“Little ghost! You come and go like a dream. How did you get here at this time?”
“Taggert, he helped me. No one else knows but my maid.”
“Good old Tag! But now I must hurry, dear, to help fight for you.”
“Take me with you, Ro-bert.”
“Not now, sweetheart. Stay here in safety till I return, and then you shall go back home with me if you wish,”
“And be with you always, my Robert?”
“Always!”
Here Taggert appeared suddenly, as from nowhere.
“Sorry to interrupt your tête-à-tête, people, but we must be getting on.”
A hurried leave-taking followed. Zola placed in Robert’s hands a small package, which he did not have time to examine then.