Miss Garth and Norah looked at one another significantly, and waited in silence.

Two hours passed--and there were no signs of Magdalen.

Norah rose, as the clock struck twelve, and quietly left the room to look for her.
She was not upstairs dusting her jewelry and disarranging her dresses.
She was not in the conservatory, not in the flower-garden; not in the kitchen teasing the cook; not in the yard playing with the dogs.

Had she, by any chance, gone out with her father?
Mr.Vanstone had announced his intention, at the breakfast-table, of paying a morning visit to his old ally, Mr.Clare, and of rousing the philosopher's sarcastic indignation by an account of the dramatic performance.

None of the other ladies at Combe-Raven ever ventured themselves inside the cottage.