asked if there were any one with her sister, and seemed disappointed when she heard that Lord Chesterton was in the garden with my Lady—"No one else?"
"No, ma'am, Colonel Hilton has been here, but he went away directly my Lord came."
Aileen brightened a little, but instead of attempting to join her sister, she went musingly into the drawing-room, and threw herself into an arm-chair, apparently for the enjoyment of her own thoughts; and her absent manner so excited the curiosity of Baxter, that he thought himself obliged to follow, and to ask if she would like to take any refreshment after her drive. And as she did not seem clearly to comprehend what refreshment meant, and declined it with an absent "No, thank you," he went down stairs to inform the housekeeper's room that "there was a screw loose somewhere," which announcement produced a considerable degree of excitement in those regions.
Aileen was not left long to herself and her absorption. Lord Chesterton and Blanche
