Mrs. Harlan left them quickly; she knew that she was going to cry in another minute. She was quite aware that no woman of her age could afford to be seen in tears, and Bob had a particular hatred for anything of the sort. She went to her room and did her packing, then decided to go and offer to help Bob with his things.
As she went down the hall she noticed that the door of Lola’s room was open, and as she glanced in quickly she saw with surprise that Lola’s trunks were locked and that the room was empty. She entered quickly and looked about; Lola had gone; she saw that at a glance. Her hand-bag was missing, her toilet articles put away; nothing was in sight but the two locked trunks. She had bolted. “A good thing, too,” she thought bitterly to herself, but she knew that she must hurry and let Dick know.
She found the two men where she had left them over an hour before; they were seated silently looking out at the water, and they did not even look up as she stopped beside them.
“Dick,” she spoke gently, resting her hand for a moment on his shoulder, “do you know where Lola is?”
“In her room. She told me to wait for her here.”
“She’s gone, Dick.”
“What!”
“Gone! You’d better ask them at the desk, but her trunks are locked; there’s no doubt about it; she has gone.”
“Where could she go? What are you talking about?”
“Hush,” she said quickly. “Here is Miss Bradley. You don’t want her to know.”