This arrangement continued half an hour, when a dislocation of the
_statu quo_ was made by the departure of Mr. Maxwell. When the exit was
completed, Mrs. D'Alloi turned to place her puppets properly again. But
she found a decided bar to her intentions. Peter had formed his own
conclusions as to why he had been set to entertain Madame Mellerie, not
merely from the fact itself, but from the manner in which it had been
done, and most of all, from the way Mrs. D'Alloi had managed to stand
between Leonore and himself, as if protecting the former, till she had
been able to force her arrangements. So with the first stir Peter had
risen, and when the little bustle had ceased he was already standing by
Leonore, talking to her. Mrs. D'Alloi did not look happy, but for the
moment she was helpless.
Peter had had to skirt the group to get to Leonore, and so had stood
behind her during the farewells. She apparently had not noticed his
advent, but the moment she had done the daughter-of-the-house duty, she
turned to him, and said: "I wondered if you would go away without seeing
me.
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