r. At the same time, if anyone has the right to provide for the
child, why do they not come forward and claim her?"

At that moment Isobel came in. I took up the letter and placed it in her
hand.

"Isobel," I said, "we want you to read this."

She read it, and handed it back to me without a word. We were all
watching her eagerly. She looked at me appealingly.

"Is it necessary," she asked, "for me to accept this money?"

"Tell us," I said, "exactly how you feel."

"I think," she said, "that if there is anyone from whom I have the right
to accept all this money, I ought to know who they are. I do not want to
be a burden upon anyone," she added hesitatingly, "but I would rather
work every moment of the day--oh, I think that I would rather starve
than touch this money, unless I know who it is that offers it."

I laughed as I tore the letter in half.

"Dear child," I said, resting my hand upon her shoulder, "that is what
we all hoped that you would say!"

CHAPTER XII

Lady Delahaye sank down upon the couch against which I had been
standing.

"Poor, bored man!" she exclaimed, with mock sympathy. "I ought to have
asked some entertaining people, oughtn't I? There isn't a soul here for
you to talk to!"

"On the contrary," I answered, "there are a good many more people here
than I expected to see. I understood that you were to be alone."

"And you probably think that I ought to be," she remarked. "Well, I
never was conventional. You know that. I shut myself up for a month. Now
I expect my friends to come and console me."

"It is not likely," I said, "that you will be disappointed."

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Perhaps not. Those whom I do not want will come, of course. As for the
others--well!"

She looked up at me. I sat down by her side.

"Ah! That is nice of you," she said softly. "I wanted to have a quiet
talk. Tell me why you are looking so glum."

"I was not conscious of it," I answered. "To tell you the truth, I was
wondering whether Isobel were not a little young to bring to a gathering
of this description."

"My dear Arnold," she murmured, "there are only one or two of my
particular friends here. The rest dropped in by accident. Isobel does
not seem to me to be particularly out of place, and she is certainly
enjoying herself."

The echoes of her light laugh reached us just then. Several men were
standing over her chair. She was the centre of what seemed to be a very
amusing conversa