ilence all round the table. He sat stock still, staring at
his hands, all brown and dripping; then he said, in a very small,
exhausted voice, `I think I had bettaw--go up-sta-ahs!'"

Mr Vanburgh lay back against his cushions and pressed his hands to his
mouth. His shoulders heaved, and a curious muffled sound emerged from
his lips. He tried to strangle it, tried to frown, to choke the
inclination in his throat, but it was of no avail: laugh he must, and
laugh he did, his slight form shaking with merriment, the tears rising
in the tired eyes and streaming down his cheeks. Nan laughed afresh at
the comical spectacle, and as she looked a door behind the couch was
pushed gently open, and a startled face peered round the corner. It was
the face of the dark-skinned foreigner who was the invalid's attendant,
and his master greeted him with affectionate freedom.

"Yes, Pedro! Yes! It is quite true! I was laughing! It is a long
time since you have heard such a sound from my lips. No wonder you are
startled. It is this young lady who has wrought the miracle."

The dark eyes rested on Nan's face with a glow of gratitude which made
the girl's heart beat fast with pleasure. The eloquent Southern glance
conveyed many meanings, but he said simply, "The signorina is welcome!
I hope the signorina comes again!" and left the room in the same quiet,
unobtrusive manner in which he had entered.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

THE CURTAINED PICTURES.

When Mrs Rendell returned home and heard of Nan's latest escapade, she
was breathless with horror and consternation.

"I don't know what I am to do with you, child," she cried. "Every time
I go away there is a fresh outbreak, and you seem to grow worse instead
of better. It is useless to warn you!"

"Oh, mummy dear!" Nan's voice was full of protest, and she stared with
reproachful eyes in her mother's face. "It's not fair to say that! I
always do as you tell me. I never do what you have forbidden. You
can't think of a single instance where I have played a trick the second
time, when you have cautioned me against it!"

"But what is the good of that, when you immediately hit on something
even worse?" queried her mother despairingly. "What sane woman would
ever dream of forbidding a girl of eighteen to walk about the streets in
disguise, and go begging for subscriptions at strange houses? It takes
away my breath, even to think of it! All sorts of things might have
happened!"