"Read that letter," said her mother faintly, "and tell me what it means. I—I cannot make it out somehow."
Salome hastily read the letter. Its contents did not surprise her as they had surprised her mother. But she did not speak directly she had grasped its meaning. She shrank from dealing the blow that yet could not be averted, and vainly sought for words that might soften it.
"Why do you not speak?" cried her mother. "Oh, Salome, tell me—where is Juliet?"
"Mother dear," said Salome, speaking with the utmost gentleness, "I fear Juliet has done what is very, very wrong. Mrs. Hayes has just told me that she met her at Dover with a man whom she believes was Flossie Chalcombe's brother. I am afraid, I am very much afraid, that they have run away together."
"Salome!" exclaimed Mrs. Tracy, her tone sharp with indignation. "How can you say it of your sister? Juliet would never do such a thing. Mrs. Hayes ought to be ashamed of herself for suggesting it. It is wrong—it is wicked of her! But she never understood Juliet."
"Alas, mother!" said Salome, too sorrowful to resent her mother's anger. "It does not depend on Mrs. Hayes' word alone. This letter says that the Felgates' servant saw her at Dover. And it is but too plain that Juliet deceived us when she professed to be going to the Felgates'."
Mrs. Tracy uttered a cry of despair, and sank back fainting.
[CHAPTER XVIII]
ALONE IN PARIS
JULIET shrank back in the cab, overwhelmed with horror at the position in which she found herself. That she should be left to take care of herself in a foreign city, with the life and manners of which she had absolutely no acquaintance, seemed an appalling experience to the girl who had been tenderly cared for all her days. It was just this having to fend for herself that she had most dreaded in looking forward to studying music abroad, and which had led her to accept so readily the loving protection which Algernon Chalcombe offered her.