se," she said coldly. "I do not wish to
detain you."

Nevertheless, her farewell look haunted me as I sped across the great
fertile plain on my way to Paris.

CHAPTER XI

Mabane laid down his brush, Arthur sprang from his seat upon the table
and greeted me with a shout. Isobel said nothing, but her dark blue eyes
were fastened upon my face as though seeking to read her fate there.
They had evidently been waiting for my coming. I remember thinking it
strange, even then, that these other two men should apparently share to
the fullest degree my own interest in the child's fate.

"I have failed," I announced shortly.

I took Isobel's hand. It was cold as ice, and I could feel that she was
trembling violently.

"Madame Richard would tell me nothing, Isobel," I said. "I believe that
she knows all about you, and I believe that Lady Delahaye does too. But
they will tell me nothing."

"And?" she demanded, with quivering lips. "And?"

"It is for you to decide," I said gravely. "Lady Delahaye wants you, so
does Madame Richard. On the other hand, if you like to stay with us
until someone proves their right to take you away, you will be very
welcome, Isobel! Stop one moment," I added hastily, for I saw the quick
colour stream into her cheeks, and the impetuous words already trembling
upon her lips, "I want you to remember this: Madame Richard makes no
secret of her own wishes as regards your future. She desires you to take
the veil. You have lived at the convent, so I presume you are able to
judge for yourself as regards that. Lady Delahaye, on the other hand, is
a rich woman, and she professes to be your friend. Your life with her,
if she chose to make it so, would be an easy and a pleasant one. We, as
you know, are poor. We have very little indeed to offer you. We live
what most people call a shiftless life. We have money one day, and none
the next. Our surroundings and our associations are not in the least
like what a child of your age should become accustomed to. Nine people
out of ten would probably pronounce us utterly unsuitable guardians for
you. It is only right that you should understand these things."

She looked at me with tear-bedimmed eyes.

"I want to stay with you," she pleaded. "Don't send me away--oh, don't!
I hate the convent, and I am afraid of Lady Delahaye. I will do
everything I can not to be a nuisance to you. I am not afraid to work,
or to help Mrs. Burdett. Only let me stay."

I smiled