"You did not go away with the others, then?
I am glad; and if you would like to stay here with me, Chiquita, I will keep you and care for you tenderly; as is justly due to you, my dear, for you have done a great deal for me." "I love you dearly," answered Chiquita, "but I cannot stay with you while Agostino lives; he is my master, I must follow him.

But I have one favour to beg before I leave you; if you think that I have earned the pearl necklace now, will you kiss me?
No one ever did but you, and it was so sweet." "Indeed I will, and with all my heart," said Isabelle, taking the child's thin face between her hands and kissing her warmly on her brown cheeks, which flushed crimson under the soft caress.
"And now, good-bye!" said Chiquita, when after a few moments of silence she had resumed her usual sang-froid.

She turned quickly away, but, catching sight of the knife she had given Isabelle, which lay upon the dressing-table, she seized it eagerly, saying, "Give me back my knife now; you will not need it any more," and vanished..