Two, three, four days passed without Count Larinski reappearing at the Hotel Badrutt, where every evening he was expected.

This prolonged absence keenly affected Mlle.Moriaz.She sought an explanation thereof; the search occupied part of her days, and troubled her sleep.

She had too much character not to conceal her trouble and anxiety.

Those about her had not the least suspicion that she asked herself a hundred times in the twenty-four hours: "Why does he not come?
will he never come again?
is it a fixed resolution?
Does he blame us for drawing out, by our questions, the secret of his life?
or does he suspect that I have discovered him to be the writer of the anonymous letter?
Will he leave Engadine without bidding us good-bye?
Perhaps he has already gone, and we shall never see him again." This thought caused Mlle.

Moriaz a heart-burn that she had never before experienced.