“Richard?”

“Yes, dear—”

“Have you been in Rodenham village?”

Jeffray stared at her questioningly.

“Not for a week,” he said.

“Supposing it should be—Oh—horrible! My head is in a whirl.”

Jeffray flushed up as though Jilian had suddenly discovered all that was in his heart.

“I do not understand you, Jilian,” he said.

Miss Hardacre had drawn a little apart from Jeffray, and was waving her scented handkerchief under her nose.

“Supposing you are sickening for the small-pox, Richard,” she said.