Eliza sighed.
“Well, if the worst comes to the worst, I can take a humble place where you can keep house and do needlework to help, while I go out as daily governess.”
“You! A daily governess?”
“Well,” said the girl, proudly, “I can play—brilliantly, they say—I know three languages, and—”
“You have a hundred and fifty thousand pounds in your own right.”
“What are a hundred and fifty thousand pounds to a miserable prisoner who is being persecuted? Liberty is worth millions, and come what may, I will be free.”
“Yes, you shall be free, darling; but you must do nothing rash. To-day has taught me that my dear girl is a woman of firmness and spirit; and, please God, all will come right in the end. There, this is enough. You are fluttered and feverish now, and delicate as you are, you require rest. It is getting late. Let me help you to undress for a good long night’s rest. Sleep on it all, my child; out of the evil good will come, and you have shown them that they have not a baby to deal with, but a true woman, so matters are not so bad as they seem. Come, my little one.”
“I must and will leave here, nurse,” said Kate, firmly.
“Sleep on it, my child, and remember that after all you have won the day. Come, let me help you.”
“No, Liza, go now. I must sit for a while and think.”