"Oh yes, always. Mademoiselle has lovely dresses. She is pretty, but the
Comtesse is such an ugly old lady; like Red Riding Hood's grandmother, I
think. I'm afraid of her. Jane says _her_ Madame and Monsieur don't
believe she's really a Comtesse. I had to knock at her door with a
letter from Angel to-day, for Angel doesn't know I'm afraid. I couldn't
help being glad Madame wouldn't let me in, for it seemed as if she might
eat me up. I knocked and knocked, and when I was going away, I saw
Mademoiselle coming in, in a pink dress with a rosy hat."

"I think she'll pay your mother back to-morrow," said Hugh, remembering
the fatness of the pink bag.

"She didn't say she would. She was so cross with me that she called me a
_petit bête_, and snatched the letter out of my hand."

At this, Hugh's face grew suddenly hot and red, and he muttered
something under his breath. But it was not a word which Rosemary would
have understood, even if she had heard.




[Illustration: CHAPTER SEVEN]

THE WHITE FIGURE AT THE DOOR


[Illustration: R]