"In half an hour I shall have a message to be taken to Lyndwood House."
"Yes, madam."
She was alone again, with the curtains shutting out the blue summer evening. She bit her lip and clenched her hands in her effort at control, then pulled open a drawer in the buhl cabinet and commenced to write to the Earl.
But words that would be sufficiently strong yet sufficiently cautious, phrases that should command yet appear careless were not easy to find, nor did her agitation allow her to search for the niceties of composition.
She flung down the pen and rose. As she paced distractedly across the room her eye was caught by the letter on the marble mantelshelf. It was in the Countess Lavinia's hand. Susannah stood still a second, then returned to the desk and sat down heavily.
The moment after, Marius entered. He noticed the untouched tea-table and his cousin's face as she turned to look at him.
"Is there anything the matter?" he asked, pausing inside the door.
"No," said Susannah, "no. There is a letter for you—from Lady Lyndwood." She marked the treacherous blood fly to his face and saw him turn from her gaze. "What does the Countess write to you about?" she asked.
Marius picked up the letter.