"Unkind? Why, we won't be any thing to him at all."
"And am I never to—to—see him again?"
"No!" said her sister, firmly.
Minnie started, and looked at Mrs. Willoughby, and saw in her face a fixed resolution.
"No, never!" repeated Mrs. Willoughby. "I am going to take you back to England. I'm afraid to take any railroad or steamboat. I'll hire a carriage, and we'll all go in a quiet way to Florence. Then we can take the railroad to Leghorn, and go home by the way of Marseilles. No one will know that we've gone away. They'll think we have gone on an excursion. Now we'll go out driving this morning, and this afternoon we must keep the outer door locked, and not let any one in. I suppose there is no danger of meeting him in the morning. He must be on duty then."
"But mayn't I see him at all before we go?"
"No!"
"Just once—only once?"
"No, not once. You've seen that horrid man for the last time."
Minnie again looked at her sister, and again read her resolution in her face. She turned away, her head dropped, a sob escaped from her, and then she burst into tears.