and masked . . ."
"It's past one, miss, already, and everybody has unmasked."
"To be sure. I'm going to my room and get into another dress. Then I'll look round for her myself."
"If you'll be so kind, miss--without letting on--"