"Yes; but not the precise hour of his debut. That I shall teach him to-day. He will be well up in his lesson by this evening, you may depend."
"Ah, then we shall finish the work to-night!"
"We shall finish it to-night."
"But Mrs. MacDonald—will she not be in the way?"
"No; as I shall arrange matters, she will be of the greatest use and help to us, without knowing it. First, as a most respectable chaperon for you, and, secondly, as a most indubitable witness of the fall of Lady Vincent."
"Good! good! I see! To-night, then, she shall be cast down from her proud pedestal. And to-morrow—"
"To-morrow she shall be dismissed from the castle."
"But then I shall have to go, too. I could not stay—the world would talk."
"No, Faustina, you shall not go. I shall go and leave you here, and invite Mrs. MacDonald to remain and bear you company until—until I shall be free, my angel, to return and make you my wife."
She clapped her hands with great glee and eagerly demanded: