"It must be wonderful to be at court. How did you get to us so quickly?"
"I saw you in the crowd and I realized what was about to happen. Crowds will do that. Something of interest happens and they all want to go in a new direction to get a better view. They rush forward ... people get swept off their feet, and if they fall, well, that can be dangerous. The crowd does not care ... it goes forward ..."
"Walking over you," said Kate, her eyes round.
He nodded. "But I was here just in time, was I not?"
Kate laughed. "I liked the way you made them stand back. You told them to and they did."
"It's what is called the voice of authority."
I knew that she was charming him as he was her, and my uneasiness increased.
I said: "It was a good thing you did, sir. We both thank you, and so does my daughter."
"It has been a great pleasure," he said, looking intently at me. "I am so delighted to have been of assistance to your charming daughter, madam."
I wondered what Maggie was thinking.
At last she spoke, but all she said was: "This is the house."
We alighted. He seemed as though he were expecting to be asked in. I saw Maggie's lips set firmly together.
"We thank you, sir," she said.
He took her hand and kissed it. She drew it away very quickly.
"It was a good deed you did ... today.'' She emphasized the last word. She meant it was a good deed but it did not exonerate him for the cruel trick he had played on me.
"I thank you too," I said.
He then took my hand. "I must perforce be allowed to kiss it," which he did lingeringly, and in such a manner as to bring back memories.
"I thank you too, sir," said Kate. "You saved me from being trodden on by all those people."
She held out her hand. He took both of her hands and held them while he smiled at her.
"How glad I am that I was there. I have rarely been so happy about anything in all my life. It is a great pleasure to me to have made the acquaintance of Mistress Kate."
I took Kate's hand and drew her to the door. He bowed and turned back to the carriage.
Kate had suffered no hurt from her adventure; indeed, she was greatly stimulated by it. She could talk of nothing but her interesting and charming rescuer.
When she was in bed that night, Maggie and I talked.
"What do you make of it?" said Maggie. "It almost seemed as though he arranged it."
"He couldn't have arranged for the people to have surged forward just when he was on the spot."
"I thank God that he was," said Maggie. "But I would rather it had been anyone else who had rescued Kate."
"It may be that it was not entirely coincidental, Maggie. I have a notion that he has had some sort of watch on Kate for some time."
"What do you mean?"
"He knows she is his daughter and I suppose a father would be interested in his own child."
"Mayhap in a passing fashion. These men of the town—libertines, all of them—they want to amuse themselves with a woman and then be off. I never heard of them being overeager to share in the consequences."
"Perhaps he is not like the rest."
"You are trying to excuse yourself for having been so foolish as to have been deceived by him, perhaps," said Maggie with her customary frankness.
"That may be. But I have now and then caught a glimpse of him ... sometimes when I have been out with Kate. I have avoided looking closely and tried to pretend I was mistaken. He was there this day in the crowd. I saw him before it happened. He saw us too. That was why he was on the spot and saw the crowd pressing forward. He could have been watching Kate at that moment."
"Let us thank God that he was. I must say, it was good to have him close then. She could have been trampled underfoot. And you had to admire the way he did it. 'Stand back!' he said. And then he had them all doing his bidding, and that is not easy with a crowd like that."
"He was very interested in her."
"She's a very interesting child."
"Maggie, I am worried about him. He ... I think he liked her very much ... and she liked him."
Christobel
He did not, as I had feared he might, attempt to renew his acquaintance with Kate, and as the weeks passed into months, I began to think that Maggie was right. His interest in her was only fleeting.
Then Christobel Carew came into our lives.
It happened about two months after that encounter with Jack, and Kate had ceased to talk about him. I hoped that she had forgotten the incident.
Maggie had kept in touch with Jenny Crowther, and Jenny often called. Often I returned home to find her in the parlor and she and Maggie would be exchanging reminiscences of their early days.
One day, when I came in, I knew at once that something had happened—Maggie, who could never hide her feelings, was excited about something and was eager to tell me what it was.
Jenny Crowther was there, and obviously shared Maggie's knowledge.
"Well," I said, "what is the news?"
"Come and sit down," said Maggie, "and I'll tell you all about it."
"Don't tell me that Charles Hart or Thomas Killigrew is begging you both to play the leads in some magnificent production."
"Pigs do not fly," said Maggie.
"That means that it is not your news."
"Something far more interesting."
"I should have thought nothing could be."
"Stop teasing and listen. Jenny has been telling me about a young lady. She comes from Somerset and of a very good family. Lord of the manor and that sort."
"She has been brought up to be the perfect lady," said Jenny. "The Carews of Somerset have been an important family for the last three hundred years."
"Very commendable, but what of this young lady?"
Maggie continued: "They have recently lost their money. A disastrous fire and debts and so on. This young girl is without means and a home. She has to work."
"It must be hard for her. I dare say it is not the first time something like this has happened."
"Kate is a very bright child," said Maggie. "I have often thought that she needs to be educated by someone who really knows how to do it ... someone of good family who can teach her that little more than we are able to."
"You are suggesting that we employ a governess, and it should be this gentleman's daughter who suddenly has become impoverished?"
"That's the notion."
"Maggie, we are not in a position ..."
Maggie said: "This girl ... her name is Christobel Carew. Jenny thinks she would be delighted to come. Well, not Jenny so much, it's Rose—Rose Dawson—who knows about it all. You see, now that Rose has become so friendly with Lord Hazeldown, she moves in very high circles and that is how she has heard of this young lady. Rose knows a great deal about her. She had met her before disaster overtook the family and in fact she has spoken to her on this matter. Mistress Carew has told her that she would be glad to get a suitable post. She does not want some grand mansion. That would be too painful for her. What she wants is a home, where the people would be kind to her, treat her as an equal and there would be a roof over her head. She does not ask a large salary. I like what I hear. I think it is a big chance for Kate. Just think. She will learn gracious manners, as well as reading and writing. It's a chance in a million, Sarah."
I hesitated. I had often thought that Kate should have a governess. I was earning a fair salary at the theater, but an actress's work was not regular. Although I was by now fairly successful, I was not working all the time. I had encroached on Maggie's bounty enough.
Maggie knew what I was thinking.
"Christobel will only take a small wage. What she needs is to find the right place. When Rose told her, Jenny thought of us right away. They were certain that this is exactly the place which would suit Christobel." Maggie looked at me defiantly. "I am going to ask her to come to see us."