She arose from her knees at last and bathed her face and arranged her hair.
"I will go to Keith at once," she said, "and ask him frankly and openly why Serena is here, and what is she to him?"
But when Beatrix entered the drawing-room a little later for an interview with Keith, she found Bernard Dane there, and, of course, private conversation was impossible. The old man glanced up with a scowl as Beatrix entered the room.
"Who sent for you?" he demanded, brusquely.
The color arose to the girl's pale cheeks.
"No one, sir," she returned with spirit. "I was not aware that you intend to cut me off from communication with the rest of the household."
"That will come soon enough," chuckled the old man, half audibly; but Beatrix overheard the muttered words, and her heart sank with a bitter pang. What did he mean?
"I will ask him when I see him alone," she decided. "He shall tell me what this strange treatment of me signifies."
Aloud she said: