“Well,” I said, rising to take my leave, “all the information I can give you is, that I never saw such a person here, either last winter or since.  It is quite possible she went on to Jersey, or to Granville, when the storm was over.  That she did not stay in Guernsey, I am quite sure.”

I went away in a fever of anxiety.  The woman, who was certainly not a lady, had inspired me with a repugnance that I could not describe.  There was an ingrain coarseness about her—­a vulgarity excessively distasteful to me as in any way connected with Olivia.  The mystery which surrounded her was made the deeper by it.  Surely, this person could not be related to Olivia!  I tried to guess in what relationship to her she could possibly stand.  There was the indefinable delicacy and refinement of a lady, altogether independent of her surroundings, so apparent in Olivia, that I could not imagine her as connected by blood with this woman.  Yet why and how should such a person have any right to pursue her?  I felt more chafed than I had ever done about Olivia’s secret.

I tried to satisfy myself with the reflection that I had put Tardif on his guard, and that he would protect her.  But that did not set my mind at ease.  I never knew a mother yet who believed that any other woman could nurse her sick child as well as herself; and I could not be persuaded that even Tardif would shield Olivia from danger and trouble as I could, if I were only allowed the privilege.  Yet my promise to Julia bound me to hold no communication with her.  Besides, this was surely no time to occupy myself with any other woman in the world than my mother.  She herself, good, and amiable, and self-forgetting, as she was, might feel a pang of jealousy, and I ought not to be the one to add a single drop of bitterness to the cup she was drinking.

On the other hand, I was distracted at the thought that this stranger might discover the place of Olivia’s retreat, from which there was no chance of escape if it were once discovered.  A hiding-place like Sark becomes a trap as soon as it is traced out.  Should this woman catch the echo of those rumors which had circulated so widely through Guernsey less than three months ago—­and any chance conversation with one of our own people might bring them to her ears—­then farewell to Olivia’s safety and concealment.  Here was the squall which had been foretold by Jack.  I cursed the idle curiosity of mine which had exposed her to this danger.

I had strolled down some of the quieter streets of the town while I was turning this affair over in my mind, and now, as I crossed the end of Rue Haute, I caught sight of Kate Daltrey turning into a milliner’s shop.  There was every reasonable probability that she would not come out again soon, for I saw a bonnet reached out of the window.  If she were gone to buy a bonnet, she was safe for half an hour, and Julia would be alone.  I had felt a strong desire to see Julia ever since I returned home.  My mind