rooms being providentially empty, he steps into them, and, having
turned up the gas, drops into a chair and gives way to mirth.

Meantime the professor is staring at Perpetua.

"What has happened?" says he.



CHAPTER VII.



"Take it to thy breast;
Though thorns its stem invest,
Gather them, with the rest!"



"She is unbearable. _Unbearable!"_ returns Perpetua vehemently.
"When I came back from the concert to-night, she---- But I won't
speak of her. I _won't._ And, at all events, I have done with her; I
have left her. I have come"--with decision--"to stay with you!"

"Eh?" says the professor. It is a mere sound, but it expresses a
great deal.

"To stay with you. Yes," nodding her head, "it has come to that at
last. I warned you it _would._ I couldn't stay with her any longer.
I hate her! So I have come to stay with you--_for ever!"_