What could this child have thought of the beautiful and yet sad-eyed lady who was so kind to her, who got her all sorts of things with her own hands, and asked her all manner of questions in a low, gentle and sweet voice?  There was not much in Sheila’s appearance to provoke fear or awe.  The little girl, shy at first, got to be a little more frank, and told her hostess when she rose in the morning, how she practiced, the number of hours they were out during the day, and many of the small incidents of her daily life.  She had been photographed too, and her photograph was sold in one of the shops.  She was very well content:  she liked playing, the people were kind to her, and she did not often get tired.

“Then I shall see you often if I stay in Brighton?” said Sheila.

“We go out every day when it does not rain very hard.”

Perhaps some wet day you will come and see me, and you will have some tea with me:  would you like that?”

“Yes, very much,” said the small musician, looking up frankly.

Just at this moment, the half hour having fully expired, the man appeared at the door.

“Don’t hurry,” said Sheila to the little girl:  “sit still and drink out the lemonade; then I will give you some little parcels which you must put in your pocket.”

She was about to rise to go to the counter when she suddenly met the eyes of her husband, who was calmly staring at her.  He had come out, after their ride, with Mrs. Lorraine to have a stroll up and down the pavements, and had, in looking in at the various shops, caught sight of Sheila quietly having luncheon with this girl whom she had picked up in the streets.

“Did you ever see the like of that?” he said to Mrs. Lorraine.  “In open day, with people staring in, and she has not even taken the trouble to put the violin out of sight!”

“The poor child means no harm,” said his companion.

“Well, we must get her out of this somehow,” he said; and so they entered the shop.

Sheila knew she was guilty the moment she met her husband’s look, though she had never dreamed of it before.  She had, indeed, acted quite thoughtlessly—­perhaps chiefly moved by a desire to speak to some one and to befriend some one in her own loneliness.

“Hadn’t you better let this little girl go?” said Lavender to Sheila somewhat coldly as soon as he had ordered an ice for his companion.

“When she has finished her lemonade she will go,” said Sheila meekly.  “But I have to buy some things for her first.”

“You have got a whole lot of people round the door,” he said.

“It is very kind of the people to wait for her,” answered Sheila with the same composure.  “We have been here half an hour.  I suppose they will like her music very much.”

The little violinist was now taken to the counter, and her pockets stuffed with packages of sugared fruits and other deadly delicacies:  then she was permitted to go with half a crown in her hand.  Mrs. Lorraine patted her shoulder in passing, and said she was a pretty little thing.