He shut his eyes, rubbed his forehead as if to rid himself of all interest in what he had read, and listened to what was passing in the nursery.

Suddenly he thought he heard a strange noise through the door.

He was seized with alarm lest something should have happened to the child while he was reading the letter.

He went on tiptoe to the nursery door and opened it.

Just as he went in he saw that the nurse was hiding something from him with a scared look and that Princess Mary was no longer by the cot.