"May I? That is what I want more than anything else. If I could sleep for half-an-hour I should feel better."

Irene burst into a ringing laugh.

"Because I am not sure of things. I want to take you into my confidence, and I don't want any one to hear."

Lady Jane was in the midst of her meditations, and a more confused, distracted poor woman it would be difficult to find in the length and breadth of the land, when suddenly she heard a step in the hall, a frank young voice—not Irene's, but bright and young and full of courage—and the next instant Rosamund Cunliffe entered the room.