'If Madlle. Berge has left, there is no reason why I should not
return.'

M. Daveau did not answer; he smiled satirically and bade her good-bye.
Mildred hated him more than ever, but when a subscription was started
by the pupils to present him with a testimonial she did not neglect to
subscribe. The presentation took place in the studio. 'I think this is
an occasion to forget our differences,' he said, when he had finished
his speech. 'If you wish to return you'll find my studio open to you.'
And to show that he wished to let bygones be bygones, he often came
and helped her with her drawing; he seemed to take an interest in her;
and she tried to lead him on. But one day she discovered that she
could not deceive him, and again she began to hate him; but
remembering the price of her past indiscretions she refrained, and the
matter was forgotten in another of more importance. Miss Brand
suddenly fell out of health and was obliged to return to England.

Then the little flat became too expensive for Mildred; she let it, and
went to live in a boarding-house on the other side of the water, where
Cissy was staying. But, at the end of the first quarter, Mildred
thought the neighbourhood did not suit her, and she went to live near
St. Augustine. She remained there till the autumn, till Elsie came
over, and then she went to Elsie's boarding-house. Elsie returned to
England in the spring, and Mildred wandered from boarding-house to
boarding-house. She took a studio and spent a good deal of money on
models, frames, and costumes. But nothing she did satisfied her, and,
after various failures, she returned to Daveau's, convinced that she
must improve her drawing. She was, moreover, determined to put her
talent to the test of severe study. She got to the studio every