"I do not know." She sank into the chair before the dressing-table.
Honoria Pryse crept in timidly from the inner door.
"The hairdresser, my lady."
Mr. Hilton looked from one woman to another, set his lips, and left them in silence.
Mistress and maid exchanged a quick glance; the Countess snatched up the letter from Selina Boyle and concealed it in her bosom as the hairdresser bowed himself into the chamber.
CHAPTER III
THE BROTHERS
With a curious sense of uneasiness, Marius Lyndwood, entering his brother's drawing-room, saw the Countess there, alone.