She turned round to meet her host, who was crossing the hall, and almost simultaneously the dinner gong rang out.  Their party was perhaps a little more cheerful than it had been on any of the last few evenings.  Forrest drank more wine than usual, and exerted himself to entertain.  Cecil followed his example, and the Princess, who sat by his side, looked often into his face, and whispered now and then in his ear.  Jeanne was the only one who was a little distrait.  She left the table early, as usual, and slipped out into the garden.  The Princess, contrary to her custom, rose from the table and followed her.  A sudden change of wind had blown the fog away, and the night was clear.  The wind, however, had gathered force, and the Princess held down her elaborately coiffured hair and cried out in dismay.

“My dear Jeanne,” she exclaimed, “but it is barbarous to wander about outside a night like this!”

Jeanne laughed.  Her own more simply arranged hair was blown all over her face.

“I love it,” she explained.  “You don’t want me indoors.  I am going to walk down the grove and look at the sea.”

“Come back into the hall one moment,” the Princess said.  “I want to speak to you.”

Jeanne turned unwillingly round, and her step-mother drew her into the shelter of the open door.

“Jeanne,” she said, “you seem to meet your friend the fisherman very often.  If you should see anything of him to-morrow, I wish you would inquire particularly as to his lodger.  You know whom I mean, the man who was on the island with him yesterday afternoon.”

Jeanne looked at her stepmother curiously.

“What am I to ask about him?” she demanded.

“Where he comes from, and what he is doing here,” the Princess said.  “Find out if you can if Berners is really his name.  I have a curious idea about him, and Cecil fancies that he has seen him before.”

Jeanne looked for a minute interested.

“You are not usually so curious about people,” she remarked.

The Princess lowered her voice a little.

“Jeanne,” she said, “I will tell you something.  Lord Ronald, when he left here, was very angry with us all.  There was a quarrel, and he behaved very absurdly.  Cecil fancies that this man Berners is a friend of Lord Ronald’s.  We want to know if it is so.”

Jeanne raised her head and looked her stepmother steadily in the face.

“This is all very mysterious,” she said.  “I do not understand it at all.  We seem to be almost in hiding here, seeing no one and going nowhere.  And I notice that Major Forrest, whenever he walks even in the garden, is always looking around as though he were afraid of something.  What did you quarrel with Lord Ronald about?”

“It is no concern of yours,” the Princess answered, a little sharply.  “Major Forrest has had a somewhat eventful career, and he has made enemies.  It was chiefly his quarrel with Lord Ronald, and it was over a somewhat serious matter.  He has an idea that this man Berners is connected with it in some way or other.  Do find out if you can, there’s a dear child.”