“I couldn’t sleep. The night was so hot. I had nothing to read in my rooms. Besides they’re stuck down right against the quay. You know your mother’s kind enough to let me have a key of the garden gate. I thought I might get more air on the top terrace. I was reading in the pavilion when I thought I heard a call.”
“Then the mater isn’t there?”
“Your mother?”
“Yes!”
“Of course not. Come on up!”
Dion took the boy by the arm with decision, and slowly led him upwards.
“What’s this about your mother? Do you mean she isn’t asleep?”
“Asleep? She isn’t in her bedroom! She hasn’t been there!”
“Hasn’t been there?”
“Hasn’t been to bed at all! I’ve been to her sitting-room—you know, upstairs—she isn’t there. I’ve been in all the rooms. She isn’t anywhere. She must be somewhere about here.”