To Mrs. Wadsley's then in all haste. The dingily respectable air of the house and of the proprietress herself at once impressed Mrs. Vane with the idea that Mr. Ferguson had been largely drawing on his own imagination with respect to Cynthia West. Nothing certainly could be more idyllic than the story of Lalli's devotion to the girl, whom he had brought home one night with an assurance to Mrs. Wadsley that she was the daughter of an old friend, and that he would be responsible for the payment of her board and lodging until she began to earn her own living. "He was just like a father to her," said Mrs. Wadsley confidentially; "and teach her he would, and scold her sometimes by the hour together. I assure you, Mrs. Vane, it was wonderful to see the pains that he took with her. I see in the papers that she has been singing at concerts lately; and I said to my friend Mrs. Doldrum, 'How pleased poor dear old Mr. Lalli would have been if he had known!'" "He was quite an old man, I suppose?" said Mrs. Vane. "There was no talk of marriage between them--of an attachment of any kind?" Mrs. Wadsley drew herself up in rather an offended manner. "Certainly not, madam--save as father and daughter might be attached one to another. Mr. Lalli was old enough to be the girl's grandfather; and Cynthia--oh, she was quite a child! I hope you do not think that I should have chaperoned her if any such matter had seemed likely to occur; but there was nothing of the kind. Mr. Lalli was quite too serious-minded for anything of that sort--a deeply religious man, although an Italian, Mrs. Vane." "Indeed, I am glad to hear it," said Flossy solemnly. "Miss West had no engagement--no love-affair, in short--going on when she was with you?" "Certainly not, Mrs. Vane." "Did you ever hear her say where she had lived--where she had been educated--before she came to London?" "I did hear something of a school that she had been at," said Mrs. Wadsley, after a little reflection; "but where it was I could not exactly tell you. They were Sisters, I believe, who taught her--Roman Catholics, very probably. 'St. Elizabeth's'--that was the name of the school; but where it is to be found I am sure I cannot say." "At St. Elizabeth's, East Winstead?" said Mrs. Vane quickly. She had heard the name from the Rumbolds. "I am sure I cannot say, Mrs. Vane." "Miss West was not a Roman Catholic, was she?" "Not to my knowledge," said Mrs. Wadsley with great stiffness. Flossy's questions had not impressed her favorably; but the words next uttered by her visitor did away to some extent with the bad impression.