CHAPTER VIII

"I HAVE A FEAR--A FOOLISH FEAR" "Geoff, it's the most extraordinary thing in the world." "What is it, dear?" he asked, throwing down his newspaper on the breakfast table, and lighting a cigarette. "Tell me about it." "Listen." She read the letter, which was open in her hands, and he listened thoughtfully, leaning back in the high-backed oak chair, and watching the blue smoke from his cigarette curl upward to the ceiling. "LONDON, _Thursday_. "DEAR LADY ST. MAURICE,--I have delayed answering your letter for some ti…