Page:What Maisie Knew (Chicago & New York, Herbert S. Stone & Co., 1897).djvu/346

332 Sir Claude looked at the moony globe of the lamp; he seemed to see for an instant what seeing Mrs. Beale would consist of. It was also apparently from this vision that he drew strength to return: "Her situation, by what has happened, is completely changed; and it 's no use your trying to prove to me that I need n't take any account of that."

"If you see that woman you 're lost!" Mrs. Wix, with greater force, repeated.

"Do you think she 'll not let me come back to you? My dear lady, I leave you here, you and Maisie, as an hostage to fortune, and I promise you by all that 's sacred that I shall be with you again, at the very latest, on Saturday. I provide you with funds; I install you in these lovely rooms; I arrange with the people here that you be treated with every attention and supplied with every luxury. The weather, after this, will mend; it will be sure to be exquisite. You 'll both be as free as air, and you can roam all over the place and have tremendous larks. You shall have a carriage to drive you; the whole house shall be at your call. You 'll have, in a word, a magnificent position." He paused, he looked from one of his companions to the other as if to see the