Of course, she could not avoid meeting them, and doubtless they would reveal all the past to both Lady Randal and Lady Ruxley.
They would tell their story about the jewels, and of that scene with Wilbur, and the way she had left their employ.
Yet what need had she to fear Isabel Coolidge, or, indeed, any one, now that she had Adrian to lean upon and protect her?
With this brighter thought in her mind, she sought her own room to prepare for her absence and the approaching gayeties, which, after all, she began to anticipate with something of pleasure and interest.
Meanwhile, a very different scene was being enacted at Dunforth Castle.
As soon as Lady Ruxley’s carriage was driven from sight, Adrian Dredmond turned to his grandfather, saying, gravely:
“Can I have a private interview with you, sir?”
“Yes, yes, my boy, of course; come into my sanctum at once.”
He led the way to the luxuriously appointed library, where a cheerful fire in the grate toned the chill air to just the right temperature, and gave the lofty, beautiful room an appearance of homelike comfort.
“Well, now, what is it, Ad?” the old man asked, familiarly, as he threw himself into his easy-chair, and bent a look of pride upon the young lover’s handsome, animated face.