Tony looked at her approvingly. "You are extraordinarily practical," he said, "for the daughter of an exiled monarch."
"There was nothing else to do," replied Isabel; "but it wasn't easy. You see I had no money and Uncle never let me go out alone. Wherever I went I always had Suzanne the old Frenchwoman with me. The only person I could think of who might be able to help me was Miss Watson. When she left she had given me her address in London, and I knew she would do anything she could because she hated Uncle Philip almost as much as I did. I wrote her a little note and carried it about with me in my dress for days, but I never got a chance to post it. Well, things went on like that till last Monday. I was feeling hateful, because Pedro had been to dinner the night before, and I think he'd had too much to drink. Anyhow he had wanted to kiss me afterwards, and there had been a frightful row, and everyone had been perfectly horrid to me. In the morning Uncle started again. He told me that he and the Marquis da Freitas had decided to put a stop to what he called my 'nonsense,' and that they were making arrangements for me and Pedro to be married immediately. I felt miserable, but I wasn't going to argue any more about it, so I just said nothing. He went over there about half-past six in the evening and I was left alone in the house with Suzanne. They wouldn't trust me to be by myself at all, except at night, when I was always locked in my bedroom."
She stopped to push back a rebellious copper-coloured curl which had temporarily escaped over her forehead.
"We were sitting in the drawing-room," she went on, "and Suzanne was knitting, and I was supposed to be reading a book. I wasn't really, because I was too miserable to think about anything. I was just sitting doing nothing when I happened to look up, and there I saw half-a-crown on the writing-desk opposite. I suppose it must have been Suzanne's. Well, I looked at it for a moment, and then all of a sudden I made up my mind. I got up out of the chair, and walked across the room as if I was going to get something fresh to read. As I passed the desk I picked up the half-crown. I had a horrible feeling in my back that Suzanne was watching me, but I didn't look round till I got to the book-case, and then I saw that she was still knitting away quite peacefully and happily. I didn't wait any longer. I just walked straight on to the door, and before she knew what was happening, I had slipped out on to the landing and locked her in."
"Splendid!" said Tony with enthusiasm. "I can almost hear her gnashing her teeth."
"She was rather angry," admitted Isabel, "but I didn't pay any attention to her. I knew that no one could hear, so I left her to shout and kick the door and ran straight up to my room. I was too excited to bother much about what I took with me. I just stuffed a few things in my bag, and then I crept downstairs again, and got out of the house as quick as ever I could."
"Did you feel afraid?" asked Tony.
"Not till I got to the station. Then I found I had ten minutes to wait for a train and that was awful. I kept on thinking Uncle Philip would turn up every moment. I stopped in the ladies' waiting-room as long as I could, and then I made a dash for the platform and jumped into the first carriage I came to. It was full of old women, and they all stared at me as if I was mad. I felt horribly red and uncomfortable, but I wasn't going to get out again, so I just squeezed into a seat and shut my eyes and let them stare."
"You mustn't blame them," said Tony. "It's the special privilege of cats to scrutinize Royalty."
"Oh, I didn't mind really. I am sort of accustomed to it. People used to stare at me in France when I went in a train. I expect it's my red hair." She paused. "All the same I was glad when we got to Waterloo. I was so excited I could hardly breathe till I was past the barrier, and then I nearly collapsed. I know now just how an animal feels when he gets out of a trap." She turned to Tony. "You don't think I'm an awful coward, do you?"