"Leave me to-morrow! Why, where are you going?"
"I must not tell you—I hardly know myself yet. But it must be somewhere where no one I have met lately will ever find me. I have to begin life all over again."
"But, my child, what does all this mean? first, I am astonished by hearing of your engagement with Mr. Armstrong, knowing, as I did, that you were not free to marry; next, you refuse to see the poor young man, and worry him until he is nearly mad by your sudden and capricious coldness; and, finally, you walk in here, with red eyes and white cheeks, and tell me you are going to the other end of the world to-morrow. What can it all mean?"
"I cannot tell you. It has all been a terrible mistake. But, if you believe in me and care for me at all, dear—dear Mrs. Vandeleur, put no obstacle in the way of my going, and never let Lorin or any one know where I have taken refuge. Don't ask me to tell even you, but let me pass out of all your lives within the next few hours, and try to always think the best you can of me."
Just for one instant the thought flashed through Mrs. Vandeleur's brain that perhaps, after all, Clare's suspicions might not be altogether without foundation. Laline's mental attitude seemed hardly consistent with perfect innocence. But she loyally hated to entertain the doubt, and held out her little hands impulsively towards her protégée.
"Come here, my poor, dear, pale child!" she cried. "Put your head in my lap—so—and let me charm away your headache with my fingers. No—don't cry any more! These love-affairs are infinitely wearing, I know. There; let me touch your eyelids and charm away your tears! Is that better?"
"Much better!"
Laline spoke drowsily. She had flown to her friend, deeply moved by her sudden display of tenderness and sympathy, and had unsuspectingly knelt at her feet, weeping tears of gratitude. Yielding herself thus readily to the magic of Mrs. Vandeleur's touch, she became, in her unnerved and broken condition of mind, the most susceptible subject possible to hypnotic influence.
Even while she still spoke her eyes became fixed and vacant in their gaze. Still the little lady's fingers swept in slow caressing touches about her brow and eyelids. A deep sigh quivered through the girl's parted lips, and her head fell heavily forward on Mrs. Vandeleur's knees.
"Clare! Quick! Help me to lay her in this chair. Move away and let me place my hand on her brow—so!"