Peter would relieve her an hour after midnight, when at his earnest request she promised to go to her room and rest.
The sedative very speedily took effect upon Tommy and he slept calmly while she sat beside him with the light from the lamp turned upon her book.

But though her eyes were upon the open page her attention was far from it.

Her thoughts had wandered to Monck and dwelt persistently upon him.

The memory of that last conversation she had had with Ralph Dacre would not be excluded from her brain.

What was the meaning of this mysterious absence?
What was he doing?
She felt uneasy, even troubled.
There was something about this Secret Service employment which made her shrink, though she felt that had their mutual relations been of the totally indifferent and casual order she would not have cared.