Page 282 - The snake's pass

270 THE snake's pass.
opened her eyes at the total of Koran's requirements,
"
which Mr. Chapman summed up as " all extras —the
same including the use of a saddle-horse, and visits to
the opera and such performances as should be approved
of, under the special care and with the special accom-
paniment of Madame herself.
I could see that for the coming year Norah's lines would
lie in pleasant places in so far as Madame Lepecheaux
could accomplish it. The date of her coming was to
be fixed by letter, and as soon as possible.
Mr. Chapman had suggested that it might be well
to arrange with Madame Lepecheaux that Norah
should be able to get what clothes she might require^
and such matters as are wanted by young ladies of
the position which she was entering. The genial French
woman quite entered into the idea, but insisted that
the representative of Norah's father should come with
her to the various magasins and himself make arrange-
ments. He could not refuse ; and as I was not for-
bidden by the unsuspecting lady, I came too.
These matters took up some time, and it was not
until the fifth day after I had left Connemara that we
were able to start on our return journey. We left at
night, and after our arrival in the early morning went,
as soon as we had breakfasted, to Mr. Chapman's office
to get our letters.
I found two. The first I took to the window to
read, where I was hidden behind a curtain, and where
I might kiss it without being seen ; for, although the