"
"Of my voice!"
The girl echoed the phrase as if it had no meaning to her.
"Come," said her benefactor, "you are weary, and ill, perhaps. You look
terribly pale. Come to the hotel, and I will place you in the
landlady's charge."
He walked on, and the girl walked by his side, very slowly, as if she
had scarcely sufficient strength to carry her even that short distance.
There was something strange in the circumstance of Sir Oswald's meeting
with this girl. There was something strange in the sudden interest
which she had aroused in him--the eager desire which he felt to learn
her previous history.
The mistress of the "Star Hotel" was somewhat surprised when one of the
waiters summoned her to the hall, where the street-singer was standing
by Sir Oswald's side; but she was too clever a woman to express her
astonishment. Sir Oswald was one of her most influential patrons, and
Sir Oswald's custom was worth a great deal. It was, therefore, scarcely
possible that such a man could do wrong.
"I found this poor girl in an exhausted state in the street just now,"
said Sir Oswald. "She is quite friendless, and has no shelter for the
night, though she seems above the mendicant class. Will you put her
somewhere, and see that she is taken good care of, my dear Mrs. Willet?
In the morning I may be able to think of some plan for placing her in a
more respectable position.
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