Rotha was silent, thinking a great deal more than she chose to put into words.
CHAPTER XXXII.
END OF SCHOOL TERM.
That same evening, just when Mrs. Mowbray was set free from a lesson hour, and the library was left to her sole occupation, a gentleman and lady were announced. The next minute Rotha was in her arms. Whatever she felt, the girl's demeanour was very quiet; her reception, on the other hand, was little short of ecstatic. Then Mrs. Mowbray gave a gracious, if somewhat distant, greeting to Rotha's companion; and then looked, with an air of mystified expectancy, to see what was coming next.
"I have brought Miss Carpenter back to you, Mrs. Mowbray," Mr. Southwode began.
"Where did you find her?"
"I found her at Tanfield."
"Tanfield!"—Mrs. Mowbray looked more and more puzzled.
"And now, I am going to ask you to take care of her, till next June."
"Till next June—" Mrs. Mowbray repeated.