"Just as you like, child," he replied, a little carelessly.
She clung to his arm. She seemed unwilling to let him go.
"Dear co-guardian," she murmured, "to-night I felt for a little time so happy, as though all the good things in life were close at hand. Then I watched you come up, and your step seemed so heavy, and you stooped as though you had a load on your shoulders."
He patted her hand.
"Little girl," he advised, "run away in and take care of your throat. Remember that everything depends upon the next few hours. As for me, perhaps I am getting a little old."
"Oh, la, la!" she laughed. "That's what Sidney says when I tease him. I know I am only the mouse, but I could gnaw through very strong cords. Look!"
Her teeth gleamed white in the moonlight. He swung open the gate.
"Sing your way into the hearts of all these strange people," he bade her, smiling. "Sing the envy and malice away from them. Sing so that they believe that England, after all, is the one desirable country."
"But I am going to sing in French," she pouted.
"Your name," he reminded her, "that is English. 'The little English prima donna,' that is what they will be calling you."