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342 that she intended to try an early prowl. Did you not hear her say so?"

It was very extraordinary, but neither of them had heard Sophia make the remark.

"But young Mauden " began Lady Hyde- Bassett.

She caught a beseeching glance from Eliza, and felt a sharp step on her toe. They were now sitting at the table.

"Young Mauden," she went on, calmly," was very wise to go by that eight o'clock train."

"I wish," said Wrath, suddenly, "Sophia would not wander about the country like a Tom o' Bedlam. I know she is studying Ophelia, but all the same, it is most annoying!"

The two women dared not look up. But they were holding a conversation without words, which is not a difficult feat — although few mortals seem aware of it — when minds are sympathetic, and ordinary means of communication are impossible. To explain this mental phenomenon, however, is work for the metaphysician. We can only say that Lady Hyde- Bassett understood Miss Bellarmine so perfectly, that she lost her appetite for breakfast.

"Could not some one be sent to her room to inquire?" said Wrath, rising from his seat, and oblivious alike of manners, his two companions, and general facts. Thought was swallowed up in sensation, and he recognized the sensation as fear.

"I will go," said Eliza.

"Thank you," he said; "you are very good. Thank you."

When she had gone out of the room, he turned to