"But what, then, is the matter, my dear?" cried Madame Permon; "such red
eyes mean much crying."

Eliza was silent.

"Come, Eliza!" Napoleon demanded with an elder brother's authority;
"speak! answer Madame here What is the matter?"

But even to her brother, Eliza made no reply.

[Illustration: _"'Come, Eliza! What is the matter?' demanded
Napoleon."_]

Then Madame Permon, as tenderly as if she had been the girl's mother,
led her aside; and finding a remote seat in a corner, she drew the child
into her lap.

"Eliza," she said with gracious kindliness, "I must know why you are in
sorrow. Think of me as your mother, dear; as one who must act in her
place until you return to her. Speak to me as to your mother. Let me
have your love and confidence. Tell me, my child, what troubles you."

The tender solicitude of her mother's friend quite vanquished Eliza's
stubbornness. Her tears burst out afresh; and between the sobs she
stammered,--

"You know, Madame, that Lucie de Montluc leaves the school in eight
days."

"I did not know it, Eliza," Madame Permon said, keeping back a smile;