CHAPTER XVII.
WAITING FOR THE NEWS.
Felicita hurried homeward night and day without stopping, as if she had been pursued by a deadly enemy.

Madame and the children were not at Scarborough, but at a quiet little fishing village on the eastern coast; for Felicita had found Scarborough too gay in the month of August, and her cousins, the Riversfords, having appeared there, she retreated to the quietest spot that could be found.

To this village she returned, after being absent little more than a week.
Madame knew nothing of her journey; but the mere fact that Felicita was going away alone had aroused in her the hope that it was connected in some way with Roland.

In some vague manner this idea had been communicated to Felix, and both were expecting to see the long-lost father and son come back with her.

Roland's prolonged and mysterious absence had been a sore trial to his mother, though her placid and trustful nature had borne it patiently.