"Oh, really, John, it was too bad. You know Uncle Maurice is very narrow-minded. He wanted to write first to Mrs Lyttelton to discover what sort of person Lady Lushington was, whether she was worldly or not; but, you see, there is no time, for if I don't join Mabel and Lady Lushington on Tuesday night in Paris I shall not be able to join them at all, for they begin their travels on Wednesday morning, and I have not the slightest idea where I can pick them up. Besides, I don't know foreign countries. I could perhaps get to Paris, where I should be met; but I couldn't manage Switzerland or any place farther afield. Don't you see that for yourself?" "I do." "Well, John," continued Annie, imperceptibly coming a little nearer to him, "I want you to do this for me. I want to go to Paris, but only for a day or two. I want to see Mabel and put that thing right with regard to poor, dear, clever Priscie; and then, if Uncle Maurice is really ill, I will come back. I know he would let me go if you persuaded him; and I want you to do so, dear John; and as he must not be worried in any way, will you lend me twenty pounds until Uncle Maurice is well enough to be troubled?" "But you cannot go without telling him, Annie. Of course, my dear, I could and would lend you the money, but even your friend is not so important just now as your uncle. He loves to have you near him. I wish you could have heard how he spoke of you to me. You were his sunshine, his darling, the joy of his heart." "I know I am," said Annie; "and it is what I want to be, and love to be," she added. "But you are here, and there is my dear friend, oh! in such trouble; and she trusts me, and I can put everything right for her. Oh! if you would only lend me twenty pounds--and--and--tell Uncle Maurice yourself that I am going away for a few days and will be back again very soon. Won't you lend it to me, John--just because we are cousins, and you have come all the way across the seas--the wide, wide seas--to help me at this pressing moment?" "You affect me, Annie," said the young man. "You speak very strongly. I did not know schoolgirls desired things so badly as all this. Twenty pounds--it is nothing; it is yours for the asking. Here, I will give it to you now." He put his hand into his pocket and took out four five-pound notes. "Here," he said, "if this will make you happy and save your friend from the fate of being a village dressmaker, take it, and welcome." "I don't know how to thank you," said Annie, trembling all over. "Oh! I don't know how." "Don't thank me," he replied a little stiffly. "The thing is a mere bagatelle." "You shall have it back as soon as possible," said Annie. "At your convenience," he replied. He still spoke stiffly.