“Very well,” she said gravely; “so be it.”
“All right, that’s settled, Cara,” and he gripped her hand with a gesture of possession. “Give me a kiss on the bargain!”
She glanced round apprehensively—they were alone in the lounge, then offered her square jaw, to his lips.
“By Jove, I’m glad to have you, my girl!” he said with hearty satisfaction. “When a man is getting on a bit, he feels the want of someone about him—someone belonging to him—and that he—er—can be proud of.”
As Cara and her father stood side by side, the five o’clock boat moved slowly from her moorings, and came out into the lake, exactly opposite to where they were stationed.
“It’s the Stadthof. There goes mother!” said Cara with a slight catch in her breath, “wondering what has become of me; that is her I am sure—the figure at the end. She expects to see me tearing along the Quai. Don’t you see the lady with the blue sunshade—looking back?”
“No, my sight is not as young as yours,” he answered gruffly. “She may look and look, but you have done with her, you know, and have, what is called, burned your boats! Now, come along with me, and I’ll buy you a little souvenir of the occasion!”
The souvenir, took the form of a superb diamond ring, which Cara placed with ecstasy upon her third finger. The purchase had been speedy—since Blagdon, a moneyed man, always knew exactly what he wanted—and as they emerged to the water-side, Cara gazed nervously down the lake. Yes, the steamer, bearing her mother out of her life, was still in sight. Her eyes, as she watched it rounding the promontory, were blinded with tears; when she had brushed these away, she looked once more, but the Stadthof and her pretty Mum, had disappeared, as far as she was concerned, for ever.
Having accomplished her errands and visits, Letty arrived punctually at the Bahnhof Pier, and looked eagerly around for Cara and her parcels; but no Cara appeared—she was not even in sight as the boat cast off. Letty and her daughter were dining that evening with Mrs. Hesketh, and at the Paradis she anxiously awaited her. Cara had missed a boat on several occasions, and come by the next; and now every time the great revolving door swung, she expected to see her enter. Time went on, dinner was over, the nine o’clock steamer had passed by, brilliantly illuminated.