In five minutes he stepped once more back into the gardens, soft and brilliant now in the moonlight.

As he did so, he heard the click of the gate in the wall, and footsteps.

His host, with Lady Cynthia upon his arm, came into sight and crossed the lawn towards him.

Francis, filled though his mind was with other thoughts, paused for a moment and glanced towards them curiously.

Lady Cynthia seemed for a moment to have lost all her weariness.