Silence fell between them for a moment, and then Olive Girard spoke.
"Won't you ask me to be seated, and hear what I wish to say, Miss Weir?"
She hesitated over the name, and Madeline, perceiving it, said:
"You think Weir is not my name?"
"Frankly, I do," smiled Mrs. Girard; "but just now the name matters little. Pardon me, but I am more interested in your face than your name. I came here because it seemed my duty, and to oblige a friend; now I wish to serve you for your own sake, to be your friend, if you will let me."
Still Madeline's brain kept thinking, thinking; and she put her questions rather as commentaries on her own thoughts than as her share in a conversation.
"Why did Mr. Vaughan send you to me?"
They had seated themselves, at a sign from Madeline, and Mrs. Girard drew her chair nearer to the girl as she answered:
"Because he feared for you."
"Because he feared for me!" Madeline's face flushed hotly; "feared what?"