"Not when you're so far. I'm a little afraid," said Pansy.
"What are you afraid of?"
"Of papa—a little. And of Madame Merle. She has just been to see me."
"You must not say that," Isabel observed.
"Oh, I'll do everything they want. Only if you're here I shall do it more easily."
Isabel considered. "I won't desert you," she said at last. "Good-bye, my child."
Then they held each other a moment in a silent embrace, like two sisters; and afterwards Pansy walked along the corridor with her visitor to the top of the staircase. "Madame Merle has been here," she remarked as they went; and as Isabel answered nothing she added abruptly: "I don't like Madame Merle!"