And while they were awaiting the sailing of the packet for France they came to our house--the old one in the Rue Bourbon that was burned.I would not speak ill of the dead, but Mr.Clive I did not like.He fell sick of the fever in my house, and it was there that Antoinette and Madame de St.Gre took turns with his wife in watching at his bedside.I could do nothing with Antoinette, Monsieur, and she would not listen to my entreaties, my prayers, my commands.We buried the poor fellow in the alien ground, for he did not die in the Church, and after that my daughter clung to Mrs.Clive.She would not let her go, and the packet sailed without her.I have never seen such affection.I may say,'' he added quickly, ``that Madame de St.Gre and I share in it, for Mrs.Clive is a lovable woman and a strong character.And into the great sorrow that lies behind her life, we have never probed.''
``And she is with you now, Monsieur?'' I asked.
``She lives with us, Monsieur,'' he answered simply, ``and I hope for always.No,'' he said quickly, ``it is not charity,--she has something of her own.We love her, and she is the best of companions for my daughter.For the rest, Monsieur, she seems benumbed, with no desire to go back or to go farther.''
An entrance drive to the plantation of Les Iles, unknown to Nick and me, led off from the main road like a green tunnel arched out of the forest.My feelings as we entered this may be imagined, for I was suddenly confronted with the situation which I had dreaded since my meeting with Nick at Jonesboro.I could scarcely allow myself even the faint hope that Mrs.Clive might not prove to be Mrs.Temple after all.Whilst I was in this agony of doubt and indecision, the drive suddenly came out on a shaded lawn dotted with flowering bushes.There was the house with its gallery, its curved dormer roof and its belvedere; and a white, girlish figure flitted down the steps.It was Mademoiselle Antoinette, and no sooner had her father dismounted than she threw herself into his arms.Forgetful of my presence, he stood murmuring in her ear like a lover; and as I watched them my trouble slipped from my mind, and gave place to a vaguer regret that I had been a wanderer throughout my life.