He delicately relieved her from her embarrassment by putting a question which naturally occurred under the circumstances.
"Where is Horace all this time ?" he asked.

"Why is he not here ?" "He has been called away," she answered, "by a message from Lady Janet." The reply more than astonished Julian; it seemed almost to alarm him.

He returned to Mercy's chair; he said to her, eagerly, "Are you sure ?" "Horace himself told me that Lady Janet had insisted on seeing him." "When ?" "Not long ago.

He asked me to wait for him here while he went upstairs." Julian's face darkened ominously.
"This confirms my worst fears," he said.

"Have _you_ had any communication with Lady Janet ?" Mercy replied by showing him his aunt's note.