“Thank you!” and she laughed a little, bending her head towards Madame Dimitrius. “Do you hear that, dear lady? Think of it! What good times there are in store for me! If I can only ‘feel’ that they are good!—or even bad!—it would be quite a sensation!” And she flashed a bright look at Dimitrius as he stood watching her almost morosely. “Well!” she said, addressing him, “after the twenty-fourth of June, if I live, and if you permit it, I want to go back to England. Can that be arranged?”
“Assuredly! I will find you a chaperone——”
“A chaperone!” Her eyes opened widely in surprise and amusement. “Oh, no! I’m quite old enough to travel alone!”
“That will not be apparent to the world”—And he smiled again in his dark, reluctant way—“But—we shall see. In any case, if you wish to go to England, you shall be properly escorted.”
“And if you go, will you not come back to us?” asked Madame Dimitrius, rather wistfully. “I do not want to part with you altogether!”
“You shall not, dear Madame! I will come back.” And she gently kissed the hand she held. “Even Professor Chauvet may want to see me again!”
Dimitrius gave her a sharp glance.
“That old man is fond of you?” he said, tentatively.
“Of course he is!” And she laughed again. “Who would not be fond of me! Excellent Dr. Dimitrius! Few men are so impervious to woman as yourself!”
“You think me impervious?”