But now, in her fear of Prince Gonzaga, she determined to run the risk of the boy’s apparel, and very soon Widow Karrick’s costume lay upon the floor, and a youth with curly black hair, a mustache, and cane, stood before the mirror, topping off the checked suit with a very English-looking hat.
Peering from the window, she saw that the friendly mask of night was beginning to fall, and she flitted down the stairs to the street, stepping out with a bold stride that belied the frightened throbbing of her heart.
If the man was still watching, he was deceived by the youthful, boyish figure, and paid no heed to it, so Fair walked very fast until she believed herself safe, then took a taxicab, in which she accomplished the remainder of her journey to the address which Mrs. Jones had given Bayard Lorraine as the home of Sadie Allen, or Mrs. Osborne, as she was now.
She felt a little nervous over the thought of Sadie’s husband, who had once been her own admirer, and who might very likely not feel very kindly disposed toward the girl who had snubbed him so cruelly.
“I must rely on Sadie to make my peace with him,” she thought, as she went up the steps of the house where Waverley Osborne had rented several rooms over a small grocery store.
The grocer had told her where to go, and added that Mrs. Osborne was in, but her husband had just gone out to a workingmen’s meeting.
“So much the better. I shall have dear Sadie all to myself at first,” thought Fair.
She rapped loudly on the door of Sadie’s sitting room, and in a minute more it was opened by her friend in person.
“I wish to see Mrs. Osborne, madam. I have a message for her from a lady,” said Fair, and Sadie invited her into the neat sitting room, where her little boy was toddling about the floor with a pet kitten in his arms.
“Take a seat, sir,” Sadie began politely, then stopped and stared.