"Why, you don't suppose I'm going back without you, do you?"
CHAPTER XXII
Anne Thorpe remained in Europe for a year, returning to New York shortly before the breaking out of the Great War. She went to the Ritz, where she took an apartment. A day or two after her arrival in the city, she sent for Wade.
"Wade," she said, as the old valet stood smirking before her in the little sitting-room, "I have decided not to re-open the house. I shall never re-open it. I do not intend to live there."
The man turned a sickly green. His voice shook a little. "Are—are you going to close it—for good,—madam?"
"I sent for you this morning to inquire if you are willing to continue living there as caretaker until—"
"You may depend on me, Mrs. Thorpe, to—" he broke in eagerly.
"—until I make up my mind what to do with the property," she concluded.