It was after midnight when she at last fell asleep, and Preston
Cheney in a state of complete exhaustion was shown to a room, while
the Baroness remained at the bedside of Miss Lawrence.
When the Baroness and Mr Cheney returned to the Palace they were
struck with consternation to learn that Miss Dumont had packed her
trunk and departed from Beryngford on the three o'clock train the
previous day.
A brief note thanking the Baroness for her kindness, and stating that
she had imposed upon that kindness quite too long, was her only
farewell. There was no allusion to her plans or her destination, and
all inquiry and secret search failed to find one trace of her. She
seemed to vanish like a phantom from the face of the earth.
No one had seen her leave the Palace, save the laundress, Mrs Connor;
and little this humble personage dreamed that Fate was reserving for
her an important role in the drama of a life as yet unborn.
CHAPTER VI
Whatever hope of escape from his self-imposed bondage Preston Cheney
had entertained when he began the note to his fiancee which the
Baroness had read, completely vanished during the weeks which
followed the death of Mrs Lawrence.
Mabel's nervous condition was alarming, and her father seemed to rely
wholly upon his future son-in-law for courage and moral support
during the trying ordeal.
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