Page:Hornung - Irralies Bushranger.djvu/100

 dear Irralie; yet what can you do in here? We shall be just outside the door."

"I will slip round to the nursery, and from there to the school-room," said Irralie, rising. "Then after you have gone, I shall come straight to bed. Mother, you are good to me! You understand! I was with him. What will people think? It makes me ache with shame. But you are good!"

She flung her arms about her mother's neck, and kissed her fondly, but without a tear. Then she was gone. And Mrs. Villiers returned in trouble to the crowded room.

A sudden hush preceded her entry, with which, however, it had nothing to do; the Englishman had seated himself on the music-stool vacated by the hireling from Hay, and was running his ringed fingers over the keys. A corrugated forehead was the result, followed, however, a moment after, by a performance which, while it lasted, held the listeners spellbound. The style was that