oment he lost his self control; he
kissed her as he had never kissed her yet.

Then, he remembered; he recovered himself; he put her gently away
from him, and led her to the door of her room, and closed it on her in
silence. For a little while, he waited alone. The interval over, he rang
for Toff.

"Do you think your wife would take Miss Sally as an apprentice?" he
asked.

Toff looked astonished. "Whatever you wish, sir, my wife will do. Her
knowledge of the art of dressmaking is--" Words failed him to express
his wife's immense capacity as a dressmaker. He kissed his hand in
mute enthusiasm, and blew the kiss in the direction of Madame Toff's
establishment. "However," he proceeded, "I ought to tell you one thing,
sir; the business is small, small, very small. But we are all in the
hands of Providence--the business will improve, one day." He lifted his
shoulders and lifted his eyebrows, and looked perfectly satisfied with
his wife's prospects.

"I will go and speak to Madame Toff myself, tomorrow morning," Amelius
resumed. "It's quite possible that I may be obliged to leave London for
a little while--and I must provide in some way for Miss Sally. Don't
say a word about it to her yet, Toff, and don't look miserable. If I go
away, I shall take you with me. Good night."

Toff, with his handkerchief halfway to his eyes, recovered his native
cheerfulness. "I am invariably sick at sea, sir," he said; "but, no
matter, I will attend you to the uttermost ends of the earth."

So honest Amelius planned his way of escape from the critical position
in which he found himself. He went to his bed, troubled by anxieties
which kept him waking for many weary hours. Where was he to go to, when
he left Sally? If he could have known what had happened, on that very
day, on the other side of the Channel, he might have decided (in spite
of the obstacle of Mr. Farnaby) on surprising Regina by a visit to
Paris.

CHAPTER 7

On the morning when Amelius and Sally (in London) entered the church to
look at the wedding. Rufus (in Paris) went to the Champs Elysees to take
a walk.

He had advanced half-way up the magnificent avenue, when he saw Regina
for the second time, taking her daily drive, with an elderly woman in
attendance on her. Rufus took off his hat again, perfectly impenetrable
to the cold reception which he had already experienced. Greatly to his
surprise, Regina not only returned his salute, but stopped the carriage
and be