grandmother in past years for hiving swarms of bees, buried her face
in it, and sallied forth with a palpitating heart till she drew near
the tabernacle of her demi-god the Baron. She ventured only to the
back-door, where she handed in the parcel addressed to him, and
quickly came away.

Now it seems that during the day the Baron had been unable to learn
the result of his attempt to return Margery in time for the event he
had interrupted. Wishing, for obvious reasons, to avoid direct
inquiry by messenger, and being too unwell to go far himself, he
could learn no particulars. He was sitting in thought after a lonely
dinner when the parcel intimating failure as brought in. The
footman, whose curiosity had been excited by the mode of its arrival,
peeped through the keyhole after closing the door, to learn what the
packet meant. Directly the Baron had opened it he thrust out his
feet vehemently from his chair, and began cursing his ruinous conduct
in bringing about such a disaster, for the return of the locket
denoted not only no wedding that day, but none to-morrow, or at any
time.

'I have done that innocent woman a great wrong!' he murmured.
'Deprived her of, perhaps, her only opportunity of becoming mistress
of a happy home!'



CHAPTER X