"Who is that girl?" asked Sandow, who had waited for his brother.
"A certain Miss Palm," said he lightly, "an acquaintance of Miss Clifford's."
"And to whom you act as cavalier."
"Not at all; my service is paid to Miss Clifford. At her wish, I fetched the young lady, in whom she is much interested, from the station, and brought her here. You know I left the office earlier than usual."
"Ah, indeed! Are you already on such good terms with Jessie that she entrusts you with such commissions?" said Sandow, much gratified to find his brother had made such decided progress, while they re-ascended the stairs and walked along the corridor together.
As they entered the drawing-room, Gustave took the thing promptly in hand.
"My brother has already seen your protégée, Miss Clifford," he began. "We met him in the hall."
"Who is this new acquaintance, Jessie?" asked Sandow, with an interest not usual to him. "I have heard nothing about her."
Jessie felt now, when the moment for the first equivocation had arrived, the whole weight of the responsibility she had undertaken; however, she had gone too far to be able to draw back. She returned hesitatingly,
"She is a young German, who has been strongly recommended to me from New York. She has come here to look for a situation as companion, and I thought--I wished"--