"Come down," said the Countess, glancing furtively behind her, and the maid noiselessly and carefully descended.
"What has happened, my lady?" she asked, peering into her mistress's face, her own sharp fair countenance alert and eager; she had an air of secret malice and quick, unpleasant eyes.
The Countess clutched her arm.
"Come into the garden, not another moment under his roof, not another moment!" she whispered feverishly.
The maid expressed no astonishment, nor did her mistress seem to expect it; they had the manner of adepts in quick confidences and whispered exchanges of dangerous talk.
With a light step that seemed that of taught secrecy, Honoria preceded her mistress down the passage, and softly opened the door.
The two came out on to the wide steps where the moonlight lay still and pure.
"Shut the door," whispered the Countess, and the maid obeyed, asking under her breath:
"What are you going to do, my lady?"