My cousin has compromised me by taking the girl to my house, and no knowledge of the abduction must get abroad if we can help it.

Do you understand me ?" "No," was the reply.

"The safest way for us all is to send Miss Merrick away." "That will be done as soon as possible." With this the old Frenchwoman was forced to be content, and she did not suspect that her report had made Miss Von Taer nearly frantic with fear--not for Louise but for her own precious reputation.

Accustomed to obey the family she had served for so many years, Madame Cerise hesitated to follow her natural impulse to set the poor young lady free and assist her to return to her friends.

So she compromised with her conscience--a thing she was not credited with possessing--by resolving to make the imprisonment of the "_pauvre fille_" as happy as possible.
Scarcely had Louise opened her eyes the following morning when the old woman entered her chamber, unlocking the door from the outside to secure admission.
She first rebuilt the fire, and when it was crackling cheerfully she prepared a bath and brought an armful of clothing which she laid out for inspection over the back of a sofa.