Mrs. Lester was a little surprised at the companion her husband had brought home to breakfast with him.
"Who is it?" she whispered.
"That I don't know,—I shall have to find out," he answered, a little nervously.
"Where is her bonnet?" asked Mrs. Lester; this was the first absence of conventionality she had noticed.
"You had better ask her," answered the Doctor.
But Mrs. Lester preferred leaving her guest in the parlor while she questioned her husband. She was somewhat disturbed when she found he had nothing more satisfactory to tell her.
"An insane girl! and what shall we do with her?" she asked.
"After breakfast I will make some inquiries about her," answered the
Doctor.
"And leave her alone with us? that will never do! You must take her away directly,—at least to the Insane Asylum,—somewhere! What if she should grow wild while you were gone? She might kill us all! I will go in and tell her that she cannot stay here."
On returning to the parlor, she found Isabella looking dreamily out of the window. As Mrs. Lester approached, she turned.