"But if you will think of it, I'm sure you'll find it is the proper thing to do. There is nothing to be avoided so much as an open quarrel, that all the servants can see."
"I must say, Miss Aylmer, that I disregard the servants. After what passed down-stairs, of course I have had to consider what I should do. Will you tell your mother that I will stay here, if she will permit it?"
"Of course. She will be delighted."
"I will remain, if she will permit it, till the morning after Captain Aylmer's arrival. Then I shall go."
"Where to, Miss Amedroz?"
"I have already written to a friend, asking her to receive me."
Miss Aylmer paused a moment before she asked her next question;—but she did ask it, showing by her tone and manner that she had been driven to summon up all her courage to enable her to do so. "To what friend, Miss Amedroz? Mamma will be glad to know."
"That is a question which Lady Aylmer can have no right to ask," said Clara.
"Oh;—very well. Of course, if you don't like to tell, there's no more to be said."
"I do not like to tell, Miss Aylmer."