the study by the fire; and the coffee--you must make the coffee
yourself, Anneli--"

"Oh yes, indeed, Fraulein, I will make the coffee," said Anneli, with a
fresh flowing of tears. "But--but may not I go with you, Fraulein?--if
you are not coming back here any more, why may I not go with you? I am
not anxious for wages, Fraulein--I do not want any wages at all; but if
you will take me with you--"

"Now, do not be foolish, Anneli. Have you not a whole house to look
after? There, take these keys; you will have to show that you can be a
good house-mistress, and sensible, and not childish."

At the door she shook hands with the sobbing maid, and bade her a
cheerful good-bye. Then she got into the cab and drove away to Madame
Potecki's lodgings. Finally, by dexterous management, she succeeded in
getting her mother and herself to Charing Cross Station in time to catch
the afternoon express to Dover.

It is probable that, now the first excitement of setting out was over,
and the two women-folk left to themselves in the solitude of a
compartment, Natalie might have begun to reflect with some tremor of the
heart on the very vagueness of the task she had undertaken. But she was
not permitted to do so. The necessity of driving away her mother's
forebodings prevented her indulging in any of her own. She was forced to
be careless, cheerful, matter-of-fact.

"Natalushka," the mother said, holding her daughter's hand, "you have
been brought up in ignorance. You know only the romantic, the beautiful
side of what is going on; you do not know what these men are ready to
do--what has been done--to secure the success of their schemes. And for
you, a girl, to interfere, it is madness, Natalushka. They will laugh at
you, perhaps; perhaps it may be worse; they may resent your
interference, and ask who has betrayed their secrets."

"Are they so very terrible, then?" said the girl, with a smile, "when
Lord Evelyn--ah, you do not know him yet, mother; but he is as gentle as
a woman--when he is their friend; and when Mr. Brand is full of
admiration for what they are doing; and when Calabressa--Now, mother, is
Calabressa likely to harm any one? And it was Calabressa himself who
said to me, 'Little daughter, if ever you are in great trouble, go to
Naples. You will find friends there.' No, mother, it is no use your
trying to frighten me. No; let us talk about something sensible; for
example, which way is the wind?"

"How can I tell, Natalus