"That is St. John's Wood up yonder, isn't it?" she asked, as they passed Carlton Hill, speaking for almost the first time since they left Mayfair.
"Yes."
"Isn't it somewhere about there Miss Stella Mayne lives, the actress we saw the other night?" asked Christabel, carelessly.
Her aunt looked at her with intense surprise,—how could she pronounce that name, and to ask a frivolous question?
"Yes; she has a lovely house called the Rosary. Mr. FitzPelham told me about it," answered Jessie.
Christabel said never a word more as the carriage rolled on by Cricklewood and the two Welsh Harps, and turned into the quiet lanes about Hendon, and so home by the Finchley Road. She had found out what she wanted to know.
When afternoon tea was served in the little third drawing-room, where Mrs. Tregonell sat resting herself after the dust and weariness of the drive, Christabel was missing. Dormer brought a little note for her mistress.
"Miss Courtenay gave me this just before she went out, ma'am."
"Out! Has Miss Courtenay gone out?"
"Yes, ma'am; Daniel got her a cab five minutes ago."