nd a half to
prepare in. You must then be ready to depart. I will send your money to you
by Mrs. Rusk; and if you look for another situation, you had better not
refer to me. Now be so good as to leave me.'

Madame seemed to be in a strange perplexity. She bridled up, dried her eyes
fiercely, and dropped a great courtesy, and then sailed away towards the
door. Before reaching it she stopped on the way, turning half round, with
a peaked, pallid glance at my father, and she bit her lip viciously as she
eyed him. At the door the same repulsive pantomime was repeated, as she
stood for a moment with her hand upon the handle. But she changed her
bearing again with a sniff, and with a look of scorn, almost heightened to
a sneer, she made another very low courtesy and a disdainful toss of her
head, and so disappeared, shutting the door rather sharply behind her.

CHAPTER XIX

_AU REVOIR_

Mrs. Rusk was fond of assuring me that Madame 'did not like a bone in my
skin.' Instinctively I knew that she bore me no good-will, although I
really believe it was her wish to make me think quite the reverse. At all
events I had no desire to see Madame again before her departure, especially
as she had thrown upon me one momentary glance in the study, which seemed
to me charged with very peculiar feelings.

You may be very sure, therefore, that I had no desire for a formal
leave-taking at her departure. I took my hat and cloak, therefore, and
stole out quietly.

My ramble was a sequestered one, and well screened, even at this late
season, with foliage; the pathway devious among the stems of old trees, and
its flooring interlaced and groined with their knotted roots. Though near
the house, it was a sylvan solitude; a little brook ran darkling and
glimmering through it, wild strawberries and other woodland plants strewed
the ground, and the sweet notes and flutter of small birds made the shadow
of the boughs cheery.

I had been fully an hour in this picturesque solitude when I heard in the
distance the ring of carriage-wheels, announcing to me that Madame de la
Rougierre had fairly set out upon her travels. I thanked heaven; I could
have danced and sung with delight; I heaved a great sigh and looked up
through the branches to the clear blue sky.

But things are oddly timed. Just at this moment I heard Madame's voice
close at my ear, and her large bony hand was laid on my shoulder. We were
instantly face to face--I recoiling, and