And in a moment he was being introduced to
Mademoiselle Josette Soubise.
"Did I surprise you?" asked Nevill, looking at her as if he could never
tear his eyes away, though he spoke in an ordinary tone.
"Ah, I know you want me to say 'yes'," she laughed. "I'd like to tell a
white fib, to please you. But no, I am not quite surprised, for my
sister wrote that you might come, and why. What a pity you had this long
journey for nothing. My Kabyle maid, Mouni, has just gone to her home,
far away in a little village near Michelet, in la Grande Kabylia. She is
to be married to her cousin, the chief's son, whom she has always
loved--but there were obstacles till now."
"Obstacles can always be overcome," broke in Nevill.
Josette would not understand any hidden meaning. "It is a great pity
about Mouni," she went on. "Only four days ago she left. I gave her the
price of the journey, for a wedding present. She is a good girl, and I
shall miss her. But of course you can write to ask her questions. She
reads a little French."
"Perhaps we shall go ourselves," Nevill answered, glancing at Stephen's
disappointed face. "For I know Miss Ray can't be here, or you would have
said so."
"No, she is not here," echoed Josette, looking astonished. "Jeanne wrote
about the American young lady searching for her sister, but she did not
say she might visit Tlemcen."
"We hoped she would, that's all," explained Nevill.
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