“What is it?  Are you ill?”

“No, mater!  But I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

There was a boyish reproach in his voice.

“Looking for me in the middle of the night!  Why?”

Jimmy began to explain matters.

“At last I thought I’d look in the garden.  I shouted out for you, and who should answer but Mr. Leith?” he presently said.

His mother—­he noticed it—­woke up fully at this point in the narrative.

“Mr. Leith!” she said, with strong surprise.  “How could he answer you?”

“He was up in the pavilion reading a book.”

Mrs. Clarke looked frankly astonished.  Her eyes traveled to Sonia, whose broad face was also full of amazement.

“At this hour!” said Mrs. Clarke.

“He couldn’t sleep either,” said Jimmy, quite simply.  “He’s waiting out there now to know whether I’ve found you.”

Mrs. Clarke smiled faintly.

“What a to do!” she said, with just a touch of gentle disdain.  “And all because I suffer from insomnia.  Run down to him, Jimmy, and tell him that as I felt it was useless to go to bed I sat by the fountain till I was weary, then read in my sitting-room, and finally came to Sonia to be brushed into sleep.  Set his mind at rest about me if you can.”

She smiled again.

Somehow that smile made Jimmy feel very small.

“And go back to bed, dear boy.”

She put out one hand, drew him to her, and gave him a gentle kiss with lips which felt very calm.

“I’m sorry you were worried about me.”

“Oh, that’s all right, mater!” said Jimmy, rather awkwardly.  “I didn’t know what to think.  You see—­”

“Of course you couldn’t guess that I was having my hair brushed.  Now go straight to bed, after you’ve told Mr. Leith.  I’m coming too in a minute.”

As Jimmy left the room Sonia was again at work with the two hair-brushes.

A moment later Jimmy reappeared at the French window of the drawing-room.  Dion lifted his head, but did not move from the place where he was standing close to the fountain.

“It’s all right, Mr. Leith,” said Jimmy.  “I’ve found mater.”

“Where was she?”

“In Sonia’s room having her hair brushed.”

Dion stared towards him but said nothing.

“She told me I was to set your mind at rest.”

“Did she?”

“Yes.  I believe she thought us a couple of fools for kicking us such a dust about her.”

Dion said nothing.

“I don’t know, but I’ve an idea girls and women often think they can laugh at us,” added Jimmy.  “Anyhow, it’ll be a jolly long time before I put myself in a sweat about the mater again.  I thought—­I don’t know what I thought, and all the time she was half asleep and having her hair brushed.  She made me feel ass number one.  Good night.”

“Good night.”

The boy shut the window, bent down and bolted it on the inside.