"
Having left an order that astonished the clerk, they took a reluctant
leave of this lovely floral nest. They ordered the man drive towards
the city in the immediate vicinity, of which Vaura alighted at a neat
cottage to visit a blind _protegee_, one Marie Perrault, daughter of a
one-time actor of no mean repute, who had taught elocution at the
Seminaire where Miss Vernon had finished her education. Monsieur
Perrault had assisted Vaura in the getting up of theatricals, she
having developed such excellent histrionic powers. Perrault secretly
hoped she would yet make her _debut_ from the boards of his favourite
Lyceum Theatre Francais.
Marie was overjoyed at the pleasant surprise of a visit from her
benefactress, whose face, lovely as it was, and lit up with the joy of
living, gay chit-chat, and sweet-scented blossoms she carried seemed
to brighten, as with sunbeams, her darkened life. Vaura stayed long
enough to leave her gifts of fruit, flowers, and kind words for M.
Perrault; and left for the Seminaire of Madame Rocheforte, there she
lunched, and learned that Isabel Douglas had left for England,
immediately on the arrival of Roland.
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