"Very well. See, she is coming this way," said Elsie. "Is she not pretty?
Have you ever seen her before?"

"Seen her before? How could I have seen her before?"

He told the untruth unblushingly; it was by no means his first.

Mademoiselle Laurentia was close to them now, and Elsie said, in her
clear, distinct tones:

"Let me introduce Mr. McAllister to you, mademoiselle. You are
compatriots."

Just then Lady Severn called Elsie, and Marie Gourdon and Noël McAllister
were left alone for a moment. She was the first to break the awkward
silence, as she said in her quiet voice, without the faintest shade of
embarrassment in it:

"How do you like this country, Mr. McAllister?"

"How do I like this country? Is that all you have to say to me after
these years?"

"What else can I have to say to you? Is not this a fine old garden? How
brightly the moon shines!"

"Marie Gourdon, do not speak to me in that calm, aggravating way.
Reproach me! Anything but this. I cannot bear your indifference."

"Reproach you? For what? Do you mean for leaving me? If so, that is an