‘I will speak to Madeline to-night,’ he said to himself, and hear her views. Something must be done to make her contented.’
Meanwhile Madeline, left with Miss Forster, walked about the room in new restlessness. She looked out of the window; it was a damp, dark day; she looked at her watch, it was past ten o’clock. In an hour she had promised to meet the man, and by this time she had settled in her mind that she must go.
What he could want with her she could not tell, and she had not paused to inquire. That he meant her no good she knew, but it was useless to anticipate the evil, till she knew its nature.
She went upstairs with a heavy heart, and returned, greatly to Miss Forster’s surprise, in walking costume.
The little boy, confident of his reception, came bounding in and clung affectionately to her skirts. She kissed him fondly, but told him he could not go with her that morning.
‘Not at all? May I not go a little way, mamma?’
‘Not even a little way, darling; I must go alone to-day.’
There was such a strange ring in her voice that Miss Forster looked up in some amazement, while the child clung closer to Madeline, and ardently kissed the cold, pale cheek.
‘Mamma is going to see a doctor,’ he said; ‘is it not so, mamma?’
“No, dear.’