Stooping down, I did not hear the commencement of the conversation. When my attention was attracted, Mrs. Newsham was concluding a sentence with these words: "If ever you leave Crown Anstey."
I saw Coralie d'Aubergne look up at her with a quiet smile.
"I shall never leave Crown Anstey," she said, "under any possible circumstances."
Mrs. Newsham laughed.
"You may be married, or Lady Trevelyan may not like the place and wish it closed—a thousand things may happen to prevent you remaining here always."
But I saw Coralie d'Aubergne shake her head, while she replied, calmly:
"No, Mrs. Newsham, I shall never leave Crown Anstey."
I cannot tell how the words impressed me. I found myself repeating them over and over again—"I shall never leave Crown Anstey."
Yet she must have known that when my young wife came home, Crown Anstey would be no place for her.
Was there any meaning in the words she repeated so often, or did she say them merely with an idea of comforting herself?