"Going to——Well, upon my word! Lesley, I did think you had a little more feeling for your father! Going——Well, I shall not countenance it. I shall not let your boxes go out of the house. It is simply disgraceful."
"But I don't want my boxes," said Lesley, rather forlornly helping herself to a cup of coffee. "What have my boxes to do with it, Aunt Sophy? I shall be back in an hour. Mr. Kenyon said we should be able to see father to-day, and I do not want to be away when he comes."
"Then—then you don't mean to stay with your mamma?" gasped Aunt Sophy.
Lesley could not help a little laugh, but the tears came into her brown eyes as she laughed. "Would you mind very much if I did, Aunt Sophy?" she asked, setting down her cup of coffee.
"I should mind for this reason," said Miss Brooke, stoutly, "that if you ran away from your father's house now, people would say that you thought him guilty. It would go against him terribly. Sooner than that, I would lock you into your own room and prevent your going by main force."
"I believe you would," said Lesley, "and so would I, in your place, Aunt Sophy. But you need not be afraid. I am as proud of my father and as full of faith in him as even you can be; and if I go to see my mother, it is only that I may tell her so, and let her understand that she has no cause to be afraid for
him." The color came to her face as she spoke, and she lifted her head so proudly that Aunt Sophy felt—for a moment or two—slightly abashed.
"I will be back in an hour," Lesley went on, firmly, "and I hope that Mr. Kenyon will wait for me if he comes before I return."
"Am I to tell him where you have gone?" asked Miss Brooke, with a slight touch of sharpness in her voice.
And Lesley replied, "Certainly. And my father, too, if you see him before I do. I am not doing anything wrong."