"Easily enough," replied the wily French maid. "Go back to the room and pretend to have lost some trifle. Get her to go down on her knees to find it and you can obtain a good look into her face."
Elinor Glenalvan waited for no more. Clenching her small hands vindictively, and with an evil look on her handsome face, she hurried out into the corridor and made her way to Ruby's room.
She turned the handle softly and looked in. The child lay on the bed sleeping peacefully, and Golden remained at the window peering out through the half-open blind at the dismal prospect, her red lips quivering grievously, her sweet blue eyes dim with unshed tears.
She started up nervously as her cousin came in abruptly and closed the door.
Elinor looked into her face and her heart grave a great, frightened bound. She recognized the beautiful face instantly in spite of the disfiguring cap and glasses.
Controlling her rage by a violent effort, she observed with comparative calmness:
"I have lost a gold cuff-button, Mary, and thought perhaps I had dropped it in here. Have you seen it?"
Golden answered her with a shrinking negative, and Elinor continued:
"I am almost certain that I dropped it in this room. Perhaps it has rolled beneath the bed. Will you get down and look under it, Mary?"
Golden complied without a word, and Elinor had the desired opportunity of looking at the girl's face.