Page:The Tsar's Window.djvu/181

 "But you have only been in Europe four years!"

"Very true. I met Roger the week after I arrived in Paris, at the house of a lady who was extremely kind to me. I believe you know her. It was Mrs. Emmons. I used to dine with her often, and he was generally there, and we had plenty of other mutual friends in the American colony. Roger was studying in the hospitals. He went to Vienna ten months after I entered the school there, and in that city we could not have met often, except that I used to go to riding-school with one of the teachers, who was absorbed in the study of Italian. She had a chance to go to Italy with a family in the vacation, and as they supposed her to be proficient in the language, it behooved her to study diligently. She used to take her books with her, and she never noticed me from the time we got there till we left. Roger always met me, and in that way we saw each other regularly twice a week. It was great fun!" Judith looked at me with a broad smile.

"I should think so," I responded. "What an excellent plan it is to send girls abroad to school!"

"I knew Mr. Tremaine would never consent," she went on, after a while. "I told Roger it was of no use to write; but he said there should be no deceit about the affair, if he could prevent it, and—"

"Yes," I interrupted, "it seems to have been a very open and straightforward performance,—especially the meetings at the riding-school."

"Now, Dorris," she said coaxingly, "don't be unkind about it!"