"Barbara," whispered Ruth, "are we dreaming or is it the Countess Sophia?"
Barbara strained her eyes to distinguish the figure. Mollie and Grace also had seen the familiar wrap and poor little Mollie's face burned with something very like mortification.
The boat skimmed lightly over the water and in a moment only the lantern at its bow could be seen swinging in the blackness.
"It looks like the countess," whispered Barbara briefly in reply. "Marian," she said, turning to the other girl who had closed her eyes as though she wished to shut out the sight of the other boat, "we just saw your mother go past with Monsieur Duval and the count, and we thought--we were almost certain we recognized the other person in the boat. Did you notice who it was?"
Marian opened her eyes and looked straight into Barbara's.
"I am sorry, Barbara," she said sadly, "but I can't answer that question to-night."
The water fête a thing of the past, the Warrens' domino ball became the excitement of the hour.
The "Automobile Girls" were talking over their costumes when there came a rap on their door.
Grace responded, to find the corridor empty; but at her feet lay a sealed envelope addressed to Barbara, who hastily tore it open and read aloud the enclosed note.
"Maud and the Count have planned to elope during the domino ball. At midnight Maud and her chaperon will steal out of the side entrance of the hotel. The chaperon will wear a black domino, but will remain in her room until ten minutes before midnight, when she will go to the veranda, meet Maud, and the two will go to the east entrance of the hotel grounds, where they will be met by the count with an automobile. They will go to the village and be married there. Arrangements have been made and the license secured. Maud will wear a red silk domino and a black mask. Just over her heart will be a small black silk heart the size of the one enclosed. I promised to warn you should anything serious arise, and have done so at great personal risk. Stop the elopement if you can without outside aid. Some day I will explain why.
"'M. S.' Marian Smythe. She is a good scout, girls," said Ruth. "But I didn't think that Maud would go so far as this."
"This pattern for the heart--I imagine that Marian is suggesting that we all wear dominos exactly like Maud's. But why?" put in Barbara.